"One of the best adventure games of the year"

Summary:
Ah, a new Tomb Raider, finally. It's been nearly three years since Lara's last appearence, but don't worry, time hasn't slowed her down one bit, or her new friend.
After Von Croy, the mentor of Lara Croft, left Lara for dead in Egypt, after being presumed dead. However, Von Croy returned to Egypt, hoping to find her in the collapsed temple. He did find her, but she wasn't happy.
Not long after, Von Croy brings Lara to Paris hoping to hire her for a new job, to find the Monstrum. An unknown being murdering and killing and murdering, in no known pattern. Von Croy can sense that he's next, and on that very night at his appartment, with Lara, he was killed, by someone in the appartment with him.
Being on the run for two days from the police, for being caught ''red handed'' at the scene of the crime. Now Lara is on her greatest quest yet to clear her name, and get even over her mentor's death.

Gameplay:
The game starts out pretty slow. Push this, pull that, get this , get that. And , unfortunately, it gets worse. Once you reach the Parisian streets, it's Hell. Think of a drunken Shenmue. However, after Lara loses the Jean jacket and Denim pants, she dons her classic Tomb Raiding all purpose style outfit, and looks better than ever.
Lara will run, jump, climb, and solve her way through games' huge, bueatiful areas. This is one of the few games that really gets my brain going. I don't think I've ever played a game where your finger has to as fast your mind. Numerous times, you'll be forced to run, aim, jump, and figure out what the hell your doing to do all at once.
The games suspensful action sequences are not only the games highlight, but also the games downside. You'll often find yourself reloading your game data over the slightest miss calculation can lead to your death. Thankfully, you can save anywhere anytime! Expect to die A LOT!!! If there's two things that really bog down the gameplay, it's the controls and the camera. It will take a while to get aquainted with the sluggish controls and nutty camera. But if you give the game a two to three hour chance, you'll get used to it. But the kickin' combat and trippy puzzles keep the gameplay superb!

Graphics:
The GC in this game isn't far from gameplay standered. However, the CG adds a much more cinamtic expeirience. Even outside CG, the game portrays a very movie quality script with excellent acting, and the choose-your-own-phrase deal's pretty diverse and cool.
Lara moves smoother than ever, but despite how all character models are equally designed, their pretty simple, but still look great. The games best graphical usage is level structure. The game's envirenments are the best I've seen in quite a while. Facial expressions look great with lips that actually match what the characters say!

Sound:
The music throughout the game just about always matches the area and atmosphere. Whehter it be quiet, creepy, or sutble, it's there! The games acting is also another strong point, along with moans, screams, and gun shots. Excellent!

Overall:
Classic Tomb Raider with a few new quirks including stealth, stat raising, and even trickier puzzles than ever.

Gameplay: 8.9
Graphics:8.2
Sound:9.2
Overall:9.1

This is my opinion, not yours. Trust at your own risk!
OPINION, NOT FACT!!!
Thank you!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/24/03, Updated 06/24/03