DescentBB

Just played the demo for this game. Looks pretty good actually. I remember playing the original as a kid and how many hours I spent trying to reach each next challenge within the game. The second one was alright but not quite as good. The third just lost my interest as it seemed too far fetched for me. I just lost interest and the movies wreaked. I did like the second one a little bit. Anyway, I ran onto a trailer of Tomb Raider Anniversary and I thought, \"Oh no, not another one.\" Then I read what it was, a remake of the original and that peaked my interest so I downloaded the demo.


So far it looks really good. The effects are amazing compared to the original game, the overall gameplay has evolved into something a lot more entertaining and a lot less frustrating. The animation is really well done, although the Laura model shows some sharp edges during closeups but most of the time you won't notice. The music is really good and the overall flow of the game has also improved. It isn't quite as challenging but it was also less frustrating which is an improvement in my book. The enemies seem faster and more challenging. You don't just run backwards and shoot at them for 5 or so minutes, they will actually leap in the air, change course, and hunt in packs. Though the demo barely demonstrated this. Anyway, I guess I'm rolling it around in my head, wondering if the game might actually be worth picking up?

You know, I played the second one, and never got around to playing the first, though I thought about it. After the second, the quality went down- it became more about a chick running around, and less about solving puzzles.

That being said, if I knew of a place that I could download the original for free, I'd play it through. I don't really have an interest in a remake, though.

Whats the difference between the original and the remake?

LOL, I know exactly what you mean. I felt the same way about the games that came after 2. 1 was awsome, 2 was ok, 3+ became just that, a game about a chick running around. Not to mention, 3 seemed really buggy and painstakingly difficult. It was as fun as pulling teeth.


From what I have read and seen from the remake recently, is that it is a best-of remake. They basically took the original storyline, the original characters, the original landscapes and enemies and gave them all a face-lift. Then they chucked in some new puzzles and in-game cutscenes. They also added in all of the new moves and animations and added in the new body mesh. You also have a boat-load more ways to climb up objects and more to think about. The game also seems to have really good physics.


Maybe this is a bit weird for me to say this, but one of my favorite effects that adds to the realism of the game, is the fact that when you jump in water and swim around, she appears and acts as though she is soaked after she gets back out. The hair will look and act different, boots, shirt, and shorts all become darker, her skin appears to have water on it, and the boots sound soggy when she runs.

Some of the moves:
Grapple, grid based jumping is gone, she can swing from vines/ropes/chains, you can toggle her to manually aim, she can balance on posts and poles, and she can do a number of other acrobatic moves.

Everything looks very fluid and animates perfectly, the music score is really good too.


Another cool thing is that she can loose her balance so you have to regain it, you can also slip and loose your grip and enemies such as wolves will bite into your arm or a leg and you will have to work yourself loose from their jaws.


There are also some minor imperfections. Just like the original, sometimes you can't tell if you are hitting an enemy or not, and if you jump up somewhere, it will confuse the AI and it won't know how to jump, even though if you are on the same plane, they will leap into the air and land right on top of you (raptors/wolves).

Unless you have an older machine to run the original, I would suggest you at least check out the demo, in fact... check it out anyway:

http://www.tombraider.com/anniversary/

[]V[]essenjah wrote:Maybe this is a bit weird for me to say this, but one of my favorite effects that adds to the realism of the game, is the fact that when you jump in water and swim around, she appears and acts as though she is soaked after she gets back out. The hair will look and act different, boots, shirt, and shorts all become darker, her skin appears to have water on it, and the boots sound soggy when she runs.

Ah yes. And this would be the approximate time that you stop using a keyboard and stary playing with a 'joystick'.

LOL

I'm waiting for it on the Wii to get a slightly better/different experience.

LOL, I just thought that it was an interesting effect. Though, it would be better if, say, the water made you slip or move slowly as I would imagine it would bog you down a tad. I guess it got my wheels turning a bit. I was thinking about RPG's in general for some reason when I was playing this. I was thinking that it would be interesting to have an RPG that is in modern time, where little things are important, such as food, keeping your character in good physical condition, and limits on how much you can carry with you. Other interesting elements could be that weather effects you so you can freeze or become dehydrated and pass out from heat so different clothing would have some of the same elements they do in real life. Just something I was running through my head.

Mind you, my intent on playing this game and the original game, wasn't because I thought Lara was hot. Well, maybe a little bit (I'm a guy afterall) But, I enjoyed the storyline, the puzzles, the fact that it wasn't just blood, guts, and gore.

It was funny, because for kicks, I thought I would check out Legend and I immediately could see the difference between the original and the other games. As time has progressed, they became more interested in selling Tomb Raider as a sex symbol or something. I found myself surrounded by background music, you lost that secluded feeling of being truly in the middle of nowhere. The movements also felt less developed. Not just because it's older, but because the focus seems to be somewhere else.

Anniversary seems to resolve this. You still have that secluded feeling, music only plays during a cut scene or in the middle of a fight, and the moves feel more solid all around.


Though I think the combat system should be changed and the AI really needs a serious face lift.


Mind you, the wet effect I have seen in a few other games, In Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory and also in Farcry. However, in Farcry it was hard to tell because the chracters appeared to always look a bit like plastic. I think it adds to the theatrics and the drama, though I think they should also use it to add to the challenge on a physics level.

Just hearing the way you talk about it gives me advice for you: Buy the game.

I thought Tomb Raider Legend was fairly solid, although I'll admit that the trial-and-error nature of the puzzles doesn't really appeal to me.

I still have the original on my old PS1. My wife really enjoyed it, so maybe she'll like this one. Hm.

I've always been a Tomb Raider fan, have them all to be honest. Granted, as mentioned they somewhat got stale after the 2nd. The 4th one was decent though, and Legends was great but too short. I just got anniversary a couple days ago and it's reminded me how i got hooked into the series in the first place. The new graphics/moves make it even more fun and adds a bit of challenge since the environments can be trickier in terms of how to do things or get to other areas. IMO the designers did a great job with retaining much of the original game, while adding new things in to add some freshness as well. Some parts are even more tedious than in the original. Some of the unlock stuff shows side by side comparisons of scenes from the original game and the same scene from the remake, its amazing to see how far things have come in the past 10 years. My main complaint though is that the camera can get a bit wonky at times and make it difficult to see in some situations. Its not too big of a problem, but perhaps could've been a bit more fine tuned. Overall, i like it thus far, nice mix of nostalgia with some new stuff added in.

I've never played the original (though I own but haven't yet played the second), but I'd be playing this on GameTap right now if my system could handle it. Very impressive, from what little I've seen of it.

it looks nice, tried the demo on steam.

POP feels more sane in game play tho

POP?

Prince of Persia?