Tomb Raider Anniversary XBOX 360 Review

I recently had the chance to play Tomb Raider Anniversary for the XBOX 360 and have to say my expectations have been met and exceeded. I played it before on the PC, but it was so good, I had to play it again on the big screen on the Xbox 360.

Tomb Raider Anniversary is not a new addition to the Tomb Raider series, but rather a remake/tribute of the first Tomb Raider released on Sega Saturn, PC, and the original Playstation over ten years ago. The game follows the same story as the original game, but the level design has been updated in some cases to give old players something new and left the same in other cases.

The graphics are outstanding for the 360. I had the setting at max on my PC and the Xbox 360 version matches those settings perfectly. The game is not utilizing the full potential of the 360, but it looks damn good for a Tomb Raider game, which we all know have never been the best looking games ever. The character models are not as blocky as past games, but do retain a little bit of blockiness which is apparent up close. The animation is spot on, with no popping or sliding occurring.

The levels are more expansive than the original game ten years ago and you don’t feel like you are in a box anymore. The music is the same and much of the memorable moments in the original game are still there such as the Midas statue, the platforming in St. Francis’ Folly. The waterfall level in Peru has changed a bit, but it has changed for the better as has the Lost Valley of the T-Rex.

Unfortunately, their are a few bugs in the game, where enemies can be seen through walls at certain angles and the T-Rex can easily be beaten by crouching in a corner of the level where he cannot get you. The same bugs are apparent in later levels such as the Colosseum, but do not take away much from the gameplay.

All in all I highly recommend this game to anyone who has played the first game, to relive the old memories of yesteryear and for any other player who has played any other Tomb Raider game or has never played any at all. This is the game that started the series and unfortunately the original has not aged well enough to warrant playing it again, but this remake does.