Gaarrrrrrrrrrrrr... how many of you gave up this gem during the centaur boss battle :-?
I've never liked the feel of the controls since "Angel of Darkness" or "Legend" -- "Underworld" is only now beginning to change that. It took me a lot of remembering and a half-year of casual gaming to finish "Legend". I haven't finished "Anniversary" yet... although I was initially quite thrilled by it, way back when. This was a step back to classic Tombraidering, i.e. no-nonsense-"plundering World Heritage sites" and single-minded Lara, back when she/I didn't take time to think much 'bout Mommy or Daddy. Winston the old butler was enough social life for us.
Everything in the Folly(!) & the Coliseum still looks great, almost better than the original Tomb Raider -- almost, since Tomb Raider was cutting edge-graphics in '96, and it somehow still looks decent today (it can be run on XP, with a special installer). "Anniversary" has some promising parts that nearly match up to "Underworld" quality levels, especially when you run through half-lit places with vines touching your face. But on the whole, it's not really up to 2007 standards for the PC, and the levels -- or re-created levels -- are smaller than in 1996. The sightseeing objects still look good and sometimes great, and some new chasms and abysses that require complex jumps really evoke pure Tombraidering adrenaline; but what bogged me down eventually was the boss battles.
I don't know if console players can tell a difference between classic Tomb Raider and "Next-Gen" -- the old games required you to defeat "bosses" too, but on the PC this used to be ridiculously easy (since you can save anytime and anywhere, the challenge is to keep shooting and not accidentally blunder over any edges). "Legend" was challenging already, but relatively easy once I had figured out what to do. "Anniversary" is... well, tough.
I've only recently managed the Adrenaline dodge, and only after some vital tips. My Tombraidering instinct -- just keep shooting -- defeated me previously, it seems. And the game, just like in old times, has some issues with reaction time to keystrokes, or maybe it's my basal ganglia. The correct sequence is as follows:
- shoot until your enemy gets enraged (flashing red rage meter)
- stop shooting(!) and get ready to dodge
- once he/it charges you, (1) press direction key (left|right|back) and (2) press roll key, so Lara performs a rolling dodge
- after time slows down and the red target circles match, SHOOT -- once!
It still doesn't work all the time, often Lara doesn't roll, but ducks/slinks sideways -- very useful for hungry Tyrannosaurs --, and most of the smaller animal kingdom doesn't leave you the reaction time to set up a dodge anyway. But one thing you can be sure of -- do it as often as you're supposed to, and your fingers WILL hurt.
Anyone else out there who is having problems, I'd advise you to download a trainer or the "Tomb Raider Anniversary loader" -- the T-Rex battle is Checkpoint 16 -- and practice the A-dodge in God mode. That way, it actually is kind of fun.
What more is there to say? Due to similar issues (keystroke reaction time), the jumps required to reach some goodies mean much trial & error, because unlike in the old blocky universe it's impossible to position Lara accurately or to be certain what can be grabbed -- chances are, it can't be (if you mind death-defying jumps, you probably shouldn't play Tomb Raider). But this is due to the schizophrenia of the "next gen" approach -- more to see, less to do with it. To old-school Tomb Raiders, this is by far the most annoying aspect in "Legend", "Anniversary" or "Underworld", besides the stupid "checkpoint" system and the sometimes game-obstructing camera. (Let's conveniently forget the "Angel of Darkness" catastrophe...)
