Tomb Raider Underworld - Coming 2008. New Details!

oddment

So says an article on GamesRadar.

So, who else is looking forward to the sequel of Legend? What are you expecting/hoping for? Discuss!

DarkPrimus

I was disappointed by Legend's terrible boss battles and Halo 2-esque ending, but the platforming was decent enough.

oddment

Do you think they're going to take on board how much people enjoy the raiding of actual tombs, and put some more of that in there instead of the more urban areas? As that article said, theres two possible ways to interpret the new title... either some seedy activities, or literally going underground, ie tombs. To be honest, I wouldn't mind a bit of both!

The motorcycle sections could definatley do with being improved aswell. I can understand why they're in there, but there isn't much to them. And yeh, the boss battles need to be much better. As for the ending, it's another game that has fallen victim to the 'trilogy' syndrome... but to be honest I don't mind too much. I'm quite excited to see whats going to happen next with the Tomb Raider story.

DarkWarrior

No, underworld can also mean the dead/hell. Not saying shes going to hell but that it'd be something to do with hell.

UncleSporky

So she's going to have to team up with werewolves to get back at the vampires who betrayed her?

At least that's what I remember from the back of the box

Bacon-BuTTy

I just want Tombs in my tomb raider game.

Oh Lara is wearing a black dress and looking 'sexy', oh man now theres a shootout in this nightclub somewhere in a city and i have to get a motorcycle to ramp up andoh god i don't care.

oddment

Bacon-BuTTy wrote: »

I just want Tombs in my tomb raider game.

Oh Lara is wearing a black dress and looking 'sexy', oh man now theres a shootout in this nightclub somewhere in a city and i have to get a motorcycle to ramp up andoh god i don't care.

See, I don't mind that, so long as its fun, and its not a large chunk of the game. You could argue it isn't a huge chunk of Legend, but it was SUCH a short game! More tombs would be good, definatley, and much more exploration rather than running and gunning. I think a mix of Anniversary and Legend would work well, so long as its not too short.

Of course, the Underworld thing could be referring to

where her mother is trapped

, but I like to think perhaps the title has multiple meaning. Suppose we won't know until they start releasing more info!

Bacon-BuTTy

I am still planning on getting or at least playing through Anniversary.

But unless "Underworld" (wich is a title i do not like, by the way. It's rather close to "Angel of Darkness" in mood) gives me the same excitement, and epic sprawling vistas as the first few games, i am still pretty unintrested in Tomb Raider.

Remember The Last Revelation? Good times. What the hell happened?

Rook

The thing with Tomb Raider is that there is really room for both combat, tombs and crappy driving bits. I actually liked the combat in Legend (although, not so much in Anniversary) and whilst the motorbike chases were obviously done very badly, I still found them fun and they only really lasted 10 minutes or so and do well at breaking up the pace of the game.

All tombs, all the time is a bit annoying, as after a while they all look and feel the same.

oddment

Rook wrote: »

The thing with Tomb Raider is that there is really room for both combat, tombs and crappy driving bits. I actually liked the combat in Legend (although, not so much in Anniversary) and whilst the motorbike chases were obviously done very badly, I still found them fun and they only really lasted 10 minutes or so and do well at breaking up the pace of the game.

All tombs, all the time is a bit annoying, as after a while they all look and feel the same.

I know what you mean totally. I don't disagree with taking her out of the tombs, I actually enjoyed some of those segments. I actually liked the concept behind AOD and its setting (the game itself, not too much though), and wouldn't mind seeing them do something a bit similar with the next game. If they pick a city like Paris in AOD which actually has catacombs and stuff underneath, it would be the best of both worlds.

Bacon-BuTTy

Another thing is that running around in 3D, controlling a lady in a skintight green thing, making her grunt when she hits walls, just isnt as impressive as it was 11 years ago.

oddment

Not really why some of us play that game these days though is it? And for me it was never a reason! Though bringing about her demise in terrible yet hilarious ways was always a slight distraction.

Rook

Bacon-BuTTy wrote: »

Another thing is that running around in 3D, controlling a lady in a skintight green thing, making her grunt when she hits walls, just isnt as impressive as it was 11 years ago.

Just need to run her into the water and watch her dry off. Magic is back.

oddment

Lets hope they don't go any further and have her clothes become see-through, or have the game go into slow-mo when she steps out of water, with a context sensitive button that makes her undo her ponytail and shake her hair around.
More ways to kill her gruesomely please!

oddment

New info on TR Underworld! Linkage.

PLAY magazine has scored an exclusive unveiling of Tomb Raider Underworld, Lara Croft's third adventure under the aegis of U.S. developer Crystal Dynamics. The issue features a world-exclusive including screenshots and an interview with Eric Lindstrom and can be purchased online and downloaded right now.

According to PLAY, "Lara's adventure takes place after the events of Tomb Raider Legend. Her adventure will be a thrill ride for anyone new to the franchise. The emphasis is on bringing Lara's world to life, a lush, vast interactive world that reacts and remembers. It's pure woman versus wild."

Commenting on one of Lara's locations, PLAY says, "In the level where Lara explores Southern Mexico, she leaves footprints in the mud, but it's raining so they wash away. The bodies she leaves behind in combat encounters will stay, however, as will the debris from any destruction she causes."

On an immersive and epic environment and weather system, Eric Lindstrom says, "we developed a hybrid lighting model that combines dynamic lights with carefully created light maps to make our world look stunning in ways that none of the available methods could achieve alone."

