Tomb Rider (2012)

[JRD]

This announcement somehow slipped me! I played the very first Tomb Raider game on the very first playstation back in 1996 (spoke like a true veteran!  ::) ) and kept playing through TR II, TR III and TR: The last revelations, where, if I'm not mistaken, Lara Croft dies in the end  :D

From there on, the developers and publishers changed and they kind of lost it. A series of chronicles and games based on her memories came out, trying to repeat the success of the original franchise but with no success imo. Recently another TR game was released (Underworld) with a different view... the 3rd person view was replaced by an adventure game-like view.

If you are not familiar with Tomb Raider, the games follow the adventures of British archaelogist Lara Croft as she roams through the world searching for misterious artifacts, kind of an Indiana Jones with sexy legs...  . It was one of the first games with open world levels (or as popen as an 1996 engine could render ::) ) I ever played and it kept me coming back time and time again for the great action. Lara was usually fighting animals and eventually bad guys, solving puzzles and doing some serious platforming.  8)

On June 6th, 2011, developer Crystal Dynamics announced a new installment of Tomb Rider due to fall 2012 having Square Enix (JC2) as publisher. It is going to be a reboot game, telling the story of how Lara became the fearless archaelogist from the first games! A new series on the horizon? Time will tell, but I'm definitely marking this game on my radar!  8)

[Fiach]

I'm a big TR fan myself, I'm not quite sure what you mean about the Underworld controls though. Have you played legend? Thats quite a good game.

There is also another one TR Guardian of Light, it has a kind of isometric viewpoint, but its VERY good.

The 2012 game is supposed to be a kind of survival horror type game, i've seen some stuff on it and it looks really cool. I get the impression that you will have to forage for stuff etc.

Anyway, nice to see another fan of TR here :)

[JRD]

Yes, guardian of Light, not Underworld... sorry for the confusion. That's the one with isometric view (also thanks for the term, I didn't know waht that view type was called  ::) )... I personally didn't like the change, but that's just me.

I considered buying Underworld some time ago but gave up after several bad reviews, don't know if you played it but I'd like to read an OWG member about his impression of the more recent games.... I never played any game since the fourth game where she dies in the end.

I didn't know about the survival horror thingy either... gotta check my sources more carefully next time  ::) ... It would be great to see a reboot bringing back the good old Lara back rather than trying to reach a zombie oriented audience though. She used to deal with supernatural stuff but nothing full of blood and gore... I'll keep my eyes peeled for any news regarding this game and cross my fingers... it can be a great release for 2012!

[fragger]

Here's another big TR fan :-X I too was an avid player of nos. I, II, III and IV (Revelations). Then I lost interest in the fifth one (I think it was TR Chronicles) when they mucked around with the familiar control format and managed to introduce a split-second delay between hitting a button and seeing the result - just enough of a delay to be off-putting. Plus they made some other changes which I felt detracted from the original TR concept. Maybe I should check out some of the more recent titles then.

The first games were lots of fun. There were some cool puzzles, and I liked how they introduced new moves for Lara with each game, like being able to climb up and down ropes and swing on them Tarzan-style, and being able to climb across ceiling structures monkey-bar fashion. They did well with vehicles too, managing to get the right sort of feel for each type. Over the course of the first 4 games she got to operate a speedboat, a kayak, a Land Rover, a ski-mobile, a motorcycle, and a bunch of others that I just can't recall right now. On top of all that, it was refreshing to have a female lead for a change (at that time) and I liked the way she evolved graphically throughout the successive games - a dynamic animated ponytail, outfit changes, and more realistic rendering, i.e. curvier - like the way her breasts developed from sharp, pointy cones in TR1 (ouch!) to proper oomphy singlet-stretchers later on.

I once discovered a trick move that Lara could do which they never mentioned in the manual. Normally if she was hanging from a ledge and you made her pull herself up, she'd pull up with her arms, get one knee on top of the ledge then stand herself up. But if you held down Shift while pressing the "up" control, she would haul herself all the way up into a handstand on the edge, arch her back right over and get one heel down on the floor behind her head, then swing the rest of her body upright. I would have loved to have had a girlfriend who could've done that ;D

[fragger]

I see JRD got in just ahead of me - mate, the only post-Revelations game I played was Chronicles (see above) but I didn't get very far into it before I went off it. Sounds like Fiach may be the go-to guy for the later TR games info, unless someone else here has played them.

Thanks for the heads-up about the new one btw, I'll keep that in mind. It would be nice if the devs could recapture the spirit of the earlier TR games. I kind of miss Lara...

[JRD]

Hahahahahaha.... I remember finding about that move accidentaly!! Me and the rest of the guys - we used to play all night long when I was in college swaping the controller and solving the puzzles with all guys concentrating on the solutions and cheering for the guy holding the control as one of us used to try to pull the stunts you had to pull to proceed in the game! - were completely amazed with that and kept repeating the move over and over just for the style of it 8) ;D

[JRD]

I see JRD got in just ahead of me - mate, the only post-Revelations game I played was Chronicles (see above) but I didn't get very far into it before I went off it. Sounds like Fiach may be the go-to guy for the later TR games info, unless someone else here has played them.

Thanks for the heads-up about the new one btw, I'll keep that in mind. It would be nice if the devs could recapture the spirit of the earlier TR games. I kind of miss Lara...

