I'm new to Tomb Raider, is it any good?
Tomb Raider Anniversary is made of pure awesome. Take PS1-era volume and polish in design and content, and apply a new-gen skin and high-caliber production values. The only game worth getting the Trilogy for. Its combat system is the best of the collection, as well.
Talk about subjective! I wouldn't say that Anniversary is the only game worth buying this pack for, not by a long shot. Anniversary only exists b/c Legend was received so well and proved that Tomb Raider could still work. I enjoy Legend the most for its tight pacing and focused (if linear) level design. There's rarely any point where you're not doing something interesting. I found Anniversary to let too much of the original's tedious backtracking leak back in, and I encountered far more instances where the camera did bad things. As for Underworld, well...it was pretty, and certainly no worse than TR3, 5 and 6 of old.
I don't know why people hate on Underworld so much. It was the only game out of the series I played and quite frankly I thought it was great. What are some specific features of Underworld that were so terrible compared to the other games?
I bought the Trilogy and started with Anniversary, but I haven't had much time so I've only beaten the first level. But so far, I don't see anything that obviously stands out above Underworld.
I don't know why people hate on Underworld so much. It was the only game out of the series I played and quite frankly I thought it was great. What are some specific features of Underworld that were so terrible compared to the other games?
I bought the Trilogy and started with Anniversary, but I haven't had much time so I've only beaten the first level. But so far, I don't see anything that obviously stands out above Underworld.
Anniversary hit's it stride in the second set of levels. That said, Underworld was fantastic when it came to massive level spanning puzzles filled to the brim with platforming. Throw in the stunning graphics and some of the best, most atmospheric underwater levels I have played and it's not so bad.
I don't know why people hate on Underworld so much. It was the only game out of the series I played and quite frankly I thought it was great. What are some specific features of Underworld that were so terrible compared to the other games?
I bought the Trilogy and started with Anniversary, but I haven't had much time so I've only beaten the first level. But so far, I don't see anything that obviously stands out above Underworld.
I agree. I played Legends, then Anniversary and then Underworld but Underworld totally blew me away in terms of puzzles and scenery(Thailand level). And I loved the massive puzzles and platforming. Using the Bike you travel as a weight for puzzle was also great. And what an awesome experience it was climbing that final tower during boss fight. I became a TR fan after finishing Underworld. I even triple dipped and bought on both 360 and PS3 and even PC version on Target clearance. I just can't play PC version b/c my PC rig is pretty crappy.
Talk about subjective! I wouldn't say that Anniversary is the only game worth buying this pack for, not by a long shot. Anniversary only exists b/c Legend was received so well and proved that Tomb Raider could still work. I enjoy Legend the most for its tight pacing and focused (if linear) level design. There's rarely any point where you're not doing something interesting. I found Anniversary to let too much of the original's tedious backtracking leak back in, and I encountered far more instances where the camera did bad things. As for Underworld, well...it was pretty, and certainly no worse than TR3, 5 and 6 of old.
I thought Japan was quite memorable and interesting. Also the level where you go behind the giant waterfall. The last level of Anniversary pretty much sucked the fun out of the game for me.
Any word on if these will ever be downloadable? I would think it's a possibility since Underworld is already available as a DL title on the PSN and it would be awkward to make people buy that game again just to have the other two.
Anyways I just want Anniversary since Ive already played the other 2 on the 360 and I refuse to play Anniversary on the 360 with its horrible framerate.
Any word on if these will ever be downloadable? I would think it's a possibility since Underworld is already available as a DL title on the PSN and it would be awkward to make people buy that game again just to have the other two.
Anyways I just want Anniversary since Ive already played the other 2 on the 360 and I refuse to play Anniversary on the 360 with its horrible framerate.
Just started Anniversary and have been having a blast! I just finished Peru and I'm off to Greece. I'm kicking myself for never having played these games. I played a demo for the first game many years ago on the PC and I also played a bit of TRII, but that's it. Wouldn't mind seeing a re-release of some of the others, even just on Steam or PSN.
Talk about subjective! I wouldn't say that Anniversary is the only game worth buying this pack for, not by a long shot. Anniversary only exists b/c Legend was received so well and proved that Tomb Raider could still work. I enjoy Legend the most for its tight pacing and focused (if linear) level design. There's rarely any point where you're not doing something interesting. I found Anniversary to let too much of the original's tedious backtracking leak back in, and I encountered far more instances where the camera did bad things. As for Underworld, well...it was pretty, and certainly no worse than TR3, 5 and 6 of old.
