This negative review is not because of the alleged physics problems some users are having, of which the solution to that is just to turn on V-Sync. It's an old game, live with it.

What I'm negative about is that after 11 years I decided to buy this game again and go at it for a nostalgia trip. It's part of one of my favorite storylines of Tomb Raider. Went through all of it only to be again kinda weirded out by the ending.
Compared to 11 years ago, today I decided to finally do some research about the ending, and what do I learn?


Tomb Raider Underworld: Beneath the Ashes[www.microsoft.com] and
Tomb Raider: Underworld: Lara’s Shadow[www.microsoft.com]
And I thought that Prince of Persia 2008 was one of the only games with these kinda practices.

I'm saddened to learn this game has this history behind it, especially cause it's never mentioned in the game that the story doesn't end there, so it just leaves the player with a meh ending.
The game has a "Previously on Tomb Raider" video, why not make one with the ending of the DLCs I wonder? How is it better, that to know it, I have to look it up on YouTube?
Even a simple sentence stating the story would continue on XBOX 360 DLCs would have been better than nothing.
Disappointing, as much as with Prince of Persia 2008.

Nope.
Nope nope nope nope nope.
Don't get this content lacking trash PC port game. Don't support this.
It's crazy that THE ENDING is an exclusive DLC never released on PC.

05/05/2021 edit:
As of today, I learned apparently the devs are trying to port the DLCs to the other platforms!
There is some hope!

READ THIS BEFORE YOU EVEN CONSIDER PLAYING THIS GAME

I remember playing this game when it first came out, great game genuinely worth the positive reviews.

Coming back however I was starting to have a bad time (REEEEE):
- controls not responding like they should
- physics all wonky
- Enemies attack timers are way off

How could this be? Did I remember this game to better then the trash I had to play these days?

HOW DO I FIX?!
1. You turn Vsync on
2. You cap the game at 60 fps max
3. You cap the refresh rate at 60 hz

But why would I do this?
- Excellent controls
- No wonky physics
- World works like it should
- Game runs like sunshine, very gud (11/10)

Tomb Raider: Underworld on tarinallisesti suoraa jatkoa Tomb Raider: Legend pelille. Pelattavuus on monella tavalla hyvin samanlaista ja Underworld on todellakin jatko-osa, sillä se on niin samanlainen, mutta samalla aikaa, se pitää sisällään monia parannuksia edelliseen nähden.

Tarina alkaa kun Lara Croft jatkaa äitinsä etsimistä. Tavoitteena on jollakin tavalla päästä Avaloniin tai mihin alamaailmaan äiti onkaan hävinnyt. Aarrejahti johtaa kuitenkin Laran uusiin ympyröihin, kun hän saa huomata että Avalon on suoraan liitoksissa norjalaiseen mytologiaan, kuten Thoriin ja tämän vasaraan Mjolniriin. Koska peli jatkaa edellisen pelin tarinaa, tutut viholliset ovat myös kuvioissa, mutta tuttu hahmo Tomb Raiderin alkuajoilta tekee myös paluun.

Hautaryöstäjä: Alamaailma on pelattavuudessa, tunnelmassa ja graafisessa ulkoasussa samaa maata kuin Legenda. Muutoksia huomaa kuitenkin äkkiä sillä elinvoimapalkki ja muut mittarit ovat uudenlaisia ja varusteissa ja kentissä on myös eroja. Nyt voit esimerkiksi kentän alussa valita minkä kakkosaseen valitset.

Tarinallisessa mielessä tämä peli tuntuu jotenkin paremmalta. Syy tähän voi tosin olla myös siinä että tarina jatkaa jo hyvin aloitettua saagaa ja tehostaa sitä. Hahmot ovat tuttuja ja hyvin kirjoitettuja. Tarinan jaksotus toimii todella hyvin mutta samalla tuntuu että tässä pelissä monet tietyt avusteet tuntuvat itsestään selviltä ohjeilta. PDA:lla voi esimerkiksi tarkistaa nykyisen tavoitteen ja vaikka ottaa Laralta vihjeen mitä voisi yrittää, mutta nämä ovat hyvin usein vain sen asian ääneen sanomista, mitä pelaaja melko varmasti jo itsekin ajatteli, mitään oikeasti hyödyllistä en näistä koskaan saanut.

