It’s been almost 30 years since the original Tomb Raider debuted on the original PlayStation, and throughout that time, Lara Croft has made her way through a slew of classic games, movies, promos, and re-imaginings across a number of platforms and mediums. We have now gone back to the beginning, with a fully realized remaster of the original three games, and while there’s a lot to love for fans of the series, those new to the world to Tomb Raider may be left wanting much, much more, to put it lightly.
As of late, I’ve had a serious itch for PSOne classics, and there’s a charm that comes with those classics that isn’t terribly easy to find nowadays, whether it be in the style of gameplay, the music, or the unique visual presentation. While I’ve owned many of the most heralded titles from the original PlayStation, the Tomb Raider franchise has been one that has always eluded me. Having finally experienced these classics, in what is ultimately the definitive classic collection, here’s my take.
Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Review – Upgrades
I’ll begin by discussing some of the various upgrades to the existing games, and what makes this a solid choice for longtime fans of the series. From the get-go, the presentation and initial menu system is clean, and right to the point. You can easily switch between Tomb Raider 1, 2, and 3, as if they were all interconnected, with a simple press of the up/down button. The menus are true to the original PlayStation releases, along with the original themes that play, and there aren’t any additional menus you have to fumble through; this is a pure as it gets. All three games come packed with their accompanying expansions: “Unfinished Business” in Tomb Raider 1, “Gold Mask” in Tomb Raider 2, and “The Lost Artifact” in Tomb Raider 3.
While all of the three games have the standard tank controls in place, one of the big improvements is the addition of a “modern controls” setting, which makes the game vastly more accommodating for new players, or those who prefer a more intuitive, comfortable way to play. While some classic players may still prefer the tank controls, if you’re new to these games, the modern controls will be your biggest friend, just note it won’t be too easy to enter cheat codes with them, and you’ll likely have to revert back to the tank controls in order to get them working.
Potentially the most drastic change to all three games is the massive visual update, which developer Aspyr absolutely knocked out of the park. The games look phenomenal, and if you’re someone who played the originals, you’ll be extremely pleased at the work that was done here. While there’s always room for improvement, the atmosphere has gone from being somewhat awkwardly bright, with no skybox in the original games, to one of, honestly, utter beauty. The visuals have been greatly enhanced with the modern design choices, and the look draws you in more than ever. Shadows and lighting look superb, while other minor side elements in the game have had their flat 2D-esque models turned into vibrant 3D representations with way more detail. The coolest thing about this is that you can flip back-and-forth between the updated visuals and the classic PlayStation visuals in an instant with a press of the start button, so whether you’re an old school player or brand new to the series, you can experience both representations of the game with ease. All this is delivered in a crisp 60fps, 4K presentation.
Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Review – Photo Mode
There is also a new photo mode, which, oddly enough, is never mentioned or documented in the game (as far as we could tell), so the first time we came across it was actually by accident, by pressing L3 and R3 at the same time. The ability to seamlessly switch between old and new visuals is also present while in photo mode, and another cool aspect of it is that you can actually cruise through any open areas in the game with the camera, which means being able to explore certain areas before actually traversing forward, as long as there are no locked doors or obstacles blocking your way.
Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Review – The Gameplay
Now we get to the gameplay…
Fans of the original games on the PlayStation will not have much to complain about, as at its core, the same tank controls you were used to back then are still here, along with the introduction of the modern controls that make traversal far more enjoyable, and much easier to handle. That being said, these controls, whether tank or modern, have not aged well at all, and the core gameplay does not help. At their core, unbeknownst to some who may have never played the originals, the Tomb Raider games are not entirely action games… they are first and foremost puzzle games, with gunplay scattered throughout that isn’t really all that fun, though for the time period when the originals came out, may have been seen as merely OK. This is where it would have behooved Aspyr to consider resolving some of the common frustrations with the game, whether it be the trial-and-error nature of Lara’s ability to grab ledges, the animations that trigger whenever bumping into a wall, which will happen again and again, or the lack of responsiveness of the controls overall, which is a major pain point as you play. The camera works well enough, but often catches a snag when navigating through tighter areas, and may also get hung up depending on how you’re rotating it in certain other areas. To Aspyr’s credit though, they stuck to keeping the gameplay itself as it always was, which is a good thing for the longtime fans and purists, though not necessarily a great thing for those new to the series looking for a fluid, responsive experience, even if the frame rate and visuals themselves are smooth as silk.
As far the experience as a whole goes, these games do not hold your hand. You WILL die… a lot, and there are no checkpoints or auto-save to speak of, other than at the very start of a level, so saving often is highly encouraged. But again, the kind of difficulty associated with the games in this collection is less in regards to things actually being difficult, and more having to do with the fact that the controls and responsiveness are just beyond frustrating at times, and if we’re being honest, most times. I’m a person who, in particular, adores difficult games, but when the controls are getting in the way of that, you’re fighting harder to beat your way past the games’ flawed gameplay, as opposed to the actual challenges being presented by the game.
Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Review – Conclusion
All-in-all, if you’re a longtime fan of the Tomb Raider series, or a new player looking to get into the classic titles, this is 100% the way to go, and you won’t find a better experience with the classic games. Fans of any other series would be lucky to have their favorite titles get this kind of treatment, and at $29.99 USD, the publisher actually respects the players. This is an easy recommendation for your collection, and our score should have very little to do with your decision. Feel free to stop reading here, and nab this game. It’s exactly as you remember it, only better.
However, if you’re a new player just looking for a solid experience, it’s really hit-and-miss here, as it’ll require a ton of patience to get past the flaws inherent in these games. The over-reliance on game saves in lieu of the implementation of a modern checkpoint system only adds to the frustration, even if it maintains the integrity of the original games, and not even the implementation of the new modern control scheme can save you from the clunky characteristics when trying to navigate through any of the three titles in this collection, as the scheme remains practically unchanged from game to game.
Aspyr did a phenomenal job with updating the look and feel of these games for a new generation, it just would have been nice if advances in gameplay mechanics and more quality-of-life improvements came along for the ride.
6
Tomb Raider I-III Remastered review code provided by publisher and reviewed on a PS5. For more information on scoring, please read What our review scores really mean.
