I've played although not necessarily completed every Tomb Raider game so far. This entry is number 8 in the series..... so is Lara beginning to show her age?
Underworld is a continuation of the story from the previous game Legend but the game provides you with a short movie re-capping events from Legend should you wish to view it. The first thing that strikes you about Underworld are the graphics, Tomb Raider has never looked better and the environments look absolutely gorgeous, its a joy to explore them. Lara is also beautifully animated and has a few new moves. It's still just as much fun as ever to scale large structures and hang precariously from ledges. The puzzles are perhaps a little too easy so you'll continually make forward progress without getting stuck for too long. I found the storyline interesting but perhaps the ending wasn't quite up to the epic finale that the rest of the game had promised. You might think differently.
Underworld is not without its problems that have persisted throughout the series. There are some clipping issues and I got caught up in the floor several times, unable to move at first but always able to extract myself eventually. The camera sometimes throws a fit and swings around wildly or offers an atrocious view of the action. The mouse will move the camera but I still found in some situations that it was impossible to always get an ideal angle. I've never been much of a fan of combat in the Tomb Raider games as it has always been implemented poorly and Underworld is no different. You get to choose from a small selection of weapons at the beginning of a new location but I just used my pistols with their unlimited ammo throughout the entire game (except the very end when you receive a special weapon). That combined with the unlimited lives you are given is all that is required.
I loved Underworld, it has a number of ‘wow’ moments when you stop playing the game and just admire the stunning scenery. It's still immensely satisfying jumping, swimming and swinging your way through ancient ruins. Underworld is an absolute must have for fans and would have gotten 5 stars if it weren't for the negatives I mentioned above that became too intrusive at times to ignore.