1996

In this year, Dolly the sheep becomes the first cloned mammal. Russia fights Chechen rebels to start the First Chechen War. Israel starts Operation Grapes of Wraith and launches attacks on Lebanon. A number of countries (including UK, Indonesia and Peru) are hit by nationalist terrorist attacks. OJ Simpson’s civil trial begins. The Olympics take place in Atlanta. Films were a mixture of blockbusters that use guns and explosions to guarantee a happy ending (Independence Day, The Rock, Mission: Impossible, etc.), outrageous comedy with endearing characters (Nutty Professor, Happy Gilmour, Kingpin, etc.), dark thrillers with discussions in dark rooms (Primal Fear, Fargo, A Time to Kill etc.) and romances with injured men (Jerry Maguire, The English Patient, etc.). Even Romeo and Juliet was reinvented from an ancient romantic tale into a modern day story with warring gangs, shootouts and drag, but sentences spoken in Elizabethan English. Popular music consisted of rap (Coolio, 2Pac, etc.), RandB with soft voices promising romance (R Kelly, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, etc.), power ballads about doomed love (Celine Dion, Deep Blue Something, etc.) and songs stripped bare featuring a guitar (Alanis Morisette, etc.). Other computer games included adventurous games set in bright fantasy worlds (Super Mario 64, NiGHTS into Dreams…, Pokémon Red and Blue, etc.) and shooters set in science-fiction (Duke Nukem 3D, Final Doom, Resident Evil, etc.). Into this mix entered Tomb Raider.

The Story

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Los Alamos, New Mexico
A huge explosion appears in a desert, followed by a shockwave that throws rocks and dust into the air. Against the backdrop of a mushroom cloud, a colossal metal disc is lifted into the sky and rests in the sand, sunlight glinting of the surface of the mysterious object, which is covered in a strange pattern. Inside the crater left by the explosion lies a similar object, electricity and red lights flowing across it’s surface. After a flash, the top of the object is lifted by a number of pistons and the artefact is opened to reveal an unknown figure trapped within a crystal structure, dressed in odd clothes.

Imperial Hotel – Calcutta, Present Day
A man, dressed in a red chequered shirt and jeans, walks across the luxurious lobby of a hotel towards a young woman sat in a red armchair. “What’s a man got to do to get that kind of attention from ya?” He asks, throwing down a copy of a magazine with the headline “Lara Stamps Out Bigfoot!!!”.
The woman, dressed in a green vest and brown shorts, casually answers, “It’s hard to say exactly, but you seem to be doing fine.
“Truth is it ain’t me that wants you.” he replies in his rough Texan accent.
“It isn’t?” Her refined voice asks with his face reflected in her sunglasses.
“No, Miss Jacqueline Natla does, owner of Natla Technologies.” He says as he opens up a laptop on a table, revealing a blonde woman in a business suit. “You know, Creator of all things bright and beautiful.”
“Seal it, Larsson.” The powerful looking woman on the laptop commands. She asks the young woman to go to Peru, “Peru. Sheer walls of ice. Rocky crags. And this little trinket.” Images of mountains on the laptop screen are replaced by a schematic drawing of an artefact consisting of three orbs linked in a ring. “The Scion located in the unfound tomb of Qualopec. How about tomorrow? Are you busy tomorrow?” As she asks, a smile spreads across the lips of the young woman.

The game begins in Peru. After running through some mountain caves, the young woman, called Lara Croft, reaches the city of Vilcabamba, which seems to consist of a few houses and a very large swimming pool (that actually leads into someone’s house). Behind a locked door is a passage that leads to a huge structure (which suggests Qualopec is the sort of dictator that houses his people in small accommodation while forcing to build large, unnecessary buildings). As part of Qualopec’s design plans, the building requires a complex way of opening the door that leads forwards and incorporates two swimming pools. Qualopec also requires the player to pass through a passage filled with swinging pendulums and use a trick switch to exit the building and reach the lost valley. The lost valley contains a variety of plants, red dinosaurs and the bones of fellow idiots. The valley also has a giant, green T-Rex that seems to be the last of his kind, until the player kills him. Hidden in the valley is a small building and three cogs (I don’t know why they are hidden, I would like to blame Qualopec, but I can’t believe he would be that irritating). Collecting the cogs allows the player to insert them in an ancient device that blocks water from forming a beautiful waterfall and allows the player to enter the tomb of Qualopec. Further evidence that Qualopec was a bit of a dictator is provided by his tomb. While his people lived in simple houses, Qualopec built a majestic tomb for himself and populated it with vicious dinosaurs. The player is required to complete a number of challenges before entering the actual tomb, where the bones of Qualopec himself can be found guarded by a strange creature (which resembles a mummy) that can be pushed over. The player can then obtain the Scion before quickly leaving the tomb (which collapses). Lara then finds herself fighting Larsson. After defeating him, Larsson reveals that Natla has asked Pierre DuPont to find the next piece of the Scion, before Lara knocks him out with a kick.

