I, like most who have played this game, am a huge fan of the Tomb Raider series.  I especially enjoy the puzzle solving of the first game and the action/adventure element and increased pace of the second one.  This series starts off promisingly enough.  Outside of a mandatory (groan) training level, the game eases you into the tried-and-true Tomb Raider gameplay we all have grown to love.  The environments are large and exciting, the puzzles clever.  Exploration is fun and rewarding, and progress is logical.  For the first 6 or 7 hours.  The challenge level really picks up after the VERY neat train level, and in fact starts to become downright maddening.  Do we really have to backtrack for 3 hours just to find 7 scattered items required to make it through to the next level?  Things get flat-out obnoxious at the Chambers Of Tulun and the Trenches.  This area goes something like this: rope swing to hit a switch that unlocks an invincible guy in a room.  Go to the Citadel Gate level to obtain a nitrous oxide canister.  Return to the Chambers and go to the Trenches.  Obtain the nitrous oxide feeder.  Return to the Chambers of Tulun to obtain the roof key.  Go back to the Trenches to get to the Street Bazaar.  Get the car jack and mine detonator so you can get back to the Trenches.  And so on and so on and so on.  Is this mad jumble of item dispersion that is being passed for level design really necessary?  I really enjoy the high challenge level of the Tomb Raider series, but this is ridiculous.  If I didn't have a strategy guide with me, I wouldn't have made it to the Citadel (which is where I am right now).  This game is loads of fun for about 20 or 25 levels; afterwards, it becomes a chore to play.  The graphics and presentation have not been improved drastically since the first Tomb Raider, and the legendary level design has regressed considerably.  Many spots feel cheap, rather than challenging.  Control, while still functional, still isn't perfect, and it causes every jump to be deliberate and nerve-wracking.  If you miss and survive, then you have to make another series of jumps, which can take another 10 minutes just to get back to where you originally were.  I could go on and on, but this game is just too much.  Get this only if you're a die-hard TR fan; but be prepared to fork out some extra cash for a strategy guide.