Haha. Would it make you feel better if I put </bias> after that and every other Anniversary-skewed statement in the OP?
I wish Digital Foundry would do a comparison article for this game :/
Darth Kupi said:
Maybe its just the nostalgia talking (I played Legend and Anniversary on PS2), but I think the PS2 version still looks the best.
I loved the fuzzy, bloom-filled look of the game. The next-gen/PC versions are too crisp, if that makes any sense. It seems to lose much of its ethereal quality, which I loved from TR:A.
Legend would be okay with remastered assets I guess. It was much more crisp and sterile than TR:A. (IMO)
I whole-heartedly agree. I don't know what it is, but at least in terms of ExMachina's PC screen comparison, there just seems to be a level of bloom and fog that was oddly lost in the translation to PS3. I wonder if it was a stylistic decision, or a technical hurdle that caused it.
If some generous GAFers with HD capture devices could get some video footage of the 3 games on the Trilogy disc, I'd really appreciate it. There seems to be a dearth of coverage for the thing :/
Just started Anniversary and have been having a blast! I just finished Peru and I'm off to Greece. I'm kicking myself for never having played these games. I played a demo for the first game many years ago on the PC and I also played a bit of TRII, but that's it. Wouldn't mind seeing a re-release of some of the others, even just on Steam or PSN.
Glad to see your enjoying TR. Love the series. Offers a pretty unique experience. I might pick the collection up down the road before they release the new one. I own both Legends and Underworld on my 360.
I cannot even begin to fathom why. The game ran on an old Centrino laptop of mine from 2004 with an old ATI GPU at 60 fps. There's no reason why the two consoles couldn't do the same. Underworld looks so much nicer and runs smoother than the 360 port of Anniversary did.
I cannot even begin to fathom why. The game ran on an old Centrino laptop of mine from 2004 with an old ATI GPU at 60 fps. There's no reason why the two consoles couldn't do the same. Underworld looks so much nicer and runs smoother than the 360 port of Anniversary did.
I whole-heartedly agree. I don't know what it is, but at least in terms of ExMachina's PC screen comparison, there just seems to be a level of bloom and fog that was oddly lost in the translation to PS3. I wonder if it was a stylistic decision, or a technical hurdle that caused it.
My hunch is on a "little from column A, a little from column B."
I've definitely noticed different lighting in comparison shots for multiplatform games. The PS3 just seems to do lighting....differently. Not exactly worse, just different.
As for stylistic choice, there is probably that too. The porting team might have though "Well this is current-gen, we don't need no fuzzy filter to cover up the jaggies/low resolution no more. Lets show it 'as-is'."
They might have thought adding the soft filters would make it look like they were conceding they could not bring the game up to par with current-gen resolution/image quality, and wanted to "show off" their port, so as to say.
is TRU on this release the exact same game as the stand-alone release back from 2008?
i ask b/c TRU on PS3 had framerate issues so i hope that maybe when they ported TRA and TRL to PS3 they went in and smoothed out TRU...doubt it though.
If some generous GAFers with HD capture devices could get some video footage of the 3 games on the Trilogy disc, I'd really appreciate it. There seems to be a dearth of coverage for the thing :/
I'm definitely curious too (as if that wasn't made plainly obvious by my taking those comparison screenshots in the first place, haha), since I'm thinking of double dipping and getting the Trilogy on PS3 for the extras and trophies. I really would like to see what differences in practice there are between versions, and the only way to do that is with video.
Will gladly grab some footage from the PC version to compare with, since I've had Fraps recording most of my playthrough of these games so far.
(still playing the PC versions, but I think this topic is the best spot for discussion about the games themselves currently, so...)
Whew, just beat Anniversary! I was worried about the final level because of some of the opinions online, but I enjoyed the endgame well enough.
I assume there's some background info to be gained from exploring Croft Manor? I guess I should get on that, heh.
My thoughts on the Lost Island:
I preferred the initial area of the mines to the Pyramid/Final Conflict, largely because I find it more interesting when the puzzles aren't just timed challenges traversing some ancient machinery. While I'm not a huge fan of the weirdo mummy enemies, I guess they had to ramp things up somehow for the final level by having them pop out so often. Upside is that I finally found a use for the shotty after going through the previous levels with constantly full ammo for that weapon? ^^;
The best parts of the Lost Island were definitely the points where it slowed down enough for you to do some exploration... Like the room with the doppelganger mirroring your movement - the solution (and Lara's one liner) were kind of surreal and funny - or the area where you had to open the underwater gates.
