Tomb Raider (Series)

[_Seth]

Thought it'd be good to have a thread dedicated to the franchise as a whole and it's future, especially because the first 3 Tomb Raider's and their previously PC exclusive expansions are finally getting remastered!

Tomb Raider I-III Remastered - Announce Trailer | PS5 & PS4 Games - YouTube

The classic series was founded and developed by Core Design in England (hence the thread icon ) and consist of:

Tomb Raider I
Tomb Raider II
Tomb Raider III
Tomb Raider IV: The Last Revelation
Tomb Raider V: Chronicles
Tomb Raider VI: The Angel of Darkness

Parent company Eidos handed the series to Crystal Dynamics in America who rebooted the franchise, developing the LAU trilogy:

Tomb Raider: Legend
Tomb Raider: Anniversary (a loose TR1 remake adapted into this timeline)
Tomb Raider: Underworld

Eidos was then purchased by Square Enix who funded Crystal Dynamics to develop the next two games, with sister developer Eidos Montreal developing the third in another reboot, the survivor trilogy:

Tomb Raider (2013)
Rise of the Tomb Raider
Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Square Enix then sells the franchise and Crystal Dynamics to Embracer Group, keeping them as franchise developer, who then announce a "unification" of the 3 timelines. Then income the remasters.

[Zivouhr]

They did a nice job making Lara less boxy from the PS1 version. The first Tomb Raider really lived up to the name, where she raids tombs for most of the game, compared to the newest "Tomb" Raider games from Crystal D, where she spends way too much time not in gigantic or smaller tombs.

[BubblegumMecha]

I’m really excited for the remasters and I hope we get more information on them soon. They’re due out in less than a month.

[Verisimilitude1984]

I tried replaying Tomb Raider 1 on the PS1 but the framerate is so slow in the PAL version and I don't like the 'save crystals' aspect. So I'm looking forward to this and have it preordered. I got about 2/3 of the way through the original back in the day and I completed the second one, never got to play the third. With the PC expansion packs included in this, I'm looking forward to it! Tomb Raider is part of my gaming childhood.

My personal favourite is probably Tomb Raider: Anniversary still. The 2013 reboot on the island was great too.

[Zivouhr]

When I was playing Tomb Raider 1 for example, the gun combat is as basic as it gets, where Lara just locks onto the enemy and you just press fire, till it eventually dies. Back then, aiming in games was much tougher on PS1, as developers were still learning how to program for 3D space games.

Syphon Filter 1 lets you free aim, but even that is a chore to line up shots. I thnik this was also back in the days when the Analog sticks still weren't invented yet for the PS1 controller. The analog allowed for much gentler aiming to program in for games compared to the Directional pad, which was all or nothing input.

[BubblegumMecha]

Physical releases on the way according to this Play Asia listing.
https://www.play-asia.com/search/Tom...ing+Lara+Croft

[chip75]

Originally Posted by Zivouhr

Syphon Filter 1 lets you free aim, but even that is a chore to line up shots. I thnik this was also back in the days when the Analog sticks still weren't invented yet for the PS1 controller. The analog allowed for much gentler aiming to program in for games compared to the Directional pad, which was all or nothing input.

I was pretty darn good getting the little "head shot" reticule in Syphon Filter with the D-Pad, as well as Medal of Honor. There wasn't German helmet safe back in my gaming days...

[PenguinInfinity]

Originally Posted by BubblegumMecha

Physical releases on the way according to this Play Asia listing.
https://www.play-asia.com/search/Tom...ing+Lara+Croft

Unfortunately that isn't a confirmation in any way. Play Asia has a lot of listings of things that didn't end up getting physical releases.

[BubblegumMecha]

Originally Posted by penguininfinity

unfortunately that isn't a confirmation in any way. Play asia has a lot of listings of things that didn't end up getting physical releases.

🤞

[Messana]

I never could play these on consoles due to the horrendous tank controls.