Hahahaha... and you just slipped a post before me this time around!    :-X

I'm crossing my fingers so they can recapture the spirit... I miss Lara too!  8)

[fragger]

 :-D

[Fiach]

Well if you like/loved TR, then just go and buy Legend and then Underworld, I cant put it more simply than that guys :) Toby Garde  (sp?) the lead designer on TR1 was dumped after that, but he was brought back to helm Legend, it was incredibly successful, hence TR Underworld.

Legend rebooted the series, its great looking and has some really cool action sequences, its like TRI, but totally refreshed. Underworld is all about "scale", there are some levels that you do not realise how big they are until you are halfway through, then look up and see the size of a statue and realise that you have been climbing down something so immense.

I dont recall Legend having DLC, but Underworld does have 2 iirc. While I only played Beneath the Ashes, it was disappointingly short, but it was VERY interesting from a "lore" prespective as it takes place beneath the ruins of Croft Manor. I forget the name of the other one, but you play as Laras doppleganger (evil Lara?)

The earlier releases are now available in HD I think, but I know for certain that Anniversary would be an essential purchase for a fan, its great to recapture the earlier memories, but it does also bring some of the difficulty back to the table, Legend and Underworld are more "user friendly", but if you played and loved the earlier games, you will (hopefully) love Anniversary, but definately get Legend and Underworld.

Underworld Trailer
Tomb Raider Underworld Launch Trailer

Doppleganger
Lara Croft vs. The Doppelganger - Confrontation

Legend
Lara Croft Tomb Raider Legend - Trailer 2 - Xbox360.mov

Anniversary
Lara Croft Tomb Raider Anniversary - Trailer - Xbox360/PS3

Beneath the Ashes
Tomb Raider: Underworld - Beneath The Ashes Trailer in HD

[fragger]

Thanks muchly for all that, Fiach :) I'm having some net issues at the moment which are hampering my ability to watch the clips so I'll have to try later, but cheers for the rundown on Legend, Underworld and Anniversary :-X I think I'll go and track them down once Silly Season is over.

[Fiach]

Cool mate, I would get Legend first, its a handy way to get back in the saddle, you should get them all for less than a tenner each at this stage :)

[JRD]

Just purchased Legend, Anniversary and Underworld for US$10  8)

No idea when I'll give it a try though...  ::)

[fragger]

Was that from a shop or online, JRD?

[JRD]

Online... STEAM. Due to absurd taxes over games and electronic goods in general in Brazil, the prices of any retail version is, at least, three or four times what one would pay in US and Europe and end-of-the-year sales are not on the menu either  :-(

[Fiach]

Thats a shame mate, but its a great price all the same. :)

I would hate to play TR without a controller like the 360, dunno what it would be like with a Mouse/KB combination, one of the best purchases I ever made was a 360 controller for my PC.

[JRD]

STEAM is the only viable way of buying games for me... it's either that or pirate games for the same price so it's a no brainer  ;)

I bought a dual shock analogic controller to play Wings of Prey and if I can have it selected in TR then it should be fine. I don't mind playing with mouse/KB though, I'm quite used to it!

[Fiach]

Cool, I seem to remember some awkward jumps in Anniversary, I wouldnt like them using a keyboard. A quick glance at the purchase tab on Steam should tell if they are controller enabled.... although this means bugger all on some games which are not optimized for controllers and thus are probably even more difficult to play.....Psychonauts and Beyond Good and Evil are two games that come to mind.

[fragger]

Thanks JRD :)

I might try and get the games elsewhere first. I understand how Steam is a good thing for you but it always bites me in the butt :-() That'll be the last resort if I can't get the TR games anywhere else.

[Fiach]

Gamersgate for the three games (only seperate prices though so more expensive).

TR Guardian of Light :

http://www.gamersgate.com/DD-LCGOL/lara-croft-and-the-guardian-of-light

Check out videos and screenshots, its not the normal TR style, but its great all the same and quite cheap I think I paid  about 12 quid for it on XBOX LIVE, its short but sweet :)

[JRD]

Believe me, I'd rather have the disc sitting on a shelf by my gaming PC but it's just impossible!  :-\\

I'd still seize the chance to buy games during sales as the prices of not so old games are just great!  ;D

[fragger]

Cheers Fiach :-X

[fragger]

Had a look at GamersGate, they have TR Legend at 40% off for one more day. I nearly bought it on the spot but decided to check out ebay Oz first and found one there from a discount store in Sydney for AU$13.80 (with free postage). The one at GG was normally priced at $14.95 ($8.97 with the discount, I think in US dollars) but of course it's a download-only version, so I thought I'd spend the extra bucks and get a physical disk from the Sydney shop. The few dollars I'd save buying from GG would probably just end up going on DL allocation anyway, might even end up costing me more than the full price. Anyway, $13.80 is pretty darned cheap for a PC game in Aus, even for an older title, so I'm happy. For a brand-new release, one could easily pay around a hundred dollars depending on how hot a title it is.

Should be raiding tombs in a few days :-X I'll start with Legend and see if I like it enough to go for some of the other titles.

[Art Blade]

 :) :-X

[JRD]

Nice  :-X

Keep us posted!

[Fiach]

Its a great game mate, I'm sure you will enjoy it :)