Post by codeveronica on Feb 26, 2013 17:18:37 GMT
Well, What an absolute dissapointment this game was. the build up to it was quite well done, they showed off a lot of interesting areas that looked fully explorable, incredibly non linear and for the first time completely interactive. We were supposed to be able to leave our mark on the environment so we could show our actual progress in case we become lost. (lol) Weather was supposed to be random, by that I'm assuming it wasn't supposed to be raining the entire time we were in Mexico (again lol) and Lara herself was supposed to be far more realistic due to her moves being motion capped. (who the hell does that squirrel fling in real life) Instead what we ended up with was a total laggy mess. 4 times I have played this game all the way through, the 2nd time I couldn't get past the Jan mayen loading screen so I had to quit, the 3rd time I got the Mexico bridge glitch so again couldn't finish and then I went on to successfully complete my 4th play through the other week, but even that was incredibly glitchy and underwhelming.
Despite that, Thailand pretty much nailed it, it was dripping with atmosphere. My only mild complaint would be the masses of squeaking spiders that fling themselves out of various foliage and latch onto you more often than not causing you to plummet off from a cliff face into the ocean below. ( can't deny that is quite fun)
It's always seemed to be that Underworld was an incomplete game, it feels like it's had a lot chopped out of it including plot parts as it makes barely any sense, and one would think that after bringing Natla back she would be given something to do apart from rub her breasts against her glass prison. Her death scene however is incredibly humorous, Lara decides that, rather than have an all out battle with Natla, she will instead simply throw a hammer at her. Simple really. Of course, this isn't the end of Natla, or the game, but if you don't have an Xbox you're not going to find out how the game reaches conclusion and how Natla comes to a rather gooey end. (not for the first time I'm sure)
I remember reading about how originally there were plans to have a side story with a child who had some ancient device stuck to her and Lara had to drag her around in order to remove it before the child died. There is concept art of it floating around somewhere and it actually did sound quite interesting. It's a shame this was removed.
Now, In legend the reason why Lara became an explorer was to find her mother who magically dissapeared after touching some ancient artifact she had no business touching. It's her own fault really, I have no sympathy for people who touch other peoples possessions without asking. Anyway, Much of legend was based around the myth of King Arthur and Excalibur and Lara's mother has apparently been sent to Avalon! wow! I hear you say, that's interesting. WELL. It's not. We have to sit through 2 games where Lara is searching for her mother and she finds her only to shoot her in the face. Poor Amelia sealed away for all that time, only to be shot in the face. She's also forgotten about pretty quickly by Lara and thankfully by us.
To me, it just never felt like a continuation from Legend, it felt like a brand new game, what about King Arthur and that weird queen who were sealed in those crystals? what about Excalibur? Was Tihocan, Thor and Merlin supposed to be the same person? Who knows. I don't even think Crystal knew.
Most interesting about this game though was the inclusion of the Doppleganger, since Legend fans of the series had wanted a Lara that resembled Classic Lara instead of the new Barbie Croft so I thought it quite enjoyable that when Lara of old did actually return with a braid, she was in fact a purple haired Atlantean clone! As enjoyable as she was (and how much we thanked her for killing Alistair.. who we never actually did see in Avalon thank god) she still felt very underdeveloped and barely had any worthy screen time.
And finally we come to Amanda, who for some reason looks as though she hasn't eaten since the events in Legend. Her sole purpose in this game was to.. erm.. What exactly did she do again?
In conclusion.
Strengths -
. Pretty visuals for the most part.
. Atmosphere in Thailand was spot on.
. Natla's boob rub.
. Angelofdarknesshybriddopplegangerbraidedclonething
Weakness'
. The game.
3/10
Let's all look back at the Underworld launch trailer, and think back to a happier time when we we didn't actually know how turely terrible this game would be.
Despite that, Thailand pretty much nailed it, it was dripping with atmosphere. My only mild complaint would be the masses of squeaking spiders that fling themselves out of various foliage and latch onto you more often than not causing you to plummet off from a cliff face into the ocean below. ( can't deny that is quite fun)
It's always seemed to be that Underworld was an incomplete game, it feels like it's had a lot chopped out of it including plot parts as it makes barely any sense, and one would think that after bringing Natla back she would be given something to do apart from rub her breasts against her glass prison. Her death scene however is incredibly humorous, Lara decides that, rather than have an all out battle with Natla, she will instead simply throw a hammer at her. Simple really. Of course, this isn't the end of Natla, or the game, but if you don't have an Xbox you're not going to find out how the game reaches conclusion and how Natla comes to a rather gooey end. (not for the first time I'm sure)
I remember reading about how originally there were plans to have a side story with a child who had some ancient device stuck to her and Lara had to drag her around in order to remove it before the child died. There is concept art of it floating around somewhere and it actually did sound quite interesting. It's a shame this was removed.
Now, In legend the reason why Lara became an explorer was to find her mother who magically dissapeared after touching some ancient artifact she had no business touching. It's her own fault really, I have no sympathy for people who touch other peoples possessions without asking. Anyway, Much of legend was based around the myth of King Arthur and Excalibur and Lara's mother has apparently been sent to Avalon! wow! I hear you say, that's interesting. WELL. It's not. We have to sit through 2 games where Lara is searching for her mother and she finds her only to shoot her in the face. Poor Amelia sealed away for all that time, only to be shot in the face. She's also forgotten about pretty quickly by Lara and thankfully by us.
To me, it just never felt like a continuation from Legend, it felt like a brand new game, what about King Arthur and that weird queen who were sealed in those crystals? what about Excalibur? Was Tihocan, Thor and Merlin supposed to be the same person? Who knows. I don't even think Crystal knew.
Most interesting about this game though was the inclusion of the Doppleganger, since Legend fans of the series had wanted a Lara that resembled Classic Lara instead of the new Barbie Croft so I thought it quite enjoyable that when Lara of old did actually return with a braid, she was in fact a purple haired Atlantean clone! As enjoyable as she was (and how much we thanked her for killing Alistair.. who we never actually did see in Avalon thank god) she still felt very underdeveloped and barely had any worthy screen time.
And finally we come to Amanda, who for some reason looks as though she hasn't eaten since the events in Legend. Her sole purpose in this game was to.. erm.. What exactly did she do again?
In conclusion.
Strengths -
. Pretty visuals for the most part.
. Atmosphere in Thailand was spot on.
. Natla's boob rub.
. Angelofdarknesshybriddopplegangerbraidedclonething
Weakness'
. The game.
3/10
Let's all look back at the Underworld launch trailer, and think back to a happier time when we we didn't actually know how turely terrible this game would be.