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[Angel-S]

Gamespot Reviews TRL!



1up review

[Angel-S]

Frau Muller , большое спасибо.

[Angel-S]

All Legend Reviews!

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[Angel-S]

EIDOS INKS LARA CROFT GIG WITH DUCATI

Eidos Interactive, one of the world‘s leading publishers and developers of entertainment software, is pleased to announce that Lara Croft will be riding the Ducati Monster and 999 in her new adventure, Lara Croft Tomb Raider Legend in a worldwide deal between Eidos and Ducati.

The deal has Lara Croft riding Ducati‘s air-cooled, two-valved Monster S2R in her latest adventure and features riding scenes in which Lara relies on the bikes performance to get her out of some tricky situations.

Her other bike is one of the most famous in motorsports, the legendary 999. The Ducati 999 is the most powerful and advanced twin-cylinder engine motorcycle ever to come out of the Borgo Panigale factory. It symbolises Ducati‘s long, glorious history and its domination of the World Superbike Championship.

"Both Lara and Ducati share the same qualities; intelligent design, refined toughness, distinct style, beautiful form and world renowned class." said Matt Gorman, Senior Brand Manager for Tomb Raider Legend.

"We had to get everything just right. Ducati supplied specs for the bikes and we recorded the distinct Ducati engine sounds at the development studio, Crystal Dynamics, so that the bikes in the game are as real as we could get them."

"Ducati is enthusiastic to be part of such a technologically and graphically advanced videogame”, says Stefania Clapci, Licensing Director at Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A. “Having a female heroine riding on Ducati sport bikes is something completely new, exciting, and exclusive in the videogame world."

Lara Croft Tomb Raider Legend is the seventh title to be released in the Tomb Raider series, which originally launched in 1996 and is still one of the best selling videogame franchises of all time, with over 28 million copies sold.

Lara Croft has transcended games in a way no other character has, including action figures, comic books and two major motion pictures starring Angelina Jolie.

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[Angel-S]

Exclusive Troels Folmann Interview

1. What previous games have you composed music for and what was your reaction when asked to compose for Tomb Raider?

My journey to Crystal Dynamics began when I was conducting Ph.D. studies in dynamic and adaptive music for video games. I had the privilege of doing the cinematic score for their award-winning FPS, Project: Snowblind. The collaboration on Snowblind was really great and intensive, so I decided to take an abroad semester at Crystal in order to conduct field studies in dynamic music and my micro-scoring techniques. The people at Crystal Dynamics really liked my previous works, so we started talking about the prospects of scoring Tomb Raider Legend and so the story goes.

But I really don’t have any comprehendible form of language to express what joy went through my body as we discussed scoring Tomb Raider Legend. It’s one of the greatest opportunities I have ever had and I still feel honored by the fact they picked me.


2. In this new game, how have you created a piece of music and combined it with each level? How did you relate the music to each level?

All the levels in Tomb Raider Legend are made from small building blocks called units. So you have to imagine that every level consists of many small levels. You don’t notice it when you play the game, since our graphical engine will stream everything in real time. However I basically scored every unit in the game, which ended up being a really challenging and time consuming job, but I wanted the music to change whenever there was a change in the environment. So I ended up micro-scoring all the individual units in the game and believe me there are many. All the micro-scores are connected in a seamless way, so it just feels like one big, fluent experience.

All levels were scored differently. When I began the soundtrack I took a long time investigating the different levels, environments and cultures. I wanted to have a specific musical timbre for every level, so I had to understand the musical influences of each individual part of the game. When you are in Tokyo you will hear roaring Taiko drums and the beautiful Japaneese Shakuhachi flute (which is insanely hard to play btw). When you are in Bolivia you will hear pan flutes. When you are in Africa you will hear a variety of African percussions and so forth. However the real trick was to make the whole thing work as a consistent unity. One of the ways I did that was to score all the cinematics with a symphonic orchestra in a more classical fashion.

If I had to pick out a favourite level it would be Arthurs Grave. Many people never noticed it. But there is actually a choir singing: “Once a king was born – in a kingdom torn” and so forth. The choir is subconsciously providing hints to the player. The score for Arthurs Grave was a journey down the history of music. The music starts by being contemporary in the top part of the level, however as the player progress down the music gets more classical and ancient.


