Tomb Raider: Underworld (PS2)

Ok, let me first go on record as saying, this was the BIGGEST PIECE O' POO GAME produced. Please excuse my language, but Tomb Raider Underworld for Playstation 2 is not worth the month or trouble I had to go through to get it. Let me explain.

Ok, so when I first heard about Underworld, I was a little sad it was "only coming out o PS3", or at least that what all the articles I read said. Then later I saw it was coming out for PS2 and I got all excited. I heard that I could pre-order it, so I went to Amazon and pre-ordered the PS2 one while my mom pre-ordered the PS3 one. I don't own a PS3, but I do use one, but I wanted the PS2 version just because I have all the others that came out for PS2 and I figured I could get the PS3 version later when it became a greatest hit or something. So when I went to order I was a little confused on why the PS2 version didn't come out until 2009 when the PS3 version came out in 2008. I was a little sad about that. I knew I wouldn't play the Ps3 version much because at the time I couldn't get comfortable for playing long amounts of time where the PS3 was. But I went ahead and ordered the game and told everyone not to ruin it for me.

Well, the release date for the PS2 version kept getting pushed back for some reason, which irritated me to no end. But finally a day was concrete and I waited. The day came and went, and I waited. A week past, and it hit me nothing had come. Come to find out, Amazon had canceled my order, saying I didn't confirm it. One, I never got an email asking me to confirm, and two, when you order layaway stuff you have to agree that you understand that the product would be sent when it's released. Oh that got me so angry. I would have to wait another week or more for it to show up. I said eff that and decided to pay tax and go look for it in town. I could not find a single copy! So I HAD to go back to Amazon. A little over a week later it showed up. By now I was so disheartened, I just checked to make sure it worked and then tossed it to the side for the rest of the year.

It wasn't until I saw the PS3 version for sale for $9.99 that my mom wanted to get the PS2 version for $16.99. She started playing it and kept asking where I was in the game. Finally I just decided to play it so she'd stop asking. She beat the game just as I started playing and she started doing that annoying "I won't tell you how it ends. I won't tell you what happened." It almost seems smug to me. Like, "Haha, I know how it ends and you don't." But maybe this is just my grumbleglower that she knew how it ended and she could rub my face in it that she knew before me. My sister had beat the PS3 version a day after we got it, so I had to beat this game. I HAD to.

So I played, and got almost to the end when I got a part that gave me so much stress that I just quit there and called it a day. I had gone through so much crap with this game, I just didn't want to give it any more of my time that day. You see, I do not feel this game should have been called Underworld. I feel it should have been called Glitch City, because that is all this game is! The developers really let this game down. The PS2 version is a very watered down version of the original game. The took out one of the things that I loved in Tomb Raider. They took the sprint ability out. So you had to deal with her slow run the whole way through. Why they took this out, I don't know, but it was really bothersome. Eventually you don't notice it, but its still irksome in long hallways.

Then there was the watered down game play. I believe the Wii version was worse than the PS2 version. I feel for you Wii owners. I would like to play that version one day just to see what its like. If its how I suspect it is, I have no idea why the game producers honestly even bothered.

So the game picks up where the last game left us. Let me just say the last game was beautiful. The scenery, the gameplay, all pluses. This game was just like watered down cola. Its still cola, but lacks that strong cola taste you know and love. My sister told me the game was a quick game on PS3, but there was a lot more you had to do to reach your goals. The PS2 version made it TOO easy. Now mind you, I do like one thing in the game. No medi packs. It was like Uncharted. Give her a chance to catch her breath, and Laura was fine in a few seconds. It made doing daring jumps a little easier to do since you didn't have to worry about your energy much. Now that is something I'd like to see in any future Tomb Raider games.

Apart from that, the game did nothing for me. It wasn't much a challenge. No, I tell a lie. There were challenges...trying to work around the effing glitches!!! My mom kept going on about glitches and I didn't understand until I got into the game more. You push for Laura to shimmy left and her ass just stayed there. I would have to push several times to get her to move. Heaven forbid you let go accidentally and have to repeat. Then there were parts that if you didn't dismount or do something right she'd land somewhere else where she wouldn't move and you'd have to let her die and start over because she was stuck. WTF?!? These glitches alone caused me to spend more time working on certain levels longer than I needed to. I would clearly land on rocks, her body would be perfectly on rock, but she would still die because she "supposedly" landed in the toxic pool of water. What?!?!? She'd get stuck walking across beams and wouldn't walk onto the platform it lead to until you stopped pushing and even then sometimes she wouldn't. The camera angles were crap. Complete and utter crap!!!

If you can't tell, this game stressed me out beyond belief just from all the effing glitches. I have NEVER had a problem with a Tomb Raider game like I did this one. I wish the producers would have done us PS2 players a favor and just not dumbed it down for PS2. It was honestly like a slap in the face to Tomb Raider fans. I plan to get back to the PS3 one tomorrow and see how it fairs. I hope it has better game play, because right now I am not expecting much. No, correction, I'm expecting more of the same as the PS2 one. But I have slight hope for it. When I finish it, you all will be the first to know.

So on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being worse and 5 being best, I give this game a 2. The gameplay sucked. Sucked, sucked, sucked, sucked, sucked! Glitches, glitches, and more glitches. If you are looking for an easy version of them game then this game is for you, but I feel it will end up being more of a challenge then fighting a few more people and monsters in the PS3 version with all the glitches. Have I mentioned enough about the glitches yet? Anyhoo, the scenery? Sucked! The graphics were just awful, especially if you played other Tomb Raider games, you will see how awful the graphics were in this game. And this isn't me coming from PS3 and the beauty of Uncharted talking. The graphics were just horrible. It was like the original Tomb Raider minus the pointy boobs and hoof hands. Really disappointing. The game's one saving point has to be the ability to go back and play all the levels after you beat the game and you have a few choices of clothing and weapons you can use. I believe there is some artwork to look at as well, but I didn't look yet. After I bet it, I was so glad I didn't have to deal with it any more I just turned it off.

I honestly felt after the game was done I was missing something. I honestly didn't know if I should just turn the game off or if more was coming. I mean, the ending was so abrupt and this game was probably the first game I thought was a waste of my time. More reasoning why I am worried about playing the PS3 version. But I will do it for two reasons. One, it was a Christmas gift, and two, because I want to see how it differs from PS2's version. So stay tuned for that fellow gamer geeks and geekas. Until then, I'm going to go relax and start on the second Phoenix Wright game. That should be an interesting game at least...fingers crossed. :-)

Loves ya,
Mouse