Xyga wrote:EmperorIng wrote:I've been interested in recent times in checking out the original PS1 Tomb Raiders, but I wasn't sure if I should go for the PS1 games, or the PS2 remake.
They're very different IMHO, Anniversary is a modern action game with all the fake gameplay mumbo jumbo, while the original on PS1 is more "prince of persia with guns" style.
That's actually a really helpful analogy, in part because it reminded me of the inspiration for the newer games.
My view: I've been working methodically through all the games in Steam as I find time, making hopefully helpful notes to eventually offer to Stella (who has probably the best Tomb Raider walkthrough site). I like the execution and finding fun / efficient ways to do things. I don't have time for trial and error, or searching dark corners for secret areas - and the original engine games are heavy with trial and error and secret hunting. However, when you do execute a difficult jump it's awesomely rewarding. Having enough familiarity with the engine allows some pretty impressive play at points (glitches are fun), clues are often quite interesting (the mirror room in Cairo from Last Revelation is neat), and secrets are usually quite interesting to get, showing off some fun level design in places. Combat, actually, isn't too bad, though obviously it's not very refined and you'll laugh when some giant monster can't hurt you with collisions. The main reason the combat is fun enough is that it's part "can I shoot that from here," and part about being quick on the draw. Using ropes in Last Revelation is very unintuitive and frustrating. This covers TR 1, 2, 3: Adventures of Lara Croft, Last Revelation; probably Chronicles and at least two download expansions that I haven't played yet.
Legend may have inspired some of the newer climbing/parkour style games (Uncharted, Assassin's Creed, possibly even Mirror's Edge) - but it, in turn, borrows heavily from Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time from 2003. Sands of Time had most of the important platforming elements in place, plus its other systems are generally better than those Legend has. Sands of Time has the famous time-rewinding system; Legend has...I guess it has a grappling hook. Prince Guy has a sword, and while I don't remember much about the combat, it was nevertheless more engaging than Legend's "shoot it from a distance until it dies" combat. Legend has one cool combat move (jumping off an enemy's head to stun them and set up an airborne headshot), which is usually either irrelevant, foolish to try and set up, or - in the case of the one or two bosses you might try it on - simply too difficult or dangerous to reliably set up. Legend also has one cool technique for speed killing Luis Sera...er, Rowland, but it's unfortunately more of a trick speedkill, which I would have believed a bit more if there were similar fun methods to try on the other bosses. And, of course, all the games mentioned past Sands of Time have that unhealthy Euro/American fascination with regenerating health and "smart" puzzle combat techniques, instead of focusing on stuff that actually has some resemblance to combat (as you may find in Devil Might Cry).
As an early PS3/Xbox 360 title, Legend's new stuff generally works: Climbing-in-the-lines is okay, though it's not freeform at all and immediately changes one of the core mechanics of Tomb Raider - everything's already set up for you, just find the right visual cue and press a button to navigate through the mostly harmless environment. The grapple is an interesting idea, but barely developed. Some stuff is just busywork, like speeding up Lara by tapping Interact (though, after the thousands of years humans have spent white-knuckling the controller while OG Lara slowly traverses a ledge, perhaps it was unavoidable). Some additions don't feel very good: Saving grabs are more "keep the player busy" stuff which only serve to give the appearance of difficulty, and punish players who are asleep. The motorcycle area is a good idea, but frankly the original TR games had more interesting vehicles. There's also the problem of the free "interact" hotspots (marked with a yellow ! sign); the game doesn't introduce these very well, and they can alter game difficulty from "just possible" to "so easy that cats walking across a controller have done it." There aren't as many of the devilish traps and hazards to watch out for, and even fewer traps in environments more complicated than a flat hallway. Combat still feels not much better than an afterthought, and you spend your time waiting for an enemy's invisible health bar to chip away. As for secrets - for whatever reason collectibles also feel more like busywork here, maybe because the level designs are generally less fun than the original engine games, I guess. Finally, Legend on PC is still full of bugs, and the "next generation content" is a mixed bag, even when it doesn't crash the game. I guess Crystal Dynamics (or is that Crash to Desktop?) wanted the best of both worlds - making the game able to run on a wide range of potatoes and microwaves. Unfortunately the "high end" option never got the attention it needed, and often looks lousy.
I don't remember Anniversary exactly, but I believe that it cleaned up some of the old areas and did some careful rethinking of the systems in Legend. What mainly appeals to me about it is its fun mix of different archeological stereotypes with some interesting use of the puzzle items. Given the semi-classic levels and probably some control improvements, perhaps puzzle hunting is more fun in this one.
Underworld still isn't a perfect game, and it's marred by the existence of two 360-only DLC levels (some interesting insider info on this found
here). Judging from the level count, the core game isn't small, though. Some areas really could use a spit-and-polish treatment - the opening dungeon is quite unremarkable, as are all the collectibles. That's balanced somewhat by stunning scenery elsewhere - Thailand looks great. There's also no technical issues when running the game on max settings, with graphical features notably improved over Legend on PC, to match the higher system requirements. As for important mechanics, it's mostly improved and expanded over Legend: It's harder to mistakenly detatch a grapple, Lara automatically slides over some objects and will act differently if you run into a wall than if you simply jump up at it (in order to set up the new chimney jump move - like Ninja Gaiden's wall jumping), there's sprinting, dodges, semi-free climbing and tightrope-style walking, save grabs are rare, an entire underwater area with a breather so no worries of drowning Lara - though you still can get caught up on the geometry like in the old days. At least there's the promise of much more variety. While the sinking ship level isn't the most incredible set piece and throws in some silly stuff (bullet time dodge the explosions!), it's at least more interesting than Legend (though Resident Evil 6 did the sinking ship idea better). Combat is still bad, and handgun combat in Hard difficulty is considerably harder than Legend, but you can get up to a sole enemy (or two) and stunlock them to death with kicks. Unfortunately this doesn't appear any more generally useful than CQC in Legend, and "harder than Legend" doesn't mean "more engaging" here; it means you're supposed to suck down the hard-to-see health potions (I haven't used one; checkpoint health refills still work) while waiting for an enemy's health bar to slowly tick down, one bullet or kick at a time. Oh, and in terms of fun glitches, the game has already awarded me one unearned checkpoint, warping me past a climbing puzzle. Yay!
