She's back! Action heroine Lara Croft returns in this adventure game from Eidos impressive. Again, the world's most famous "gamer grrrl" must jump, swim, climb, and shoot your way through numerous challenges. There are five places and 15 massive levels to explore, especially in the South Pacific, India, London, Antarctica, and Area 51. Unlike previous games in the series, this version allows you to visit one of the playgrounds in any order you prefer. This change enables beginning players to immediately appreciate the game environments and different models at different levels have fascinated advanced players for the duration of the popular series.
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Editorial Review
She's back! Action heroine Lara Croft returns in this impressive action adventure game from Eidos. Once again, the world's most famous "grrrl gamer" must jump, swim, climb, and shoot her way through numerous challenges. There are five locations and 15 massive levels to explore, including the South Pacific, India, London, Antarctica, and Area 51. Unlike previous games in the series, this version lets you visit any of the gaming areas in any order that you prefer. This change enables beginning players to immediately appreciate the diverse gaming environments and designs of different levels that have captivated advanced gamers for the duration of the popular series.
Unlike most action shooting games, Tomb Raider III requires a heavy dose of puzzle solving. In fact, fast reflexes and shooting skills are probably less important than your ability to figure out the best way to unlock the secrets that will advance your entry into new and hidden areas. With clever gameplay and eye-opening 3-D graphics, the third entry in the Tomb Raider series significantly advances the quality of one of the strongest franchises in the history of video games. --Brett Atwood
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GameSpot Review
While it may be hard to imagine Tomb Raider's heroine Lara Croft as a "mascot" for the Sony PlayStation, there's no doubt that the series has become inextricably linked with the platform. The original game proved that huge 3D environments were not the exclusive domain of the Nintendo 64, which is fairly ironic when considering that it was developed first with the Saturn in mind.
The gameplay, as the title suggests, revolves around raiding large trap-laden 3D tombs for their treasures. Anyone who's watched the first five minutes of Raiders of the Lost Ark knows what to expect: There are rolling boulders, spike-filled pits, walls and ceilings that slowly close in, and a lot of running, jumping, and lever pulling required to keep from meeting up with all of them. In this, Tomb Raider III is much like the first two games in the line, which is to say that there's nothing new thematically, although there are a few improvements to this edition.
The game's visuals are where the main enhancements lie. While it may not look that different at first, comparing it side by side with the earlier titles shows that its face-lift is fairly major. The lighting and water effects are very impressive, and the textures are much better looking and more widely varied. The latter translates into a better gameplay experience, as it's now much easier to identify ledges and jump-off points. Make no mistake, it's still an evilly difficult game in which a strategy guide is almost a prerequisite and save points are like candy (the crystals are back, but you can use them to save anywhere), but the blame for continually getting your character killed now lies a little more squarely at your own feet than at those of the developers. Also to that same end, the camera perspectives, though not quite ideal, are more refined so that lining up jumps isn't as hard.
New elements such as the character's ability to sprint, crawl, monkey-swing, and use new vehicles (such as a quad bike and kayak) add some variety to the game, and the emphasis on stealth in some of the levels and improved AI of the enemies helps as well. The lack of linearity in being able to use different routes within many of the levels, as well as being able to choose one of three paths after wrapping up the India stage, is nice too. And it must be said that the game is absolutely huge, with over 15 levels that can each take up to a few hours to complete.
One complaint often made against the series is that there aren't enough enemies to fight. Though there are more foes in Tomb Raider III than in the last game, there aren't many - but that's not really a bad thing. It doesn't seem to be a particularly valid criticism to lodge against the title, since it simply isn't that type of game. For those who are looking to shoot or carve through tons of foes in a 3D environment, there are games like GT Interactive's Duke Nukem: Time to Kill and Activision's Tenchu, but the Tomb Raider line remains more about puzzles than combat.
This all isn't to say that the game is perfect, since there are in fact a few elements introduced in the very similar 3D adventure Duke Nukem: Time to Kill that could have helped Tomb Raider III. For instance, any time in Duke Nukem when the player character gets in the way of the perspective - whether during the look function or otherwise - he becomes transparent. It's an innovation for the genre that you'll find yourself wishing for here every time you end up staring at the back of Lara's neck and hoping you're properly aimed for the next platform jump. Also, adding a target to TRIII's look function and the ability to shoot during its use rather than simply letting the game auto-aim for you would probably make the parts where shooting enemies is required more fun.
At the end of the day though (and putting all the hype, creepy marketing campaigns, and strange celebrity worship surrounding the series aside), there's no denying that Tomb Raider III is a solid game, worth the time of anyone who enjoys a good puzzle/adventure title. Those who lost interest in the series with Tomb Raider II may want to give it another look with the third. --Joe Fielder
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Customer Reviews
I almost didn't buy this game because of the bad reviews...
After completing TR1 and TR2 I thought I'd like to buy TR3, so I checked out the reviews. It was about 50/50...half said it was great, half said it "sucked". I contemplated and decided to buy it anyway, and have not regretted it since. The game is a lot of fun. The only complaints I have had with it are the camera angles at times make it difficult to see what you're doing. Also, on one location (London), I found each level (there are 4) to be "over-burdened"...by that I mean there was so much to do and all of it was rather difficult and I became frustrated. However, the excitement and fun of the rest of the areas made up for that frustration 100%. One of the great parts of this game is you get to choose the different levels you'd like to go. If you like the Tomb Raider series, then you'll find this game gives you a lot of hours of enjoyment. It's not easy, but it's not impossible either. The difficulty is what makes the game challenging and fun. I hope this helps make up for some of the bad reviews you've read and helps you make up your mind whether or not to buy it.
Too exacting
I LOVE the Tomb Raider series, and while I found the locations, music, and puzzles greatly improved in TRIII, I was sorely disappointed by the difficulty of play. This game expects movements to be absolutely EXACT, which means you can play a particular jump about fifteen times without getting it just right, and thus dying or having to repeat a long series of actions. There is one puzzle which requires timing that is, and I mean this, virtually impossible to do. Hoard your save game gems for this kind of use.
Five Star Quality But Impossibly Hard
I completed the first two Tomb Raider games, and was impressed with the improvements in Tomb Raider III. The games in the TR series are easily the best video games I have ever played. Here, the levels are unbelieveably complex and beautiful, even in comparison to TR I and II. Also, I found quite interesting and challenging the "save gem" strategy -- which has been fundamentally altered from the first two games -- in that you collect save gems, and can use them at any time, but you only have a limited amount. Those good things being said, I give the game a mediocre rating simply because it is impossibly hard, even with a walkthrough telling you what to do. In fact, I finally said enough's enough and gave up on the game about half the way through. There literally is one incredibly difficult situation to solve followed one after the other. The game needed better pacing, with easier stretches to complete in between the tough ones, so you at least have the sense that you are moving along.
Price: $44.94
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