Se mikä tämän pelin tapauksessa nyppii eniten, ei niinkään ole huonossa ohjattavuudessa sillä vaikka ohjattavuus onkin vähän tahmea, niin edeltäjään verrattuna se tuntuu astetta jouhevammalta, mutta kyllä sellaiset tietyt heikkoudet huomaa. Paljon enemmän tämän pelin tapauksessa rasittaa kenttäsuunnittelu. Kentät tuntuvat isommilta ja vapaammilta mutta ongelmaksi nousee se että monissa kentissä kestää hetken arpoa että minne pitäisi mennä tai mitä pitäisi tehdä, puhumattakaan muutamista kiipeilykohdista, joissa paikkoja jotka näyttävät siltä että niihin voi hypätä, vaan ei voi. Samalla aikaa ongelmaksi nousee se että joskus et meinaa pystyä laskeutua roikkumaan ja joskus putoat suoraan alas tai hyppäät irti kielekkeestä, kun tulkitsen Laran vilkuilun väärin. Muutenkin tuntuu että jaksotus ei ole pitkässä juoksussa ole yhtä hyvää kuin aiemmin.

On syytä korostaa että edeltäjään verrattuna Underworld tuntuu reilusti kiipeilyyn ja pulmanratkontaan painottuvalta peliltä. Toimintaa on siellä ja täällä mutta ihmisvihollisia varsinkin on vain harvaksellaan ja ammuskelu jää vahvasti sivuun. Tosin sanottakoon että on aika hienoa päästä kruisailemaan moottoripyörällä vähän isommissa kentissä.

Samalla tavalla kuin Legend, Underworld on hyvä peli. Se on edeltäjäänsä verrattuna paranneltu, mutta se ei tee siitä oitis parempaa peliä, sillä varsinkin pomovihollisten puute syö toiminnallisuutta. Tarinallisessa mielessä kokonaisuus toimii paremmin ja tämä peli vie loppuun sen minkä Legend aloitti. Itse sanoisin että tämä ja Legend on pitkälti samalla viivalla, mutta puzzlepainotteisuus vie tätä alaspäin.

Kokonaisuutena Tomb Raider: Underwold on hyvä peli joka tarjoaa vähän enemmän pelattavaa ja reilusti enemmän etsittävää kuin edeltäjänsä. Se on isompi ja hiotumpi mutta se on myös rasittavampi. Ero aiempaan on aika pieni sillä vaikka tämä peli tekeekin niin monet asiat todella hyvin, niin se luopuu samalla monista hyvistä asioista. Hintaansa nähden (myös sen 1€ alennuksessa) kuitenkin todella hyvä ostos, Legendin tavoin.


+ Lara Croft
+ Juoni vie loppuun aiemmat tarinat
+ Edeltäjäänsä hiotumpi

- Kiipeily ja puzzlepainotteinen toiminnan kustannuksella
- Pomovihollisten puute
- Rasittava


Arvosana: 7/10

7/10

"No bro, you don't get it. My camera NEEDS to be specifically angled against the wall like this so that Lara's ass fills 85% of my screen."

Before Crystal Dynamics took hold of the franchise, Tomb Raider was in dire straits. The downward spiral had finally reached the bottom, and you'd be forgiven for wondering if we'd ever see Lara Croft return to relevancy again. But just like that, Legend was released and all was forgiven, with a tighter knit, better polished, and more cinematic Tomb Raider than we had seen in years. The follow up, Anniversary, reworked the original TR with a modern engine and a handful of additions and fixes to polish it off into something that, while not quite the hit Legend was, set the stage for the final game in the trilogy, Underworld, which fully showcases all the CD was aiming for by combining the best parts of their past two games into a fitting end to their first run with Lara, and a solid game in its own right.

