Tomb Raider Underworld

[Venetia]

http://ui28.gamespot.com/1435/wallpapertr8118003_2.jpg[/img]

OK I love Tomb Raider. Even the ones with terrible controls (barring Angel of Darkness, which was TERRIBLE). But the ones that've come out since Crystal Dynamics took over have been amazing (Legend, Anniversary, and now, Underworld).

There is a downloadable demo on Steam.

In this latest iteration, the controls are the best yet. And jesus tapdancing christ, the graphics are fucking gorgeous amazing.

Check out the screens
http://www.dailygame.net/news/archives/008122.php
Even those don't quite do it justice. I have everything turned up at the highest settings on my machine, and the environments are some of the most incredible I've seen in any game, period. Tired of brown & grey? Well this game is overpoweringly green & blue.

Lara gets dirty with time, and when you get into the water, it eventually will wash off the dirt in the areas touching the water. Whenever you're doing anything, Lara's face reacts, her eyes move to points of interest, and her animations change depending upon the terrain, direction, speed, everything. The enemies are just as beautifully animated, though I only saw tigers, spiders, and bats in the demo.

Aiming is essentially the same, you touch the aim button and then Lara aims automatically. But dodging, fleeing, and enacting "adrenaline bursts" are much simpler and finely-tuned. Performing precise jumps and climbing moves are better than ever. The game also has a built-in hint system if you're stuck, and your "PDA" has an interactive 3D map of your surroundings in case you need to figure out where to go.

Anyway I'm incredibly impressed, and if you have Steam and a high-end PC, I highly recommend this demo.

The game will be coming out November 18th, on PC, 360, and PS3. And I think maybe Wii, but probably later.

 

[Ellie]

That does look awesome.

I've only played 1, 3, and the demo of 2 unfortunately, and haven't played in years, but they were great games.

 

[candle]

I have always been interested in the Tomb Raider games, but the one I had for PC a long time ago sucked ass, and I couldn't figure out what I was supposed to do.  Regardless, I have seen this one in action on tv, and am very interested in it.  In fact, I am downloading the demo as i write this.

 

[Venetia]

I'm a GIGANTIC TR faggot so I'd play almost anything that was crapped out under this franchise. But then Angel of Darkness came along some years ago, and I had all but lost all hope in the series. It was the first TR where I couldn't even get through an hour of it, let alone, BEAT it.

But since Legend, since Crystal Dynamics took over (they did GEX and the Soul Reaver series, if you recall), the TR series has been 400% redeemed. Not only do these games sport the fantastic explorative and vertical-focused gameplay, and the intuitive puzzles of the past, but now Lara controls like a beauty instead of a tank. I'm telling you, it's awesome.

The only noticeable problem I saw is that the camera gets wonky when trying to execute certain backwards leaps. But it's mostly negligible.

 

[neomatrixjc]

The game was great but i thought it was too short, the puzzles were great, and it answered alot of questions regarding lauras mom and dad. it was a very good game, i hope another one comes out.

 

[Venetia]

Yeah I just beat this a few days ago. REALLY short, I was disappointed. But aside from a few wonky camera issues, this was a hell of a fun game. The levels were really cool this go-around, too.

 

[Makasu]

So its worth a purchase? I haven't touched TR in ages. I think I played the first one on Sega Saturn and that was it. I did see some intersting things but I'm not a fan of her newer model. It seems the giant head has returned to haunt us once again!

What are we looking at in terms of unlockables as well as replayability?

 

[Venetia]

I'd say rent it. It's a pretty neat game but it's pretty short. You could beat it inside a day if you really felt like it. I think it's like 6-7 hours, which is actually pretty damn short compared to other TR installments.

There are unlockables and treasures to collect, you know how it is. Once you beat the game you can play it again on Treasure Hunter mode, where you're sposed to get as many treasures/relics as you can find. Which can be tricky since there are a LOT of them. But as with any game reliant mainly on puzzles, replayability is thin.

One thing I was disappointed with was that you couldn't explore Croft mansion ... though it was for obvious reasons in the story--I still missed that. It was a fun sidequest in some of the previous games, and I don't see why they'd remove it

 

[Venetia]

If you played Legend, this wraps up Legend's story (which left off on a cliffhanger, if you recall). If you haven't played Legend, you may be in the dark about a few things.

It's a good idea to play Anniversary, too, since there's a throwback to that.

None of it's necessary, of course. Reading the wikipedia article on them would probably be more than enough info.

 

[Cruelty]

is this the one with the fatal glitch on the wii version where you cant progress due to the missing switch? @_@

 

[Venetia]

they made a download to fix it a day after its release (though yeah thats gay for the wii people)

and anyway i had it on the PC so

 

[Dissonance]

lol toum rdr

 

[$t3v0]

Yeah I got Tomb Raider Legend when it came out and only played it the other week :x Always wondered why that game always looked so shiny and plasticy on my shelf.

I'm upto theeee .... level when you part the waterfall. It is a better game than the older ones, might just get underworld

 

[Venetia]

Yeah, Crystal Dynamics really turned around the franchise.

Anniversary is still my favorite (that's a remake of the first game by CD, came out after Legend). That game was really awesome.

@$t3v0: that's the beginning :3

 

[coyotecraft]

Better graphics are nice, in the old PSone games I'd get stuck in areas because you couldn't see the lever on the wall.
I like Angel of darkness even thou I beat it in 3 days, but I beat Legends in one sitting. Too easy.

I hope this new one is frustrating and challenging. And it needs a little scare factor, having spikes come out of the floor when you least expect it, making you jump.

 

[___]

I played legend on the PSP and it was surprisingly good until later in the game when it bogged down under the pressure of some of the chase sequences and became unplayable. It was actually a pretty good game though, I mean, I don't expect much out of the Boob Raider series.

 

[Venetia]

IDR what part you're talking about exactly but Anniversary and this one's controls are even better. What I like the most is the sense of vertigo you get, since most of the puzzles are very vertical. This is esp. true in Anniversary.

 

[Exouthing]

Yeah, Underwolrd is awesome, I play it on my Wii (not, I´m not a casual) and it´s very funny and cool.

 

[Siege]

Got it for xmas :grin:

Looking forward to playing this, if its as good as or better than legend then i should be satified.

 

[benos]

Just got out Legend today. Hope this one is a little better. I haven't played Legend yet. Hope to play this one before Underworld. I'll ignore the criticism of it. Can't wait to come against mr shark.