Tomb Raider: Anniversary (2007)

I encountered a bug on every boss fight. The first one got stuck in the enviroment and phased through the floor. Even after reloading the game, it keep getting stuck on everything, which meant spending ten minutes shooting at an inanimate enemy.

The second one played normally but, after beating it, the cutscene bugged so heavily that, instead of charging the next level, it loaded Lara in the same boss room... Alongside with the frozen model of the final boss. After ten seconds of trying to interact with it in some capacity, the whole thing crashed, forcing me to repeat the entire level (which, luckily, was one of the shortest ones).

Personally, I consider a game working properly to be the bare minimun.

I was Excited to see this come through on Playstation+, the timing could not have been better, as this was next on my Tomb Raider list. I've played all the preceding games up to this point, so I've seen my fair share of adventures with Lara in her tomb raiding days.

Personally, it felt like it was more of a nod to the original Tomb Raider, and more of an original. I plan to go back and play the remastered TR, now that I've collected all 6, and see if how much of a nod it was/is.

I used to think that I "Loved" Tomb Raider games. But now that I've played enough action adventure games, I would say that I "Really Like" Tomb Raider games. My favorite parts are the Tomb Raiding. The stories seem to be lack luster, and anything outside of the tombs themselves, are bad, really bad. Like a low budget film that lacks plot and talent. They can almost be skipped. I honestly couldn't tell you what the story was about. Not this one, not any of them. However, they are still, Really Fun!

Final note, if it wasn't for the ability to rewind, to retry sections that dropped, missed a jump, or failed to pass in some way, there's No Way I would have had the patience, or time, to continue on to the end. I would have never seen all the other levels, and reaced the final cut scenes. So I Highly Recommend that you only play a version that has this. Unless you have lots of time to fail and like games that punish you.

This title is a respectful and skillful remake of the original 1996 Tomb Raider, built using the Legend engine but infused with the atmosphere, pacing, and design philosophy of the franchise’s roots. Developed by Crystal Dynamics, it celebrates Lara Croft’s first adventure by retelling her search for the Scion of Atlantis with modernized visuals, smoother mechanics, and a more cohesive narrative.

The core of the game lies in its exploration and puzzle-solving, not in flashy combat or constant action. Ancient temples, forgotten tombs, and intricate ruins form the backbone of the experience. Each environment feels like a massive puzzle box waiting to be unlocked, requiring precision jumps, keen observation, and clever manipulation of the environment. The redesigned levels preserve the soul of the 1996 maps while adding new layers of complexity and visual beauty.

Lara controls fluidly compared to the original’s grid-based movement, though some people may find the camera and platforming imprecise by today’s standards. Combat remains secondary, with a limited set of enemies and basic lock-on gunplay, but it never overstays its welcome. Instead, the game shines in moments of solitude, when you’re alone in a vast, echoing tomb, solving a mechanism that’s lain dormant for centuries.

The OST and atmosphere enhance this sense of mystery and adventure. The music subtly shifts between quiet tension and triumphant discovery, perfectly complementing the game’s rhythm of exploration and revelation. Visually, Anniversary still holds up decently on PC, with detailed architecture and strong lighting that make each environment feel alive. Overall, this game succeeds as both a tribute and a refinement. It bridges the gap between the old-school design of the ’90s and the cinematic presentation of the 2000s.

For longtime fans, it’s a nostalgic journey reimagined with respect; for newcomers, it’s a beautifully crafted introduction to what Tomb Raider truly meant back in the day, adventure, intelligence, and discovery. This is definitely a must-play for fans of the franchise, or if you like similar titles. I remember this blowing my mind when I realized that games could be remade into new versions, and then the RE titles followed suit and nowadays we have a lot of them to play around with.

I sorted this game into my completed games even though I didnt finish it, to my disappointment.

Throughout the whole game, multiple issues came up and I got really fed up in some parts. Some frustrations were due to me not reacting fast enough, not getting the mechanics or just going the wrong way but the major ones were bugs, finnicky controls, the fucked up camera angles and my PC apparently being too good for this game lmao (60 FPS breaks the game, turn on V-sync so you dont rage quit like I did).

The combat was frustrating because they frequently give you multiple enemies at the same time and you end up colliding with one while trying to dodge the other. Sometimes their attacks stunlock you and Lara takes her sweet ass time getting back on her feet. The slow-motion gun mode sometimes doesnt work properly and the most extreme example is the final boss, which is bugged and therefore I cant finish the game.

The camera doesnt fan out as much as you would like so sometimes you are just guessing where to jump next. Its also difficult to control when doing double wall runs. Lara often times doesnt want to grab ledges and if you dont do something exactly the way the game wants you to, then shes just going to fuck up and probably fall to her death.

Despite the bugs and janky controls, what made keep coming back and find solutions to various issues was the fact that it was genuinely fun completing puzzles and jumping around everywhere. I see why people liked the original trilogy so much, even though I know that the second trilogy is a downgrade in many peoples opinion. My first TR games were the newest trilogy and while I love those, these more puzzle oriented games are also fun. So thats why I still liked the game but it did make me feel like an idiot in some sections.