Lara then infiltrates Natla’s office at Natla Technologies. She finds an old diary, which, instead of being filled with Natla’s appointments and secret thoughts, was written by a monk, who heard about a great power at St. Francis’ Folly (as wells as being tempted and self flagellating). Lara then travels to St. Francis’ Folly, to find recent evidence of Pierre. The folly mainly consists of a huge tower, with a large door at the bottom requiring four keys to open. The keys can be found in a number of rooms found in the tower that seem to resemble hotel rooms designed to cater for different characters of mythology from several European cultures. The Neptune room has a giant swimming pool and is decorated using tiles, the Damocles room has a number of large swords suspended from the ceiling that fall down and kill the customer, the Thor room has a device that emits lightening bolts and an enormous hammer and the Atlas room has an ape and a gigantic boulder. Opening the door leads to a Colosseum, where lions and apes have learnt to live in a peaceful community, until the player appears and they try to kill them. A grate in the VIP box opens to allow the player to enter an underwater tunnel to reach Palace Midas. The palace has a number luxuries: doors that need a code to open, a room full of spikes and pillars, an underground garden, a hallway filled with fire and a special party room which allows the owner to run into the basement to cause the largest pillar in the room to fall and kill his guests. Hidden within the palace are three lead bars that the player can place on the fallen hand from a giant statue of King Midas to turn to gold. The player can also force Lara to jump onto the palm and turn her into gold as well. These gold bars allow the lucky player to enter the cistern. Passing through the cistern (which is actually strangely luxurious and resembles climbing area) leads to the Tomb of Tihocan. After reaching Tihocan’s fairly grand tomb (which isn’t as ostentatious as Qualopec’s), the player is attacked by a centaur wielding a gun that launches people balls. When the player actually enters the tomb, they hear “You are too late for the French cuisine, no? Still, it is the taking part, which counts.” and decide that that is one taunt too many and finally decide to kill Pierre. Lara finds a second scion among Pierre’s personal effects. The tomb is also decorated with hieroglyphics that inform Lara that Tihocan was one of the three rulers of the kingdom of Atlantis.

After placing the two scions together, Lara has a vision of a great pyramid with three rulers, each with their own scion. Placing the three scions together unleashes a great power that one of the leaders uses to release some sort of creature. The other two rulers take the third rulers scion away and cast it away, before imprisoning the criminal. A meteor hits the pyramid, causing it to sink underwater. The final scion is shown to rest in Egypt. Lara follows the vision to reach the City of Khamoon. The city appears to contain more streets than buildings, a lot of statues and a low quality sphinx. After the City of Khamoon is the Obelisk of Khamoon, a large, ornate obelisk. The player is required to remove a number of decorations from the obelisk and place them on a lesser obelisk found in the City of Khamoon. This opens a large door that leads to the Sanctuary of the Scion. The Sanctuary of the Scion has a large sphinx, that the player opens up to find a passage. The passage leads to a cave containing a pair of massive statues (which are both underground and underwater). Behind these statues is a corridor that eventually leads to a room containing the third scion. Larsson also ambushes you in this room, but you can actually ignore him and continue forward without killing him. Behind the scion is a backdoor that leads outside.