3. What was your favorite song to compose on the Tomb Raider: Legend soundtrack?

I have a few ones. I am proud of the main theme and the end-level theme, since they both incorporate the new and the old Tomb Raider theme. I also enjoy the music from the first vehicle section, the mansion music and the sad voices of Nepal. However the Arthurs Grave level is the stuff I am most proud of. The micro-scores are very fluently connected and I love the way the music gets darker, and darker… and darker… as you dive down.


4. When inspiration is gone and you've got a deadline to make, how do you continue composing your music?

Inspiration is motivation in my world. I am always motivated by deadlines and some of my best tunes are done under pressure. I cannot say it’s a good or valid working practice, but it’s the sad and unfortunate truth. I used to do a lot of contractual work and I have literally done scores in a matter of hours. It’s a part of being professional.

However the best trick for me to stay motivated is reading you guyz. I read the forum every day and I think you would be surprised how much we learn from you.


5. How much does the music from the Tomb Raider Legend soundtrack contribute to the overall feeling and atmosphere of the game?

This is a really good question, but my answer is biased. I believe music is the emotional glue in the game. The music connects the player to the game and makes the game seem more real and present. However music is also a transparent media, which can fulfill many roles. Sometimes you just want the music in the background. Sometimes you want the music to suggest something. Sometimes you want it big, epic and roaring. Sometimes you don’t want it at all.

The best way to test this is to turn off the music in the game. Normally people feel the game experience becomes less interesting and feel some sort of emotional detachment. Music is about creating emotion and emotion is key in any experience.

But also keep in mind that half of the audio is non-musical. I have some great colleagues in the audio group who does the sound design and the scripting and implementation. Mike Peaslee is our sound designer and he skillfully created all the ambiences and background sounds. The borderline between music and ambience is really narrow sometimes. Additionally we have a gifted sound engineer, Karl Gallagher, who does all the implementation and scripting. Lara is a great example of perfect sound design and scripting. There are literally hundreds of sounds on Lara. All the sounds of her cloth, breaths, footsteps, weapons, fingers and feet touching surfaces and so forth. All these sounds were carefully scripted, so the player never experiences any repetitive sounds. This took a long time to do, but is a major accomplishment in terms of creating a believable sound environment on Lara. A really funny example is grenades. Mike Peaslee went out and bought several grenades, so we could get the subtle recording of grenades touching each other when she moves around. The attention to sound detail is quite amazing on Tomb Raider Legend, if I may say so myself.


6. What is the order of creating composition (for example, main theme score)? Do you at first appraise concepts, read game scripts and story itself, or even played some older Alfa demo version to feel the atmosphere?

I did not compose for the first 2 months on Tomb Raider Legend. I read all the conceptual documents, story scripts and played the game. I also looked into all the previous Tomb Raider games in order to understand what they did right- and what they did wrong on a musical level. Additionally I watched the two Tomb Raider movies and virtually listened to hundreds of motion picture soundtracks. All this information was compiled into a rather lengthy “soundscape bible”, which described how I wanted to do the score and my ambition level with it. It was really important for me to get a motion picture feel in the score. There is quite a lot of blip-blobbish game music out there and I wanted to get far away from that. Games are certainly different from motion pictures, but I still believe we have a lot to learn in terms of quality and fidelity – both in audio and visuals.


7. What are the components/characteristics that make a musical theme suitable for a Tomb Raider game, what should it express, and what shouldn't it express in your opinion?

The Tomb Raider theme was absolutely the hardest part to score in the game.

I wanted the theme to be recognizable. I wanted it to be epic. I wanted it to be emotional. I wanted it to be for everybody. I wanted it to be classic. I wanted it to be modern. I wanted it to be sad. I wanted it to be happy and celebrating. I wanted the old Tomb Raider theme. I wanted the new Tomb Raider theme. I pretty much wanted everything.