Using the keyboard and save any features on the PC made the game much more enjoyable.

[Zivouhr]

Originally Posted by chip75

I was pretty darn good getting the little "head shot" reticule in Syphon Filter with the D-Pad, as well as Medal of Honor. There wasn't German helmet safe back in my gaming days...

That definitely took some skill from practice, agreed.
Still a great game series but the controls really show their clunkiness all these years later compared to more refined controls of modern 3rd person shooters.

The strafing while running was really nice though. Here in Tomb Raider, Lara would lock onto an enemy, and then just be able to run around all over while still being locked on, firing.

Originally Posted by Messana

I never could play these on consoles due to the horrendous tank controls.

Using the keyboard and save any features on the PC made the game much more enjoyable.

Silent Hill suffered along with Resident Evil 1 and 2, from the Tank turn while standing still controls too. Not intuitive or fun compared to modern controls that give the player a lot more freedom to turn by just changing the direction on the controller, versus having to stop, then push left or right and waiting for the character to turn before being able to move forward.

The PS1 3rd person Blade game, I can't even play that game the controls are so clunky.

[dallywhitty]

The remasters are promoted as having both a classic and a modern control scheme, but if I had to guess, all they've really done is enabled analogue stick support. The tank controls are intrinsic to the games as the platforming is very precise and I can't really see it working any other way. Thankfully I've never had a problem with them, but I can see newcomers being thrown. Especially TR3 which is notoriously unforgiving. Expect an onslaught of Dark Souls comparisons from reviewers, lmao.

[chip75]

It was always great fun getting on a running and jumping combo where you cleared what seemed like miles without stopping.

[_Seth]

Originally Posted by dallywhitty

The remasters are promoted as having both a classic and a modern control scheme, but if I had to guess, all they've really done is enabled analogue stick support. The tank controls are intrinsic to the games as the platforming is very precise and I can't really see it working any other way. Thankfully I've never had a problem with them, but I can see newcomers being thrown. Especially TR3 which is notoriously unforgiving. Expect an onslaught of Dark Souls comparisons from reviewers, lmao.

I do hope one control option is to have the tank controls mapped to the left analogue stick (with a 50% deadzone). It sounds like it shouldn't work, but it feels great when I play that way on PC/emulator.

I feel like I'm one of the only people who can see how 360 degree analogue controls could feasibly work. In fact I can't fathom how they wouldn't work. They could get rid of the need to have two running footsteps as build up for a running jump. If Lara is facing opposite a gap with her heels at the edge of a platform, but the camera is facing towards the gap (so Lara is looking a the camera), you would just press forward, then immediately jump and she'd snap into the right direction and launch into a running jump sized jump. Yes a sudden snap into another direction might look awkward, but having fluid responsive 360 degree movement would be more than worth it.

[Verisimilitude1984]

I was hoping for a control scheme like Legend. The original games with their grid like movement has dated a lot. Either way, I'm up for a play-through again.

Maybe if it's successful, they'll release the others?

[dallywhitty]

Sounds like you gents are getting what you wished for as PlayStation just published an article confirming that the new control scheme is inspired by the LAU trilogy.

We're also getting a photo mode and bosses now have health bars.

[_Seth]

Originally Posted by dallywhitty

Sounds like you gents are getting what you wished for as PlayStation just published an article confirming that the new control scheme is inspired by the LAU trilogy.

We're also getting a photo mode and bosses now have health bars.

Yep here's the link - https://blog.playstation.com/2024/01...-art-revealed/

Everything they said is promising. I think the philosophy they've had for the project shows they are genuine fans.

[dallywhitty]

We have a new look at the "unified" Lara Croft:

[heyadol]

So...it's basically "survivor" Lara in original Lara's costume? Cool. Here's hoping this new rendition acts more like the old-school Lara.

[NoFro]

Originally Posted by dallywhitty

We have a new look at the "unified" Lara Croft:

WHEN ARE WE GETTING A NEW GAME!? It's felt like forever.