Tomb Raider IV: The Last Revelation (1999)

el juego mas largo de tomb raider clasico

Another entry in the classic yearly Lara's games. TR4 is the game that went back to the roots. Even when the engine is still the same old one with improvements, the game feels like a totally different one since the start. The atmosphere, ligthning, puzzles, traps, they really went with what one would expect from a Tomb Raider. Gone is Lara's home, in its place there's a new tutorial level that finds a 16 year old Lara following the steps of his mentor: Werner Von Croy. It's not that good, Werner will keep on interrupting the flow with very obvious controls, and avoid explaining some new moves that are required much later in the game. The game then moves to Egypt and will stay there for the rest of the game. This is probably the longest game in the saga, with a grand total of 35 levels. Mind that some are very short, but it's still a juggernaut. For the first time, there's now hub levels and continuity between levels. Lara will have to get back to previous maps to use an item and access even more levels. This works pretty well for the first half of the game. As usual, there are new moves to help you reach the end. The worst new move is swinging on ropes, specially when you need to jump from one to another one in a weird angle. It can take ages until you align Lara perfectly and failing generally means death and reloading. More interestingly, Lara can finally shimmy around corners, open trapdoors, climb up poles and even open some underwater doors by kicking them. The inventory was also revamped, now you can combine specific items to solve puzzles or attach sight to a weapon. This is also the first time the characters actually move their mouths when they talk ingame. The FMVs are also now full screen and with no scanlines. It's a ton of small enhancements that make this feel like a different game. The first levels where you descend into an egyptian tomb with the help of a local guide, reminds me of the first scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark. It's just awesome. Later, they even went for a moving train level. It was very common in that era to have a gimmicky level like that, previously seen in Blood for example. It's not perfect here, but it surprised. Talking about vehicles, there's only two this time: a jeep and a motorbike. It took four games to finally have a ridable bike. The jeep levels are fun, they involve a mostly high speed chase. The bike plays ok, it's just a faster way to move between levels. Unfortunately, the second half of the game is a disappointment. The Cairo levels consist in a lot of huge interconnected levels that require to find well hidden items, trapping an unkillable boss, and even upgrading your vehicle to make an impossible jump. The setting starts to get old and everything is very dark too. The game refuses to end for its own good. Also, while the secrets in the last game had an incredible reward of an extra level, here nothing happens if you manage to get all 70 secrets. A big letdown after so much effort. As all games in these era, don't play this version. Get the greatly enhanced second trilogy remaster. It also includes The Times Exclusive levels as well as all sort of peculiar achievements and improvements.