Crystal Dynamics have also given Lara full motion capture "to bring a more natural fluidity to her movements, with proper weight and secondary motion." Moreover, when Lara kneels on a muddy outcrop, only her knee will be covered in dirt and this will gradually dissipate as she continues on her journey.

The game has been tentatively pencilled in for a 2008 release and is expected to court Xbox 360, Sony PS3 and Windows PC. Stay tuned for more info soon.

Theres a shot of the front cover on the site linked, but no other screens. Looking forward to this though!

Burnage

oddment wrote: »

New info on TR Underworld! Linkage.

Her adventure will be a thrill ride for anyone new to the franchise.

Now, am I being cynical, or does that sound like marketing-speak for "This plays exactly the same way as every other game in the series!"

oddment

It probably does play the same. From what they've said so far all the differences are cosmetic, although they sound like very nice cosmetic changes. I want to see these screens Play have!

WotanAnubis

UncleSporky wrote: »

So she's going to have to team up with werewolves to get back at the vampires who betrayed her?

I'm sad to say that, if it does mean that, this is probably going to be the first Tomb Raider game I'll ever own.

Good thing it doesn't.

GUTS

Tomb raider has become very bland, they need to make things more interestiing. I suggest nudity.

LewieP

Ha! I thougth Eidos had said that they couldn't afford to publish games on the PS3. That lasted long.

Furu

The hell is with all the negativity? Wasn't Legend supposed to be good?

oddment

The last two TR games have been great! There were issues with both as with all games, but I'm sure Crystal Dynamics will have taken those on board for Underworld. They really do seem to have Lara's best interests at heart!

Zephos

i'm looking forward to it, enjoyed the hell out of the 2 most recent games.

PikaPuff

Tomb raider is not bland when the levels are designed well. This one sounds like it will be good.

Dodge Aspen

I'm hoping for a Wii version without tacked on waggle. I was so pumped for Anniversary, but all the reviews make it seem like another PS2 port with tacked on Remote functionality. I haven't played it, so I may be wrong, but when Nintendo Power disses a Wii game, you know something is wrong.

Zephos

Oh, just a note, I did not enjoy the hell out of the motorcycle parts, I can do without those.

oddment

I don't mind the motorcycle bits... but if they bring them back they need to be improved. Maybe a different vehicle aswell? Perhaps incorporate vehicle sections into the levels, rather than have them being seperate bits in-between levels.

Have these shots from PLAY been scanned or anything yet? Or is the magazine not out yet?

Einhander

NSFW

http://games.tiscali.cz/clanek/screen.asp?id=12553

The site isn't in english, but I think that those are shots of Tomb Raider Underworld. If so, it looks pretty much like Legend/Anniversary, which is good. It's NSFW though, every once in a while you'll get a racy banner ad.

Unco-ordinated

LewieP wrote: »

Ha! I thougth Eidos had said that they couldn't afford to publish games on the PS3. That lasted long.

I think that might have been another company, because Eidos has already released Kane and Lynch for the PS3 (they even published Ninja Gaiden Sigma in Europe).

Anyway, after playing Uncharted, Tomb Raider has a lot of improvements to make.

Dagrabbit

I'm excited. I liked the new Tomb Raiders and look forward to this. Probably a Day One purchase for me.

Rook

Einhander wrote: »

NSFW

http://games.tiscali.cz/clanek/screen.asp?id=12553

The site isn't in english, but I think that those are shots of Tomb Raider Underworld. If so, it looks pretty much like Legend/Anniversary, which is good. It's NSFW though, every once in a while you'll get a racy banner ad.

It's a bit surprising they're not bringing that to PS2/Wii then if they're not that much more than Legend+ graphics.

They look good though, I like the filthy lara look

Bacon-BuTTy

This picture makes me laugh.

Mblackwell

My first thought with those screens was "cool", my second was "needs more Orbit Gum, at least her mouth would feel clean", and then I saw the cover and thought "lol bewbs".

UnbreakableVow

Bacon-BuTTy wrote: »

Oh Lara is wearing a black dress and looking 'sexy', oh man now theres a shootout in this nightclub somewhere in a city and i have to get a motorcycle to ramp up andoh god i don't care.

If you had stuck around past the motorcycle jump on the rooftop (and really that segment was only like a minute), you would have discovered that the rooftops in Japan was easily the best level of the game.

Legend actually ties with TRII as my favorite TR game, so I'm definitely looking forward to the sequel.

Bacon-BuTTy

UnbreakableVow wrote: »

Bacon-BuTTy wrote: »

Oh Lara is wearing a black dress and looking 'sexy', oh man now theres a shootout in this nightclub somewhere in a city and i have to get a motorcycle to ramp up andoh god i don't care.

If you had stuck around past the motorcycle jump on the rooftop (and really that segment was only like a minute), you would have discovered that the rooftops in Japan was easily the best level of the game.

Legend actually ties with TRII as my favorite TR game, so I'm definitely looking forward to the sequel.

I actually completed the game. I still really didn't care for those levels.

Guess we like tomb raider for different reasons.

AbsoluteZero

High Res Screenshots Get!








Looks significantly better than Legend. Word is they've built a new engine for this one, too. I Crystal Dynamics.

Furu

That is a nice looking ruin.

UnbreakableVow

Fucking nice.

I'm really glad TR Legend was successful. I was worried about the series not getting another shot.

oddment

Wow, it's looking good! Have you guys seen the shot where she's all dirty? She looks EVIL!

Suds

Awesome!

I loved Legend and I've played through Anniversary about 4 times now. Bring it on Crystal Dynamics!

Pooch

I really liked Legends but got bored of Anniversary before I even got to see any dinosaurs.

I'm hoping this one's more like Legend.