A demo of Tomb Raider Underworld came out today on Xbox Live Marketplace (PC demo coming later in the week and who knows if this demo will be out on Thursday for PSN) and its also a big download of 1.3 GB showing off the Thailand level. For fans of the franchise, this sequel won't disappoint maintaining the Tomb Raider formula of platforming puzzles, shooting combat (especially against some animals in this demo), and Lara herself looking good. I do however have some nitpicky issues with it that ranges from the camera being too close at times especially at times when I try to angle jumps. Also, when you first swim around at the start of the demo, the world may seem open, but invisible walls do make that section a little annoying. Another thing I'm annoyed about is Lara taking damage after taking a fall. It does seem realistic at first as even medium distance falls can kill Lara especially if a jump is misjudged. The trial and error mentality of tackling the puzzles can be annoying too especially for non Tomb Raider fans like me, but the checkpoint system is pretty generous. As expected with TR puzzles, these require some observation that takes some time to figure out, but the hint system does help a bit. Graphically, the game looks pretty good with the water effects, Lara's player model, and the environments themselves.
The combat is pretty standard for the franchise of gunning and evading in which the demo has birds, tigers, and annoying insects to shoot. Other than that, I can see why Tomb Raider Underworld is will be great for fans of the genre and the franchise. As for non-fans of Lara's adventures, it is a good rental to try out, but this demo is worth a shot to see if the game is worthwhile to you despite taking a GB of hard drive space on 360.
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