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Tomb Raider Franchise Revamp Due Summer 2005? 57

Posted by simoniker from the tombs-not-quite-dry-yet dept.
Thanks to GameSpot for its article discussing a possible date for the relaunch of the Tomb Raider videogame franchise. According to the story: "Top Cow Productions announced they are temporarily halting production of the Tomb Raider comic book. According to the post, the comic 'will relaunch in conjunction with the release of the seventh Tomb Raider video game in the summer of 2005.'" We've previously covered news that "Crystal Dynamics is currently developing the new game with, according to some reports, the input of Ion Storm founder Warren Spector" - what changes would you like to see in a new Tomb Raider title?
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Tomb Raider Franchise Revamp Due Summer 2005? More

Tomb Raider Franchise Revamp Due Summer 2005?

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  • Realism (Score:5, Funny)

    by supersandra ( 788539 ) on Monday July 19, 2004 @11:05PM (#9745118)
    What Changes would I liked to see?

    Realism... in the form of a breast reduction for Lara.
    • "Realism... in the form of a breast reduction for Lara."

      Speak for yourself. Now we gots enough polygons to make those pyramids rooooound!
    • What Changes would everyone like to see? Realism... in the form of a breast enlargement for Lara
    • No, that would be spiderman 2 you are thinking of.

  • EVERYTHING! (Score:3, Funny)

    by suyashs ( 645036 ) on Monday July 19, 2004 @11:05PM (#9745120)
    Change everything!!!!!!!!! Gameplay, graphics, controls, the works! I want it to be a sexy grand theft auto + metal gear solid combo! Get Lara some new clothes (or lack thereof)...
    • 1.) If they put in vehicles, then we need a sausage wagon.

      2.) She needs to change clothes in between mission, and shower too. And lara never gets wet coming out from the water? Hello. Where are the special FX.

      3.) The missions in general lack creativity. How about delivering a truck full of cocks and then the chicken turn out to have explosives inside. Which she can use to destroy the tomb as a finale.

      4.) No more boots. We need to see her feet.

      • You asked - I'll answer.

        Consider: How did the original manage to spawn four sequels, even though they all sucked? Because the first one was incredible. Tomb Raider 1 was one of the best gaming experiences of the early polygon days.

        What made it so goddamn good? Not the fact that it was a polygonal adventure in the early days of fully-polygonal environment games (1996 - Quake had only been out for a year), and it could stand out as such in a way that it couldn't today. That wasn't the point.

        The point wa

        • You said everything that I said earlier, with so much more completeness.. (of course, like now, I was pretty wasted then... heh..)

          I would like to add that the first two to four levels or so of Tomb Raider 2 were also just about as good as the levels of the first game. After that, it went so quickly downhill, that by the time i got to the second level of the third game, i just shut it off and never loaded it again.
  • ...what changes would you like to see in a new Tomb Raider title?

    Simple: that it fail to suck.

  • ...they should be so big, they're visible from space!
  • ...is on temporary halt as well, I'd be happy to entertain Angelina until re-release, thank you very much.

  • Just let it die. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by PocketPick ( 798123 ) on Monday July 19, 2004 @11:22PM (#9745276)
    When is name-value a bad thing? When your game is called 'Tomb Raider'. While the brand is well recognized, few game players and reviewer circles have anything good to say about the quality of the product since it's second installment. I guess that Eidos never predicted that stale gameplay mechanics that were popular several years ago could ever wear out. It's only fitting now that Eidos is left with a series that is only known for it's big-breasted-heroine and not much else.

    Gamers have grown considerably since the early PSX days, and people simply don't care anymore about the Tomb Raider sex-image that captured a number young gamers 7 years ago. I find it hard to imagine that anything else other than a complete overhall of every aspect of the game (including its main character) will salvage this series.
    • Exactly. Especially when you promise that a game franchise is going to be over...you CAN'T make another one after that. (cough*Mortal Kombat*cough*)

      The one thing I'm looking for out of the next Tomb Raider game is that it not come out as Tomb Raider, that it have a girl not raiding tombs, and have it be a complete break from everything Tomb Raider became.

