At 8/4/09 08:07 AM, Bahamut wrote: Hey, I'm glad to hear someone here's a fan of the Tomb Raider games. Although it's understandable for its decline eras, the franchise is truly underappreciated at times.
Oh yeah I've loved Tomb Raider for over a decade. Although I'd played the original at a friend's house I didn't get into it seriously until I got a copy of TR2. Since then I've owned and beaten every game except the handhelds, including the expansions for 1, 2 & 3. I've even gone so far as to collect all the secret items in every game. If anybody could be called a Tomb Raider fanatic it's gonna be me.
I had a somewhat unhappy upbringing and escapism, particularly playing video games was one of my few methods of coping with my problems. Playing the first 3 Tomb Raider games, especially TR2, make up some of my only happy memories before I was 15 or 16.
Yeah, many people had to use walkthroughs to get through the game because it was that hard. It's even worse in the later levels when you need it for so many things. The worst part of TR3 was losing your inventory in Nevada. Why couldn't they just take away the weapons and leave everything else be?
Boy you're not kidding. The levels in TR3 were so large and detailed that it was easy just to get lost, making it even harder to do whatever you were supposed to be doing. I wouldn't have stood a chance without using a walkthrough. Losing your weapons is no new concept to the games but losing the whole inventory took the piss. I always played Nevada before the South Pacific or London so I could at least scrape together as many weapons as possible before getting to Antarctica but it was still a big pain in the arse.
The Last Revelation could have been a good game, but what put me off were the level designs for parts of the game where you could enter one level and return to it later on and the save system. If you had to return to certain places, I wish it could have been like the first game where you'd revisit some places but on a different level.
I completely agree with this but it hadn't really bothered me before I thought about it. My main issue with TLR was that I felt the levels were much less inspired. I loved the complete change in scenery every few levels in the previous games, whereas here it was like "great, another fucking pyramid."
By the end of the game I could practically feel the sand getting stuck in my buttcrack.
The saving system applies to that game, Chronicles and Angel of Darkness. I really don't know why Core ditched the saving system from the first three games. They were done very well, most especially the first two. The fact that you couldn't replay any levels you've beaten or restart the current level really pissed me off. I actually experienced fatal glitches in those three games and when I was fucked for saving in one specific place, it was back to square fucking one. >:(
Funny, I don't remember this at all. I owned all the games before Legend on the PC so maybe this problem was confined to the PS versions. I vaguely remember having to collect crystals to save on the PS version of TR3. I'm pretty obsessive and I remember at least on the first 3 games I'd always make a save at the beginning of every new level so I could come back and play it later. This would have really pissed me off at the time, so maybe I put it out of my head as a method of dealing with my frustration, or maybe all the alcohol and drugs I've enjoyed since I last played any of those games (6 or 7 years ago) has ruined my memory.
I was uncertain with Anniversary at first but I knew I had to give it a try before giving a verdict. I actually made a review for Tomb Raider Anniversary (NOTE: Review isn't on Newgrounds just yet), so most of my thoughts are there. However, I will say two things which were bullshit about the remake:
- The remade main theme. how on earth could they leave out the choir from the original?
- No Unfinished Business levels. There are many who haven't played the additional levels and would have been a great bonus to play in Anniversary. If I wish to play these levels, I'll have to pick up an old copy from eBay and chances are, the game might not run very well on Vista. :(
I read your review and it actually enlightened me to whole load of things they did fuck up but I hadn't realised. It's been a really long time since I played TR1 and while I noticed things like the grouping together of areas and the epic music, I didn't notice a lot of the smaller details. Plus you're right, it would have been really nice to include the Unfinished Business levels. Bastards...
Despite this, I still think Anniversary was a pretty good remake. And it was probably played by a lot of people who never played the original game which has likely increased support for the old games.
I didn't get very far in Underworld as the Wii version is complete balls. The gameplay was completely stripped down from the other platforms and the controls were downright awkward. I only got as far as entering the boat in the first level. Maybe I should have been more patient, but how could I when the game decided to randomly crashed on me? I didn't feel like torturing myself any longer.
Oh yeah I heard the Wii version is total crap, I can forgive you for packing it in. I played it on the 360 which is supposed to be a million times better, despite me finding the controls to be awkward at times and the camera has a mind of it's own.
Despite that, I still wish to get Underworld for another platform with better controls. PC or PS3 (whenever I get one) will be good options, but I'll probably end up getting it on PC since I know someday Steam will lower the price of the game as well as putting it on sale for a few days. I know even getting it on another platform won't change the fact that the Kraken was killed without an epic fight, which is why I don't feel like paying too much for it.
You should get it on 360 to take advantage of the DLC. I've played Beneath the Ashes so far and thought it was really good. It reminds me of the older games which has to be a good thing. I heard Lara's Shadow is pretty good as well, although it's much more combat oriented, whereas BtA is more puzzles and traps.
And the prices are getting more reasonable because it's been out for 9 months now. I'm sure I saw the 360 version on Play.com for 12 quid and I got it new on eBay for 15 quid back in April.