So… I ended up doing over 30 different versions of it. I kept on rescoring it, since there was always something wrong with it. However in the end I realized I was trying too hard, so I decided to leave it for a while. One day I came back to it and scored it in a day. I knew it was the right theme – because it had all the components I was looking for. It starts out by playing the old Tomb Raider theme on an ancient ethnic flute called Duduk, which is followed up by a middle-eastern violin playing the new main theme. A beautiful Celtic female voice sings about love and the main theme kicks in with full choir and orchestra and a variety of different percussions. The theme ends with the female voice praising life.


8. What music do you listen to? Has it somehow influenced "Tomb Raider: Legend" soundtrack?

I listen to everything, literally anything. Naturally I listened to all the previous Tomb Raider games and the two movies. But I also listened to Hans Zimmer, Howard Shore, Pat Metheny, Thomas Newman, Gabriel Yared, David Arnold, Herbie Hancock, Boomjinx, BT, Jerry Goldsmith, Gorecki, Hans Gregory Williams, Don Davis, Danny Elfman, Alan Silvestri, John Williams, James Newton Howard, Edward Shearmur, St. Germain, ES Posthumus, Gustav Holst, Bill Brown, James Horner, John Barry, Trever Rabin, John Adams, Bernard Hermann, Alex North, Peter Gabriel, Sting, Sly and Robbie, Ennio Morricone and to a variety of random streaming radio channels on the internet (winamp rules).


9. What was your most difficult challenge when composing the score for Tomb Raider Legend? Are you planning on working on the music for the next Tomb Raider Game? (if possible)

The most difficult thing about the Tomb Raider Legend score was to make it accessible for every type of person playing the game. On one hand you have to make something distinct and unique. On the other side you also need to follow conventions of motion picture and so forth. Tomb Raider is not an art experiment and it was important for me to do music that everybody can relate to. Some people think is kind of trivial, but it’s really the hardest thing to do, which is why very few people got success with it. Naturally you cannot please everybody, but I think the score did a pretty good job on covering a variety of musical styles, while still retaining one, unique feel. Now in terms of the next Tomb Raider project … my lips are sealed … though my eyes are sparkling.


10. From which culture have you been inspired by to write this music?

Japaneese, Bolivian, Peruvian, European (Celtic), Armenian, African (Ghana), Russian, Himalayan and the great culture of Crystal Dynamics!

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[Angel-S]

rhyn , большое спасибо.

[Angel-S]

Действительно - не понятно.
Но мне всё-таки кажется ( я уже говорила об этом ), что Легенда - пробный вариант, после провала АОДа. Может поэтому они сделали её такой короткой. Мол, посмотрим, как пойдёт игра, не будем стараться на все сто - если удачно - то следующая часть, думаю, будет - шедевр.

[Angel-S]

BBC Review of Tomb Raider Legend.

Lara back on legendary form

Lara Croft, the ballsy, under-dressed first lady of gaming returns to glory in Tomb Raider: Legend.

With the seventh in the Tomb Raider series, it feels as though the sorry mess of the previous episode, Angel of Darkness, has been wiped away like dust on an Inca relic.


Three years have passed since we last met Miss Croft. In that time, Eidos have dropped original developers Core Design from the project and brought in Crystal Dynamics, best known for the Legacy of Kain series.

So, a new design team. But from the word go, Legend feels like the vintage game the world fell in love with in Tomb Raider I and II.


It is not without fault, but it has an engaging plot, neat puzzles, epic landscapes and a nifty new trick or two tucked in Lara's holster belt.

After a James Bond style title sequence, we are even treated to some character development. Legend starts with a flashback in which a young Lara and her mother are travelling in their private plane, discussing Yetis naturally, when it catches fire and crashes.

It soon becomes clear that Lara's present-day hunt for artefacts will also be a quest into her own past.


Playing controls

The game starts in classic TR territory: a pre-Incan palace on a mountain top in Bolivia which hides some Arthurian magic.

From there, Lara visits Peru, Japan, Ghana, Kazakhstan, England and the Himalayas, solving puzzles, meeting old adversaries and blasting baddies along the way.
The graphics are smooth, particularly on Lara, who has had quite an overhaul, and the scenery is rich and varied with a different feel on each level.

