As I said earlier,
Tomb Raider Chronicles is a collection of tales that are new to
TR fans. The last
TR left us wondering if Lara lives or dies. Well, as the story opens up here, we see Lara's friends have gathered to mourn her at a memorial service, and as friends will do, they fondly start telling old stories.
The first adventure takes place in Rome and involves Larson and Pierre, whom you'll remember from the original TR. Although in the intro FMV, she is wearing a cool looking vinyl blue dress, when we gain control over her, she's in her standard Lara tank and shorts. This level will feel like old hat to TR fans as it looks and feels very much like something we've seen before. In fact, most of the levels do (except the final adventure). But instead of feeling like the developers were rehashing old stuff, Chronicles gave me the same thrill that the original TR did - something that has been missing in each of the sequels before this one. Sure, I enjoyed them, but it just wasn't the same. But I couldn't put Chronicles down.
When you begin, there's a training area that you can run through to brush up on your skills before you undertake the first area, but it is optional and a nice touch. One thing I found odd was the fact that the first adventure seemed disjointed. One minute I was arguing with Larson and Pierre over an artifact, then bam!, I am out on the streets of Rome again, searching for other items needed. Huh? Some segue would have been nice. A minor quip, but it would have flowed better with a small explanation.
Other missions include a Russian naval base and submarine whose story was ripped straight from the X Files (not a bad thing, in my book), a trip to The Black Isle as the young Lara we saw in the previous game, and a high-tech Lara looking very much like something out of The Matrix. Again, I enjoyed the fact that these new adventures took cues from pop culture phenoms like X Files and The Matrix and Lara-ized them.
Of all the levels, I found the final adventure to be the most fun. Sneaking around in Von Croy's heavily guarded office building trying to steal 'The Iris' was a wonderful combination of the stealthiness of Metal Gear Solid and the timed event and puzzle solving of Tomb Raiders from the past. Zip, her hacker guide through this level, provided her with helpful (usually) info on getting through the level, plus a bunch of stupid jokes that Lara and I both could have done without. Great fun, though.