TOMB RAIDER IS DEAD. long live Tomb Raider

[futureboy]

Anyone want to kill the head programmer of TR6 more than me?
[Boaz Returns level!!!! grrrrrrrr!!!]

Speaking as someone who has been around since the dawn of video games, and worked in the media as pro games designer/level editor/sound engineer
...just let me say this...

I avoided it for a year, but I finally Bought TR6 AOD.
And its the most atrocious pile of utter garbage I have ever played in the history of high budget game design!!!!
It is a mockery to Tomb Raider 1 to 3!

NEARLY EVERYTHING IS WRONG WITH IT!!!

I won't even bother to list, the long list of poor level work,
because you would have to be blind or in a sad state of denial (as Adrian Smith was!) to notice why this game is SO BAD!
It makes me mad how these people could get away with killing Tomb Raider
when you have superior designers out there (some who are out of work!)
who could have saved TOMB RAIDER from its demise!

Don't even let me even mention TOMB RAIDER 2 the movie!!!

BAD DESIGNERS HAVE NO SENSE - DO NOT HIRE THEM!

Bring back the original TR designer 'Tony G.'
bring back Nathan McCree (superior musician)
bring back Pete Cambell (superior level designer)
keep Martin I. (for sound design)
in fact bring back all the workers who created Tomb Raider 3
and then SACK everyone else!

What's that?
they were already fired at Core Design?

GOOD!!

Because they should be bloody ashamed of such appalling high budget work!

If I was boss I would have sacked all the programmers after a couple of months!

TOMB RAIDER THREE will always remain the best TR game ever made.

And if people don't know why. They don't know video games!
Not only was it the best 'right-brained' video game ever played,
it was the culmination of all the best parts of Tomb Raider.
(A game that can be played many times.)
All these parts have been killed off one by one in TR4, TR5 and then the
final blow to the head: TR6!

I will not list all the faults because you could write a 10 page essay!

ggggggggggggggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!

[rant mode off]

I had to get that off my chest.

EIDOS YOU SHOULD HIRE ME!
(if you want to resurrect Tomb Raider!!)

ps. Give me the TR3 level editor, and I will be far happier.
pps. Its ironic that we produced the album with the final Tomb Raider track
composed by Nathan McCree...was it a symbol, of the death of TR?
ppps. HALFLIFE 2 here I come.

[Eddy Bones]

Oh, come off it
Haven't we gotten past this months ago? And why are you posting this is the TRLE forum anyhow?

[David 070]

dont think this post should be in the 'tomb raider level editor' forum.

anyway, i never bought aod.mainly because i hate kurtis!!
tombraider to me is Lara Croft only! a gorgeous model with near perfect face and knockers getting up in your face all the time lol!

the adventure part of it is cool too.

[Kurtis Trent]

1. This shouldn't be in the LE forum

2. I really highly doubt Eidos will hire you now....

besides, (i think) people are already workign on tr7.

Originally posted by Kurtis Trent
1. This shouldn't be in the LE forum

2. I really highly doubt Eidos will hire you now....

Agreed on point 1, and you never know on point 2... if you are truly interested and qualified you might check it out futureboy.

[Razor89]

I actually quite enjoyed TR6. It reminded me of a mix of
TR2 and TR1 (The best of the Tomb Raiders - The one that started it all!)

and btw.. are you like 12?

[Glider]

A quote from PC Gamer's review of the game:

Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness
The fat lady has sung, and it’s not a pretty tune


Lara Croft has become the polygonal reincarnation of Zsa Zsa Gabor: a celebrity who’s a celebrity because she’s a celebrity. Her return to gaming — the infuriating, buggy, and ultimately boring Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness — won’t change that, either. This third-person action/adventure, in which Lara is framed for murder, is nothing short of disastrous.

What went wrong? Here’s how to ruin an already ailing franchise:

SHIP TOO SOON
Released in time to coincide with the second Tomb Raider movie, The Cradle of Life, AOD shipped in tandem with its first patch — rarely a sign of quality. Even after patching, I encountered numerous crash bugs and visual defects, using both NVIDIA and ATI graphics cards. And yet the game was slapped into a box and selling for $49.99.


RENOVATE DON'T INNOVATE
Ever since Tomb Raider III, critics have cried out for a new graphics engine, and in AOD we finally get it. Yes, most of the visuals are lovely: sets are elaborately decorated, translucent water effects are gorgeous, and a subtle soft-focus technique gives backgrounds realistic depth. But general sloppiness, like floating footprints and haphazard shadowing (Lara casts one, the railing next to her doesn’t), are jarring.

Juxtaposed with the upgraded environments, Lara’s stagnated appearance has never looked more plastic. With her large almond-shaped eyes and wrinkle-free face, she resembles a Communion extraterrestrial with a ponytail. Sex symbol? Hardly.

The tragedy is that Core worked at cross purposes — “reinvent the franchise, but don’t change it” — and it shows. And that leads me to the next problem…

MAKE YOUR FLAWS WORSE
Granted, directing Lara has always been prickly, but who would’ve expected the control scheme to get worse? I haven’t had this much difficulty driving since I tried to operate a tank in World War II Online. (And that’s from someone who finished Enter the Matrix!)

