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Tomb Raider: Underworld - Stonking Great Tits!
UnbreakableVow
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
What is Tomb Raider: Underworld?
Tomb Raider: Underworld is the true sequel, story-wise, to Tomb Raider: Legend, after a one-off stint in remaking the original Tomb Raider with Tomb Raider: Anniversary. It hits on November 18, 2008 for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, DS, Xbox 360, PC, mobile phone, N-Gage, NES and Saturn.
Lara Croft? Tomb Raider? Who cares anymore? I thought this series died on PS2.
Well...it kinda did there for a while. After five near-identical games spread across the PlayStation, PC and Saturn, Core Design tried to breathe some life into their flailing franchise on the PlayStation 2 with Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness. The problem was, of course, that it didn't feel like a Tomb Raider game. Containing hardly any tombs and being damn-near impossible to control, The Angel of Darkness did not sell well, and was universally panned by critics.
So what the hell happened after that?
Eidos, not wanting to see their key franchise die, put the franchise into the more-able hands of Crystal Dynamics, developers of the Legacy of Kain series, Gex, and 102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue. Taking cues from several sources (the first two Tomb Raiders for setting, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time for controls, Metal Gear Solid for the constant radio chatter), the team spit out Tomb Raider: Legend back in early 2006, to pretty-good (8.0 to 8.5 or so) critical acclaim and even better sales. Touting the best controls in the series, a likable cast, interesting puzzles and levels, and the best (though far from perfect) gunplay in the series, it seemed like Tomb Raider was back.
And then the wait.
And herein lies the rub. While it's good that Crystal Dynamics is taking their time and not running the series into the ground with a new iteration every year, the wait has been long and tortuous. I got Tomb Raider: Anniversary to help sate my thirsts, and it is indeed a solid remake, but there are a few things from Legend that I missed. No industrial settings to be found anywhere (no need to confine the entire series to tombs, it's okay to mix it up a little...). No radio banter between you and your teammates. A camera that somehow seemed a lot wonkier than the one Legend had. All I had to go on was this pre-release screenshot that they let out loooong ago:
So what's to get excited about this time around?
Glad you asked. For fans of Legend and Anniversary, plenty. The promise of a new Tomb Raider with similar gameplay is enough, but for the next-gen iterations (Xbox 360, PS3, PC), the game was built on an entirely new engine made specifically for Underworld. It looks so damn good it's crazy, and animations are more convincing than ever.
Story-wise, it's a direct continuation of the story in Legend, which is neat as it's a series first. The old TR games all had a place in their timeline, but outside of seeing the Dagger of Xian in Lara Croft's manor, none of them really made any mention of each other. This time, you're out to fight FUCKING THOR.
Actually, that might not be true, but trailers indicate that the item you're looking for in this game is indeed Mjolnir, Thor's hammer, and given this series' past fantasy-enabling tendencies coupled with the fact that you fight a fucking Kraken in this one, maybe you'll fight Thor or something. Who knows. But a cool bonus? Rumors seem to indicate that not only will Legend's story influence this one, but events in Anniversary do as well. Hmm...
Gameplay-wise, this new chapter includes something called Player-Tailoring. Since I'm not great with words, I'll let this Softpedia article take it from here:
Softpedia wrote:Tomb Raider: Underworld will most likely manage to create another Lara Croft starring game that captures the player’s mind just as the original release.
One of the most interesting features of the game will be the fact that it will have “Player Tailoring”, which basically means that the gamer will have the ability to choose which features of the game he wants to emphasize.
Eric Lindstrom, who is a creative director at Crystal Dynamics, the developer of the game, says that the new feature is “not about difficulty. It's about people having different ideas about what they want exploration and discovery to be”. In an interview with Gamasutra, he also points out how the new system will work in the game.
If you like the action and platforming part of Tomb Raider, then you can tell the game to make Lara auto solve some of the in-game puzzles, those that seem to be too hard. If you love the puzzles, you can instruct the game to offer less powerful enemies so that you can focus on the part of the game that you enjoy most.
You can't turn off combat completely because, as Lindstrom says, “those punctuation points are important for the overall pacing”. The ability to customize your playing experience is pretty much a logical extension of the customization options that games have been offering for a long time now. After all, a game like Tomb Raider: Underworld, that is part platformer, part shooter and part puzzler, cannot completely satisfy all the fans out there; thus, the developers decided to make it so that the player can create the experience he wants. It could prove a huge selling point for the game if the system really works.
Underworld is currently in development and no clear release date is available. As more details surface, we'll bring them to you.
Obligatory Video Section!
European Commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWG3-eeamR8
The trailer that makes me all giddy for the gameplay and story
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/38462.html
My intent on creating this thread is to get the hype train rolling. There are so many high-profile releases coming out right now that Tomb Raider Underworld will undoubtedly get lost in the shuffle. This is to help make people aware so that, even if they don't sink the cash for it now, they hopefully will after the holiday rush!