Underworld is a direct sequel to Legend, which means if you haven't played the latter (and preferably Anniversary as well), you're going to quickly become lost in a sea of supernatural monsters, returning characters, and a plot that bites off quite a bit more than it can chew. All that said, it finally answers most if not all of the questions proposed by the last two games, finally giving Lara some closure for all that's happened up to this point, as well as for the trilogy, allowing CD free control to go wherever they like with a sequel. It's not going to blow your mind or keep you thinking about it after the credits role, but the narratives blockbuster mentality is more than enough to entertain and carry the game through to the end (provided you don't stop to think about why anything is happening alone the way).

While Legends focused more on style and set pieces, and Anniversary on classic tomb raiding and puzzle solving, Underworld finally manages to meld these two halves almost perfectly, creating what I would consider the truest expression of Tomb Raider Crystal Dynamics has made. The mechanics themselves have been expanded significantly from past games, with platforming in particular getting a much needed upgrade thanks to Lara's larger move set, which feels far more natural and free form than what we've seen in the past as well as allows for a greater amount of variety in the level designs. The levels themselves have also gotten a boost, now on an outrageous scale that towers above you as you attempt to work your way through them, populated by more elaborate puzzles and a ridiculous number of hidden collectibles to find. Everything that Tomb Raider is known for has been improved and taken on a new scope, but in a similar vein, all the has been wrong with the series for years has been entirely neglected.

Combat, though moderately improved, is still as mindless and unsatisfying as ever. The camera continues to be your worst nightmare, seemingly out to make navigating through levels a living hell and often sending you jumping off in entirely the wrong direction. Numerous frustrating glitches make themselves known throughout, from harmless bugs to aggravating mishaps that make progression incredibly difficult. Most disappointing though is how the level designs can often get ahead of themselves, leaving you scratching your head at the enormous size of them without the slightest idea where to begin. The hint system certainly helps in this regard, but it's an imperfect solution, and ideally one you shouldn't ever need to rely on.

If you have ever played a Tomb Raider game before though, none of this should surprise you. As I said before, Crystal Dynamics has built up what the series does best, while quietly ignoring its issues perhaps hoping they'll be overshadowed or ignored. Personally I'm more than capable of putting up with these annoyances in exchange for the rest of the experience, but I'm definitely beginning to ask myself why I'm OK doing this, or if I should have to (the answer for which is obvious). If you didn't enjoy Legend or Anniversary you will find nothing more to draw you into Underworld, but for those who have yet to tire of Lara's escapades Underworld provides a fitting final chapter in this particular story of her life, if also a signal that it's probably time to move onto something new.

You can read more of my writing on Kritiqal[kritiqal.com].

Tomb Raider: Underworld takes you on an adventure through Norse mythology to find the lost island of Avalon. Beautiful levels, fun gameplay, exploration, and amazing visuals make this game a beloved addition to the series and truly worthy of the name Tomb Raider.

+ Puzzles
+ Fun traversal/climbing
+ Beautiful variety of levels and locations
+ Easy combat
+ Thor's hammer!
- Puzzles can be irritating when you have to pick up items
- Repetitive and sometimes frustrating combat

Underworld is like all the other Tomb Raider games in terms of gameplay. The puzzles are fun and challenging, the climbing and traversal is great, and the variety of levels, locations, and environments are amazingly well done. Combat is still the same simple lock on with right click and hold left click to shoot Thor's hammer was fun to use though, and while this is easy it can get quite boring and repetitive Plus those ****ing spiders are annoying as hell!. If you liked the gameplay in previous Tomb Raider games you will enjoy this one just as much. The main issue however, lies with the puzzles. Like other games you have to pick up a weight and set it down on a switch, this is nothing new. However a lot of times the game glitches and will either throw Lara far back, or more often than not, Lara and the block fly around the room making it just irritating to set them down on a switch.


+ Easy controls
+ Easy combat
- Frustrating camera placements
- Unresponsive controls at times

Again, the controls and camera are exactly like Legend and Anniversary. They are easy to learn and do what you need to do, but sometimes Lara simply doesn't do what you want her to do and while it's frustrating it isn't gamebreaking. The main problem with games like these (Tomb Raider, Uncharted, basically any game with traversal and climbing) is the camera placement. It just isn't always where you need it to be to see where you're going and again, it can be quite irritating that you miss jumps and have to restart because the camera.

