It's in London that Toby Gard (Lara Croft's father) and a part of the Crystal Dynamics team presented us the first outline of TRA. It was the occasion for them to explain what this new episode contains, which is more than a remake. Yes, the game will include most of the key elements of the first Tomb Raider (including meeting the T-Rex), on the other hand the developers rebuilt the levels mapping and the graphic settings. Plus, part of the innovations introduced by Crystal Dynamics (like the magnetic grapple) will remain, and that will have an influence on the way you explore the environments and how you solve puzzles. Definitely modern in its gameplay, this TRA will also rejoin the fundamental spirit of the series, being all about exploration. Would it be the perfect Tomb Raider ?
The Jungle Hell
When Lara Croft was transferred to the Crystal Dynamics studio, they had to look past the many complaints about the series, especially the last episode (Angel of Darkness): dreadful gameplay, poorly dosed difficulty, lack of homogeneity, etc... Tomb Raider Legend has magnificiently corrrected this, and started the gorgeous adventurer's carreer again. Nevertheless, fans of the very first Tomb Raider felt a little betrayed by this new Lara, which was much less capable than at her beginnings. Permanently helped by her tech team and her high-tech gadgets, it was quite easy for her to fly through supposedly dangerous lands. Tomb Raider Legend was thus her easiest and shortest adventure.
This will be different with TRA, which plans to give back to Lara Croft her statute of solitary adventurer. Get rid of the radio communications about the path to follow, forget the scanner who showed useful parts in the environment, say goodbye to the little sparkling which indicated reachable points for the grapple. Back to the "old fashioned" exploration, where the gamer has to do the job by himself. A direction which will charm the purists but may disturb a little the new gamers who discovered the serie with Tomb Raider : Legend. Isn't there a risk of frustration for a part of the audience ? "No !", Toby gard answers, "because it's that aspect of Tomb Raider that made its original success. People were playing in groups, some were solving the puzzles and giving advice to the one holding the gamepad. It's one of the most popular aspects of the game." Well, he has a point...
Four-legged ennemies
Speaking of beasts, please note that they are really back in Tomb Raider : Anniversary. Within the first minutes, Lara shoots wolves, bears and dinosaurs. We asked Crystal Dynamics developpers about that point : aren't they affraid of the anger from some wildlife protection associations ? Wildlife protection is after all a very modern concern... "We've thought a lot about it, being aware of the ethic problem that could rise", they explain,"but wild beasts are part of the Tomb Raider universe. In the savage lands, you expect to see dangerous animals attempting to eat you. In order to keep the serie spirit, Lara had to fight bears, wolves, etc. We made them really threatening, so that people wouldn't be annoyed to shoot them." After all, it remains a video game, and a virtual world...
Real Tomb Raider
When asked what are his feelings about this remake, Toby Gard is first delighted about bringing light to the story of the series. "I went on Wikipedia (note from the editor: an online encyclopedia updated by the users) and found out that the person who wrote the article about the first TR had it all wrong: this wasn't at all what I came up with at the time". But at the time, he continues, we were mainly concerned with technical aspects, leaving the story-telling a bit behind. This remake is the perfect occasion to better develop the scenario. What appealed to us (meaning the journalists) above all was the graphic qualities: What a pleasure to rediscover familiar places so greatly embellished ! It is enough to compare 2 screenshots from the same place, one from the "old" PSone version, the other from the PS2, to understand what it is all about (see the text box "See you in 10 years"). Modernity is also good for the gameplay, which is the very same than in TR Legend. Thus, Lara moves with ease and suppleness, which wasn't necessarily the case 10 years ago.
So we are looking forward to exploring all these huge and complex environments without the fear of dying at the slightest mistake (which was often the case back then !).
It seems that Crystal Dynamics could make the best Tomb Raider, offering very easy controls and a challenge high enough for the fans hopes. It's a rather bold attempt, and if at first one might think it a drawback to suppress some elements from TR Legend, it's more of a tribute paid to the original impression of the series. It's not often that such a big legend takes such risks, and only for that we are impatiently waiting for something that will certainly celebrate the career of Lara Croft. Career which won't stop here, as the gorgeous adventurer intend to explore the world of the PS3...
Some experiments are self-explanatory: you need someone from your close circle, just anyone, but in any case not someone who might be an hardcore gamer. Show him a picture of Lara Croft, the main character from the Tomb Raider series, and for example the picture on the cover of this magazine. There's a strong possibility that he will know what this is about, without having played the game ever.
This character created in 1996 is indeed one the only video games celebrities, one of the only numeric creation that has surpassed its pixel condition to become an important element of popular culture. For 10 years, Lara Croft has been used at every opportunity. From comic books to advertisment, including of course movies, she was everywhere, even succeeding in making people forget the downward trend in quality the games of the series have been on.
But last year, the series has ben propelled forward again with the revival episode, the excellent "Legend". With a new development team, a new look and a new gameplay, Tomb Raider was back on track.
And yet the next episode in the series won't be completely new, anyway not really original. Indeed, for the 10th birthday of the most popular treasure hunter, Crystal Dynamics is openly celebrating their heroine. The result is Tomb Raider Anniversary.
Hopefully, this new version won't be a carbon-copy. To copy the very same game , even with a 2006 technology, would not have been of any use. This remake will indeed be a new game with enough changes and surprises not to frustate those who played the original game. Now the aim is really nostalgic, to pay an hommage to the myth instead of producing a dull carbon-copy.
