History YMMV / TombRaiderIII

** The PC version has a problem with playing on high resolution. While playing on a bigger screen obviously smooths out the graphics, it causes the HUD elements to become extremely tiny and it also causes the laser traps in the Nevada levels to become almost completely invisible.

** Finishing the game using only basic pistols.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Despite how weird the game can get at times, everything that happens is pretty believable, until the end portion of the Area 51 level which a has laboratory with two killer whales in a giant water tank and if you manage to get inside it for the secret, they'll playfully swim towards Lara and circle her. It is never explained why the U.S. government that has a secret military facility would have two live killer whales in the base. It sticks out far more than the autopsied aliens and their alien craft that you can see.

* SequelDifficultySpike: The game's increased difficulty led to the game getting a "love it or hate it" reception, and [[VideoGame/TombRaiderTheLastRevelation the next game]] went back to a rather more sane difficulty curve.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Sophia Leigh, owing to an [[Really700YearsOld interesting backstory]] and playing off Lara well in their limited interactions. This is probably why she was brought back as the BigBad of ''III's'' spinoff.

** Considering how much promotional art shows her with them over the series, it's baffling why the Uzis were so badly nerfed. Their damage potential is about half of what it was in the previous two games and not only are clips for them rarer this time around, they went from giving 100 per pickup to ''40''. Also, by the time you amass any ammo anyway, you'll probably lose them to the {{No Gear Level}}. While you can probably find them again, you'll never find enough ammo to particularly justify their use anymore.

** The shotgun got hit, and hit '''hard''', with the [[{{Nerf}} nerf hammer]]. In both original and [=TR2=], shotgun boxes came with only 2 shells each, but you'd often find several stacks of boxes together in the same pick-up, so you'd often get more than 2 shells. Tomb Raider 3 almost entirely removes "stacked" pickups, meaning every single ammo pick-up in the game for the shotgun is a measly two shells. For comparison, it's main competitor, the Desert Eagle, comes with 10 bullets per pick-up and has both more range and more damage. This leaves shotgun quickly overshadowed and just plain inferior, while routinely strapped for ammo.

* DesignatedHero: Upon its release, the game was harshly criticised for this approach. You see, in [[VideoGame/TombRaiderI the first installment]], there were barely any human enemies and they were all hired crooks trying to kill Lara. [[VideoGame/TombRaiderII The second game]] vastly increased the amount of human enemies, but they were again criminals or [[ItMakesSenseInContext reanimated ancient warriors]] and the plot gave Lara a "saving the world" licence to kill. By Tomb Raider III human enemies include [=MPs=], museum guards, homeless people living in [[UsefulNotes/TheLondonUnderground London's Tube]], tribesmen in their own village, security personnel guarding private mine... you get the picture. And this time around there is no excuse to kill any of them, as the save the world plot doesn't kick in till you are out of human enemies.

** The [=PS1=] version is prone to patches of slowdown and low framerates, two problems which didn't really affect the first two games.
** The [=PS1=] version dropped the "save anywhere" feature of the second game in favor of save crystals, which are limited in supply. The computer versions let you save anywhere.
** The [=PS1=] version also has an unfortunate audio sync problem in the game engine-based cutscenes, which causes the audio to play almost a second after the video. It's especially noticeable in the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IC7z_GENkY cutscene after the first England level.]] The FMV-based cutscenes don't have this sync issue, thankfully.

** The entirety of Nevada is actually infamous for the {{No Gear Level}} that completely strips you of ''EVERYTHING'', unlike the other games which allowed you to keep ammo, flares, and medpacks. What's especially bad about this is that the Nevada levels contain the ''least total number of secrets in the game compared to other segments at a grand total of 8'' (3 in Nevada Desert, 2 in High Security Compound, and 3 in Area 51), though only 5 of those count since you lose everything in the second level. This means that even once you lose everything, you'll be hard pressed to regain much of your stocked resources, and if you actually do the Nevada section last, you'll have to rely on pistols more during the final stages of the game...

** In the previous two games, during levels where Lara loses her weapons, she keeps all medpacks and ammo for all the weapons she had collected over the course of the game. In this one, Lara loses her gear in the High Security Compound level of Nevada, ''and is left with only a small medipak''. This severely nerfs several of your weapons as you collect quite a few things of ammo for weapons you may not even get before this point (think about the Desert Eagle clips you may have collected from secrets, where the actual weapon doesn't appear until the next level). Depending on when you choose to tackle the Nevada levels, some weapons could be lost forever.

