Tomb Raider is one of those titles that spawned its own universe in the gaming world over the past decade. It’s sold over 28 million games, two feature films, merchandise and over $1.5 billion in gross revenue from all that.

It has a legacy up there with Doom and Warcraft, and it’s where Duke Nukem could have been if its corporate developers had any brains. Tomb Raider has also come to epitomize Playstation games–Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid, Tomb Raider.

This summer, we have a new game in the series, Tomb Raider Anniversary, and we’re finally seeing a popular gaming franchise stick to its roots. “Anniversary” is an epic adventure game that’s engaging and fun to play.

The game retraces Lara Croft’s original steps from the original 1996 release as she searches for the Scion of Atlantis and battles Jacqueline Natlas and company. You’ll traverse tombs from Egypt to Greece battling your way through supernatural creatures. The double pistol action is back as Lara leaps around enemies and pumps lead into them in a classic hail of never ending bullets.

The game works off an improved version of the Tomb Raider Legend engine and is out there now for PS2, PSP and PC-DVD. It feels like the original, and that’s important.

I’m stuck in a depressing gaming mood lately, playing game after game and coming up disappointed more often that I’d like. Game makers have forgotten their roots and tried to do too much with visuals and pointless “do it because we can” technologies. Tomb Raider Anniversary impresses me where other games fail. See something, shoot something, jump around and solve a puzzle or two. Make it two guns instead of one; make it just a little scary; make it with tits and ass that they had to get Angelina Jolie to portray. God damn that’s a game.

About The Author

John Guilfoil is the editor-in-chief of Blast: Boston's Online Magazine and the Blast Magazine Network. He can be reached at [email protected]. Tweet @johnguilfoil.

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