Thought the final boss was underwhelming, since it wasn't as puzzley as the centaur battle, or even the fight with the huge monster thing right before it. I did laugh when Natla said "sooner or later you'll run out of bullets," what with Lara's magical pistols
While there were brilliant points in all of the areas, by far my favorite overall was Greece - St. Francis Folly and Tomb of Tihocan in particular. For example, the little puzzles at every entrance to each of the deities' chambers: they were all variations of "how to I clear the jammed gate?" yet every one of them was unique, giving the impression that Lara was Macguyver'ing her way past these broken mechanisms. And then of course, the contents of each of those chambers were all completely different... Compare that to the Obelisk in Egypt, where 2 of the rooms had the same overall puzzle even though they could have drawn from the lore of Anubis, Isis, etc.
So yeah, I think the game peaked earlyish with Greece, but overall TRA was a great experience.
With GoL, after completing each level the first time I immediately went back to replay them until I'd unlocked everything, but I haven't done so with any of the areas in TRA yet... I think I'll go through the other games in the Trilogy first, then come back for 100% with the developer commentary or in the PS3 version.
EDIT: Just cleared out Croft Manor. Some fun puzzles in there, having to acquire your gear made it vaguely Metroid-y.
Yes, but it ran at 1280x720 while the 360 version was 1024x576. Also, the 360 version was the only version with motion blur (it was also missing on PC). I believe the PC and PS3 versions were handled by a different company while CD focused on the 360 version.
Figured I'd play them in order of release despite Anniversary being so loved, but y'know, Legend starts out better than I remembered, and holds up OK. The motorcycle part around the beginning was pretty fun.
Never played Anniversary or underworld so I got a lot of new in front of me. I'm already excited for the reboot and I'm only 2 hours into Legend. Pre-marketing FTW.
Yes, but it ran at 1280x720 while the 360 version was 1024x576. Also, the 360 version was the only version with motion blur (it was also missing on PC). I believe the PC and PS3 versions were handled by a different company while CD focused on the 360 version.
Started Legend and got to the spot used in its first comparison shot:
FYI, for those that aren't familiar with TRL for PC - it has this setting called "Next Generation Content." With NGC off the game is more or less the same as the PS2 version, but with NGC on, it toggles a bunch of things like global lighting and completely different models and textures... so I included shots of both.
And here's the gallery including all of the comparison images so far:
FYI, for those that aren't familiar with TRL for PC - it has this setting called "Next Generation Content." With NGC off the game is more or less the same as the PS2 version, but with NGC on, it toggles a bunch of things like global lighting and completely different models and textures... so I included shots of both.
And here's the gallery including all of the comparison images so far:
Wow, I'm not into PC gaming but that 'NGC on' shot is surely impressive, it completely changes face to the game. Is there anything similar for Annyversary and Underworld?
Wow, I'm not into PC gaming but that 'NGC on' shot is surely impressive, it completely changes face to the game. Is there anything similar for Annyversary and Underworld?
Underworld doesn't need "next-generation" settings, because it actually is/was a next-generation game And sadly, there was nothing like that for Anniversary, although I think the game looks great even without it.
Funny thing with next-gen graphics option in Legend was that very often geometry and character models were different. As I recall, with NGC on, for some reason young Lara (TRL intro) doesn't have her cap.
However, I dislike how Lara looks when the NGC option is turned on in Legends; with the cartoony art style and very little details on her face, she looks like a plastic doll :/
So true.
That very detailed world, but sort of cartoony at the same time, always fascinated me more than in Legend or Underworld, to the point I wonder how a TR with a PAIN art direction would look like.
Oh, and I mentioned NGC on Underworld too beacuse I played it on 360, and those enhanced graphics seem to improve so much what I've seen in the game (you're right, tho, I reckon TRU's visuals on PC must have been already far beyond PS360's level).
So different lighting and possible new textures / models (not sure on this one) aside, is the framerate difference between playing this on a gaming PC vs PS3 enough to just stick to PC?
I wouldn't want to play it on PS3 and then run into a Dead Rising 2 situation or something along those lines. :lol
i was able to browse all the video files on the blu-ray on a PC and there wasn't any teaser video for the next TR, or any hidden video files at all. could still be something though
On the final boss of Legend, I'd forgotten what a load of shit it was. Reeks of not being playtested (same with the final section in Nepal). I've even been hit with bugs where Lara just dies randomly (ie. no boss animation, no spell effects, she just suddenly acts like she's been hit).