RAGE QUIT SECTIONS BELOW

The FIRST RAGE set in on level 10 when you get to the first double wall runs in the game. The camera here wanted to give me stomach ulcers. Lara would constantly just smash her face into the corner instead of jumping to the second hook. Even when she finally did it, the grapple would just randomly unlatch and I would fall to my death. After many deaths, I succeeded in grabbing the ledge after the 2nd wall run only to be cockblocked by the wall sticking out and blocking Lara from latching on to the final ledge which you are supposed to do in order to progress further. I was so confused. I watched 5 gameplays and all of them did the exact thing and made it but I die every time. Turns out my game was running on 60 FPS and that literally breaks it. The issue was solved by turning V-sync on.

The SECOND RAGE was The Great Pyramid ledge jumping which gave me the Corona and the flu, one after the other, in the span of two weeks. Whoever designed the flying fucks with fireballs needs to do community service time because why??? You need to fight them on this tiny ledge that keeps retracting while they spit stunlocking fireballs at you and ultimately send you flying off the ledge into lava. You also need to pole jump and do double wall runs on a timer. Thank god you get checkpoints after each ledge otherwise I would have sold my PC and went to live in the mountains as a monk to repair my body from the stress this section caused me.

Then the FINAL BOSS happened. The fight isnt hard at all. The issue lies in the fact that the only way you can kill her isnt working. The slow-motion gun mode isnt engaging at all, even when I do the correct moves at the correct time. I try to look up if anyone else is having this problem and I cant find anything. So I sit back and think, how dare this game make me look this stupid. My body was literally fighting off two infections so I can finally sit in front of my computer and complete this game but this game was made by the devil and is a personification of the myth of Sisyphus.

(I am genuinely questioning if I really am stupid or if the game isnt working. If anyone knows how to fix this problem I am all ears.)

ENVIRONMENTAL PUZZLE-ADVENTURE - A remake of the first Tomb Raider game. Join Lara as she tries to collect all the different pieces of the mythical artifact, Scion.

PROS:

++ Solid boss fights. Specifically the T-Rex, the two Centaurs, and Natla.

++ Rage system. It would have been a fun mechanic if the combat was more polished.

++ Solid level design. Such as St. Francis' folly.

CONS:

-- Checkpoint placements. Checkpoint placements are often atrocius, making the player repeat a good portion of the level after missing a jump.

-- Terrible combat. Combat sucks, since getting hit means being knocked down and dazed.

-- Unruly camera. Controlling the camera & Lara is often unreliable during fast-paced platforming

-- The Great Pyramid level. There was one specific section that was nigh impossible to beat. It required perfect timing and had very little room for error, while having to fight enemies. I just didn't appreciate that spike in difficulty.

-- Rushed story. The story was rushed and was only focused on in the last portion of the game, rather than being given in small doses throughout.

-- Bad characterization. Poor attempts at giving Lara characterization.

As a fan of Indiana Jones & globetrotting adventure stories in general, I’ve always been a fan of the Tomb Raider series. Watching my dad play Tomb Raider 2 is one of my earliest gaming memories. I played parts of the original series but going back now to the tank controls is tough for me. My favorite run was the LAU series, and I felt like replaying the Anniversary entry.

This game is a remaster of the first Tomb Raider entry, for its 10th anniversary. As such, the gameplay has been updated to be more in line with how it played in Tomb Raider Legend. Compared to the slow, methodical pace of the original, this one is more streamlined and has moments of action, though not as many big set pieces as Legend or Underworld. One thing that puts me off of the older series, beside the tank controls, is the fact they involve a lot of backtracking and “find 4 keys” style levels. In Anniversary they’ve pared down some of those aspects. There are levels around finding 4 keys, but they are laid out in ways that reduce backtracking. This game also utilizes corridors to keep from having loading screens between each level.

While some aspects were updated, others were not. The combat, which wasn’t a focal point for the older games, is a bit junk. The target lock from Legends was brought over, along with a bullet time feature for well-timed dodges, but many levels are cramped, leading you to getting cornered. All of the enemies are animalistic, meaning they all fight the same, just charging at you. The boss battles are a marked improvement. They add in a bit of strategy beyond tap R2 faster. There’s no human enemies or boss battles, the only time you “fight” humans is in quick time events. Platforming is good and intuitive to play. It was only in the last chapter in Atlantis that there was some janky issues with the climbing; not grabbing ledges, missing jumps, etc. This game still holds onto the more puzzle-based platforming mechanics of the old entries. Unlike modern adventure games, this one requires you to check out where you are leaping and plan your jumps with a bit of precision. It’s less forgiving than more modern games that use climbing more as a simple traversal mechanic. It was also nice to play an adventure game where every other freaking climbable ledge didn’t break out from under you.

