How many of you know the gaming series involving a girl who's thrill
is exploring? Who uses her acrobatic skills to go the distance when looking
for relics and ancient history? Here's Lara Croft's new untold origins
(from the
Crystal Dynamics team) in their brand-new (re-release) Tomb Raider!
The world-famous British archaeologist (British FTW) heroine returns in this smash-hit reboot of the famous gaming franchise (the first six games in the series were published by
Eidos and developed by
Core Design, while
Crystal Dynamics developed the latest five and this one was published by
Square Enix) in an all new untold beginning on Lara Croft's origin on what shaped
her to become the fearless, tough and strong girl from a
confused rookie.
Lara's first adventure sees her on a ship
"the Endurance" with fellow crew mates on an expedition to an ancient Island while looking for the lost kingdom of
Yamatai off the coast of Japan in search of answers on the history of Queen
Himieko *titled Sun Queen* who could rule the weather with her shamanistic powers. Little do they know that the island has a history of causing storms and shipwrecks which they will soon befall. After a thrilling opening cinematic, Lara and the others land on the island but Lara is captured by an evil cult called the "Solarii Brotherhood" and now her quest for escaping off a god-worshipping island is her main priority. But how can she and the others leave an island where "NO ONE LEAVES"?
I discovered the
Tomb Raider
series when I was (I must have been 8?) I played the first 2 on
PC and that was a complicated keyboard pressing experience then soon I played number 3 and
The Last Revelation on PlayStation. I never got round to
Chronicles or
The Angel of Darkness or even
Underworld yet! So I've never really finished a
Tomb Raider game before (except for
Legend and Anniversary
on PlayStation 2!) So this one here, is my real experience with Lara,
not only because it's different to all the knowledge I know from the
games and films and only because... well it's a reboot! Speaking of films, have you seen them? Lara is played by "Angelina Jolie" who looked and
played the part beyond exceptional and thanks to her, the first film (only)
is the 2nd highest-grossing film adaptation of a video game ever
released in the US (behind
Prince Of Persia)!
Sorry as I was saying, this game is my real journey into the
Tomb Raider series (I still need to finish the other classics sometime!) What was your first
Tomb Raider game?
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| Source: Videogamer.com |
The
graphics are high definition dynamite especially the amount of detail
on our heroine who almost 18 years ago was made out of polygon bits, now
look at her? (What do you expect from
Square Enix and the
Core Design?)
The environments are eye-opening (literally) you gaze out over ancient Japanese ruins, skull and carcass decorated caverns and mountains and jungles that stretch out as far as the eye can see (need I say more?)
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| (Left to Right: Kurt, Camilla, Tommy and Liam at the MCM London Comic Con May 2013) |
Lara's character design was made using
Performance Capture basically what "Andy Serkis" did for "Gollum/ Smeagol" in The Lord Of The Rings films! And Lara's image and voice were all based on the b-e-a-utiful
Camilla Luddington who also did "Kate Middleton" in that William & Kate film.
Camilla replaced
Keeley Hawes who did Lara during the 4 previous games! My mates Kurt and Tommy from work met her at MCM Comic Con and I missed her, lucky bastards!
During the original game in 2013 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, her face looked in my opinion sad, and helpless, but when the "Definitive Edition" came out in 2014 on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC she still looked scared but more determined and persistent, not to mention hot! While I was searching on Google Images for pics, I saw that a lot of "Graphic Comparison" pics for Xbox One and PS4 version that show huge differences in "FramesPerSecond" so judging from the pics, I cannot deny that PS4 version is way better quality!
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| Source: Videogamer.com |
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| Source: Videogamer.com |
Even when Lara gets muddy, bloody or hurt, you don't miss an inch of detail up-close since she can't just shake it all
off but luckily a little rain/ water helps wash away the
bloody mess (except that time she was in a river of blood). Thank you
Toby Gard for designing an amazing game character!
Gameplay is sensational and makes it a real challenge full of many puzzles (physical) because I think the game encourages gamers to use strategies in order to advance whether it's using rope and a bow, climbing gear to scale walls or when it comes to combat to use the arsenal of weaponry that Lara will soon acquire (it also makes her more of a badass). A new intriguing feature in the game was when
Lara reached campsites, sometimes you hear a "monologue" on her thoughts which help add a tense, lonely atmosphere that I feel reminds us that she is alone, confused and working out what to do next. But the real main point of these campsites were for
Lara to use XP to upgrade her survival and combat skills or use collected salvage from boxes to upgrade her weapons, helping her become the Survivor she was meant to be.
I really enjoyed many jumping/ explosive/ chaotic cutscenes that involve reaction commands that definitely caught me off guard a lot and made me panic on what to do so I had to quickthink a lot in order to not fail. And I tense a little when jumping and taking that constant leap of faith that could have been
Lara's last (let's face it even I wouldn't have the balls to do what
Lara did in this game so easily, especially feeling mucky).
Am
I the only one that thinks that when Lara discovered Tombs and opened up Tomb Relic Boxes that she made a sound that sounded naughty/
sexy *giggidy*?
By the way, is it me, or does the gameplay remind you of
Nathan Drake from the "Uncharted" gaming series?
This all sounds/ looks a lot to take in but even when playing I had my moments of angry fits and frustration (mostly with the achievements or searching for tiny collectibles), but more with how certain gear along with upgrades are required to help you acquire the relics/ collectibles so "patience was a virtue for me" (though I had none). Another is whenever Lara found relics in little boxes I get to here her explain what it is, where its from and her own opinion, sure it was fascinating sometimes but I couldn't help but think "what a know it all" like "Hermione Granger" and just as cute. Also to me some of the mechanics didn't make sense (because I read too much detail into everything) such as how did Lara store all these relics/ documents etc? Did she just inspect them then leave them? Also how can you fit a Vase into a box the size of 3 video game cases stacked?
This time Multiplayer was added to the game (first introduced in "Angel Of Darkness" game, and me and my fellow "Achievement Hunter" mates from work had hilarious fun and no trouble working together to level up and win achievements easily. I found the whole multiplayer gameplay fine but not really my thing since I'm used to first-person shooters and find that kind of multiplayer to be my taste (unless your talking
Pokemon or
Mario Kart etc then we have a whole new topic to discuss *wink*.)
Before I end this post, I will admit I didn't pay much attention to the Music really! But
Lara's Theme
"A
Survivor Is Born" is a treat to enjoy at the beginning and ending and
it emitted a strong deep emotional piano atmosphere. Comparing it to the
theme from the original game, there is no comparison since the original
was mysterious and enlightening with the choir while this one shows struggle and makes you feel a little sad. But don't take my word for it since it was only used to make
her character more real and from what I made her do, she proved how
extraordinary she really is.
Lara's story was a real treat and was probably better than
Legend, I did feel jealous when one man/ hero performed CPR on her and she kissed another man/ hero during his sacrifice. This tale was explosive, eye-opening, thrilling, mysterious and amazing, well worth the playthrough! I smiled during the final moment as I scaled my way to the top and ended
Lara's first story!
I even got a thank you message from the
Crystal Dynamics team and members at the end.
I think the whole reason there was a re-release to this game which is the "Definitive Editon" is because it has all the DLCs "Downloadable Contect".
No doubt about it guys, this is one of the best games I have ever played!
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