The first level is a chance to try out some new moves and kit, including a set of binoculars and a magnetic grappling hook.
The gameplay is fluid. Lara is easy to control and she has a much-improved range of movement. It is usually fairly obvious which is the next ledge or rope to grab hold of, although you will have to work hard to find the gold rewards.
There is less prescriptiveness than before in the moves. For instance you don't have to take off in exactly the right spot to pull off a leap.

While this all speeds up play and helps avoid some of the more frustrating aspects of earlier Tomb Raiders, it can also feel nannyish at times.

Format: PlayStation 2 (reviewed), Xbox 360, Xbox, PC, PSP (due spring)
Graphics: 8
Sound: 9
Gameplay: 8.5
Enduring appeal: 9
Overall: 8.5

Clever shooting
When it comes to combat, Lara still has the trademark dual pistols with unlimited rounds. She can also pick up guns dropped by enemies and use grenades.
All weapons have a lock-on facility so our trigger-happy heroine can blast away to her heart's content.
She is also prompted to shoot objects such as the fuel tank of a lorry to take out a job-lot of foes.
The dialogue is excellent and Lara's cut glass English tones are the real thing, provided by Keeley Hawes of Spooks fame.

In fact, the sound throughout is magnificent with satisfyingly spine-tingling music and depth to the effects.

There are some gripes. The early challenges feel too easy and it also grates that Lara is in constant radio contact with her base team who interject inane "be careful now" comments along the way.

But for a legion of Tomb Raider fans who have been waiting patiently for Lara to get back to what she does best, this is unlikely to disappoint.

Actress Keely Hawes is the voice of Lara

источник

[Frau Muller]

Перевод части GameSpot Review:

Tomb Raider: Legend- короткое, но увлекательное приключение, которым может насладиться практически каждый.
Что хорошо: У Лары- куча потрясающих движений и умений, разнообразные уровни переносят вас в экзотические локации по всему миру, прекрасная музыка и голоса, великолепная графика и детализированное окружение.
Что плохо: Игра короткая и не вызывает огромных трудностей, неустойчивая частота кадров, камера время от времени раздражает, слабый gunplay.

Прошло почти 10 лет со времени выхода первого TR, и за то время как видеоигры прошли огромный путь, серия TR отстала. Проблемы с камерой и управлением, которые можно было простить в ранних играх, со временем стали снижать качество новых серий. Последняя часть TR:Legend наконец-то возвращает игру в 21-й век, в то же время сохраняя дух приключения ранних игр.

TR:Legend показывает приключения Лары, которая пытается раскрыть тайны своего прошлого. А именно, она расследует смерть матери, случившуюся несколько лет ранее. Так или иначе, вовлеченной оказывается легенда о Короле Артуре, магический меч, который был расколот на фрагменты, рассеянные по всему миру.
История не слишком последовательная, но она оправдывает Ларины перемещения из одной экзотической местности в другую в процессе поиска артефактов. Игра приводит нас в такие места как Гана, Перу, Токио, Англия и Казахстан, все локации выглядят прекрасно. Лара в основном проводит время в гробницах и руинах, но также исследует покинутую лабораторию, скачет на крышах небоскребов и расстреливает плохих парней в поселке. Разнообразие уровней огромно, хотя вы встретите достаточно много похожих головоломок с платформами и ящиками.

Головоломки в TR:Legend могут вначале ввести в заблуждение, но они покажутся очень легкими, если один раз понять, как они работают. Большую часть игры вы будете решать стандартные головоломки с переключателями. Помимо перетаскивания коробок будет много увлекательных эпизодов с платформами, которые предоставят возможность воспользоваться Лариной склонностью к акробатическим трюкам. Вы можете цепляться за выступы, раскачиваться на канатах и между платформами, используя магнитный крюк, и перепрыгивать с удобно расположенных перекладин. Управление- более подвижное и отзывчивое, чем в предыдущих играх, что позволяет движениям Лары выглядеть гораздо естественней чем раньше. Управление точное, но не такое изнурительное....

