The graphics is Tomb Raider Chronicles are very similar to what we have come to expect from the Tomb Raider series. Expansive, detailed levels that look good and ambient background sounds and orchestral music at the appropriate times. It's not necessarily ground breaking stuff, but it's what we are used to and it's certainly pleasant. There is plenty of voice-acting as well between the FMV's and the in-game cinematics and its all good, if not a bit overdone. Larson seems dumber this go round, but maybe that's just me. No. He is definitely dumber and Pierre's whipping boy.

Since TR Chronicles is, well, a 'chronicle' of some of Lara's lesser known adventures, you will get to see her in some different outfits. Very different outfits. I am, of course, referring to the ultra cool Matrix style catsuit and headset she wears in the final level. Me like. :)

As I said earlier, Tomb Raider Chronicles is a collection of tales that are new to TR fans. The last TR left us wondering if Lara lives or dies. Well, as the story opens up here, we see Lara's friends have gathered to mourn her at a memorial service, and as friends will do, they fondly start telling old stories.

The first adventure takes place in Rome and involves Larson and Pierre, whom you'll remember from the original TR. Although in the intro FMV, she is wearing a cool looking vinyl blue dress, when we gain control over her, she's in her standard Lara tank and shorts. This level will feel like old hat to TR fans as it looks and feels very much like something we've seen before. In fact, most of the levels do (except the final adventure). But instead of feeling like the developers were rehashing old stuff, Chronicles gave me the same thrill that the original TR did - something that has been missing in each of the sequels before this one. Sure, I enjoyed them, but it just wasn't the same. But I couldn't put Chronicles down.

When you begin, there's a training area that you can run through to brush up on your skills before you undertake the first area, but it is optional and a nice touch. One thing I found odd was the fact that the first adventure seemed disjointed. One minute I was arguing with Larson and Pierre over an artifact, then bam!, I am out on the streets of Rome again, searching for other items needed. Huh? Some segue would have been nice. A minor quip, but it would have flowed better with a small explanation.

Other missions include a Russian naval base and submarine whose story was ripped straight from the X Files (not a bad thing, in my book), a trip to The Black Isle as the young Lara we saw in the previous game, and a high-tech Lara looking very much like something out of The Matrix. Again, I enjoyed the fact that these new adventures took cues from pop culture phenoms like X Files and The Matrix and Lara-ized them.

Of all the levels, I found the final adventure to be the most fun. Sneaking around in Von Croy's heavily guarded office building trying to steal 'The Iris' was a wonderful combination of the stealthiness of Metal Gear Solid and the timed event and puzzle solving of Tomb Raiders from the past. Zip, her hacker guide through this level, provided her with helpful (usually) info on getting through the level, plus a bunch of stupid jokes that Lara and I both could have done without. Great fun, though.

Most of the time, the difficulty was just like any other Tomb Raider game, or any other action/adventure for that matter. Tough puzzles here and there, frustrating fetch quests, timed events and wacky control. For any fan of the genre, this is no major problem. In fact, we welcome it. But here's where I had a problem with Chronicles. There were areas in this game that were damn near impossible to get through. I am talking about places where the jump had to be -just so- for you to progress. There seemed to be more jumping sequences in this game than any I remember in the past. Now, jumping sequences have their place and all, but several in this game seemed to require blind luck to accomplish and that is not good. Test my skill. I don't mind at all. But please don't make me mash a button wildly, praying that Lara will jump off of just the right centimeter of a block of stone to be able to catch the next ledge. This is an exercise in frustration, and I threw my controller more than once.

The control in Tomb Raider Chronicles is exactly the same as it has been in all the previous iterations of Tomb Raider. Sometimes its good, and sometimes its impossible. If you are a fan of the genre, you'll have no problems with it, however. One new move I thought was kinda cool was the tightrope walk. Lara comes across ropes spanning chasms and such and she walks across them with arms outstretched to keep her balance. An interesting addition, however it seemed rather random whether she made it across or not. Basically, I could not figure out what determined whether or not she would start to falter during her walk, and simply pressing the direction the opposite way would normally fix her up. Lara can also swing on parellel bars as well, which was a nice addition. Very interesting skills this girl has... Of course, all of Lara's old moves are still around.

There are some new and nifty weapons which make their first appearance here as well. The grappling gun is used to get to 'hard to reach' places. She shoots it at the ceiling and then swings on the rope that is left hanging. Lara also gets to chloroform someone in the game, although only once. Weird thing is, I had the chloroform soaked cloth and snuck up behind a guard who hadn't seen me and the damn thing wouldn't work! He killed me and I wasn't happy. It seems it was only to be used on one specific guard and I found this kind of stupid. Either have it as a weapon or not, you know? But maybe that's just me. I also liked the idea of getting weapon add-ons like the Laser Sight, and the HK gun found in the final adventure is a bad-assed gun with adjustable speeds. I'm glad to see Lara still has plenty of weapons at her disposal.

The AI in Chronicles is spotty. Some is dead-on, some is really stupid and some is cheating and impossible. The impossible AI to which I refer is the damn android in the final level. It seems no matter how fast you run, he is always there when you turn around. Ugh. I found that very frustrating. Just be aware that there is some cheap AI in the game, although not often.

All in all, I really enjoyed Tomb Raider Chronicles. I'd have to say it was almost as much fun as the original TR, but shorter and more frustrating at times. As a hard core fan of Lara and TR, I was quite pleased to get a glimpse of her untold adventures, and any TR fan should definitely pick this one up. Yes, it has some spotty difficulty, but it's nothing you can't overlook and the good outweighs the bad. Each adventure in Chronicles offers a bit of the old as well as something new, and needs to be in your collection.