* ScrappyWeapon:
** Just like the last game, the Shotgun unfortunately gets hit with this once more, for the exact same reason; its ammo pickups are just too rare to justify its use after midgame. Hard as it is to believe, it gets even ''harsher'' in this game with the Nevada levels, as the {{No Gear Level}} steals all your accumulated ammo up to the point you encounter it, meaning you'll lose what little ammo you have saved, and you simply won't find much more after it.
** Even more heartbreaking, as it's part of Lara's arsenal in every game and just as iconic as her dual-pistols, the Uzis. Exceedingly rare ammo pickups that now only gives 40 bullets per pickup instead of the 100 from the previous games (''a 60% reduction, notice''), the above mentioned {{No Gear Level}} that steals whatever you already have saved up and little to no pickups after it even if you DO pick Nevada first, and a massive damage reduction that makes you wonder why they even bothered to include them in this game.
** Once again, the Harpoon Gun. Still strong underwater, but simply not fast enough, still has to reload after every fourth shot, and entirely useless on land. Here, it also suffers from shortage of harpoon pickups, as well as much fewer practical uses for it as, unlike the Moria Doria levels at the bottom of the sea in the previous game, there's less underwater combat happening in TR3.

* CompleteMonster: [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Sophia Leigh]] is a [[VainSorceress obsessively vain woman]] who had obtained the Eye of Isis in [[UsefulNotes/VictorianBritain Victorian times]]. [[ImmortalityImmorality To remain immortal and youthful over the years]], Sophia would hire homeless people to work for her, later subjecting them to cruel experiments. The aftermath of the experiments would leave them [[AndIMustScream immortal but decaying]] in which Sophia would then dump them into the sewers of London and keep the best results for herself. Seemingly killed off, Sophia returns in ''The Lost Artifact'' where she steals the Hand of Rathmore and uses its highly volatile properties to experiment on people in an underwater facility.

* CompleteMonster: [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Sophia Leigh]] is the head of [=SLinc=] and a woman [[VainSorceress obsessed with her vanity]]. Obtaining the Eye of Isis in [[UsefulNotes/VictorianBritain Victorian times]], Sophia would hire people to work for her, only to [[BadBoss have them cruelly experimented on]], eventually leaving them [[AndIMustScream rotting and immortal]], then dumping them into the sewers under London. Sophia would then use any successful results to apply to herself to keep herself young-looking and immortal. Sophia returns in ''The Lost Artifact'', having stolen the Hand of Rathmore and used its properties to mutate people in an underwater facility.

* DesignatedHero: Upon its release, the game was harshly criticised for this approach. You see, in [[VideoGame/TombRaider the first installment]], there were barely any human enemies and they were all hired crooks trying to kill Lara. [[VideoGame/TombRaiderII The second game]] vastly increased the amount of human enemies, but they were again criminals or [[ItMakesSenseInContext reanimated ancient warriors]] and the plot gave Lara a "saving the world" licence to kill. By Tomb Raider III human enemies include [=MPs=], museum guards, homeless people living in [[UsefulNotes/TheLondonUnderground London's Tube]], tribesmen in their own village, security personnel guarding private mine... you get the picture. And this time around there is no excuse to kill any of them, as the save the world plot doesn't kick in till you are out of human enemies.

** The entirety of London is usually That One Section.

* CompleteMonster: [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Sophia Leigh]] is the head of [=SLinc=] and a woman [[VainSorceress obsessed with her vanity]]. Obtaining the Eye of Isis in [[UsefulNotes/VictorianBritain Victorian times]], Sophia would hire people to work for her, only to [[BadBoss have them cruelly experimented on]], eventually leaving them [[AndIMustScream rotting and immortal]], then dumping them into the sewers under London. Sophia would then use any successful results to apply to her self to keep herself young looking and immortal. Sophia returns in ''The Lost Artifact'', having stolen the Hand of Rathmore and used its properties to mutate people in an underwater facility.

** The actual combat difficulty is heavily reduced, thanks to the abundance of ammo for the Desert Eagle and MP5, and human enemies having more telegraphed attacks, slower movement and never coming at Lara in groups larger than 2 or 3, almost all of the player's deaths will simply come from the unfair at times level design.

* DesignatedHero: Upon its release, the game was harshly criticized for this approach. You see, in [[VideoGame/TombRaider the first installment]], there were barely any human enemies and they were all hired crooks trying to kill Lara. [[VideoGame/TombRaiderII The second game]] vastly increased the amount of human enemies, but they were again criminals or [[ItMakesSenseInContext reanimated ancient warriors]] and the plot gave Lara a "saving the world" licence to kill. By Tomb Raider III human enemies include [=MPs=], museum guards, homeless people living in [[UsefulNotes/TheLondonUnderground London's Tube]], tribesmen in their own village, security personnel guarding private mine... you get the picture. And this time around there is no excuse to kill any of them, as the save the world plot doesn't kick in till late in the game.

