Just about to run out the house to get to do my speech thing at Playful – clearly, I only actually wrote it this morning. Like, obv! – when I noticed the Tomb Raider: Underworld Demo has just gone live. I feel a bit sorry for it. In some ways, I share Walker’s sympathy for the game, thinking it a shame people are dismissing it through over familiarity. Admittedly, that’s not actually going to make it leap-frog spanglier, newer things to my “Actually playing it properly” pile. Anyway – get it from here and you’ll find some videos beneath the cut if you need a reminder of what Lara Croft looks like.
(She’s the one with the bosoms)
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Core hasn’t been doing the last few Tomb Raider games, they were folded before legend I think. Crystal Dynamics(of Gex fame) is doing the recent TR’s no. I’d honestly love to see another Gex. Just an FYI.
Ditto. It, y’know, works; isn’t really doing anything I’d expect to be in DX3, so who knows how it’ll go there (actually, I played Anniversary — same engine, so I didn’t really need to grab this, did I… well, I was kind of curious anyway). Visually, fairly unremarkable, tending towards old-hat; pleasant lighting, except for the self-shadowing, which is, uh… wow. Not a good wow. More of a “This isn’t the release code, right?” wow. I prefer not having to avert my eyes from my in-game avatar, thanks CD. As for the game itself, well, it’s Tomb Raider, it’s not even interesting, much less great. Lots of tiresome little “you can’t jump JUST here, you had to have been one game-inch to the left, so climb all the way back up here and guess again another three or four times. Quicksave? That’s the Apple movie thing, right? Sorry about the camera, he’s a trainee so you’ll have to be patient; but just you wait, catch him in a few years when he’s not in a Tomb Raider game anymore — he’ll be the best!. Oh no, you didn’t keep moving in the correct direction upon landing, did you? That crazy camera is such a kidder, he’ll turn your sensible walk away from the edge into a perilous straight-off-the-ledge stroll at the drop of a hat! Lara’s a real mischief maker too, she’s happy to walk clean off any ol’ thing. Climb back up a couple more times and have a go. So yeah, why’d you mention the Apple thing?” But thank god, you can scuffle with tiny little health-sapping insects, there’s not enough of that in games.
“it’s Tomb Raider, it’s not even interesting, much less great”
If you don’t like Tomb Raider you won’t like the demo, who’ve guessed?
Got nothin’, huh?
When every issue except the camera one was a nitpick anyway?
As if by magic…
Thought not.
I thought Core Design took over from Crystal Dynamics after Crap of Darkness.
It’s the other way around.
“Thought not.”
You’re right, I don’t; I can tell that you went in with the pretense that you were going to hate the game anyway. Your subsequent responses have confirmed that further.
@Yog-so and Optimaximal
Dynamic music systems that use Midi are easy. Dynamic music systems that use recorded live ensembles, a completely different matter.
OK the demo was simply pure unadulterated *fun*. Screw Dead Space, GTAIV and Mirror’s Edge I’m getting this one for December.
Tombraider: Underworld??
- huge, I say HUGE camera issues
- not that great level design this time around
- collision bugs / issues, sometimes controls won’t respond comfortably to the situations
+ visually improved over the last game
+ it’s Lara, what’d ya need more? Yay.
+ story is pretty interesting, more so than the last 2 games
It suffers too much from the camera and collision issues though as it directly influences the gameplay. Sad!
- ah, another thing, since it’s the same engine as Assassin’s Creed apparently, I’ve got the same audio issues of sometimes freezing my game.
It’s not scoring higher because of all this in my book for sure… :(
It’s an inhouse engine from Crystal Dynamix, not AC.
I love wannabe psychics (especially when they pull out their psychic predictions as some pathetic kind of ‘trump card’ when they want to yap-yap-yap at people with opinions they don’t like). I’d also love to know how my ’subsequent responses’ ‘confirmed’ anything about my SINISTER AGENDA, considering they purely express my disdain for you — camera behaviour and reliable controls are ‘nitpicks’ in a game all about clinging to precarious ledges? That’s comedy.
“camera behaviour and reliable controls are ‘nitpicks’ in a game all about clinging to precarious ledges?”
Except those were the things I said weren’t nitpicks (though I lumped it under “camera”).