Press the forward key and Lara stumbles forward at a lumbering plod, slowly speeding up to a leisurely gallop. Steering her is an unforgivably painful process: Attempt to rotate her on stairs and she “riverdances” in any direction except the one you were intending.

Apparently, Eidos’ market research suggests that the series had too much action and not enough dull climbing and jumping puzzles. Problem solved! The
trick is figuring out which movement in Lara’s limited repertoire will get you past a particular dilemma.

DON'T FOLLOW THROUGH
Undoubtedly, Core had some good ideas in the beginning.
(A second playable character! NPC dialogue impacts gameplay! Upgradeable attributes!) But those ideas evaporated like sweat in a sauna.

The new character, Kurtis Trent, is a waste of himbo space. You’ll play about three-quarters of the game before reaching him, and though he’s telekinetic and wields a flaming shuriken, you’ll control neither. (I didn’t think it was possible, but he’s more sluggish to control than Lara is.) As for AOD’s alleged — and anticipated — RPG-ish aspects, don’t believe the box copy: their effects are slight, or in the case of Lara’s growing strength, introduced only to artificially impede your progress.

If it’s eye-candy you’re after, check out Angelina Jolie as Ms. Croft in the new movie. At the very least, it’s shorter and cheaper than suffering through this angel of death.
— Chuck Osborn


FINAL VERDICT
HIGHS: Some great visual effects and level design; hauntingly beautiful musical score.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOWS: Bugs aplenty; poor control and camera; boring story; wasted second playable character.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOTTOM LINE: If Lara wasn’t getting top billing, nobody would care. And you still shouldn’t.

47%

The above review is of course, copyright by PC Gamer magazine. See it for yourself over there if you think I'm making this up.

[Razor89]

I do have to say though I am disappointed with Eidos
ruining Tomb Raider with telepothy and magic and stuff
like that. Its overrated and strays from the original Tomb Raider
making it more like other games on the market. How original.

[Invincible]

I actually enjoyed reading that.....even at the times I don't know what is he talking about

[dhama]

Stopped reading that at the word Juxtaposed, I think 'pomegranate' would have sufficed.

True enough words, but it didn't stop me playing it and enjoying it.

[LARAMANIAC]

Originally posted by David 070
dont think this post should be in the 'tomb raider level editor' forum.

anyway, i never bought aod.mainly because i hate kurtis!!
tombraider to me is Lara Croft only! a gorgeous model with near perfect face and knockers getting up in your face all the time lol!

the adventure part of it is cool too.

[susan]

Originally posted by futureboy
Anyone want to kill the head programmer of TR6 more than me?
[Boaz Returns level!!!! grrrrrrrr!!!]

Speaking as someone who has been around since the dawn of video games, and worked in the media as pro games designer/level editor/sound engineer
...just let me say this...

I avoided it for a year, but I finally Bought TR6 AOD.
And its the most atrocious pile of utter garbage I have ever played in the history of high budget game design!!!!
It is a mockery to Tomb Raider 1 to 3!

NEARLY EVERYTHING IS WRONG WITH IT!!!

I won't even bother to list, the long list of poor level work,
because you would have to be blind or in a sad state of denial (as Adrian Smith was!) to notice why this game is SO BAD!
It makes me mad how these people could get away with killing Tomb Raider
when you have superior designers out there (some who are out of work!)
who could have saved TOMB RAIDER from its demise!

Don't even let me even mention TOMB RAIDER 2 the movie!!!

BAD DESIGNERS HAVE NO SENSE - DO NOT HIRE THEM!

Bring back the original TR designer 'Tony G.'
bring back Nathan McCree (superior musician)
bring back Pete Cambell (superior level designer)
keep Martin I. (for sound design)
in fact bring back all the workers who created Tomb Raider 3
and then SACK everyone else!

What's that?
they were already fired at Core Design?

GOOD!!

Because they should be bloody ashamed of such appalling high budget work!

If I was boss I would have sacked all the programmers after a couple of months!

TOMB RAIDER THREE will always remain the best TR game ever made.

And if people don't know why. They don't know video games!
Not only was it the best 'right-brained' video game ever played,
it was the culmination of all the best parts of Tomb Raider.
(A game that can be played many times.)
All these parts have been killed off one by one in TR4, TR5 and then the
final blow to the head: TR6!

I will not list all the faults because you could write a 10 page essay!

ggggggggggggggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!

There's a lot here that I agree with (but then my favourite TR is 3 too...).

Despite loads of people on this site loving AoD, I hope that someone, somewhere (ie, at Crystal Dynamics) has taken the time to write that 10 page essay you mention.

[psiko]

I agree completely.

Originally posted by futureboy
EIDOS YOU SHOULD HIRE ME!
(if you want to resurrect Tomb Raider!!)

They should hire me too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[disco-fever]

Dont make me say I told u so, but as u all recall, I did