+ Gorgeous levels
+ Variety of locations
+ Water well done
- Graphical glitches

The levels and locations in Underworld are well-done in quality and quantity. You travel all around the world, see different places and architecture, and the parts where you are underwater are just beautiful to be in and explore. There is the occasional graphic glitch but nothing gamebreaking, she will get stuck in the ground a few times but if you simply stop moving it normally fixes itself.

+ Engaging story
+ Interesting history and mythology
+ Nice length

I thoroughly enjoyed the story in Underworld which revolved around Norse mythology, mainly Thor. It was interesting, informative, engaging, lengthy and overall was enjoyable to play throughout the whole game.


Underworld is an amazing addition to the Tomb Raider series and is worth your time. It has an engaging story line with history and mythology of excellent length. A variety of challenging puzzles, climbing, and traversal in an array of beautiful locations, none looking quite like the other. The combat, in my opinion, gets boring and repetitive as it is simply hold right click to lock on and left click to shoot while dodging and flipping. The main issue I had with this game was some of the puzzles took longer than they should have because graphical glitches cause weight blocks to shoot off the switch and to the other side of the room. However the underwater levels are some of the best times in this game and are simply breathtaking.

Wonderful addition to the Tomb Raider series.
Buy it. 9/10

When I press SHIFT to run the camera goes to Lara's booty

Tomb Raider: Anniversary, Legend, and Underworld are the original "Reboot Trilogy" that arguably saved the entire Tomb Raider franchise. Core, Toby Gard, and it's publisher pioneered Lara Croft... and destroyed her in the late 1990's with a series of rushed Tomb Raider titles for the PS1. The titles were rushed so badly to make holiday season deadlines that the gameplay suffered, and it's creator Toby Gard even opted to leave and move on after the license being somewhat robbed of him by higher corporate masters.

This is where Crystal Dynamics enters , and revives Tomb Raider in the mid 2000's with a rather solid trilogy. I'd argue that Tomb Raider may have died without the people at Crystal Dynamics...

All three titles are a must have for any Tomb Raider fan. Even if you only were introduced to the franchise with the latest reboot trilogy (TR, TR: Rise , TR: Shadow ). The games still look and feel decent even by today's standards, and they have aged much better than their 1990's counterparts.

The graphics are more than adequate as they come from the Xbox 360 era, they still look great in my opinion. The stories can have some cheesy or cliche moments, but any serious fan won't care and will love getting more back-story about Lara. The level design and puzzles have succeeded even the originals. The music is rather pretty and mood-setting. The combat? Well, just like the newer trilogy there may be too much or too little at times, but generally speaking works well.

Bugs? Yup, there is a bug that interferes with dropping blocks at a certain point in the game. However it's easily fixed by simply turning on V-Sync. Other than that I've noticed little bugs and not one crash on Windows 10.

And the controls? Don't be a moron. The game was designed for consoles and brought to the "PC Peasants" who always clamor for more console exclusives. Use an Xbox One/360 controller for optimal play. As with many platformers, if you use a mouse/keyboard it will be a needlessly frustrating experience for you as "ASDW hax" can't replace a dual-analog controller. This isn't a FPS or RTS, and controllers have their place, thankfully the games support them. If you struggle with controllers, well... lay off the vodka maybe? It's not rocket science.

The price is absolutely excellent considering all 3 titles could keep you busy for many hours. I picked up all three titles for $1.00 each on a 85% off sale. Even at the $10,00 price-point they're worth it.

I have no regrets. This is my second time buying all 3 titles as I had the originals on the Xbox 360 over a decade ago. I purchased the games again for a trip down memory lane. I recommend you pick them up as well. I for one will be going for yet another play-through. These 3 games hold a nostalgic place in my heart. Money well wasted :)

If Tomb Raider: Underworld has 1000 fans, I am one of them.
If Tomb Raider: Underworld has 100 fans, I am one of them.
If Tomb Raider: Underworld has 1 fan, I am the only one.
If Tomb Raider: Underworld has no fans, then I am dead.