    • Re:Just let it die. (Score:3, Insightful)

      by curtisk ( 191737 )
      that was the same exact thought I had when I read the headline..."JUST LET IT DIE!"

      It had its time, now let it die gracefully. Its like when 80's bands try to make a comeback, we had great memories of THEN (LOL if you are in my age range), don't tarnish them for trying to cash in NOW. Please...

    • Re:Just let it die. (Score:3, Interesting)

      by nine-times ( 778537 )
      'Gamers have grown considerably since the early PSX days, and people simply don't care anymore about the Tomb Raider sex-image that captured a number young gamers 7 years ago. I find it hard to imagine that anything else other than a complete overhall of every aspect of the game (including its main character) will salvage this series.'

      I don't think this is true. First, I played the original Tomb Raider, and loved it. Though I was a teenage boy at the time, I wasn't all that interested in the supposed 'se

      • So much trouble in the newest one stemmed from the engine... They should simply licence an existing engine (Source perhaps?) and get on with the content making. Licencing an engine (Preferrably a newer one so that you don't need to make any changes to it) really lightens the load of development.
    • Haven't the last 3 games been "the all-new, revamped, never before seen, you won't believe the difference" Tomb Raider? The only thing that sucks more than the beaten-to-death gameplay is the sad attempts to rekindle it.

      I think the next /. poll should be "worst undead franchise". I suggest Lara Croft, Star Wars, and (I know you disagree) Matrix.

  • Hmm, Warren Spector designing a game... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Cecil ( 37810 ) on Monday July 19, 2004 @11:27PM (#9745299) Homepage
    What would I like from it? How about having it designed for PC not for X-Box. *slaps Warren Spector*

    Yeah, right. That'll never happen. It's so much easier to implement DRM and copy-protection and other garbage on a console, it's no wonder everyone is not-so-subtly trying to elbow the PC out of the way. We might as well forget that we once had the ability to do things like take screenshots from games without having a copyright notice splattered on them. (If you think I'm being facetious, try taking a screenshot in Final Fantasy XI)
    • How about having it designed for PC not for X-Box.

      How about convincing PC owners to buy games in the same vast quantities as console gamers?

      You can't blame publishers for putting their effort towards where most of their revenue comes from.
      • A large percentage of game sales go to rental locations. Last time I checked there was no place where I can rent PC games.
      • You can't blame publishers for putting their effort towards where most of their revenue comes from.

        I can and do. I realize this is a free market economy and that profit is supposedly the only motivator, but when the idea of a free market economy was developed, it was postulated that the desire for more profit would lead consistently to the development of better products. In the console market, million dollar marketing campaigns, vendor lock-in, and loss leader hardware sales have done much to circumvent t
        • true that. I went in to Game Stop today to pre-order Doom3 (not that I have a computer that will PLAY Doom3, -or- an X-box.. but I want the damn thing right now, and i'll find someone's computer to play it on dammit!).. I asked the guy how much it was... "PC is $55, X-box is $39.99". what the FUCK?

  • Tomb Raider 'fixes' (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Marc_Hawke ( 130338 ) on Monday July 19, 2004 @11:27PM (#9745303)
    If I'm allowed to comment, since I've never actually played any.. :)

    It seems the later games devolved into just being a vehicle for Lara. They accomplished their goal of making her a star, but then they didn't know what to do with her. So they dressed her up in new outfits and give her different types of 'extreme sports' to do.

    (it's funny, but that's the exact same as the second movie)

    If I were making a Lara game, I'd take a look at the new Prince of Persia. I'd also look at a SplinterCell2 type multiplayer, but also try to get a 4 person 'coop' thing going on with 'online' missions that are built for teamwork.

    • I agree, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time was just awesome. If the next Tomb Raider could learn a few lessons from that game, then that would be good. Although I would want the crazy jumping-around stuff to be harder, more difficult puzzles (maybe throwe in some optional brain-nukers) and slightly less combat.

