Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation
Lara Crofts fourth outing is proof that some gaming relics should remain in the past. For a lot of people, it’s the benchmark for where the series started to go wrong.
Released on the Dreamcast back in March 2000, the Last Revelation was built using the Tomb Raider III engine and at the time, was praised for it’s graphics. However, it’s transition from the other consoles to the Dreamcast is a ropey one, at best. But more on that later.
As far as the plot goes, the developers Core Design came up with some nice ideas.
Starting the story off with a teenage Lara Croft accompanying her former mentor, Werner Von Croy, in the Cambodian temple of Angkor Wat is certainly inspired, and is no doubt a little nod to the opening of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
As they are searching for the mystical Iris, Werner instructs Lara on where to go and how to get there. It gives the proceedings a nice narrative that welcomes fans by giving a bit of a background story to Lara and eases the newcomers into the series.
In contrast to it’s globe trotting predecessors, the rest of the game takes place in Egypt and makes good use of the country’s numerous archaeological sites, with The Last Revelation featuring levels set in the Valley of Kings, Cairo and Giza.
With such an imaginative canvas to play with, The Last Revelation should have been a classic. But ultimately, the Dreamcast version of the game was hampered by shoddy controls, poor rendering and an overall lack of quality in it’s presentation.
Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation - Screenshot from PC Version
For a sixth generation console, the graphics are sub par at best. Whilst I have no doubt the port looks better than its Playstation equivalent, the Dreamcast version just doesn’t cut the mustard. When comparing the game to the likes of Shenmue, Soul Calibur or Blue Stinger, it’s just not up there and visually, you’d be forgiven for thinking that you were playing a Playstation 1 title. Having said that, the game does feature some nice lighting effects, but that is literally the best I can say on the matter.
Another major fall back is the games lack of direction – even the tuition mission features sections where it refuses to give you any idea as to what you should be doing.
A fine example of this was towards the end of the mission where Werner Von Croy and Lara Croft are racing to get to the Iris. The both come to a door and instead of trying to work out how to open it, Werner Von Croy just carried on running on the spot, whilst I had to find a way to open the bloody thing – giving Werner an unfair head start.
Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation - Screenshot from PC Version
Don’t get me wrong, games should have an element of competition in them, but that was just insulting, especially considering that the controls are so bad.
Making use (or a ham-fisted-half-arsed attempt) of utilising the Dreamcast’s unique controller, the developers decided to assign the running controls to the D-Pad and the walking controls the analogue stick. It’s a crazy idea that just totally ruins the pacing of the game. If you have to get somewhere quick, you literally have to switch from one controller mechanism to the other.
After playing Tomb Raider The Last Revelation on the Dreamcast, I think I can safely say that the game should remain in the past and not be unearthed for a long time.
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