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Lara Croft made a surprising comeback last year with Tomb Raider: Legends, developed by Crystal Dynamics. Using the formula that managed to bring this series back to life, Crystal Dynamics brings us Tomb Raider: Anniversary, a remake of the original Tomb Raider that was developed by Core Design.

I never played the original Tomb Raider, but I did play Tomb Raider: Legends. I know it must have been vastly different when compared to the one that was released in 1996. I never understood why Tomb Raider was such a big deal, but after sitting in front of my TV for a few hours and after reloading at least several dozen times, I realized why Tomb Raider was a success. There is something about those tricky jumps that frustrate you to no end, yet you're compelled to sit there until you get past them. It's fun in an abusive sort of way. You just can't let the game beat you.

This third-person adventure takes place in 1996, when Lara is hired by Jacqueline Natla, a rather evil-looking businesswoman who seems to know that Lara will want to retrieve the three pieces that make up the Scion of Atlantis. The artifact was also of interest to Lara's father, so she agrees and travels to the lost city of Vilcabamba, Peru. You'll end up in other such exotic destinations as Greece and Egypt as the story progresses. Although, if you're used to Legends, this story doesn't exactly progress as quickly, and sometimes, it feels like it's not moving at all. A majority of the time is spent exploring while trying to collect artifacts and items along the way.

The bulk of the gameplay comprises of climbing ledges, unlocking doors, swimming through tunnels, jumping over deep pits and swinging to another ledge. The risk of falling is quite high, so be prepared to load from the last save point - which happens often. You will cross frequent checkpoints, so you'll never have to redo too much. Saving your game is done manually, and you will always load from the last checkpoint crossed.

Lara is armed with her dual pistols, which will be needed to fend off bats, bears, a T-Rex and other random creatures. Combat has been tweaked with the addition of adrenaline dodge. When an enemy becomes enraged, it will charge you, and the screen will blur and go into "bullet time," in which everything slows down. This allows you to dodge by pressing the analog stick left or right and hitting circle. You'll dodge the attack, and when you see the two target circles align, hit R1, and you'll pull off a headshot, which comes in handy if you want the fights to be quick and painless.

Since Lara is a trained acrobat, jumping around while keeping your targets on autolock and firing will work just as well. If you do get knocked over, pressing X repeatedly will help you get on your feet. Or, if there is a ledge that you can climb to, you can always take out the wild animals from there, since they don't seem to have the ability to jump or climb stairs. The fighting part doesn't happen too often, but when you spend most of the time alone, it gives you a bit of an adrenaline rush when they suddenly come out of nowhere. There are also interactive cut scenes in which the game will tell you what button to press to keep you on your toes.

It's funny how Lara can climb to the top of old ruins by jumping from narrow ledge to narrow ledge like a monkey. But when you're on solid ground, she can't jump very high. You'll rely on her strong fingers and arms as she climbs her way onto everything. She has her trusty grappling hook, which you can use to swing on the gold rings that you'll come across.

For once, the manual does a decent job of explaining the controls if you happened to miss the tutorial in game. When new skills are required, the game pauses to let you in on the technique required to get by.

From the main menu, there is an option to play Croft Manor, which serves as a training ground if you prefer to practice before diving into the actual game.

Each level comes with artifacts and relics that you can pick up. This unlocks bonus content and extra features that can be accessed through the main menu. Concept art, outfits and commentaries are just some of the features you can unlock. You have the ability to replay any level to go back and collect artifacts that you may have missed. If you're really looking for a challenge, you can do time trials and bump up the difficulty setting.

The locations and tombs you'll be exploring seem lush and beautiful at first, but after spending a good amount of time running around and trying to figure out what to do next, you get tired of it and want to move to the next location. The music is fitting, and it gives you cues when something bad is about to happen.

The most annoying feature, other than the long load times after you die, is the camera. You are able to rotate the camera at your leisure, but you'll often find that it is way too close, and when you're on a ledge ready to jump, it takes a good amount of maneuvering to figure out where to go, because the camera is zoomed in too tight. There are spots where I kept swinging the camera to figure out whether I would be falling off a ledge if I kept moving, but unless I took a better look before I jumped, it was hard to tell.

That aside, Tomb Raider: Anniversary is worth your time as a fan and as someone who is new to the series and looking for a place to start. It's always hard to go back and play classic games if you've never played them before and then realize that after 10 years, graphics and gameplay has changed quite a bit. But with this updated, renovated version, you can experience classic without the blocky graphics.