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This return to the roots brings back the structure and the levels of the original game, adapting them with a modern gameplay and the Tomb Raider Legend engine. You'll find back the first mythic adventures of the heroine in peru, Greece, Egypt, and finally in the lost City of Atlantis. For now, neither Eidos nor Crystal Dynamics have said if the game will include the additional levels. Nevertheless, there will plenty of things to do, the entire game being redesigned. First, the levels are larger and more complex than in the original.
This can be evident, but the graphics evolution is the most obvious. Within these ten years, there has been so much progress in this field. The levels are highly detailed, with very refine and realistic textures. There are many lights effetcs which give a very particular atmosphere, almost oppressing, in those sanctuaries reached by Lara for the first time in centuries. Crystal Dynamics has done everything to give the impression that Lara is all alone in those lost places and that she can't count on anything but herself. A pool or a corridor which were rectangular in the 90's can now have a more sophisticated shape : the corridor won't be straight, the pool will have more angles and won't be similar to an olympic pool anymore.
Modern machines memory is highly superior than those from the 90's, so now the gigantism is real. Everyhting is bigger, higher and rougher.
While increasing the number of polygons, the developpers also made the design evolve : walls aren't straight anymore, and you can see useful cracks for Lara to grip. Stages are higher, so climbing and jumping is quite spectacular.
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Moreover, the Lara from today has not much in common with her model from 1996 anymore. The shorts and the 2 guns are still there, but for the rest the polygons have been multiplied. More mature than in "Legend", our adventurer is sexier than ever, without resorting to the mammary exagerations from her past adventures. Above all, she moves really easily and with an almost feline grace. Jumps calculated to the milimetre and head-bangings in walls won't be part of this hommage. Her set of movements is really huge and has real gameplay applications. For example, she can catch hold of something to save herself after a fall, which allows her to perform more acrobatics without having to start from the beginning if she falls. New moves that weren't even in Legend have appeared : Lara can now balance on tiptoe on very narrow surfaces, and this was immediatly tested in a funambulist sequence on top of posts that were several meters high. In order to remain faithfull to the original game, Lara has lost some of her "Legend" moves. Thus, no more driving or magnetic grapple. The nostagic version of Miss Croft is now on foot, uses a basic grapple, and has nothing but her basic weapons: the 2 guns, the shotgun, and the double-uzis.
One of the big differences with the original game is also linked with the introduction of a physic engine. Lara can now activate various mecanisms with her own weight or by putting certain objects on them. For example, a wooden bridge that collapses after she walks on it can later be used as a ladder to climb on top of the opposite side. Also, while hanging with her grapple, she can put pressure on a stone that will open a secret passage.
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As a whole, Anniversary wants to be more dificult than Lara's recent adventures. The first Tomb Raider was quite a ride, and so will be Anniversary. As the heroine is more easier to control than in the original, the complexity comes more from the reflexion. You now have to really look around, to find the right way. On the screen, no clue or sparkling thing to show the way, you have to think. Reflexes are almost less important than mind, which is the philosophy that the developpers want to give to Lara. Levels are sometimes less linear, and give several ways to progress. If you feel you have the ability and the talent of an acrobat, you will always be able to go through, but it won't be as easy as the "way of the mind".
Nevertheless, Anniversary isn't all about reflexion. Fighting has still an important place. Tomb Raider 1 gave place to some unpleasant meetings between Lara and dangerous beasts. As Crystal Dynamics improved the AI of the human ennemies in Legend, the studio created very realistic animals. In Anniversary, Lara mostly fights hostile beasts. Wolves, bats, bears, raptors, and the mythical T-Rex, no one is missing. They are more dangerous than in our memories, having real strategy and using their skills the best they can. For example, bats are nimbler, and raptors run around Lara before jumping at her to eat her. To find her way out, she has no choice but to use the environment and her athletic skills.
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For all we've seen of that game, the Tomb Raider formula is working fine again. Ten years of disapointing sequels and loud publicity are quickly forgotten. This edition of Tomb Raider Anniversary seems to provide the same sensations than its ancester. More than a tribute, it is almost an explanation of the whole franchise, or at least a rebuilding episode. Besides, the scenario will be more developped than in TR1. Seeing Lara moving on the screen is a thing, knowing why she moves is far more better. Thanks to the return of Lara's father, Toby Gard, who came to assist Crystal Dynamics, the story will be better told, and Lara's "mythology" will be further explained. Plus, the mansion could be back in a revised version. In the original, it was only a training level; here, there will be real purposes to achieve.
Now, the question stays what is coming for Tomb Raider in the next years. After blowing the candles, no doubt that we will still hear about Lara. Her birthday present seems promissing, and new adventures are already on the road. And who knows, it could be for the next ten years ?
Important points
- Eidos didn't say if Unfinished Business will be included - When she walk on unstable surfaces, you have to maintain her balance - The grapple is NOT magnetic - No vehicles - The environments are much more interactive : she can use them for lots of things, pick up a piece of wood on the ground and use it as a ladder - The only weapons are pistols, shootgun and... UZIS - Puzzles are more complicated. There is no clue or sparkling thing to show you where to go. - There is more than one way to explore the environments and complete a level. You can choose the acrobatic way, or the easier way... - Fighting ennemies is still an important part of the game : the beast are much more realistic and their AI has really been improved. They are more dangerous than before, they develop a real strategy to kill you. For example the raptors run around Lara in circles until they are enough to jump at her... And last but not least : - This isn't 100% sure, but Croft Mansion could be back, and not only as a training level but with real purposes to achieve.
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