Dwardus Prime Entertainment Blog» tomb raider

Why we need another Lara Croft

Dwardus — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:44:14 +0000

Check out my new feature atricle over at Sisters Noir – “Why we need another Lara Croft“.

Tomb Raider Underworld, on reflection

Dwardus — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 10:55:34 +0000

I completed this on Friday, even though there are a bunch of treasures I still need to collect and some alternate paths I remember not taking on my first run through. I’ll probably go back for these at some point, but the main story is done. Overall I’d say it’s a good addition to the series, hampered by what can sometimes be a dodgy camera (like when you’re hanging precariously – it’s a bitch trying to see where to jump for a hand-hold and you end up leaping blindly to your death). Also, the first few levels breeze by, with Thailand holding the first real challenge in the lizard room. It does get quite a bit trickier when you reach Mexico however, and the bike is a nice addition and along with Natla as the game’s primary antagonist, reclaims some of the original Tomb Raider atmosphere. Lara’s token motorbike never feels overused but is used enough to be satisfying (spinning and hitting giant spiders with the wheels was a personal favourite!). Also, speeding through an ancient temple is both exhilarating and nicely rebellious. Another nice addition is Lara’s yacht – while always stationary, it gives you the feeling that you are in fact globe-trotting without compromising the level-based system prevalent through all the Tomb Raiders to date. There’s nothing cooler than taking a swan-dive into the med in the first level and scouring submerged ruins with a torch (again, adding to the atmosphere) and the fact that it’s the first Tomb Raider where you can actually enjoy underwater environments without having to worry about drowning. Some of the locations are huge and memorable, like the vast entrance to the underground Mexico section flanked by massive fire-breathing pillars and the underwater sections with gargantuan Thor statues. Some of the single room puzzles can take a while and are pretty clever, harking back to similar locations in the original games. Combat appears to take a backseat, and although shooting two enemies at once and shooting off walls when climbing is pretty cool, it is gravely underused. Many of the cool moves from Legend (where combat was awesome) seem to have been removed which is a shame, because Lara’s motion capture makes her really fluid. Being a Crystal Dynamics game the combat in Legend was very reminiscent of Legacy of Kain: Defiance, which was no bad thing because that was immensely fun to play. Also much of the destructible scenery used to squash or electrocute enemies is gone. Lack of decent combat aside, the exploration and atmosphere are awesome and you feel like a real tomb raider. A problem plagued by Crystal Dynamics games are the lack of boss fights so memorable in their first Legacy of Kain game (and in my opinion, still the best) – Soul Reaver. I wanted more ancient monsters to step out of ruins, I wanted to kick the crap out of Thor and a serpent or two, but no such luck. Another similarity with the original is the fact that there are very few human opponents in the game, which was OK, but a rival explorer who you actually see (and get to fight without mashing one or two buttons like in Anniversary) would have held the story together better with a constant threat of death on your hands. Like I said, it’s a cool game and you should definitely play it if you’re a Tomb Raider fan, but if Dynamics can look back to Tomb Raider Legend for the combat, the original Tomb Raider for the rival explorers, stick some extra boss battles in and keep the great exploration and atmosphere of this game, the next one should be the definitive Tomb Raider.

Lara goes down under in Tomb Raider: Underworld

Dwardus — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 19:28:41 +0000

Tomb Raider: Underworld

I’m a massive fan of Tomb Raider and have enjoyed all the games to date. So today when I was offered 25 quid’s worth of whatever I wanted and saw the banner on Amazon for the new Tomb Raider game I was eager to investigate. I doubted I’d have much luck, seeing as I’m still on a PS2, but I was surprised to see I was catered for too. I’m not sure how the version I’ll be getting ranks alongside the others, but given that the game engine looks very similar to the Legend/Anniversary incarnation, hopefully the differences will be minimal. Coming to a total of £24.98 I was fairly pleased with my buy. Since I’ve been home, I decided to do a bit of research to see how the new adventure is shaping up, and here’s what I’ve found…

As a direct follow-up to Tomb Raider Legend, Lara will be searching for her mother. This time the “training level” in the Croft Mansion is allegedly an escape rather than the leisurely exercise we were treated to in the two previous instalments. The trailer shows an FMV of the Croft mansion being destroyed by fire, with Lara standing outside as it explodes (see trailer #1, below). Not the result of a chip pan fire.

Tomb Raider: Underworld, trailer #1 (the music is Lacrimosa by Mozart, btw – bloody good!)

Facts, rumours and new features -

According to imdb’s cast list, Natla (voiced by Grey DeLisle) returns (pretty much confirmed in trailer #2 with Lara’s gasp and Natla’s voice)
Amanda Evert (Kath Soucie) is back, as friend or foe? We’re not sure
Zip (Alex Désert) turns rogue, or at least that’s what trailer #2 leads us to believe
Kold, one of Natla’s goons from the first game is on the list to return
The very sexy Keely Hawes of Spooks and Ashes to Ashes fame reprises her role as the voice of Lara
Lara has a wealth of new moves (the gameplay videos on the official site say at least 1600, but more likely closer to 2000)
Lara’s movement is for the first time motion-captured and based on an Olympic athlete
Lara can shoot two enemies at once, and climb while shooting, switching her gun hand
Bushes rustle as she moves through and past them
Lara fights the Kraken, probably on the first or second level, and he likely plays a similar monster pin-up roll to the T-Rex in Anniversary
Lara will once again be wiping out endangered species like tigers and will also be facing up against pumas, giant lizards, sharks and gunmen
Lara visits Mexico, Thailand and the Med (beneath the sea) and frozen arctic islands with hints at more supernatural locales like Avalon – “the place of fear” as Lara dubs it.
Areas are now much bigger
This is now the 8th game in a series that has spanned 12 years
There are now multiple ways to solve puzzles
Environments are completely interactive and damage remains – presumably in the form of bullet holes and explosions, etc
The grapple returns
Lara now has an active 3D sonar map at her disposal, making it easier to navigate through the adventure and to discover secrets
Hints can be toggled on and off, with little pointers to direct walkthroughs
We all look older, Lara doesn’t
Her token motorbike returns
There are more weapons
It is the third game in the series to be developed by Crystal Dynamics since the franchise reboot following Tomb Raider & the Angel of Darkness and its generally negative reviews.
For those with Xbox Live there will be two additional levels, both very different Beneath the Ashes (Christmas 2008), and Lara’s Shadow (2009). Prices are yet to be confirmed, but they should add an extra six hours of game play, and one is a follow-on from the main game, taking place after its completion
I’m still waiting to get my Tomb Raider 2 guide back off my old religious education teacher after lending it him a decade ago. It had really cool concept art in it. I’m not holding my breath.
I would imagine Lara comes into contact with Natla early-on, and that ultimately she must defeat Natla “the god”. As she says in the trailer – “I need Thor’s belt to get his hammer and I need the hammer to kill a god”. The trailer also suggests that Lara triggers events with her tomb raiding that lead her (and possibly mankind) into peril.

Tomb Raider: Underworld, trailer #2

I’ll be planning a follow-up post when I get the game and also a more retrospective and general Tomb Raider post sometime soon.

Tomb Raider: Underworld hits the shops November 21st