On the final boss of Legend, I'd forgotten what a load of shit it was. Reeks of not being playtested (same with the final section in Nepal). I've even been hit with bugs where Lara just dies randomly (ie. no boss animation, no spell effects, she just suddenly acts like she's been hit).
playing through each of these for the first time with the collection. Legend starts off as entertaining and just sort of plateaus right out of the gate. not a terrible thing as it's not a boring game, but the mechanics really don't lend themselves well to solving the sometimes obtuse puzzles. not sure i can stomach another motorcycle chase either, how boring
the game has aged from its time, but only because of that am i dying so much (and a fussy camera). haven't run into anything like your experiences though. the game isn't shy of some slowdown now and then, i'll say that
with all the anniversary and even underworld praise, i certainly would hope the games get better ;p
The only time I was able to use the unlockable outfits in TRA was by going through the "Replay Level" option or whatever it's called. The menu before you start lets you set your outfit.
Don't think you can do it if you're just loading a previous save/in the middle of a stage.
Overall a solid 8/10 game. A bit outdated in someparts (QTEs, but not too frequent) and a few overly obtuse puzzles. Sometimes you're dropped into a room with no hint of an objective, so it makes figuring out the puzzle artificially difficult.
Overall a solid 8/10 game. A bit outdated in someparts (QTEs, but not too frequent) and a few overly obtuse puzzles. Sometimes you're dropped into a room with no hint of an objective, so it makes figuring out the puzzle artificially difficult.
Made my way through the Japan level in Legend... really fun stuff. I'm liking the use of the magnetic grapple quite a bit in some of the puzzles.
...and then the game froze as the boss fight started. >.< Oh well, it was a timely crash, since it's time for the VCU-KU game anyways, heh.
EDIT: Redid that TRL comparison shot since the last image (PC version w/ NGC on) wasn't framed as similarly to the others as I'd like.
And a new one, from a cutscene in Peru.
It's definitely clear that they based the PS3 ports off of the game with NGC on, hopefully they fixed some of the graphical bugs associated with that mode in the collection.
Also! I just beat Africa and am still trying to figure out how this shot was taken with the temple exposed... Can you somehow make your way back up to the starting point after triggering the "grand entrance" cutscene?
That final boss in Legend was kind of annoying on hard. Not sure if I will be moving onto Anni right away now, or going back for stuff I missed/time trials in Legend.
Finished Legend this past Saturday but only got 28% of the trophies unlocked. Before going back to see how many more I can unlock, I think I'll try the other titles first. Would have been nice to know that you can use the grapple to get bronze, silver, or gold relics that you may not be able to reach by platforming. Didn't figure that out until the next to the last level.
I started Anniversary last night and really like the atmosphere of it. Lara's animation on the main menu screen is quite....interesting.
So glad these games were re-released. I'd forgotten how much fun Tomb Raider could be.
Finished Legend this past Saturday but only got 28% of the trophies unlocked. Before going back to see how many more I can unlock, I think I'll try the other titles first. Would have been nice to know that you can use the grapple to get bronze, silver, or gold relics that you may not be able to reach by platforming. Didn't figure that out until the next to the last level.
The only problem with collections is deciding what to do next. Do I a) finish up the collecting and time trials in Legend, b) start on Anniversary or c) start on Underworld.
It's a throw back to the original Tomb Raider games, where you had to hold the grab button when jumping to a ledge or Lara simply wont grab onto it. It doesn't really suit the more modern platforming found in the Crystal Dynamic games and you're better off leaving it turned off, in my opinion.
I own all three games for the 360, yet I was really tempted to pick this up when I saw it in a shop yesterday. The urge has passed, but I might buy the original Tomb Raider games on PSN now...
Pretty nice to see that the "Next Gen Content" is there for PS3 version. It's not just high res PS2 port. In fact it seems like they added better HDR glow to it than even PC version. I'll buy Legend if I could get it off of PSN. For some reason I'm itching to replay that one the most as I have fondest memories of it. Anniversary was mechanically good, but dull and unmemorable to me.
Pretty nice to see that the "Next Gen Content" is there for PS3 version. It's not just high res PS2 port. In fact it seems like they added better HDR glow to it than even PS3 version. I'll buy Legend if I could get it off of PSN. For some reason I'm itching to replay that one the most as I have fondest memories of it. Anniversary was mechanically good, but dull and unmemorable to me.