Outside, Lara comes into contact with a cowboy, a street-wise kid and a man dressed in a large coat. Instead of performing disco music, they grab Lara and take away her precious weapons and the pieces of the scion. Natla then appears next to a limo and orders her henchman to kill Lara. Lara escapes their grip and, after performing a motorbike stunt, infiltrates Natla’s yacht (Natla appears to have a great sense of style wherever she goes). The yacht leads to a mysterious island. Lara climbs out the boat and swims to the island, where Natla’s company has been busy tunnelling. After retrieving the guns, the player then defeats each of the henchmen (who generously shared all of Lara’s guns between them) and reaches the entrance to Atlantis. The palyer meets a clone of lara and kills it, using it’s dedication to copying the player’s moves. The player climbs to the top of a pyramid (which is golden on the outside) and finds the completed scion. After grabbing the scion, Lara has a vision of a robotic Qualopec and well-spoken Tihocan condemning a captured Natla for misusing the power of the scion. They decide to use one of Natla’s creatures to activate the mechanism to imprison her and, after his excellent performance at completing that task, use the abominations to guard the various pieces of the scion. In the end, we see Natla being encased in a strange crystal and sealed within the top of the pyramid, while Qualopec and Tihocan know that if she is released, she will be someone else’s problem. In the present, Natla appears, complaining about Qualopec and Tihocan and claiming she will continue her plan. Lara then threatens her, which causes Natla to dive at her and force both of them into the centre of the pyramid. Lara grabs onto a ledge while Natla disappears. A huge half-formed man bursts from a green sphere and attacks Lara. The player defeats the creature. The player then finds the scion again and destroys it, causing the pyramid to collapse. The player finds Natla (who has developed wings) and kills her. Lara then escapes the pyramid, which explodes and boards Natla’s yacht. The game ends with Lara sailing away, unaware that the greatest archaeological discovery of the year has just detonated.

The Review

The credits to the game suggest it was created by around 10 people and there does seem to be some suggestions that the producers were slightly new to making games. The main idea of the game is to explore ancient sites associated with historical civilisations. This game uses the most famous ancient cultures (Central American, European and Egyptian) and even includes the well-known mystery of Atlantis, prehistoric creatures and the atomic bomb tests in Los Alamos. After exploring these periods of history, it can be hard to determine what historical populations will feature in later games (which may explain why later games in the series use modern settings). I’ve actually wondered if the decision to use locations related to Central American cultures was inspired by the book The Celestine Prophecy published a few years beforehand. In the book, a manuscript, describing a number of insights into human behaviour and evolution, are discovered in an ancient temple in South America.

The second section of the game contains a number of inconsistencies. It is set in Europe, but it is hard to locate exactly where in Europe (in fact, it is assumed it takes place Europe, because it is never clarified). The levels contain a mixture of locations associated with the ancient Romans (the Colosseum) and the ancient Greeks (Palace Midas). The St. Francis’ Folly level seems to represent this confusion by using rooms for Neptune (the Roman God of the sea) and Atlas and Damocles (characters from Greek mythology). It also compounds the inconsistency by dedicating a room to Thor (the Norse God of War, a civilisation from the opposite end of Europe to the other two). The link between the Colosseum and Palace Midas levels is a bit strange (an underwater passage behind the VIP box leading to a pool in Palace Midas). While it is possible to link the other locations to the backstory (for example, Qualopec ruling over the City of Vilcabamba and the third scion being hidden within the Sanctuary of the Scion in the City of Khamoon), it is hard to see how the locations used in the Europe section relate to Tihocan (did he reside in Palace Midas? Did he use the Colosseum?)

The game is also very simple to play. It has buttons for jump, climb, push/pull and lara runs everywhere (unless told to walk). One of the only complicated manoeuvres is the running jump, whereby the player has to walk to the edge, jump backwards and then run and jump. The only other complex action is the swan dive, which is unnecessary and only allows Lara to appear more graceful, instead of falling and screaming. It is actually quite enjoyable not having to learn tasks. The puzzles include long-distance jumps (which need a running jump instead of a normal jump) and completing a task in a set limit of time. The common traps include avoiding swinging pendulums, escaping rolling boulders and passing through slamming, spiked doors. Combatting enemies is also simple, drawing guns and shooting the targets while avoiding their attacks by jumping (ironically, this system of fighting is much harder than later, more complex examples because it doesn’t use special attacks that allow the player to defeat the enemy easily). Regaining health is also very simple. Medipacks recover lost health and are either small (brown cylinders) or large (backpacks). A small health pack always provides a quarter of health while a large health pack automatically resets the health to full.

