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Tomb Raider Anniversary - updated impressions

Ruin-diving remake re-invents Lara's first outing

Words: GamesRadar US

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The camera pans over a large room dominated by wooden machinery, powered by a gigantic waterfall. Accompanied by ethereal music, it's hard not to stare. Graphically, this is amazing - but it's also incredibly nostalgic. This is Peru from Lara Croft's first, infamous adventure, recreated for a new generation of gamers. Welcome to Tomb Raider: Anniversary.

We're impressed. Running on PS2, but with all the polish of Legend, is the original (and best) Tomb Raider game. Tomb Raider 1, the pride of PSone and PC. More precisely, we're looking at the legendary waterfall level in Peru. And that means one thing: the T-Rex. Dax Ginn, the game's executive designer, explains how the game has changed. We just want him to bust out the dinosaur…

The level itself is absolutely massive, filled with ancient architecture, dilapidated ruins and ancient - but surprisingly sophisticated - machinery. Those Incas just love their mechanical puzzles… The choice of ways to get from one end of a level to the other is vast and there are wild animals to shoot, puzzles to solve and - a real first for Tomb Raider 1 - some blue sky. Yup, the first game was entirely underground.