* DesignatedHero: Upon its release, the game was harshly criticised for this approach. You see, in [[VideoGame/TombRaider the first installment]], there were barely any human enemies and they were all hired crooks trying to kill Lara. [[VideoGame/TombRaiderII The second game]] vastly increased the amount of human enemies, but they were again criminals or [[ItMakesSenseInContext reanimated ancient warriors]] and the plot gave Lara a "saving the world" licence to kill. By Tomb Raider III human enemies include [=MPs=], museum guards, homeless people living in [[UsefulNotes/TheLondonUnderground London's Tube]], tribesmen in their own village, security personnel guarding private mine... you get the picture. And this time around there is no excuse to kill any of them, as the save the world plot doesn't kick in till you are out of human enemies.

** The actual Combat difficulty is heavily reduced, thanks to the abundance of ammo for the Desert Eagle and MP5, Human enemies both having more telegraphed attacks, slower movement and never coming at Lara in groups larger than 2-3 and on PC the Save Crystals heal you instead so only really boss enemies have a chance to actually kill Lara in Combat, almost all of the player's deaths will simply come from the unfair at times level design.

* NauseaFuel: The Damned not only have their skin melted away and rotting flesh. They use embalming fluid to preserve their bodies.

** Numerous enemies show up only in single levels each, in small quantities or both. The most remembered is of course the obligatory [[spoiler: T-Rex]].

** The very last cutscene of the game sees Lara boarding a helicopter after shooting the pilot inside, who had nothing to do with any of the plot; she shot the guy because he was there.

* DesignatedHero: Upon its release, the game was harshly criticised for this approach. You see, in [[VideoGame/TombRaider the first instalment]], there were barely any human enemies and they were all hired crooks trying to kill Lara. [[VideoGame/TombRaiderII The second game]] vastly increased the amount of human enemies, but they were again criminals or [[ItMakesSenseInContext reanimated ancient warriors]] and the plot gave Lara a "saving the world" licence to kill. By Tomb Raider III human enemies include [=MPs=], museum guards, homeless people living in [[UsefulNotes/TheLondonUnderground London's Tube]], tribesmen in their own village, security personnel guarding private mine... you get the picture. And this time around there is no excuse to kill any of them, as the save the world plot doesn't kick in till you are out of human enemies.

** Arguably the plot still excuses Lara for many of these killings too - those villagers are violent cannibals, the homeless guys attack you at first and the museum guards have guns and try to murder you on sight. Guns are illegal for UK security personnel - it is therefore probable that the guards are actually working for Sophia Leigh, a criminal businesswoman who has a lot of power and real estate in London. The pilot and [=MPs=] are more dubious, though.

** The entirety of Nevada is actually infamous for the {{No Gear Level}} that completely strips you of ''EVERYTHING'', unlike the other games which allowed you to keep ammo, flares, and medipaks. What's especially bad about this is that the Nevada levels contain the ''least total number of secrets in the game compared to other segments at a grand total of 8'' (3 in Nevada Desert, 2 in High Security Compound, and 3 in Area 51), though only 5 of those count since you lose everything in the second level. This means that even once you lose everything, you'll be hard pressed to regain much of your stocked resources, and if you actually do the Nevada section last, you'll have to rely on pistols more during the final stages of the game...

** In the previous two games, during levels where Lara loses her weapons, she keeps all medipaks and ammo for all the weapons she had collected over the course of the game. In this one, Lara loses her gear in the High Security Compound level of Nevada, ''and is left with only a small medipak''. This severely nerfs several of your weapons as you collect quite a few things of ammo for weapons you may not even get before this point (think about the Desert Eagle clips you may have collected from secrets, where the actual weapon doesn't appear until the next level). Depending on when you choose to tackle the Nevada levels, some weapons could be lost forever.
** The shotgun got hit, and hit '''hard''', with the [[{{Nerf}} nerf hammer]]. In both original and [=TR2=], shotgun boxes came with only 2 shells each, but you'd often find several stacks of boxes together in the same pick-up, so you'd often get more than 2 shells. Tomb Raider 3 almost entirely removes "stacked" pick-ups, meaning every single ammo pick-up in the game for the shotgun is a measly two shells. For comparison, it's main competitor, the Desert Eagle, comes with 10 bullets per pick-up and has both more range and more damage. This leaves shotgun quickly overshadowed and just plain inferior, while routinely strapped for ammo.

* SpecialEffectsFailure: The [=PS1=] version finally gave players the infamous nude code, if you happened to own a Game Genie-esque peripheral called Video Game Xplorer and inputted an absurdly long code. Problem is, it looks like crap. It literally looks like they just took Lara's default outfit, peached over it, and drew a couple nipple dots.

* {{Narm}}: Lara's drowning animation in this game. Once the OxygenMeter hits the bottom, she promptly goes into a random flail. Said flail lasts roughly five seconds, give or take. Meaning she had five seconds of air left that apparently was held in reserve simply for a flailing drowning scene. Layin' it on a little thick, eh Lara?
** It's probably meant to represent what is cheerfully called 'the rigours', which is the agony a person goes through when water first hits the lungs when they drown. This actually does last around five seconds.