he death of Lara Croft is a fascinating premise that holds a little something for everyone. Either A) you love this female crusader more than your girlfriend and want to be there for Lara right up to the fateful day, or B) you hate this series and would pay anything to see Lara’s fragile figure crushed beneath a large boulder. A few years back, DC Comics ran a similar story where Superman visited the reaper. The payoff was huge. Everyone loves reading about the death of a great American hero. The same theory applies to Tomb Raider. Lara’s passing could have been the next big thing. It’s never happened in the game realm, and I’m sure everyone would want to see how her life came to a sudden end. Of course, Eidos royally screwed up. There wasn’t a teaser campaign to draw interest, and worst of all, months before the game hit retail shelves, Eidos announced that Lara Croft is alive and will return in a new adventure for PlayStation 2 (see page 80). I’ve heard of people shooting themselves in the feet before, but this is stupidity in its purist form.

So basically, there is no legitimate reason to play this game. Trying to counter its moronic announcement, Eidos says that something terrible happens to Lara at the end of Chronicles that will forever alter her life. Did she break a nail? Twist her ankle? What’s worse than death!? This game should have ended with Lara catching a bullet between the eyes, and no hints should have been given as to if she would ever return. That would sell units. Heck, even I, Mr. "I’d Rather Eat Feces Than Play Another Tomb Raider," would play it to see Lara’s life come to an abrupt end.

Seriously people, if you’re fed up with Eidos’ rehash syndrome, this game will do nothing for you. This is the fifth PlayStation Tomb Raider, and, it’s still running on the same engine. Core Design has dusted off the cobwebs and sucked the blood out of this elderly engine for one last go, and of course, the new features are minimal. Lara can now tightrope across thin objects, and most exciting of all, when she crawls out of water, you can actually see the water dripping from her body. Wow.

I burned out on this series long ago, and to be quite frank, embarking on the fifth quest was not a pleasant experience for me. To be fair, if you still cherish this series, Chronicles is a decent sequel that is challenging and lengthy. Its puzzles are unyielding, and the cutscenes are priceless as always. If you didn’t like the game to begin with, or tire of it like I do, then stay away. Lara’s fake death isn’t worth seeing.  

ANDY MCNAMARA   6 I used to be a fan of this series but now I can’t stand the sight of it. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that Eidos is beating this dead horse for all it's worth (destroying all its worth at the same time). Basically this is just the same game you’ve played with new levels – oh yeah, and how could I forget – there is also a new tightrope walking move that slows the game down even more. The innovations just never stop. I pray to the gaming gods that when Lara comes to the next wave of systems like PS2 and Xbox that something is done to improve this game – and I don’t just mean the graphics. The puzzles are interesting, but the pace is way too slow. I feel slightly bad ripping on a game for coming too frequently, since I think I could play a new Metroid every year if Nintendo gave me one, but this series isn’t of that caliber. I’m gonna skip this one and wait for the next generation. I think you should too.