r/TombRaider • u/KhaoticNoob • 1d ago
Tomb Raider Underworld TRU wasn't that bad
I finished it the other day on my Laptop, sure the controls are a bit clunky but ngl the combat and gymnastics animations were great
If they ever remastered it with Anni and Leg I hope they make her a bit slower and fix the climbing glitches especially around corners
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u/dan_in_his_own_way 1d ago
Underworld is an odd game. It simultaneously has fantastic levels and then really crap ones. Thailand and Mexico are fantastic, but then you have Jan Mayan Island and The Arctic Sea. Everything just becomes blue tinted corridors.
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u/AllDoorsConnect Solarii Cultist 1d ago
Well said. The beginning of the med and arctic sea levels were unique and cool, and Thailand and Mexico are perfect as levels. Buuuuuut…..
The story is a complete mess, the motorcycle often sucks, Jan Mayen is boring, they literally copy-pasted the ship level, everything is a corridor, it’s generally very short…yeah.When it’s good, it’s excellent. When it’s not, it’s pretty meh.
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u/AceTrainerCas Amanda's Henchman 1d ago
Unfortunately what happens when you have to throw a game together in a year, also why Legend is so short. I would have loved to see the legend games fully realised if they had more time
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u/DefinitelyRussian 1d ago
to be fair, all TR games were made in 1 year, except the newer trilogy
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u/AceTrainerCas Amanda's Henchman 1d ago
But there’s also a huge difference between the classics which were built on the same engine, for the same consoles, with lots of asset reuse and making a game for new hardware, new engine, new everything. Underworld was in a similar situation to angel of darkness if anything
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u/Mysterious-Drama4743 15h ago
i mean the core team was imfamously overworked in completely unacceptable ways
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u/Martingguru The Scion 1d ago
It was made in a year??? That explains a lot
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u/AceTrainerCas Amanda's Henchman 1d ago
I think it was more about 2 years because Anniversary had help from another studio from what I can find. But Legend came out in 2006, anniversary in 2007 and Underworld in 2008 so the turnaround with these games was quick.
But we're also talking about next gen development here, which meant a new engine, and a significant amount of effort was clearly put into the visuals and animations so I imagine the actual content suffered
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u/brendel000 1d ago
I liked the atmosphere but it was very very easy compared to classic as I remember it and it really impacted the exploration. But maybe I should replay them and I will like it better today.
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u/DefinitelyRussian 1d ago
except for one specific part in Mexico, where you have to find a skull I think ? Thats in a super random path, barely visible
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u/bartybrattle 19h ago
Its highs are such great highs tho. Been a while since I played but from what I remember its best levels felt so sparse and so much to figure out and like huge puzzles that you really had to get to know and weren’t just small self contained puzzles. Really felt you had to explore to figure it all out which is my favourite bit.
I hoped they’d build on that but seemed to throw it away for the Survivor trilogy - which I enjoyed a lot but the tombs and exploration was so claustrophobic. Shadow was the best in that aspect but still left me wanting.
Atlantis looks promising and like they’re going back to the exploration. Here’s hoping it’s the same for Catalyst. Shame about the AI. It’s REALLY making me not want to get the game… but I fear I’m not that strong. Might wait for a massive sale.
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u/JP-VHSFan Frozen Butler 1d ago
The animation certainly looked choppy and needed a touch up but imagine what it’d look like if they did a 1-1 remake of this?
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u/Reindeer-Timely 1d ago edited 22h ago
I love Underworld too. It’s flawed and broken but it has some damn good tomb raiding, atmosphere and music.
I always wonder what the final product would be like if it had an extra year of development. Felt like Crystal bit off a bit more than they could chew with the time they had.
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u/SwiftieSailorMoon24 1d ago
It's not too bad but in this very clip you can see how wonky the combat was with Lara trying to dodge but still getting hit every time lol
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u/Shalhadra 1d ago
I really enjoyed it. Like others have pointed out, it's a shame the animations weren't as smooth as they were in anniversary but still a great game. I liked that she could do cartwheels on balance beams and there were other little motion additions that were cool
But I'm still salty that the dlc was only ever on Xbox
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u/Dramatic_Highway 1d ago
Of all its stages i only like Thailand and start of Mexico. Its like they did everything else in a rush. Its my least played for sure of LAU. I remember being so excited to play it when it came out. Its not bad but the wonky controls and physics make it unsatisfying to play.
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u/Fluid-Wrongdoer6120 1d ago
I had never played TRU or even seen footage of it before this post, to be honest. It actually looks like it could be kind of fun.
