Trivia / Tomb Raider: Underworld

• Acting for Two: Happens in the second DLC, Lara's Shadow, where Lara ends up talking with the Doppelgänger. For obvious reasons, both are voiced by Keeley Hawes.
• Christmas Rushed: A very obvious and very infamous case, leading to a buggy release and just plain awful camera work due to the unfinished state of the game.
• Dummied Out: The PS2 and PC versions have an extended ending hidden within their files. It picks up immediately after the normal ending with Lara walking through Nepal, when Amanda runs up behind her and attempts to kill her by smashing her head with a rock. Lara shoots Amanda in the leg and considers killing her, but ultimately decides to just leave her in the snow and keeps walking.
• In Memoriam: The game is dedicated to Kyle Mannerberg, the lead Level Designer who passed away in production due to a brain hemorrhage. He is depicted as a portrait in Lara's yacht.
• Reformulated Game: Unlike the previous 2 games which were practically identical across platforms, the "SD" ports of Underworld to the Wii and PS2 are significantly different from the PS3/360/PC version. The Wii version sacrifices some graphics quality and level areas for new puzzles that make use of the console's motion control technology, and was quite well-received by the community. The PS2 version is based on the Wii version, but with even more content stripped out to the point where the game is a blatant cash-grab, reflected in its review scores.
  • For example, all 3 versions of the game contain the Shiva/Kali statue area in Thailand, but it differs significantly in each version.
    • PS3/360/PC: the standard version, filled with lush foliage growing on the rocks, trees growing everywhere, and a large underground side-area containing the two Gemstones necessary to operate the statue.
    • Wii: Significantly less foliage but a similar structure to the area, the side-area containing the Gemstones is missing.
    • PS2: No visible foliage at all, Lara starts at a lower level compared to the statues, the statues are smaller, the situational adrenaline sequence is replaced by a set of hang-and-drop ledges, and the weight puzzles are replaced by simple levers.
  • For some reason, the Wii version is the only one that allows Lara to climb onto the top deck of her ship (using the ladder on the back). On other versions, the top deck is modeled but the ladder doesn't do anything.
  • The Wii/PS2 games removed most of the fancy acrobatic flips (Lara can only perform the default roll), as well as the sprint feature.
  • Even the mobile game comes in 2 different versions: one is a 2D platformer similar to earlier mobile Tomb Raider games, while the other is a 3D on-rails platformer similar to the mobile version of Legend.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Discussions took place for a 3rd DLC level to follow Lara's Shadow. One idea involved the thralls breaking up through the streets and invading London, which would've resulted in Lara sacrificing her life in order to save the city. The idea was well received but was ultimately decided to be too grand in scope for a downloadable level. The next concept was tentatively called Raiders, and would've been an isometric level that would've featured an army of Lara doppelgangers. Though the idea was abandoned, the isometric format was repurposed for Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light.
  • A Dummied Out cutscene shows an extension to the game's ending where Amanda tries to kill Lara with a rock, causing Lara to avoid the attack, shoot her in the leg, and leave her behind. The scene being cut was likely done to keep the ending bittersweet rather than having the two women continue their hatred towards each other after everything they went through.
  • Originally, Crystal Dynamics was not involved in the project for the 10th anniversary of the Tomb Raider franchise and their full focus was on developing Underworld. But as they got tangled in what eventually became Tomb Raider: Anniversary and had to delegate more and more manpower to it, it started to negatively affect the development of Underworld. As a result, Underworld started to suffer from schedule delays and the most basic workforce shortage, finally ending up Christmas Rushed, with the infamous camera issues soiling the reception and sales right from the start. Should Crystal Dynamics never decide to make Anniversary (which by itself ended up being a monumental pain to make and a financial failure), Underworld stood a chance to get a far more polished release, having one solid game rather than two disappointments.

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