  • Think big, like Angel of Darkness, but don't rush (Score:5, Insightful)

    by jvmatthe ( 116058 ) on Monday July 19, 2004 @11:32PM (#9745331) Homepage
    While developing Angel of Darkness, Core Design actually quite a lengthy story/script to span three games. Angel of Darkness was just the first part, and by their accounts (as far as you can trust them), not the best part and by no means giving away the scope of the whole. The work put into giving Angel of Darkness a real story was pretty significant, and the characterization of Lara as a person was an important step forward for the series. It's a shame that people got so hung up on the faults of Angel of Darkness that they couldn't see these truly positive things: a good story and finally a three dimensional Lara that was more than just an a pair of adventuring breasts.

    So, I say they should stick to the script (or improve it, as needed) and give us the rest of the story, and continue to refine Lara as a character. After the degradation in the second through the fifth games, where Lara becomes more of a mass murderer than an adventurer, let's not lose sight the real benefits of the sixth game just because it was rushed out the door by the publisher, Eidos, in a buggy state.

    And, while you're at it, how about having a vision for a series that's larger than a single game? That was part of the Angel of Darkness plan too, and I'd like to see more game developers approaching their franchises a little less like discrete, unrelated points and more like a continuum.
    • I agree, I don't see how giving development to Crystal Dynamics will change the fact that Eidos are the ones who forced Core to release Angel of Darkness before it was finished. Surely they'll do the same thing to Crystal Dynamics and we'll end up with another unfinished product.

      The trouble with Eidos is their only decent franchise is Tomb Raider and they only make money when there's a new sequel on the shelves, as evidenced by the big hit their shares took when AoD was first delayed.

      It's a shame Core wer

  • One thing that should be cool... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by blincoln ( 592401 ) on Monday July 19, 2004 @11:53PM (#9745480) Homepage Journal
    The rumour is that this game is being built using the engine from Legacy of Kain: Defiance, which is really excellent for action/adventure games.

    The feature I'm most hoping for from it is Soul Reaver-style controls (relative to the camera) as opposed to Tomb Raider-style (relative to the character, turn-in-place and move forward/back like a tank).

    I tried playing the first couple of TR games and I couldn't get past the unintuitive control scheme. I was able to squeeze through Silent Hill 2, which used the same type, but only because its pace was so much slower.
    • Personally I prefer charater-related navigation, especially if you have to contend with fixed cameras and changing viewpoints.

      However, there's no reason not to include both control methods, AoD was made much harder for me by sticking to camera-related navigation.
    • Too bad about Silent Hill 2; if you had looked at it a little closer, there's an alternate control scheme (my prefered method) which involves pointing where you want to go rather than steering. It's in the options, just switch the 2D/3D setting. SH3 has it also, if you're planning on playing that.

      -SablKnight
    • Dude, the first Tomb Raider controls, at least on the PC, were so fucking excellent, it was unbelieveable. When they started combining it with hair-trigger puzzles, is when shit started coming all apart. The whole engine was not built for instantaneous speed, but for the agility and flexibility of the character.
  • Borrow pages from System Shock. Give lara a Shodan type adversary in the form of some sort of ancient god/goddess. Bring back tension to tomb exploration, and also make inventory manipulation interesting. (Flares, a limited number of climbing spikes, a compass, possibly even a water purifier. Limit ammo.)

    • Look at you, Laura. A pathetic creature of meat and bone, panting and sweating as you run through my corridors. How can you challenge a perfect, immortal god?

      In my talons I shape clay,
      crafting lifeforms as I please.
      Around me is a burgeoning empire of clay.
      From my thrown room,
      lines of power careen into the skies of Earth.
      My whims will become lightening bolts,
      which will devastate the mounds of Humanity.
      Out of the chaos, they will run and whimper,
      praying to me to end their tedious anarchy.
      I am drunk with this
    • Hm, that's actually a great idea. The franchise has to go back to its roots: climbing around in old caves. For some reason the developers think Lara needs to visit exotic new locations in every level and kill dozens of other humans, which just feels contrived and wrong - but trapping Lara in some ancient Mayan complex with an elder god/demon or whatnot trying to kill her is a perfect Tomb Raider setting. A little darker, a little more claustrophobic than the previous games, fewer but harder encounters and s

  • iDea (Score:4, Funny)

    by Kris_J ( 10111 ) * on Tuesday July 20, 2004 @12:38AM (#9745700) Homepage Journal
    I know! They should re-release the old games on portable platforms. That never fails.

