Armed with only the raw instincts and physical ability to push beyond the limits of human endurance, Tomb Raider delivers an intense and gritty story into the origins of Lara Croft and her ascent from a frightened young woman to a hardened survivor.
This Tomb Raider Lara is 21, Square Enix decided after fifteen plus years this story will show Lara in her younger years. During New York Cities Comic Con Square Enix allowed the press some private time with the game. I played the demo in where Lara Croft is looking for remaining survivors.
Game Play
Lara is on a cliff, hurt and hungry as she looks down over cliff she realizes no one will be their to rescue her. I guide Lara through the cliff where she comes to a log she must cross to get to the other side, as she crosses the log you must take your time, as soon as you step on the log it begins to roll, moving slowly is the all way you will get her across safely.
As she gets across I move her along to where she come to a big gap she makes the jump and sees an abandoned plane, she starts to climb it, now if you played any Tomb Raider games before Lara can jump with grace and have a naturally flow, in this game you can see her struggling to hold on and make jumps, one the guys at Sqaure Enix explained they wanted to make her feel more “human like” this is her first mission as you play her ability to jump and hold on will evolve through out the game.
As I get Lara across she becomes clumsy, falls and almost get’s destroyed by part of the plane the falls inches away from her, It’s now raining and Lara has to walk on the edge of the cleft, she tries to hold to rocks as she looks weak and ready to pass out she jumps down to find a bag she calls out to see if anyone is there, she goes through the bag she takes what will be useful to her and as she continues to walk she falls down the cliff. On the top of your screen are objectives, at this point it’s telling me to take cover from the storm, I find a fire pit, she tries to use her two way radio but get’s no response, shes’s shriving you see the cold breath coming from her, she lights the fire pit and sit’s down.
It’s morning and my objective now is to find food, now understand I have no weapons as I continue on my journey I see a corps hanging from a tree with a bow, I climb walk on the log, carefully I reach for the bow (remember the log moves) as I grab the bow I pull on which brings me and the dead body to the ground.
They are arrows by a rock across the stream as I grab them I see a deer, two shots with the arrow will have him go down, now he’s not dead at this point I take the arrow and stab him in the chest, after that I need to eat so what Lara does is takes the point of the arrow and carves a piece of the deer out, it cuts out and you don’t see her eat the deer (Thank god).
Lara Croft
We are used to seeing her in brown shorts, boots and small backpack, a dark green or blue sleeveless top, holsters on both sides of her hip for dual wielded pistols. Younger Lara has no weapons, she has the tank top and brown shorts.
She doesn’t have the confident look to her as this will be her first adventure, you can see she is scared and not sure of what to do, her skills are not what we are used to, but as the game progress she will develop to the Lara croft we love.
Extras
GameStop
Exclusive In-game CHALLENGE TOMB
-In this exclusive standalone tomb, Lara encounters all new environment puzzles to test her brains and brawn.
Amazon
“The Final Hours Edition” of TOMB RAIDER:
-Exclusive 32 page art book created by art director Brian Horton showcasing the art from TOMB RAIDER
-Exclusive “Hunter Skin” that grants Lara a layer of action-movie-style natural camouflage
-The Final Hours of TOMB RAIDER – ‘Director’s Cut’ Kindle Fire Edition: Go behind the scenes in this interactive app and experience the highs and lows as video game journalist Geoff Keighley documents the inner workings of how famed studio Crystal Dynamics went back to the drawing board to reboot one of the most iconic video games in history
Best Buy
Exclusive TOMB RAIDER: The Beginnings Comic Book and AVIATRIX SKIN
-Written by Rhianna Pratchett with cover art by TOMB RAIDER art director Brian Horton, The Beginnings is a 48 page six-part graphic novel which tells the story of how the ill-fated voyage of the Endurance came to be.
-AVIATRIX SKIN: an exclusive 1930s adventurer outfit for Lara Croft, complete with bomber jacket
These pre-order initiatives may not reflect pre-order content available in other territories. Additional pre-order bonuses available for all customers will be announced in coming months. For more information and regular updates on all of our pre-order and promotional offers, visit the pre-order hub at www.tombraider.com.
Collector’s Edition
Detail on the North American Collector’s Edition will be made available shortly.
Conclusion
Tomb Raider is one of those games that when you find out they are working on a new installment, you go crazy. You can’t wait to see the new footage, find out the new story-line. I was excited to see that Square Enix is taking the story back to when Lara Croft was younger, to see her not so sure of herself with no skills to then help her grow into the strong confident women we’ve played before, gives the game a more human feel to it.
The graphics are beautiful, watching here shiver actually made me feel cold and bad for her. From what I’ve seen Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics has done an amazing job so far, looking forward to see what else they have in store for the new Tomb Raider.
Platform: Microsoft Windows PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Genre: Action
Developer: Crystal Dynamics
Release Date: 03/05/13