[Frau Muller]

Вторая часть GameSpot Review:

Вам часто придется только прыгнуть в направлении следующей платформы и Лара автоматически схватится за предназначенную для этого поверхность. Как только вы зацепитесь, вы сможете без особых усилий преодолеть даже самое внушительное препятствие. Кроме того, всегда предельно ясно, за какие выступы можно схватиться, между какими можно перепрыгнуть. Единственная задача- повернуть камеру так, чтобы было видно, что вы собираетесь сделать. В узких местах будет трудно получить хороший обзор необходимого выступа. Иногда камера, расположенная в неправильном направлении может помешать правильно рассчитать прыжок. Проблемы с камерой иногда появляются, но большую часть времени у вас будет достаточно хороший вид окрестностей. Несмотря на то, что взаимодействия с платформами достаточно просты, прекрасная анимация и дизайн уровней передают прекрасное чувство опасности.

Конечно же, Лара искусна в обращении с оружием и более чем склонна выпустить немного горячего свинца, когда ситуация того требует. Вам придется время от времени пристреливать нескольких бандитов и леопардов. Вы можете навести прицел на противника и затем просто нажимать клавишу стрельбы, пока противник не будет убит. Также вы сможете кидать гранаты, делать комбинации и атаковать в полете.
Когда вы подбегаете к противнику, вы можете перепрыгнуть через его голову и продолжать стрелять в режиме slo-mo. Это очень изящный прием, но он не особенно действенный и необходимый, так как он займет больше времени, чтобы добраться до врага. Также вы можете стрелять в объекты окружающей среды, которые будут ясно указаны иконкой. Можно стрелять по бочкам, чтобы они загорелись, сбивать каменные опоры, наблюдая, как они упадут на врагов и т.д. Несмотря на все вышесказанное, боевые действия не столь захватывающи, так как просто выполняются, а пушки не оставляют ощущения мощного оружия и не слишком отличаются друг от друга.

Помимо решения головоломок и уничтожения всех без разбора, есть еще несколько других занятий, в которых можно поучаствовать. Например, два уровня с ездой на мотоцикле, где вам нужно запрыгнуть на неправдоподобно оставленные Ducati и мчаться за другими транспортными средствами, одновременно расстреливая движущихся врагов, и совершать прыжки на мотоцикле. Физика езды на мотоцикле очень «развязанная» и эпизоды больше похожи на rail shooter, чем на racing game.
Есть немного интерактивных кат-сцен, в которых вам потребуется нажимать определенную кнопку, как это было в Resident Evil 4. Лара может встретить свою погибель множеством различных способов, которые вы обязательно увидите, если вовремя не нажмете правильную кнопку.

Первый раз игру можно с легкостью пройти за семь часов на сложности, установленной по умолчанию.
Затем вы можете начать игру на более высокой сложности, но это не создаст видимых отличий, так как основной проблемой в Legend является решение головоломок, а они никогда не меняются. Единственной оставшейся задачей является поиск секретов или прохождение уровней на время. Тем самым можно открыть доступ к новой одежде, видео и т.д, но даже с учетом этого время на игру займет одни выходные.

Legend, игра с атмосферой древности, темным окружением и достаточным количеством деталей и световых эффектов, смотрится прекрасно на любой платформе. Версия Xbox 360 предлагает более четкие детали, лучшие световые эффекты и изобилие блестящих поверхностей. Каждая версия игры немного страдает нестабильностью частоты кадров. Она никогда не становится несносно медленной, но никогда не становится такой, какой должна быть. Звук во всех версиях превосходен, хороши музыка и окружающий шум, голоса действительно придают индивидуальности каждому персонажу- в особенности Ларе.

TR:Legend- хорошее возвращение к корням серии. Она не представляет чего-то нового и оригинального, но в ней прекрасно сочетаются action и adventure, что постоянно будет удерживать внимание и заставлять вас двигаться вперед. Проблема в том, что все происходит слишком быстро и заканчивается слишком рано.

[Frau Muller]

Frau Muller, спасибо

veresk, всегда пожалуйста. Мне самой было интересно переводить это ревью, и я с нетерпением жду новых статей.

