Tomb raider. Anniversery & Legend major spoilers

[nickfil]

yeah- sorry about the wall of text but i'm talking shit about a lot of shit.

So i finally got around to playing tomb raider anniversary. I had picked it up in a slew of games on black friday. And wow, it really blew me away. I've never really saw the appeal of tomb raider before. I picked up the first one for the pc way back when it first came out, but i think i was too young to understand what i was getting into. My thoughts at the time were "boobs and guns" which isn't really what tomb raider is about. I think that i was immediately frustrated because there was barely anything to shoot at and I had no appreciation for the 3-d platformer. I never even got to the T-Rex and was glad to put it down and pick up goldeneye.

Fast forward to a few months ago. My taste in games has changed over the years and i love games like portal and puzzle quest where you don't actually shoot at anything. I picked up anniversary on a whim. Those of you that haven't played it but have had a passing interest in the series should really pick it up. The isolation you experience coupled with the huge beautiful expansive areas to play through make this game an amazing experience. The main plot is good, but what really got to me was lara's first kill. The game does a fantastic job of making you really feel the consequence of your actions and gives lara a real personality by making her silently regretful for the murder she has committed. In my opinion the story absolutely peaks there. The platforming at times comes across very straightforward, but in later levels i found myself getting a little lost in a few areas where there were multiple ways to do things. The game does a great job in giving you just enough options to make you think about how to approach the situation, but not overwhelm you.

After being so jazzed about anniversary i picked up legend. Now- I enjoyed legend... but.... not nearly as much as anniversary. I understand that it is game 7 and that anniversary is game 1 in the tomb raider franchise, but i really thought they were also trying to reboot the series. The once silent contemplative remorseful lara has completely changed. In the first level she has absolutely no problem mowing down faceless bad guys with a machine gun. Thats all well and good for a game mechanic, but i was a bit dissapointed. I liked that Lara was making active moral decisions. Choosing deliberately to kill and regretting it. Here in legened we have the same old video game story. Which is fine, but certainly doesn't rope me in. That coupled with her awful banter over the wireless with the zip back at home makes this game feel very very different then anniversary. The isolation is gone. Zip even helps you with puzzles before you are actually even starting to explore the room taking some of the problem solving thrill out of it. It was like having someone who has already played backseat game me. I want to make my own mistakes, thanks zip. Plus- because of the mindless banter they exchange the whole game, nothing seems like it has any kind of emotional weight to it. Everything is business as usual rather than life hanging in the balance. I wouldn't mind the exchanges so much, if they actually meant something. I feel like legend also takes a few miss steps in the plot. I loved the last boss fight and exchange with the ring and having lara talk to her mother. That whole exchange and the exchange with amanda afterward was great. However, i would've liked to have a little more emotional investment in amanda's character. lara seems regretful i guess because she flat out tells me she is, but it would be nice to have amanda be more than a character you chase down a hallway. That way the player has a connection to her and lara doesn't have to inform the player about the connection that you should be having. Plus- how the fuck are you going to allude to yetis in the beginning with young lara's drawings and then not put a single fucking yeti in there? The whole game i was waiting for that shit! I also would've liked more than a nod to the Scion with the pattern on the floor. Some story telling referencing anniversary would've been good. Other than those major things, i felt like it played short with an emphasis more on combat then on platforming. I would've liked more puzzles. I feel like i got one good (if that) puzzle per board and out of the 8 levels i think i did all of them in under 40 minutes each. Some WELL under 40. The subtle nods to the soul reaver world were fun though, and made me want to play those games over again.


to tomb raider fans: I know that 2 and 3 are still scored pretty high in the scope of games. Are they worth playing on the playstation or have they not really held up over time? From the look of things i'll avoid 6, and maybe roll around to 4 or 5 sometime if 2 and 3 are good.

Also- how was underworld? Better than legend? I played the demo and the camera seemed like it was flying around like a fucking madman. There were a few times i didn't know what was going on. And on more than one time i was doing blind jumps which i kind of hate. There is no problem solving in blind jump trial and error. But you know- thats a demo for ya. Not a finished build.

[superlarz]

I am trying to play through the original version of the first game on Saturn.... and it has not held up well. Sometimes its tough to tell if you can grab a ledge, or jump on something..... or even if something is an enemy or just part of the wall. I have 2 and 3 for PS but i'm not gonna start them until i finish the first... and that is starting to feel like it is never going to happen. Its like I almost dread booting up the game. Anyway, I imagine that the rest of the 32 bit games aged just as poorly. It would be nice if they remade them all.

[gravitone]

I totally agree with you when it comes to the great experience that is tombraider anniversary. It really captures what tombraider was all about back in 1995. However when it comes to Lara's emotions (i.e. showing remorse), this was not the case in the original. She was hard without remorse to whoever stood in her path. The second part was no different. Likewise with the third. Then again the dialogues and story were never really fleshed out so much as in the new games and this remake. Lara's 4th adventure featuring the lengthy personal vendeta with Werner Von Croy really brought a bit more personality to the character of lara. It is also in my opinion the greatest title of the first 5 using the original engine. It has a huge amount of levels (most of them tombs or temples), and almost all of them have great design with their own distinct features. This game will throw some serious puzzles at you.

Tombraider legend was really a completely new game where they tried to bring new life into the genre. The engine started off as a playground for the new developer (Crystal dynamics) to try different things. And thus most time was spent doing just that to my idea. Although the levels are overall pretty solid, they feel short, and too simple a lot of time. They tried to make the game more accesible and they overdid it just slightly.

Underworld is really a whole new game. I played through most of it and there are a few things I noticed. The graphics have definitly gotten a boost, however it seems the new engine has a few quircks when it comes to controls and the camera. They changed the way the controls respond in certain situations which makes for awkward gameplay. Dropping down from bars, grabbing them, and actually doing this on the right side of said bar/pole is next to impossible. Jumping from certain positions towards ledges will also respond awkwardly from time to time resulting in imminent death. However, the leveldesign is pretty good, and the environments look stunning in many places. The athmosphere of the whole game is once again better then its predecessor legend. I have also encountered a number of places where its less obvious what your next objective is. They make you stop and really think about what to do.

I played and finished every tombraider game since its first conception alternating between pc, psx, and dreamcast versions of the respective games. I skipped tombraider dark angel because it is an absolute turd. I always loved the series because it provided just the right ingredients I look for in a game. I love platforming (mario childhood), puzles, archeology, architecture, puzzles, mythology, and a good storyline. And seriously, who doesnt like a scarecly clothed british babe running around finding artifacts and shooting dinosaurs, mummies, thugs, and wild animals?

[nickfil]

Dropping down from bars, grabbing them, and actually doing this on the right side of said bar/pole is next to impossible. Jumping from certain positions towards ledges will also respond awkwardly from time to time resulting in imminent death.

i had gotten that impression from the demo and hope that it would be fixed. It seems like they tried to add more game mechanics rather than perfect the old ones and nothing is really 100%, though close. I'll probably still play it once it drops in price and the 2 extra levels are released so i can play it all in one go. Looking forward to it despite the problems though. Really pretty game.

[arion]

yeah the banter between lara and the two other guys in legend really isn't necessary..now if it were funny which it isn't then maybe