The year is 2008, and Crystal Dynamics is ready to show the world the epic conclusion to the Tomb Raider Legend trilogy, but it doesn’t go as smoothly as the team hoped. Even 16 years later, Tomb Raider: Underworld doesn’t get the credit it deserves, cementing its place as the most underrated Lara Croft game out there, and that’s saying something considering you can argue that Shadow of the Tomb Raider didn’t get its dues either.
Tomb Raider games hold a special place in my heart, and Underworld is actually one of my favorites, being one of the best DS games in the library I had for the beloved console, though my PS3 copy admittedly bore the brunt of my obsession. The opening sequence of Underworld immediately has you asking questions: what is happening? Why is my friend shooting at me? To get the answers, you need to embark on a grand adventure.
For some, the story of Underworld flies under the radar, while it lives rent-free in my head – Lara Croft wields Mjolnir, and if that isn’t badassery personified, I don’t know what is. It’s a genuinely iconic moment that too many people sleep on, and I desperately hope that Aspyr targets the Legend trilogy for a remaster after it’s through with Tomb Raider IV to VI Remastered so more people get to experience it. Who knows, perhaps Legend, Anniversary, and Underworld have a date with the Nintendo Switch 2 one day.
Underworld’s story, as you can guess from the mention of Mjolnir, involves Norse mythology, with the archaeologist searching for Thor’s hammer, an artifact that’s crucial to entering Helheim – the Norse realm for hell. It’s a compelling narrative that serves as one of the better stories in the franchise, while the locations and exploration on offer are a great time, too.
As with any Lara Croft game, there’s a heavy emphasis on puzzles, which are fiendishly clever, and combat, which is better than some give it credit for. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but it’s what you’d expect from an action game like Underworld. While Square Enix stated that the title underperformed, selling just 1.5 million units by the end of 2008, that number grew to 2.6 million by February 2009. The most recent stats indicate that Underworld sold 3.8 million units by September 2021.
Those numbers aren’t the best in the franchise, far from it, but they’re also not the lowest; that honor belongs to 2007’s Tomb Raider: Anniversary with 1.3 million sales, closely followed by just 1.5 for the 2000 game Tomb Raider: Chronicles. At the other end of the scale is Tomb Raider (2013), the best-selling entry, with 14.5 million units as of 2021.
16 years is a long time, and while some may forget about Tomb Raider: Underworld and continue to let it be the most underrated Tomb Raider game, I’ll shout that it’s worth your time from the rooftops. Considering we don’t know when to expect a new Tomb Raider game beyond the Aspyr remasters, now seems as good a time as any to pick up an old copy of Underworld. Again, it’s worth it just to see Lara prove her worth, holding Thor’s mighty hammer. Yes, you do get to use it for yourself.