[ACE]

Рецензия MSXbox World

Tomb Raider Legend Xbox360

Well it’s been a while since Lara Croft; the enigmatic busty adventurer graced our consoles and even though many gamers felt her last outing was perhaps the worst in the series, her return for fans at least is a welcome one. Tomb Raider Legend on Xbox 360 brings the franchise into the next generation but does capture the feel of Tomb Raider 1 and 2 (the most highly regarded of the series) or does it get lost in the generation gap to become a mere shadow of its former self?

Gameplay

For the uninitiated, Tomb Raider games are essentially platform games minus the cute soundtrack and characters. Tomb Raider games play in third person so players can view Lara in action at all times including her rear when crawling and climbing. In fact you will be spending a lot of time looking at Lara’s rear and so better get used to it, although the true explorer should in fact pan the camera 360 degrees to get a better look at the surroundings.

Lara has a number of abilities and gadgets to help her explore lost tombs and hunt for ancient artefacts which is what she does best and in Legend it appears Lara is looking for closure on few personal issues from her past throughout the game. Her abilities include an awesome grip which enables her to cling on to ledges and shimmy across them. She can also leap gaps and launch herself higher to reach other ledges. Lara is also well suited to jumping bottomless chasms, swinging on ropes and poles like a true gymnast, or even sliding down zip lines with bare hands and running around in bare feet! She pretty much can traverse any obstacle the world throws at her. Legends spices things up a little whereby players can interact with these acrobatic moments such as climbing a pole and pressing the Y button will speed Lara up if timed correctly. Then there are things like unstable ledges and poles which if Lara takes too long might prove costly to her well being as they crumble or fall away leaving her grasping at air and falling to a lonely grave.

Lara also has a magnetic grappling hook which throughout her adventure proves vital to her success. With the hook she can pull distant objects towards her and use it to become her own portable swinging rope as it is able to attach it self to certain objects giving her the option to swing until her heart is content. Lara also has some nifty binoculars which give her an analysis of items of interest in any particular area in view and with her colleagues in contact via an earpiece means that she is never too far away from helpful advice to any problems she encounters.

Lara is also a dab hand at armed combat and whilst stealth isn’t featured in Legends she is able to dish out suitable punishment to attacking wild animals and gun toting bad guys. Lara never leaves home without her twin pistols which she can lock on to targets, jump around the room and shoot at the same time with relative ease. If she’s lucky she might also find weapons dropped by the bad guys which can then be used against them. During my play I found a Shotgun, Sub machine gun, assault rifle and grenades which were all useful throughout.

The core game play has pretty much remained unchanged from previous Tomb Raider titles and although the inclusion of some motorcycle sections and interactive cut scenes add some variety to the basic navigating of areas, fans of earlier games will have a sense of familiarity and feel right at home here. The levels and puzzles are well designed and require some taxing lateral thinking to pass; although I do feel that some of the puzzle and in fact the general navigating areas felt toned down compared to some head crunching moments of the original game. I got the feeling at times that I wasn’t really exploring much as the route always seemed very obvious as if some invisible friend was constantly guiding me in the right direction as opposed to leaving me high and dry for several hours trying to work something out!

Graphics

Well from the game’s opening everything in the cut scenes (using the game engine) looks impressive and sharp and when faced with the opening level when you take control of Lara for the first time, looks impressive indeed as it provides an excellent sense of scale with plenty of greenery and water effects. Lara herself looks very rounded and most definitely her best looking model to date especially as you get to see her in a number costumes that featured throughout the series, yes that includes the classic sweaty olive green vest! When looking close up at the textures on her skin especially during the cut scenes are quite detailed and she generally animates extremely fluidly making for a realistic behaving character (within the game world that is). There are some neat looking (albeit low resolution) real time shadows used which become more noticeable when Lara uses her flashlight and provides some dancing shadows across surfaces. There are also a number of advanced physics on offer whereby certain objects can be moved or interacted with such as boxes being used as cover can be destroyed. This is nothing new in games but it’s a welcome inclusion all the same. On a negative note I did notice some moments where there was clipping (the character model merging with static objects) and the occasional dip in frame rate from time to time but nothing to really hamper the playing experience. I also had a glimpse of the Xbox version of the game which although is exactly the same as far as I could tell, pales in comparison as the high resolution textures used in the Xbox 360 version are clearly superior in every way.