Being a remaster, the graphics are updated. This was that time period where all game characters looked a bit uncanny. Lara & her world isn’t blocky anymore, but she does look like a Barbie doll version of Lara, and not just because of her new curves. The tombs also look like real world locations, instead of Lego approximations that require you to imagine what they are supposed to represent. The Greek temple looks like a Greek temple, the Egyptian pyramid looks Egyptian. The music didn’t need updated, there were lots of great tracks that return in this iteration.

The story is very sparse, like the original. Lara is looking for the Scion of Atlantis, being chased by rival hunters along the way, and visiting lots of typical adventure locations. Again, showing it’s 90s roots, there’s not a lot spent on plot development, which is fine. I do enjoy the new Tomb Raider survivor series, but sometimes it’s fun to just play a sassy adventurer in an escapist adventure story without all the baggage. There’s more story developed in the last chapter; Lara’s motivations are brought into question. The final exchange between her & Larson is a good character moment, if a bit shallow given the little development throughout the rest of the game.

Anniversary was in the middle of the LAU trilogy. It was the Tomb Raider reboot after Angel of Darkness’ poor reception and Core Designs lost the series. It was overall a bit faster paced series that also fleshed out Lara’s story and world. I get this game was meant as a celebration of 10 years of Tomb Raider, but I also felt it was the wrong idea to jam it into the middle of a new trilogy. They try to alter the story to fit in with the trilogy’s overarching plot, but it still feels a bit out of place among the other two. Legend starts with a new Lara with a new set of friends and enemies, with plot points set up about a search for Avalon. Anniversary feels detached from that story. All the supporting characters are gone. The villains are only here for this game, save for the big bad, which is a shame. The street punk henchman is a goofy holdover from the 90s, but Larson, or Pierre, could’ve been a good foil to Lara, another grounded treasure hunter that harbors no hatred towards Lara, they’re just on the other side of the struggle. I think Anniversary would’ve been best as a game that released as its own thing and we got another game in its place in the trilogy, but I realize that may not have been feasible from a production standpoint. Underworld feels like more of a sequel to Legend than Anniversary does.

All in all, Anniversary does feel out of place in the LAU trilogy, but on its own merits, it does a good job bringing back the original Tomb Raider and updating it in all the right spots to make it more accessible to modern players. The game gives you challenge, that did require the occasional walkthrough. I did have to play it in small bursts of a few hours at a time. It wasn’t a good marathoning game for me, because after the 4th puzzle room, I needed to take a step back from it all.

Anniversary is the middle chapter of Crystal Dynamics' trilogy that began with Legend and concluded with Underworld. It's a faithful re-imagining of the original Tomb Raider from 1996, while deftly tying it into the story of the other two games that take place in the present (it's still 1996 in this remake). Anniversary is visually beautiful and the puzzles are incredibly elaborate and complex. Lara travels the globe to places like Peru, Greece, and Egypt, while you solve the mysteries of some of the most enormous and intricately designed tombs ever in a Tomb Raider game. The story is a rehash of the original, with Lara hired by the mysterious Natla Corporation to find an artifact. What's good about it is the way they tied this into the back story about Lara's mother.

The only knock I can give is that on the PC there is a well-known bug in one of the Egypt levels that prevents you from making a simple jump to a ledge so you can exit the level. Then there is the infamous "pyramid tower of terror" segment near the end which had me in frustration. Even watching YouTube videos and knowing exactly what to do, it still took dumb luck on one of the jump sequences to make it after about a hundred tries. The problem is that they made grapple wall running/jumping to the next handhold very unforgiving, and you are constantly fighting the camera angles and the controls to get Lara to do what you want her to do. It's hard enough to get enough momentum, jump from the right height and the exact right moment so you can barely reach the ledge, but then to have Lara jump back instead of to the side, or to the side instead of back, because according to the camera angle that's what the game thinks you want her to do, that can be maddening. Despite late game bugs/control issues, Anniversary is still a great game and very satisfying to finish.

For the first half of Anniversary I was smitten. It was the Tomb Raider game I had been looking for. The environments were large and cavernous, creating a sense of isolation that felt appropriate for exploring lost ruins. Combat was limited to fending off the wild animals that had reclaimed the forgotten tombs. There was something genuinely exciting about entering a buried colosseum only to be attacked by gorillas, or diving into a pool to find an alligator waiting for you. Oh, and the puzzles and platforming both felt satisfying.

I don’t know what happened, but I started to lose interest. The plot was barely functional compared to the buckets of fun that was Legend. I wasn’t expecting great storytelling, but as the gameplay started to feel repetitive I could have done with some motivation to help pull me forwards. It didn’t help that the wild animals were traded in for centaurs and demons or whatever. Great, another puzzle room. Oh wow, another lever to pull and block to push. Hey, another ledge to fall down from only to have to begin the slow painful ascent again.

I still liked this game a lot, but it just wore me down eventually. I will still check out Underworld, hoping that it combines the pacing and storytelling of Legend with Anniversary’s focus on puzzle solving and Lara-on-animal combat.