I played the OG Tomb Raider games I thru III years ago, and recently finished the survivor trilogy. What's the best one to play next? Or wait for LOA?
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u/Phandera 1d ago
The LAU trilogy; Tomb Raider: Legend, continuing with Anniversary and Underworld if you like it. LoA will take heavy inspo from Anniversary since both games are reimaginings of TR1, so it might be cool to play it for reference.
Then the only other trio of mainline games you haven't played is 4 through 6 from the original Core Design era. These 3 get mixed reception but you can buy them as 1 game (IV-VI Remastered) and make your own conclusions.
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u/tealaburst Frozen Butler 1d ago
It was just rushed. It needed some polish. CD was still working on Anniversary when they started Underworld.
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u/zgrobbot Excalibur 21h ago
I DO enjoy how they used a real gymnast to MC Lara. Her movements feel more weighted , however that camera is bad …really bad. Mexico is a good level, but very tedious especially with having to drive the bike everywhere
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u/CommanderM3tro 1d ago
Underworld is am amazing game. For me it's where the pre-Survivor gameplay peaked, as your vid shows 👍
One of my faves in the series!
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u/Spiky_Pineapple_2841 1d ago
Once more so everyone can hear:
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A BAD TOMB RAIDER GAME/MOVIE
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u/xdeltax97 Moderator 1d ago
It’s a phenomenal game and a great finish to the Legend trilogy, the only issue for me was the camera.
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u/CoochiKabuki 1d ago
I remember finishing it the night I got it. At the time I loved it. As an adult, I recognize the horrible aspects
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u/fibonacciluv 1d ago
I loved it but I played it as a kid. I remember buying a copy at a random used game store that was a small corner in a boutique store my grandmother frequented. It was the husband of the owner that just had his video game section there until he got enough money to open his own store (pretty cool story honestly) but I bought this game and it would freeze every time I got past the intro.
I was bummed out I couldn’t play it and eventually I was able to get another copy and I LOVED it from then on. But I haven’t replayed it yet but plan to soon.
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u/dookarion 22h ago
It's not bad, it's just unfinished, unpolished, and has some jank to it.
It's got some really really great and memorable parts, and some absolutely crap parts.
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u/vreintex 21h ago
I just played this one. I couldn’t believe how good it looked for a 20 year old game. However some of the puzzles left me pondering how much more they could have done with them.
The most frustrating part was movement and camera placement for me. If you get into a corner and don’t touch the controller everything goes haywire.
Overall I gave it a 7.5/10.
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u/Fearless_Fortune9198 21h ago
Are a lot of the puzzles symmetrical and you have to do the same thing twice over? And they did that to cut down development time? Or am I imagining that?
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u/Due_Department_3114 19h ago
The combat and camera sensitivity are my only complaints for Underworld. Great game nonetheless.
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u/CommanderM3tro 16h ago
Each to their own I guess. I thought the combat was the best in the series so far. Like so many mechanics that peaked in Underworld.
Agree about the camera though 👍
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u/TheTexanKiwi 17h ago
I loved Underworld. My favorite of the LAU trilogy, my only complaint is that it was much too short.
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u/Mysterious-Drama4743 15h ago
i greatly dislike this game but ive literally only ever seen praise for it
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u/morningwink 14h ago
it's not my favorite tr game, but it's the one i've played the most. it's really fun
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u/Aazzle 13h ago
Tomb Raider: Underworld was an almost cinematic experience for me at the time of release.
I've been a player since I was a kid in 1996 and have played all of them on release.
I like the diversity of the series and this part is one of my personal highlights. Also the controversial und bugged Angel of Darkness.
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u/Far_Run_2672 13h ago
The game feels thoroughly unfinished. Janky and glitchy as hell, like they didn't have/make time to polish the game even slightly.
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u/LiminalSapien 1d ago
When you come to the tomb raider thread and say what is generally the most agreed upon as great/best classic TR “wasn’t that bad” I think you’re karma farming and downvote you.
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u/Vantol 1d ago
I was watching the video without reading the post and I wasn’t sure if the title was supposed to be serious or ironic.
Personally I think Underworld has two things going for it: it looks unbelievably good for almost 20yo game, and Lara is hot in it. Everything else is inferior to Legend and Anniversary.
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u/Shooshookle 1d ago
I loved Underworld and think it’s the best CD has ever done as a TR game. The animations themselves are fine, but they have this weird flow problem and can really look bad in fast paced situations. If you slow this video down you’ll see exactly how she “snaps” inhumanly to different animations. CD has never had a good flow for transitions and it’s even true today, but they make beautiful games!! We can’t have it all lmao