Tomb Raider (1996)

 PC
User Score
8.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 85 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 70 out of 85
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 85
  3. Negative: 6 out of 85
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  1. JackBurda
    Jan 29, 2016
    9
    Absolutely classic. Great atmosphere, catching game play, nice story and nice graphics. Also it has kinda hard controls, but that's just a detail. Great game.
  2. LT_Gruber
    Dec 18, 2022
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Absolute classic with a fresh new concept.

    Tomb Raider was, and always will be, a great classic. It revolutionized the platforming adventure and continue to do so to this day.

    Sure, you got the Indiana Jones games on the NES and SNES already, something that Tomb Raider shares a resemblance with, but the introduction of a female character in minimal clothing, raiding temples, tombs and crypts was something completely different. Instead of using a piece of rope to whack people with, you got two badass guns to dispose of the many threats you encounter on your journeys.

    Story wise, it is not that complicated. You are a famous archaeologist that can handle her own, and for this reason, you are hired by some chick named Jacqueline Natla to find an ancient artifact called the Scion of Atlantis. Four different part of this Scion are scattered in different tombs and it is your job to find them.

    On your journeys, you find different weapons, ammo and health packs. Ammo is very scarce in this game so you need to use your resources wisely. Save the strongest weapons for difficult enemies and try to avoid unnecessary damage from falls and obvious traps.
    The search for this artifacts goes hand in hand with solving puzzles, go to hard to reach places, exploring environments and overcoming the dangers that guard the artifacts. And oh yeah, also watch out for the wildlife, like a freaking T-Rex for example, that casually walks back and forth in one of the levels.

    The graphics in Tomb Raider are advanced for its time and aged fairly well. It is still playable today. Yes, Lara’s front rack can poke your eyes out, but the environments are still beautiful for a game this old.

    The controls are a little stiff because they are “Tank Controls” and rotating Lara can be a chore sometimes. Also, when jumping and grabbing, your timing needs to be perfect or your adventure ends right here, on the floor of a eighty feet high cave.

    There is no music whatsoever in Tomb Raider and for this game and its play style, it works perfectly. There is some dramatic music when a certain event happens, when you meet the casual T-Rex for example, but other than that, it is ambient sound of wind, birds and water. The sound effects are really nice and enhances the feeling of playing an adventure platforming game. The grunt sounds when Lara grabs on to a ledge, climbing up a ladder, takes damage and when she lands on a platform are just really well done. And then you have the death sounds the makes when falling from too high a platform or gets eaten by ten velociraptors. Just epic.

    Tomb Raider is a long game, you don’t finish it in one setting. Only if you know exactly where you need to go can it be done, but the constant searching for the right path or solution to a puzzle, keeps you hooked up for hours.

    This game kept amazing me. Just when I thought I had seen everything, I entered the temple of Atlantis and got attacked by half-eaten flesh mummies that jump everywhere and defeated a giant flesh/skeleton abomination. It blew my mind because it just did not fit in and came out of the blue.

    That is just the magic of this game. I enjoyed every minute of it, and although it can be a little frustrating and confusing sometimes because of the many death traps this game has, it is just part of its charm.

