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02 March 2007 |
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We demo Tomb Raider
Anniversary at Eidos Offices. Wimbledon. |
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We're back from a visit to Eidos in Wimbledon, and what a visit
it was. After a long train ride, we finally made it to the offices
(and we’ve even taken a few photographs for you lucky people). We
met up with, and spoke to four of the key players on the Tomb Raider
team – Mr Keir Edmonds (Aka, Nike Keir), Mr Gareth Ramsey, Ms
Kathryn Clements and Mr Chris Glover. Before our visit we were
given a list of questions from our loyal forum members. We managed
to squeeze some answers from the guys at Eidos, so read carefully to
discover it all. |
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Above:
The Eidos offices are very nice. I must point out,
the police car is nothing to do with us... And we didn't give anyone
a chance to arrange their desks!
"You've played
this game before..."
The demo of Tomb Raider Anniversary was one of the highlights of the
day, everything you can imagine and more is what it proved to be.
Fluid, smooth motion as Lara makes her way through the caves inside
the Lost Valley. Lara moves in very much the same way she did in
Legend, something that will add realism and enjoyment to the game,
not to mention put a few smiles on people’s faces.
Ambient sounds fill the room, rather than the constant stream of
music that we heard in Legend. This helps to create the feeling of
loneliness that was ever-present in the original Tomb Raider game.
We carefully walk down the rocky stairs towards the base of the
stunningly large waterfall and all of a sudden the peaceful ambient
sounds are replaced with a familiar re-worked score from Tomb Raider
1 indicating danger ahead. Guns out quick as two ravenous wolves go for
the kill. The suspense music quickly fades once the two wolves have
been taken out. |
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"Hardcore fans will be pleased
that Auto-Grab WILL be optional."
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On with the rest of the tour… We start to move up to the top of the
waterfall, which is considerably larger than the one that appeared
in Tomb Raider 1. Swift, fluid motion all the way, giving the
feeling that Lara is able to do just about anything. We jump for a
ledge and Lara almost misses, not to worry, the trusty ‘auto-grab’
is back. A quick tap of the triangle button and she’s back in
action. This popular function that first appeared in Legend will
please a lot of fans, however for the more hard-core Raiders among
you, you’ll be pleased to know that this feature is actually
optional and the option will be in the final version of the
game. |
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Lara packs an impressive array of weapons...
As it has been said before, there are multiple ways to move to the
same areas within the environments. The environments are also a lot
more interactive than in previous games. Dropping down from a ledge
onto a wooden platform causes a very unstable bridge to collapse and
break leaving a swing-pole for Lara to use later on. As we make our
way through the environment to collect more cogs we are faced with a
large drop into a river below, which we all know, if fallen into
will ultimately end up in Lara being at the bottom of the
waterfall. Fortunately for us, Lara is equipped with her reliable
grappling hook, but where to aim it…? Unlike Legend, the Anniversary
demo did not have shiny surfaces that indicate a place for you to
fire your grapple. We assume this will be the case for the finished
version of the game. |
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"Crystal stay true to the original with the
return of the Bottomless backpack."
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What weapons does Lara have in Tomb Raider Anniversary we hear you
cry? Well, from the inventory of the demo we saw all of the
original weapons with the exception of one, the shotgun, which has
been spotted in the second official trailer. So we can safely assume
that all the weapons from the original game will be there. These
include Lara’s signature weapon – Twin pistols, the ever-popular
Uzis, the automatic pistols and of course the shotgun. We have also
been informed that this time around Lara is not limited to how many
medi-packs she can carry in her backpack. We also assume that she
is able to carry all of the weapons with her. Unlike her over-armed
days of Tomb Raider 3, Lara won’t be carrying in excess of 10 or so
weapons, so she’s packed light for this adventure. Bottomless
backpack all the way! |
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Above:
You all know what we're like with
classic merchandise. Well, it doesn't come much better than this! Above are
the official outfits worn by the official models of Lara, two outfits and
a catsuit!
Ambient tracks that you'll
remember...
During the course of the demo we heard a series of recognisable
tracks from the original Tomb Raider game, each only being
introduced to the player when something important is happening.
This really gave a sense of the game being a real ‘back to the
tombs’ kind of game, and shaped the feel of the overall experience.
We heard only three of the original re-worked scores in this demo,
but be sure to look out for the rest of them when you play the game
as we have been informed that a lot of the original re-worked tunes
have made it back into the game. One of the most recognisable being
the classic chime when a secret is discovered, amazing! |
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"Unlockable commentary will take you behind
the scenes of Anniversary."
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All of the environments that were in Tomb Raider 1 will be in Tomb
Raider Anniversary. Unlike Tomb Raider 1, the Anniversary game
doesn’t consist of levels as such, instead each environment is
streamed one after the other. Although we cannot be sure that every
single level from the original Tomb Raider game will be present in
this special edition title we have been assured that each memorable
event and location from Tomb Raider will be in this game. This
bodes well for the return of golden Lara and maybe even bacon Lara…
We’ll have to play the finished product to find out for sure!
Another interesting fact that we unearthed was that players will be
able to enable commentary for the levels. So as Lara makes her way
through the levels, key points in the game will trigger commentary
about the surroundings, voiced by various key members of the Crystal
Dynamics team, including Mr Toby Gard. |
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Our final
verdict?
A final
confirmation for all you loyal fans out there, you will be pleased
to know that Croft Manor will be making a return for Tomb Raider
Anniversary. In fact I believe the phrase used was ‘c’mon, can we
really make an anniversary game and not include the manor?!’ From
what we’ve seen Anniversary is going to be one amazing game, set to
rekindle the flame in hearts of Lara fans around the world. So
gather your raiding gear and get ready to celebrate 10 years of Lara
Croft and Tomb Raider with one hell of an Anniversary game! |
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"Tomb Raider Anniversary is set to hit stores in May 2007!" |
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Tomb
Raider Anniversary Renders
Tomb Raider Anniversary screenshots
Tomb
Raider Anniversary trailer
Tomb
Raider Anniversary art
Tomb
Raider Anniversary music
Tomb
Raider Anniversary boxart
tomb raider anniversary demo
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