Here, her former developer of CORE has been replaced by Crystal Dynamics, and what a worthy switch it was. Lara’s moves have been simplified, her character models cleaned up (her bust line is a bit more…realistic) and her overall status as a game character has been restored to its former glory. In the series’ 7th iteration, Lara has returned to what once made her great: puzzles and platforming.

Taking a page from the PRINCE OF PERSIA handbook, Lara’s climbing skills have greatly improved, as well as her scaling abilities now with the added help of a magnetic grapple, as well as some high altitude acrobatics for jumping from ledge to ledge. The puzzles of the former tombs have returned, where moving boxes were the norm, but now take on a whole new breed of strategy, not only using them for activating switches, but for passage through some treacherous terrain. Admittedly, however, sometimes moving these boxes can be a pain, and Lara slides and glides all over the path while trying to push them. The easiest maneuverability is done by actually PULLING the box rather than pushing, unless you have it lined up exactly straight on, which can get to be a bit of a bother, but not a serious one overall.

There are also nods from RESIDENT EVIL 4 here, with Lara executing some context-sensitive button presses during cut scenes, only here the buttons are always the same rather than a random set each play-through. Her targeting is also much improved, though will still cause some players a few headaches as switching targets is done by flicking the right analog rather than depressing the lock-on button a second time. Still, what little shooting there is done is done well, an Lara an certainly hold her own in a firefight.

The level design is magnificent here, and for once, so is the story. After flashbacks of her mother’s apparent death, Lara is somehow caught up in a turn of events featuring a power-mad treasure hunter and a mysterious character from her past. All the while, events lead up to Lara’s beginnings as a relic hunter, and leave a nice little cliffhanger (no pun intended) for a possible 8th game. Each stage is build around deathtraps and puzzles galore, and gaining access to new areas is satisfying and fun.

And while Lara has a slew of tricks up her sleeves, I must say that this is probably the easiest TOMB RAIDER game I have ever played. In a move similar to METROID: PRIME's scan visor, Lara has a pair of binoculars that can scan the layout of a level, and highlights items that can be moved, destroyed, are mechanisims, or what have you, thus simplifiying the puzzle elements. It took me just a weekend to defeat, with the playtime running just under 9 hours. Still, those 9 hours consisted of some serious fun, as well as the prerequisite item collecting. Scattered through each level are a set of bronze, silver and gold rewards, and the more you collect, the more bonuses you unlock, such as alternate costumes and character designs, weapon upgrades, and more. While it’s a cheap way of doing it, it certainly extends the replay value, even offering a time trail for each stage once you’ve beaten a level the first time through.

Finally, Lara has come back to the series’ former greatness, not seen with this level of care taken since the second game. The puzzles are fun, the level design is gorgeous and complex, and the overall game experience is thoroughly enjoyable. And while it takes a few nods from other titles, and issues still remain to be resolved (targeting, and that damn camera getting in the way so often) it’s certainly a step in the right direction for this once and future Legend.

One Gamer’s Opinion:

RAMPAGE: TOTAL REPETITION

The main story mode of the game is where most folks will spend their time. After a taste test gone wrong of a new cola, Scum Soda (ew…who would drink a soda called that?) folks suddenly start mutating into huge animals and wreaking havoc across the country. The normal RAMPAGE formula applies here of climbing building and smashing them to bits while avoiding attacks from police, SWAT and Army forces bent on bringing you down. Now, however, characters can walk a bit further into the background to climb buildings beyond the foreground landscape and wreck cars and eat people all along your field of vision.

Sadly, while the move to 3D is a cool one, you lose a bit of control. Sometimes, it’s just hard to even grab onto a building to climb it, let alone grab what you want to (cars, buses and the like) to hurl around the stage and cause more destruction with. And while the building bashing moves have been expanded (now including kicks, power punches, and upgrades) item collecting for power-ups and health is more timed now, since your abilities are so improved, the buildings crumble faster.

The game features a total of 30 monsters, a record for the series, with most of them unlockable through the game’s story mode. As you bash skyscrapers, you’ll discover tubes containing new creatures hidden in the cities. The nice part is, if you miss one the first play through, all you have to do is play that level again. All items are hidden in the exact same spot each play through. There is no variation or randomization of items as before, which is both a good and bad thing. While it helps you to unlock more creatures, it also takes away from the challenge of unlocking new abilities and health upgrades, as all one would have to do is memorize where certain power-ups were located and hit that place each time.

Still, the button mashing, building bashing fun remains, even if it does get a little repetitive at times. There’s a bunch of multiplayer modes as well, including King of City, King of The World, and a Timed Run mode, all to see who can cause the most destruction among you and your friends. As an added bonus, the original RAMPAGE and RAMPAGE WORLD TOUR are included as well, available right from the start.

For $20, it’s not a bad game. There’re plenty of options for gameplay modes, and the classics included are fun for a little but, even though pretty much every mode gets to be repetitious. Finding the other creatures adds a good bit of replay, but unless you “gotta catch ‘em all”, you may not care enough to smash the same building down after 20 or so times.

One Gamer’s Opinion:

After the last few weeks, it’s kind of nice to have a short and sweet column. Next week is, of course, the big E3 event, where they will unleash the new PS3 and Nintendo Wii…but, alas, I won’t be going. Again. Apparently, the folks at E3 don’t see this site as eligible for admission to the expo. Ah well…maybe next time.

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