The story picks up with you, an Alpha Series Big Daddy known as “Subject Sigma,” working with Porter to reclaim The Thinker and escape Rapture.

It’s so hit or miss that I quickly abandoned it and went with the analog stick, which isn’t ideal for throwback gaming. The result was that I simply didn’t bother attempting some of the moves I unlocked as I leveled up, instead opting to go with combos I knew were effective and consistently executable. Even with the limitations, though, you’ve still got a solid repertoire of moves.

Some may find gun accuracy to be an issue as well, though that was clearly a design decision to simulate more realism with the weapons as well as the characters’ lack of special training. After struggling initially I came to embrace the aiming. Also of interest, there’s no melee attack for close quarters combat — instead, pressing (B) has you grab an enemy and use him as a human shield.

Developer Crystal Dynamics has handled Lara’s foray into the isometric realm beautifully. Using the dual analog sticks to move (left) and aim (right) allows for elusive movements and strafing with “X” executing a roll for quick escapes. The functions needed for solving puzzles are smartly mapped to the bumpers, allowing your hands to concentrate on the sticks, triggers and face buttons during combat — plus, you can assign up to four weapons to the d-pad for switching on the fly. Jumping can be a bit imprecise, though part of the blame for that falls on the camera angle.