Product Description

Lara Croft and her tomb raiding adventures come to life on the Wii Console. Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary takes full advantage of the unique controls of the Wii Console, and delivers exclusive new content allowing players to become an extension of Lara Croft and interact with the Tomb Raider exploration and discovery like never before. Tomb Raider follows the adventures of Lara Croft after she is hired by a powerful syndicate to retrieve a mythical object called the Scion. After discovering that she has been used as a pawn in some larger scheme, Lara takes matters into her own hands deciding that she must uncover the mystery behind this ancient artifact. Over 3 hours of exclusive new content and features for the Wii console.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3992 in Video Games
• Brand: Eidos
• Released on: 2007-11-13
• ESRB Rating: Teen
• Platform: Nintendo Wii
• Dimensions: .36 pounds

Features

• Redesigned Puzzles: All-new puzzles have been created specifically to take advantage of the Wii Remote and Nunchuk providing a dynamic new experience not available on any other platform.
• Archaeologist's Tool Kit: Draw runes and hieroglyphs in the sand to activate ancient mechanisms, uncover clues buried in layers of ancient grime with the chisel and brush, and take charcoal rubbings of findings to put in your journal.
• Remote Flashlight: Illuminate dark areas by pointing and aiming the Wii Remote like a torch to reveal ancient clues. Twist the Wii Remote to narrow the beam of light allowing you to uncover secrets hidden in the dark.
• Flick of the Wrist Controls: Use the movement of the Nunchuk and Wii Remote to climb and shimmy along ledges, swim, grapple, swing, and shake free from enemy clutches.
• Active Aim Combat System: Use the Wii Remote to aim your pistols at the screen and unleash a hail of bullets at charging enemies.

Customer Reviews

I'm surprised. Like a fine wine, this game aged well.
I purchased this game for my girlfriend (along with Tomb Raider Legend for the Game Cube) because she really likes the Tomb Raider games, but I did not expect to play the game much at all. I have never been a huge Tomb Raider fan. On the original game I never progressed farther than half of the first level and watched my friends beat the rest of the game. I wanted to play more of the original game, but the controls really annoyed me. I didn't expect much from this version of the game either.

I'm glad that I was wrong. This game is very good. Not perfect, but very good. I found myself pressuring my girlfriend to play more of the game so that I could have a crack at it. The big problem is that I get into trouble if I start playing one of her games and I get farther into the game than she does, so I have to wait until she's done.

Graphically, the game is pretty good. The levels are large, expansive, and look good. Not amazing, but good. Levels are designed to be aethetically pleasing and complex at the same time. One of my favorite parts of the game is the waterfall zone in Peru. There are moving cogs, gears, water wheels, and other objects on screen creating a vibrant and active environment, much of it interactive. When I saw my girlfriend hit this part of the game, I had to give it a go.

I would favorably compare the game to the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time series. Lara moves with more freedom than she has in any other game except perhaps Tomb Raider legend. She controls fluidly and feels acrobatic, but the Prince would own her any day with his mad Persian ninja skills. The motion controls work well, especially the grappling hook. There are some quick-time motion control events that work well, but feel slightly out of place mostly due to the glaring animation superimposed on top of the screen instructing you what to do. Reducing the size of the instructional animation would have been a better design decision, but it doesn't hurt the overall fun factor.

Combat will probably upset some Tomb Raider purists while gamers who enjoy action games will probably view the changes to gunplay as an improvement. Although Lara can lock the camera onto enemies, the player must actually aim the cursor using the wiimote pointer at the actual target. Personally, I view it as an improvement and I like that combat requires more than just locking onto the enemy, running in circles around it while mashing down the fire button down. My girlfriend didn't like it as much and it took her some getting used to because it was a major departure from the way combat has been handled in previous Tomb Raider games. It doesn't actually make the game any better or worse, but it is a difference to take into account. Ultimately, the game is truly about exploration and puzzle solving so a change in the combat system doesn't really affect my overall opinion of the game, as long as it works. My only serious complaint about the game is the camera. Usually the camera isn't a problem, but in combat it is easy to get disoriented in tight quarters if you aren't careful. I didn't have much of a problem adapting to the camera, but my girlfriend did. I chalk the difference up to the fact that I probably play way too many video games and have learned to adapt quickly to different camera systems while my girlfriend generally tries to do more productive things with her time and has less practice with those types of issues. Ultimately, she got going along pretty smoothly and can raid tombs with the best of them.

Tomb Raider pros:
===> Clean, crisp graphics and beautiful environments.
===> Levels that are based off on the original Tomb Raider. The levels have been changed signifigantly but still will hold a lot of nostalgia for gamers that played the original.
===> Generally well designed motion controls that add to the immersive nature of the game.
===> Low price tag: At $40, this game is definitely worth it.

Tomb Raider cons:
===> The camera gets a little too twitchy when in close quarters combat.
===> Player profiles automatically default to the first file, so if you have a second person playing through on their own profile, the game will automatically default to the first person's profile upon start-up, requiring any other player to load up their profile instead. This is a really minor complaint, but it isn't an intuitive design unless you happen to be the only person playing the game. I'm just picky about that.

Overall, I highly recommend this title to most gamers. If you are looking for an action-packed blast fest with guns a-blazin', I recommend avoiding Tomb Raider games in general, but if you want a well-designed cerebral adventure with a great sense of exploration and wonder, this game is for you. I enjoy this game so much that I really want to see Tomb Raider 2 and 3 given the same treatment. Now if someone, and by someone I specifically mean Lucas Arts, could just get around to creating a really good Indiana Jones game for the consoles...

What Happened?
Plain and simply...it's difficult. No one wants a game that's tooooo easy but no one want's a game that's frustrating.
-First the camera angles are not that good. The camera is beyond dynamic. They continuously move, so that when you're trying to climb or jump back or up she jumps the wrong way. When you leap toward a ledge she tends to be off sometimes due to the dynamic camera motion.
-Second there's no auto-lock feature for aiming. When you press the Z button it activates some sort of lock feature that allows you to jump around aimlessly. For creatures like bats it's very difficult to aim and shoot them when the camera's are off.
-First time ever I got stuck this long at a game. I bought the Eprima guide and uh it helped...a little. Got me out of that spot but if you want this game you MUST buy the guide and learn how to interpret it.
-Laura looks a little different also but who cares she's still hot.

If you're not planning on getting the guide I've got two words for ya...GOOD LUCK

Finally released on the Nintendo Platform!!!
I remember playing the Tomb Raider games in college on my friend's Playstation. I always loved the character of Lara Croft and the adventure the games offered. Exotic locales, puzzling tombs, exciting battles, breathtaking scenery. Having always been a nintendo girl, I was often sad that the Tomb Raider games were never released on other platforms...until now!
Tomb Raider Anniversary is everything I remembered the games being and more! Now incorporating the innovative Wii remote, Lara Croft has never been so much fun in action. Sure it takes awhile to get the hang of things, but once you do you can't imagine playing Lara any other way! This game is hours of absolute fun!
Thanks for releasing this wonderful game on the Wii!!!