Review Human_Traffic 3/5 · Nov 8, 2018
The last Tomb Raider Expansion, and the best
The old Tomb Raider games were always something that I never played myself but always watched my brother play. So when I got the opportunity to buy them cheap on Steam, I decided to play them all (and thankfully I could join some friends that wanted to do the same).
But I wanted to be thorough and saw that there …
The old Tomb Raider games were always something that I never played myself but always watched my brother play. So when I got the opportunity to buy them cheap on Steam, I decided to play them all (and thankfully I could join some friends that wanted to do the same).
But I wanted to be thorough and saw that there were also addons for the first three games, so I decided to play them as well. The epansions for the first two games were not much to write home about, a mix of more or less unfinished levels that were either hastily put together or straight from the cutting room floor and didn't feature any form of dialogue or cutscenes. So my expectations were really low, especially since I didn't enjoy the third Tomb Raider at all.
But Tomb Raider III: The Lost Artefact turned out to be a pleasent surprise, that didn't have the same flaws as the main game. The main game was virtually unplayable withouth a walkthough. The levels were confusing, with unnessecary backtracking and paths leading nowhere, punishing exploring instead of rewarding it. Even the objectives to clear each level were not clear at all, how are you expected to enjoy a game where you don't know where to go and what to do?
The levels in The Lost Artifact are rather short but they are relatively open and filled to the brim with secrets (and some really crazy ones). The end goal of every level is made clear right from the start. Unlike in the main game I enjoyed exploring the levels (except the Zoo). You start in Scottland, enter the Channel Tunnel and end up... in a zoo in France.
But of course this game shares the weaknesses of the other expansions, there are no diaologues or cutscenes, you won't be able to follow the story without the manual. And of course this is a really short game, I managed to beat it in just a little over 3 Hours. Sadly there is no digital release of this game on steam or the like, and unlike the other addons you can't download it for free. I had to search a while to find this. But if you somehow manage to get your hands on this game and enjoy the old Tomb Raider games, give it a try.