  • Easy.... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by MMaestro ( 585010 ) on Tuesday July 20, 2004 @01:19AM (#9745871)
    don't make Lara Croft the main character. First things first, shes an overdone character who never really had staying power like Mario or Sonic, so put her to rest. Secondly, give the game a MGS2 move and make the player play as a 'rookie' character. It helps introduce newbies to the series and doesn't give veterans the sense of "ok I'm Lara Croft, I've been through no less than 5 different adventures, by now I should be able to make headshots with my dual welding semi-automatic pistols while vaulting through the air and avoiding plumes of fire above and below me."

    Seriously, Lara Croft is an overdone character thats around simply because of the 'boob' factor. Take the series down a new path and watch the money roll in. Worst case scenario they pull a MGS3 and choose another character (maybe Lara Croft's father?) and make it a pre-Tomb Raider series game.

    • Re:Easy.... (Score:3, Insightful)

      by hoferbr ( 707935 )
      Secondly, give the game a MGS2 move and make the player play as a 'rookie' character.
      Seriously? Playing as Raiden in MGS2 was kind of anticlimatic, IMO.

      Lara Croft is an overdone character thats around simply because of the 'boob' factor.
      Tomb Raider is popular because of Lara Croft, not the other way around. When it first came out, the game did not have any mind blowing graphics or gameplay. The game success was based on Lara Croft (or her boobs, i don't know...)

    • A prequel is a damn fine idea. I want an Indiana Jones style game that plays like Indiana Jones watches.

  • Come on, it's the perfect time for Rick Dangerous to come back and take the role of the true Tomb Raider. Retro is big now isn't it?

  • askdfjsadkfj (Score:4, Interesting)

    by XO ( 250276 ) <blade.eric@gmEIN ... minus physicist> on Tuesday July 20, 2004 @01:52AM (#9746043) Homepage Journal
    I would like to see the ORIGINAL Tomb Raider, done with an engine as advanced as say.. Doom3. The original Tomb Raider was JUST difficult enough to keep me completely enthralled, but not NEARLY as fucking PUZZLERIFFIC as the second or third ones (i didn't even know there WERE 3 others after TR3) .. I finished the first one, after a VERY long time playing with it... the second one, i got most of the way through, before I got stuck in places that were just too difficult.. and the third one, I got about 2 levels into before I was like "ok, fuck this. this is too crazy."

    (Return to Castle Wolfenstein single player also was like that, once you got into the super-natural beast levels, it was too fuckin crazy to even think about completeing at a normal difficulty level)

    • ..just to be able to have a version WITH THE F**KING SOUNDTRACK!!! I've yet to find a CD on the planet with the original wavs so I can hear the dialogue! (Yes I bought the reissue and discovered they'd replaced the wav tracks with silence).

  • The first part being a clear prince of persia rip off, the game play only has changed to the worse (more shooting) in the sequels. There has to be a significant change in gameplay. First of all reduce the lever puzzles, add real puzzles. Add more stealth instead of acrobacy. I think a Thief approach could work for Tomb Raider as well. Add a decent storyline and NPCs which are more than cannon fodder, and you are set. I think Tomb Raider could be developed into something like a present deus ex, thief, if do
  • ...to make people forget the bad entries in the Tomb Raider series. Why not just let this one go and try to resurrect it when late 90's computer nostalgia kicks in (much like Prince of Persia or Ninja Gaiden is now)?
  • dp's, facials, and anything else that would make me want to watch another PoS TR game for how much??? 50 bucks???

    whatever.
  • How about not having Top Cow work on the Art design, that'd be a good start.

    Go back to the sense of adventure and exploration that was so inspiring in the original. Huge caverns, booby traps, something more than the typical Eidos "block puzzle". Slower gameplay that can speed up in a heart beat and then calm back down. Watch the Indiana Jones movies again to see what "adventure" feels like.

    And a nude code.
  • "what changes would you like to see in a new Tomb Raider title?"

    Something done by Warren Spector that wasn't totally fucked up.

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