Big thanks to Lunker for linking that European commercial to me.
UnbreakableVow on
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I feel so bad that I'm not getting this at release; I rarely do the Vote With Your Wallet thing anymore but I put so much time and love into Legend and, to a lesser extent, Anniversary that I really want to see Underworld do well. And I hated Tomb Raider prior to Legend.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
I kid I kid... sorta. I've never played a Tomb Raider game, but I loved Uncharted. Is this for me?
http://www.ebgames.com.au/PS3/product.cfm?ID=13378
I would say most likely yes.
It depends on which part of Uncharted you liked best, in my opinion. If you liked the ruins as a backdrop to the action, and found the whole Indiana Jones feel fun, then yeah, definitely.
This is in contrast with Anniversary, which I thought was excellent.
stop trying to copy me
because you are too busy trying to steal my life
Then Legend came out and I was pleased. Not nearly enough tomb raiding, but it was fun. Played Anniversary like a nostalgic doof.
Oh yeah, tombs, raiders good stuff.
Fuck yeah! Nothing beats time-traveling vampires except time-traveling vampries with swishy Anne Rice dialog voiced by Simon Templeton.
sounds as if the crazy chick with wings that I hardly remember is in this, also
Stupid PS3 with its non-BC. Stupid Wii with its no port of Legend.
Psst ... there's a GameCube version of Legend.
Zuh? Guess I missed it. Still, a Wii port would have been awesome with IR control for aiming (I think they did that for Anniversary, though I haven't played it on Wii on account of I played it on PS2 and the game was too puzzley for me).
Plus, the graphics are lifted directly from the PS2 version, seemingly with additional bugs and glitches thrown in for good measure.
I would love to buy this at launch, but sadly I'm still buried in a pile of awesome. I'll probably pick it up around the first of next year.
PSN ID : Xander51 Steam ID : Xander51
Of course, I still to actually, you know, play them. I just finished Tokyo in Legend and... haven't even started Anniversary.
That's...a lot of cool stuff, but not an extra $120 cool.
As for the series as a whole, I'm a total slut for it. I love Tomb Raiders 1-5 with a passion, recognize that 6 (Angel of Darkness) is terrible but still have a soft spot for it, and 7 stole the series for me. Anniversary was a nice little diversion, though I wish they had spent that time on Underworld and getting it out sooner so that it wouldn't hit this holiday rush.
I'm guessing they did this because I have the sneaking feeling that Jacqueline Natla will be in Underworld (this may be confirmed but I don't want to be spoiled).
Actually, I'll have to disagree wholeheartedly with you. The Wii version of TR:A is excellent as far as I'm concerned. Sure, the graphics aren't 360 quality, but the controls are much better than you claim. I would say to give the game a try if you are interested in the Wii version. I would at least rent it and decide from yourself rather than go off his, or my, opinions of the game.
It's not smooth, and she doesn't do what you want smoothly. therefore this is an instant no go. It's sad.
I should really get around to doing that.
I wouldn't. Really wouldn't.
This is the part where I look at Gears 2 in your sig and chuckle.
This.
Current review scores for Underworld:
Official PlayStation Magazine UK: 8/10
NeoPlus Poland: 9/10
PSM Italy: 8.5/10
Play3 Germany: 9/10
GamePro Germany: 8.5/10
360 UK: 8.5/10
GameReactor: 8/10
Also, this thread is making me want to play Soul Reaver again.
Pretty well in line with Legend, then.
And Anniversary.
That's good though, I'm more than fine with a solid 8.0 series.
WOW.
That is one of the few times I've played a demo where I said to myself "I need to own this." I think... I think I might actually wait, though. I haven't played Legend, only the demo. My wife liked the demo, but got frustrated at one of the big puzzles. I think it's time to pick that up and play it with her, since I've been hogging the TV with Dead Space, lately.
But yah... Underworld is good times. There are a couple of minor issues with it, such as the camera when you're hanging from something. I don't understand why you can't rotate the camera a full 360 degrees. It makes those leap of faith moments kinda annoying. I like that they made her "graceful" lifts onto a ledge quicker. Still kinda hot in an immature way, but at least it isn't like "spend 10 seconds watching me extend my body!" And finally, combat. Oh, god, why did they have to make it so that it's damn near impossible to not get hit?? Those tigers... man. I love the headshot mechanic, very cool, but also very touchy. It kind of works when it wants to, and only when it wants to (and that's when I have a full adrenaline meter). But when it DOES work, very cool mechanic.
And yes, this game is gorgeous. When I first started playing, I thought to myself "THIS is the 'wow' factor that Uncharted was going for with its visuals."
All in all, this demo did what it needed to do: it made me want to go out and buy it immediately because it left me wanting more as soon as it ended.
Whoa, what? How did Uncharted not "wow" you?
Over a year later and I do believe Uncharted is still the best-looking game on the market.