With Lara’s Shadow, Crystal Dynamics have used this to emphasise how alien the doppelgänger really is. Lara croft now moved like a real person, scaling rock faces with a scary amount of realism and bringing a new believability to her actions. One of the big draws of Tomb Raider Underworld was the introduction of motion captured animation. It bares many similarities to the latest incarnation of Prince of Persia, but when applied to the cavernous interiors of Underworld’s, erm, underworlds, the style completely becomes the doppelgänger’s own. This allows for all manner of fancy new ability, from evading traps that would otherwise be too quick to comprehend, to running up vertical surfaces. These skills are triggered using the doppelgänger’s “Shadow Meter”, a gauge in place of Lara’s focus bar, that when initiated via a press of either bumper, sends the doppelgänger into a Max Payne/John Woo/Paul Daniels-style bullet time. The doppelgänger, as displayed throughout Underworld’s narrative, is a superhuman version of Lara Croft, and as such relies on brute strength and super-speed over elaborate gymnastics and clever gadgets. In their place is a new, far more feral style to the key moves, requiring a brief relearning of the game mechanics. Despite appearing almost identical to Lara, the doppelgänger has been stripped of many of the characteristics and abilities with which players will have familiarised themselves during the course of Underworld. Fortunately for Natla, Lara’s doppelgänger (created by Natla to seek out and kill our buxom heroine – come on, we can get through this!) is down there with her, which is where the game cleverly branches off, and we find ourselves at the helm of an altogether different Lara Croft. Lara was last seen zipping through a portal with her enemy-turned-saviour Amanda, leaving Natla (she’s the one with the wings, in the business suit) looking rather worse for wear in the depths of Helheim.
As stated in our review it won’t take very long at all, and at least then the events of Lara’s Shadow will make some sort of sense. So for those still chipping away at the latest adventures of Crystal Dynamics’ mammarific cash-cow, it is highly recommended that you stop reading and come back once you’re finished.
The one massive problem that arises when reviewing the sort of DLC that follows on directly from a game’s ending is the almost unavoidable certainty that elements of said game’s conclusion will be splashed about for all to see.
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