    Definitely recommend playing it.    … Expand
  3. markwhitton
    Nov 20, 2013
    10
    Although Tomb Raider can prove a challenge to get running well on modern systems it was fantastic to be able to go back and replay this classic adventure game… I actually played through half of the game using Glidos which allowed fantastic texture upgrades, I would have whole heartedly recommended getting it but unfortunately the 10 seconds it takes to open the inventory screen is way tooAlthough Tomb Raider can prove a challenge to get running well on modern systems it was fantastic to be able to go back and replay this classic adventure game… I actually played through half of the game using Glidos which allowed fantastic texture upgrades, I would have whole heartedly recommended getting it but unfortunately the 10 seconds it takes to open the inventory screen is way too annoying! That aside the game may look dated but it provides solid game-play, un-linear level design and just an all-round great deal of fun! I’m not sure whether it’s my nostalgia for the series or more the fact that it can be challenging, enjoyable and has an interesting story… But, I just whole heartedly love this game!… Expand
  4. onzentini
    Mar 20, 2012
    10
    Today this game looks really dated, but it was the game that pulled me in the gameworld, I really was in love with it, the wonderful loneliness, the exploration, the silence, and suddenly the moving music. I've grown over this love but it still has a warm place in my heart. Thank you, Lara.
  5. iddqd4
    Feb 13, 2018
    10
    Абсолютная классика, зарождение нового жанра, и первая героиня женского пола, великая игра.
  6. carlosgtardon
    Jun 10, 2014
    8
    La importancia de Tomb Raider fue muy grande en la historia del videojuego, más allá de su impacto a nivel de marketing también fue un juego muy entretenido de plataformas y disparo en 3D que gestionaba muy bien el espacio y las cámaras, normalmente.
  7. danield80
    Mar 20, 2023
    9
    They don't make games good anymore. Yes, the controls are dated, and therefore, you will be happy for every jump you make but Tomb Raider offers puzzles and exploration of well-designed levels aside from traversal. Current-date games became too easy to control to the point where they literally play themselves. The corridorization and cinematization of modern games doesn't seem to ceaseThey don't make games good anymore. Yes, the controls are dated, and therefore, you will be happy for every jump you make but Tomb Raider offers puzzles and exploration of well-designed levels aside from traversal. Current-date games became too easy to control to the point where they literally play themselves. The corridorization and cinematization of modern games doesn't seem to cease (prime example: God of War Ragnarök).… Expand
  8. SilverOrlov
    Oct 9, 2019
    10
    I liked the game by 9 points. But I will give it 10, because it was the very first game in my life that left those strong impressions of a computer game, like this one. Such an incredible adventure as this forever chained my young soul and mind, and it was after this game that I once wanted to be a researcher and archaeologist.
  9. BosunRaider199x
    Jan 20, 2020
    10
    Fun,game but it deserves more love than it's gets, it's truly a 90's classic ,although the controls are stiffer than a brick,comes highly recommended.
  10. PsychopathicTim
    Jun 21, 2021
    10
    Tomb Raider Is an amazing game... WHEN YOU ACTUALLY GET IT TO WORK! Seriously, it's an accomplishment how unfinished this version feels. I got this on GOG, and it, the Steam version, and the CD ROM version are all the same. So to remedy this, I did some easy and light modding. But when I got it right, man did it feel good to play! Getting the music to run well was satisfying as heck, andTomb Raider Is an amazing game... WHEN YOU ACTUALLY GET IT TO WORK! Seriously, it's an accomplishment how unfinished this version feels. I got this on GOG, and it, the Steam version, and the CD ROM version are all the same. So to remedy this, I did some easy and light modding. But when I got it right, man did it feel good to play! Getting the music to run well was satisfying as heck, and it's arguably the BEST aspect of the game when you get it working. The light modifications to the game - and the fact this version of the game is modifiable in general - make this the best version of Tomb Raider out there. The keyboard controls make this game feel at home on the PC. And it is without a doubt something I would go back to! A masterpiece in puzzle platforming! People often leave this game out in conversations because "it's old, dated, and not as good as the FAR superior Tomb Raider prequel trilogy." Graphics and Gameplay are far different to that of Tomb Raider original, but more than that, these two franchises are trying to be two completely different things. The new Tomb Raider games are action adventure games with some light exploration and puzzles solving. The Original Tomb Raider games were Exploration Adventure Puzzle Solving games with some light action. They're doing completely different things, and their fore people who are fans of the new games are so for different reasons of fans of the original.

    In todays climate, we are spoiled by what we perceive as "good graphics". In the late 90's, Tomb Raider was compared to Resident Evil and Deus Ex, and it was consider to be "good graphics" and older games of the last generation were perceived as ugly looking by comparison. Today, this mentality has gotten so bad that people assume anything old must be trash, or unplayable. At least in comparision to todays gaming landscape. This cannot be further from the truth. Controls are Tomb Raiders biggest weak points, but even that hurtle is capable of getting used to. Polygonal models from the 90's have there own unique charm to them. The biggest reason why is that, because of the low resolution of tv's back in the day, they were forced to have unique art styles to make them pop out. This is something that many games of today fail to capture. Games are better looking, but as a result, their art styles blend into one another. God of War and Horizon Zero Dawn, The Last Of Us and Uncharted, Tomb Raider 2013 and Resident Evil 3 Remake. ALL great games, but their art direction is arguably too similar. As a result, these games pop out less to everyday people. Very few games today try to have unique art styles now, because developers don't see the need for them anymore, and that's a damn shame.

    The old tomb raider reminds me of Metal Slug in a way: Metal Slug keeps it's 2d sprites aesthetic through it’s entire franchise until it’s conclusion. It keeps its charm of an outlandish bombastic shooter without sacrificing believability by trying to "improve the graphics" or "make it more realistic". That's how I feel about not only Tomb Raider 1, but Tomb Raider's 2-5. (Number 6 is the only exception, but that game was trying something different.) And yes, they improved the 3d graphics over time, but that's about it. They never changed the aesthetic to make it more serious, because it didn't need that. And the graphics honestly aren't that bad. They still hold up today when playing on a PC at 1920x1080p, which most of the old games can do. Tomb Raider 1 plays at a native 600x400p, which looks awful. That is easily rectified by delving into the games configuration files and changing the "fullresolution" to 1024x768, the max resolution for the game without mods. With this resolution, the game looks 100 times better. If you're one of those people who simply can't play games at any lower resolution than 4k, challenge yourself to try this game. You may be surprised to find out this is one of the best puzzle solving games to come out of the 1990's, and may expand your appreciation for classic games in general.

    Now, I will impart my modding wisdom onto you:
    (ONLY USE THESE IF YOU HAVE ANTI VIRUS SOFTWARE ON YOUR PC, MODDING IS DONE AT YOUR OWN RISK.)
    Restore the music (it's under “download link to latest build”):
    https://www.tombraiderforums.com/showthread.php?t=166520
    follow this tutorial:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpUg5CbfqNY
    Next, graphics:
    Here is a tutorial:
    https://youtu.be/g-iFjmxq-2A?t=69
    under “resolution” put “1024x768”. Instead of changing “windowresolution” change “fullresolution”.
    Finally, audio, find Tomb Raider 1 folder, locate “dosboxTR.conf” scroll down to “[mixer]”. Change “blocksize” to 2048 and “prebuffer” to 120.    … Expand
  11. Woolee
    Sep 28, 2021
    10
    Although Tomb Raider can prove a challenge to get running well on modern systems it was fantastic to be able to go back and replay this