The system for combat also relies on using guns. The pistols have unlimited ammunition, but are the weakest guns. The shotgun is the most powerful, but is slow at discharging multiple shots. The uzis can fire many shots quickly, but are only fairly powerful. The magnums are similar to pistols, but are more powerful. Strangely, magnums are associated with Harry Callaghan holding a brown handle while pointing a long, metal gun barrel and talking about the six bullets kept within the cylindrical magazine. In Tomb Raider, however, they are black versions of the pistols. Gun ammunition is found scattered around the levels, along with medipacks. It is never explained where the items come from (are they dropped from previous explorers or are they built by the ancients), eventhough some items are found next to skeletons. It can be claimed that the abundance of random items, unlimited pistol ammunition and the fact that a vast amount of items can fit inside a tiny backpack contribute to the lack of realism in the game, but I feel that this is part of the enjoyment of the game. In a later game, some of the features were corrected, but they seem to have a negative effect on the game.

A unique aspect of the game is how it teaches you to play it. Many games dedicate the first part of the game to describing the controls and allowing the player to practice playing. In Tomb Raider, the player is able to select Home to learn the controls. Choosing Home takes the player to Lara’s mansion where she is dressed in some training clothes. Lara explains that the removal men had placed a large number of crates in the house and she seems to have turned them into some sort of assault course. She then patiently describes to you (in a strangely friendly tone) how to run, jump etc. At the end, the player climbs out of the swimming pool and she decides to get out of her wet clothes. In this game, the Home function just serves as a way for the game to teach you the basic moves, but this feature will be built upon in later games.

The graphics were good for the times, but appear like models constructed from boxes. I can actually remember being impressed by the size of the sphinx in the Sanctuary of the Scion. It was also surprising to see the background shake, followed by the appearance of a huge T-Rex in the Lost Valley. The gates to the Great Pyramid did look good. The pyramid section of the Great Pyramid level did look impressive, where it was possible to see the different doorways and could look up and down the centre. The game also belongs to a unique group regarding the animations. In previous games, there was no content not controlled by the player, therefore, animations did not exist. In later games, the graphics used for the animations closely resembled the graphics used for ordinary game play. In Tomb Raider, the graphics used in animations was smoother and brighter than the rest of the game. Unfortunately, this caused the objects depicted in the animation to resemble cake icing. However, these animations do seem to have a style of their own, which can be quite enjoyable.

The developers also seemed to have put effort into animating Lara’s death. When the player is defeated by a trap, jump or enemy, there are a variety of short animations depicting Lara’s demise. Falling from a height will show Lara briefly bouncing on the ground with a sickening crunch. Falling from a great height will mean Lara will scream before hitting the ground (in fact, falling from the top of the great pyramid will derive two full screams before Lara reaches Earth). Lara can collapse with a groan and fall on her front. Lara can fall into a squat position before leaning sideways. The T-Rex will lift Lara in his massive jaws before throwing her to the ground. The half-formed man will pick Lara up like a lifeless toy before smashing her carcass into the Earth, etc.

I also enjoy how the developers relieve the boredom of waiting through parts that require loading information from the CD. These loading times occur during the beginning of levels and loading a save, they usually require a few minutes for the console to load the level from the CD. The game uses this opportunity to display artwork based on the four sections of the game. The Peru loading artwork features Lara staring up at a huge door carved from the rock wall, with snow occupying ledges on the cliff face. The Europe loading artwork shows Lara standing in front of a blue door, illuminated by the orange glow of evening light. The Egypt artwork displays Lara, crouched over the controls of a blue motorcycle, accelerating towards a door guarded by a pair of statues. The Atlantis artwork features Lara diving into a sea, the evening sun reflected among the waves, in the direction of a rocky island.

The levels all seemed to be patterned using repeated tiles, so that each area of the wall looks the same. Many of the levels (particularly in the Europe and Egypt sections of the game) are decorated in warm colours, which gives many of the levels a cosy feel, as if the locations are lighted by a small fire. Many of the structures in the game seem less like they were damaged over time, instead each of the broken pillars and missing stairs seem to be just unfinished. The surfaces of the levels also appear intact and as vibrant as if they freshly made. This actually gives a luxurious feel to some of the ruined palaces and lost tombs. The locations are also decorated with objects that resemble pictures in a book (so that the player can only see one angle, no matter what direction they looked), which strangely adds depths to the levels, as if it is possible to imagine ancient people using the different rooms. The levels are also extremely claustrophobic, the sky does not appear during any section of the game (even the Lost Valley has a roof). This seems to increase the comfort of the locations, as if the glow from a small fire will not lose heat and the cold will be kept out.

