The sequel to ‘The Last Revelation’, this new edition, the chronicles, fills in the gaps left out in all previous version. Missing presumed dead, at the end of The Last Revelation, Chronicles takes the form of a series of flashbacks relived by Lara’s friends and family. 

Unlike the other Tomb Raider titles, which have a single storyline running from start to end, these flashbacks make up four totally unrelated adventures. In time-honoured Tomb Raider fashion this means that there are four artefacts to be collected and four locations to be delved into. 

Besides the edition of a few stealth and hand-to-hand combat moves there is very little to distinguish the game play of this from previous versions. 

The visuals are more or less the same as all Tomb Raiders so far, although Lara does cat a PVC catsuit in later levels of this latest incarnation. 

Over the past few years Eidos have managed to tweak this superb third person adventure game and while there’s no disputing that Tomb Raider Chronicles is the most visually appealing of the series it may not be enough to warrant forking out £35. 

Eidos, however, seem only too aware of this fact and so Chronicles comes complete with a level editor, enabling you to create your own levels. While this should appeal to most avid third person adventure fans, it is better in theory than in practise. 

Conceiving your own devious levels for Lara to navigate around can be somewhat tedious, spending hours creating a level only to find out that it is nowhere near as good as you expect can be frustrating, mind you, Eidos are professional game designers and most of us frankly are just enthusiastic amateurs. 

Tomb Raider Chronicles covers many new locations from the streets of Rome, a small Irish island, a high tech tower block and a Russian U-Boat. Each episode has a unique focus and requires a different strategy to complete it. For example, the Irish level where Lara is only sweet 16, is played without any weapons and relies solely on puzzle solving and traps. The U-Boat has a very X-Files feel to it, while the Rome levels comprise of classic action sequences. The final tower block features hi-tech systems that require stealth, strategy and lots of climbing in the skintight catsuit. 

Conclusion

Despite it looking exactly the same as The Last Revelation this game fills all the gaps left by the rest of the series, it is by far, both graphically and by the playability, the best third person action adventure game around, it is one of those games that will get your heart racing and your mind into overdrive.

It may not be worth the £35 that it is currently retailing at, but shop around and you will soon find it a lot cheaper.

Star Rating: HHHII

Producer: Eidos

System Spec:

Windows 95/98/ME 

16mb RAM (32mb recommended)

Direct X 6.1

PII 233, 266 (recommended)

4x CD-ROM 

Direct-X compatible sound card

Direct-X compatible 3D card