If there is one game out this month that starts with a bang, then it is quite literally Tomb Raider Underworld. This is because the first thing you will see is Croft Manner being burned to the ground, and worrying the thing is that Lara is still inside, meaning that from the off you can see that this game means business.

Tomb Raider Underworld kicks off from where Legend ended with Lara picking up from where her fathers research finished and also trying to uncover the mystery surrounding her mum. Once Lara escapes from the burning mansion, her travels take her to the Mediterranean where she finds a hidden cavern the on the Sea floor, it is here that she uncovers proof of the existence of the mythical hammer of the Norse God Thor, a weapon rumoured to have the power to smash mountains into valleys and destroy the Gods themselves, however at the same time her enemies discover her and then the adventure really begins.

While the game feels similar to Legend in the fact that the movement of Lara remains the same, there have been a few tweaks to make the experience more enjoyable, mainly that now you have to react to certain situations on your own instead of being prompted to do so.

Combat has also been tweaked slightly, for example you can now aim at two different targets at the same time, which is very handy when you have two Tigers both eyeing you up for their lunchtime sandwich. The weapons have also improved, a new addition is the sticky grenade, which comes in useful as it will explode where it lands rather than rolling away from the enemies. As well as the grenade you are also equipped with dual pistols, which have unlimited ammo, and although you can acquire other weapons such as a submachine gun or shotgun, this all seems rather irrelevant given that you can take most enemies out with a mix of your adrenaline, which always seems to be full and ready for use and the pistols. You can thankfully adjust the games difficulty even from within the action though, so should you be finding things a little too easy thanks to your never ending ammo then you should be able to make the situation at least a little bit more tense.

One of the most exciting things about the Tomb Raider series has also been the ability to explore and find your way around, many times during the previous game in the series I was scratching my head thinking about how I would get from one platform to the next and sometimes the frustration would cause me to turn off the console and come back later with a fresh mind. Tomb Raider Underworld seems to make things a little easier in this department by giving more options to get to the out of reach platforms and ledges, now you can leap from one wall to another which creates a sort chimney affect and allows you to scale upwards and reach your target, in fact anything you think Lara should be able to do seems to become reality.

The game as usual is packed to the brim with puzzles, though this time you are usually given a choice of solving more than one at once, meaning that you choose which way to go first, a good example of this can be found in the underground cavern under the Med Sea, here you are faced with a large Octopus who is blocking your path, to remove him you must negotiate your way around each side of the cavern and before pulling a lever you must remove his tentacles from the cogs, once this is done you then have to find your way to the other side, once there do the same and then this allows you to lower the large spikes onto his head, it is only then that you can move on. I don’t know how many attempts it took me to do this but it was certainly a challenge.

To help you along your way the developer has now included a PDA, this is accessed by pressing the select button on your controller, not only does this include a sonar map, which comes in very handy but it also has an option called field assistance, pressing a button here will result in you hearing Lara’s voice telling you what you need to do, pressing another button will then give you a further hint, which does come in handy at times.

Unfortunately there are quite a few issues with the game, for one Lara is constantly getting stuck in the scenery, however the most frustrating issue is with the camera, countless times during the game it will zoom in far too close to Lara, meaning that you are unable to see the next jump, which usually results in her falling to her demise. The game is also very dark in stages and although Lara does have a light, due to the camera issues the darkness does hinder you perhaps more than it should.

Graphically the game for the most part is a joy to behold, some parts are just stunning, this is especially noticeable when Lara is scaling surfaces, her movement looks almost perfect and the surrounding environments only add to the visual pleasure that your eyes will behold.

Tomb Raider Underworld is an excellent game of that there is no doubt, having played many of the previous games in the series I can honestly say that I have enjoyed this one the most, sure it has it’s problems but anyone who is a fan of the series or who is just looking for a first look into the world of Lara will not go wrong with this game.

Overall Rating: 8/10