The only levels which don’t look as good are the Atlantis and Great Pyramid levels. The main reason for this is that it is hard to tell what these locations are actually supposed to look like. The design for Atlantis seemed to be a mix of classical Greek/Roman style made from stone, bare rock and pulsating flesh. The doors seemed to consist of a web of red flesh. The levels are also decorated with giant, green spheres. These green balls pulsate before unleashing one of the strange creatures the plot revolves around. These creatures are also hard to identify, they are coloured red and resemble exposed muscle. The also explode when killed, which makes them irritating.

The essential story is fairly simple, three objects hidden in three places will cause havoc when placed together in another place. It is also faintly unoriginal to have the employer turn out to be the villain (strangely enough, this seems to be the only Tomb Raider game where the player sees Lara being hired for a job). I find it interesting to have figures from the plot actually appear in the game (the bones of Qualopec and Tihocan’s tomb). I also enjoy how they reveal the backstory, showing a simple representation as a sort of silent shadow puppet show followed by an in-depth replay of the events leading to Natla’s incarceration. Unfortunately, there are aspects of the plot which remain unclear. I find it difficult working out what the scion actually did and where the strange creatures come from. It doesn’t clarify what the rulers of Atlantis are, are they human? Or something else? Qualopec and Tihocan seem unusual. It isn’t explained how Natla, imprisoned on the top of the Great Pyramid, ended up in Los Alamos.

The game also belongs to a unique group based on the main character. In previous games, the main character was the player’s conduit through the game, the character responded to the player’s commands, did not speak or have a personality and seemed to function as a tool to solve the puzzles presented by the game. Later games would use main characters with their own personality and a personal history separate to the game. Lara Croft has a personality, but no back story. There are no references to events previous to the start of the game and she does not have colleagues. She speaks and responds to events during animations, but, during gameplay, is completely silent and only acts based on the player’s commands.

Unfortunately, the game is negatively affected by the system of saving progress. The game uses saving crystals (giant blue crystals that jump up and down) that are placed at various points of the levels. If the player progresses through the game without encountering these crystals, they can lose their accomplishments easily if the game is turned off. The crystals also disappear after one use, which makes it harder to save the player’s achievements. It also causes the game to dictate how much time the player spends in the game, as the payer cannot control when to save their progress.

A slight criticism of the game is how the player fights underwater enemies. There is no available weapon that functions underwater, therefore, the player is extremely vulnerable when swimming. This can be easily solved by getting out of the water before fighting.

A strange part of the game is the compass. When the player displays the inventory, the first item is the compass. Selecting the compass opens it, where the player can see a small needle indicating the direction the player is facing. This is not helpful at all. It would be useful if the compass suggested the correct direction to travel in to progress further or find secrets, but it doesn’t. I have no idea why this feature was added to the game.

Finally, I believe the character of Pierre DuPont deserves special mention for being one of the most unusual enemies in a computer game. He is only appears as a mentioned name until St. Francis’ Folly, where he immediately starts shooting at the player. Throughout the rest of the levels in Europe, he just seems to appear as a mysterious assassin. For example, the player would be climbing up a ledge, only to hear the sound of Pierre shooting at them. When he attacks, the only solution is to draw guns and fire back at him until he understands the hint and runs off. He also appears and disappears at will, so that chasing him after he runs away will only result in the player staring at a blank wall, wondering how he could have possible escaped. In the Palace Midas level, he doesn’t bother turning up at all. It is also impossible to work out how he manages to reach the scion when his route is so chaotic.

In summary, the game was enjoyable and easy to play. The story was good and the artefact had a decent backstory. The designs for the levels are good, but are limited by the graphics available at the time. The main criticism of the game was the use of saving crystals.

(Later, a Tomb Raider expansion pack was released called Tomb Raider: Unfinished Business. Expansion packs are versions of games released a number of months or years after the original and usually contain a corrected copy and extra material. They usually require the customer to buy a new copy of the game. The expansion pack contained four new levels. Additionally, a re-vamped version of the game was released in 2007. The re-vamped version of the game updated the graphics and controls and corrected some of the mistakes from the original.)