I finished this game on Thursday, September 7, 2000, 1:30:00 PM. This review was first published on GameSpot on May 10, 2008.

The third installment in the series, and the first PC game I ever played, Tomb Raider III tells the story of a meteorite that crashed in Antarctica millions of years ago. Humans later discovered the crash site and settled there, until they were forced to leave by the terrible events that followed.

In the present day, a research company called RX Tech, headed by Dr. Willard, is excavating the site and discovers the journal of a sailor from Charles Darwin’s expedition. According to the journal, some of his group explored the interior of the crater and found artifacts. Those sailors later travelled to different parts of the world and died, each leaving behind an artifact taken from the meteor.

Oblivious to this history, Lara Croft is in India searching for one of those relics, the Infada artifact. She encounters RX Tech’s hired mercenaries and learns why they are there. After retrieving the artifact, she meets Dr. Willard and sets out after the rest.

The journey takes her to London, the South Pacific, Nevada, and finally back to Antarctica, where she learns the truth behind the expedition.

For the first time, players can choose their path. The first and last chapters stay the same, but the order of the middle chapters is up to you. It does not change the story, but it is an interesting addition.

The gameplay is mostly the same as in the previous two games. You are dropped into huge levels and solve puzzles to reach the next one. A few new moves change how some of those puzzles work.

The levels themselves are massive and complex. Emphasis seems to have shifted toward combat, unlike the earlier games, where exploration was the main focus. I am not sure I like that shift. Tomb Raider has always been about solving puzzles and exploring, with combat included to break the monotony. There are a lot of enemies, and they change with the location. India has tigers and giant cobras. The South Pacific has dinosaurs (including a Tyrannosaurus rex) and cannibals. There is a great deal of fighting throughout the game.

Another major flaw is the locations. Tomb Raider II had its share of urban settings, but Tomb Raider III takes that much further. Nevada, London, and parts of Antarctica are all urban. It is Tomb Raider in name only.

The game starts extremely well. The India levels are some of the best I have played, and the South Pacific levels are very entertaining as well. The rest are not as good.

The puzzles are a mixed bag. Some are very clever; others are extremely frustrating. More often than not, the solutions feel arbitrary. The clues, if you can call them that, are so obtuse that a walkthrough is often your only hope. As if that were not enough, there are a few bugs. Trigger the wrong one and it is game over; you have to reload an earlier save.

The graphics are quite good. The lack of bump mapping means a lot of sharp edges on characters and objects, but that is a minor complaint. Overall, the game looks great.

In-game sound effects do a lot for the atmosphere. The Indian jungles have excellent background audio of rainfall and insects chirping. The game does not have much music, but when it does appear, it is used well. The sudden sound of a sprung booby trap is still startling.

Voice work is another matter. Clarity during conversations is surprisingly poor, and it is hard to follow what is being said. I thought it might have been a problem with my CD audio, but a lot of people had the same issue. That makes following the story almost impossible. Some of the accents are also bad and hard to understand. Lara’s voice is the exception. Judith Gibbins does the rich English accent very well.

Overall, I had mixed reactions to Tomb Raider III. I still had a lot of fun, and I tried hard to look past the level design and the often frustrating puzzles, but this is just not what I expected from a Tomb Raider game.

+ Graphics
+ Interesting puzzles at times
+ Audio
+ New moves
+ Some levels are brilliant
+ Vehicles

- Too many urban levels
- High difficulty
- Bad voice acting
- Technical issues

Verdict – Does not live up to the standards of the previous game. It manages to be mediocre, with flashes of brilliance in between.

This post is published on Apr 10, 2026 Friday 08:59:39 AM CDT