Sound

The grunting groaning Lara is back in full force and this time she is accompanied by a varied soundtrack that is grandeur at times and more subtle at others. The music has been recorded to a high standard and provides a captivating aural experience when it kicks in during key moments in the game. The voice acting for Lara is distinctly British and her character comes across hard but fair which the actress does a good job of conveying throughout. The other voices are a little cliché but help provide some character to cast of male helpers that Lara has at her disposal. Other ambient sound effects are featured and again help create the much needed ambience you would expect from the locations that Lara visits.

Longevity

Well this is a tricky one because on one hand the game isn’t the longest by any stretch of the imagination but on the other hand the game does force for multiple plays of levels especially if you intend on unlocking all of the game secrets such as new costumes, biographies and the weapon upgrades to name but a few. I figure most gamers will not find all of the hidden reward items in the game on their first play through and most likely will resort to replaying single levels which the game allows you to do once levels have been beaten already. Players can also choose between three levels of difficulty although this only changes the difficulty of enemies as opposed to puzzle solving. So, you’ve beaten the game once (which should take no longer than a weekend) what now? Well Lara is able to explore her mansion looking for more reward items and then I guess players are left to explore every inch of each level to find any rewards that were missed which could take some time. The only other replay-ability comes from a time trail mode which is basically rushing through the levels to a strict time limit and really is reserved for those who know the 7 levels like the back of their hand!

Overall

Tomb Raider Legend is a welcome return for Lara as it captures the feel of previous games without adding too many new tricks to lose its flavour. I still feel that although enjoyable, the puzzles weren’t as fiendish as previous games and offered only a mild mental challenge. I also felt that the linearity of the levels lost some of the exploration elements found in previous titles especially as not once did I lose my bearings. In this respect I feel Tomb Raider Legend will have a wider appeal as more gamers will be able to take control of Lara minus any headaches caused from over bearing mind games or navigation issues. I guess this is a good thing although I am a little disappointed with the game length as I felt Legend didn’t have that epic feel found in Tomb Raider 1 and 2. Judging Legend on its own merits and you are left with a solid third person action/platform game featuring a charismatic yet sassy leading lady and pure entertainment as soon as you begin to play. I think Tomb Raider Legend is a must buy for fans of the series and perhaps a rental for anyone else. The overall length of the game kills it for me and although enjoyable from start to finish is over far too soon to have any sort of lasting impact. To conclude, as an old man once said, prettier graphics do not necessarily make a better game and in this case holds true, although I cannot stress enough that what you do get here is ultimately fun all the way through which is what counts.

Графика - 8/10
Геймплей - 8/10
Звук - 8/10
Продолжительность - 6/10

Плюсы:
Отличный игровой процесс
Много различных локаций

Минусы:
Слишком коротко

ИТОГ - 8/10

Сообщение изменено: ACE (09 April 2006 - 18:59)

[ACE]

JOG поставил игре в версиях для PS2 и Xbox 84% из 100%.

[ACE]

Большое спасибо за работу! Молодец!

[ACE]

Рецензия от Yahoo! Games:


She's hotter than ever, but can the sultry Lara Croft get back in the good graces of the globe's gamers?
By: Justin Leeper
Posted: 11 Apr 2006

Who said the more attractive you are, the easier life is? Lara Croft has become the whipping girl for the video game industry over the past few years -- and not in the leather and lace sort of way, either. Eidos went overboard in terms of PlayStation sequel frequency, and PS2's Angel of Darkness was an absolute abomination best forgotten altogether. Lara was experiencing breakdown of Anna Nicole Smith proportions, which anyone would struggle to overcome.

Funny thing is, she actually comes roaring back to life in Tomb Raider: Legend. With the jump to Xbox 360, Lady Croft feels right at home in a more beautiful world with better control and the same brain-twisting puzzles and level designs that made you drool over the series in the first place. Oh, and she's still smokin' hot.

The series returns to what made it such a big hit in the late '90s, while adopting some of the better game design philosophies that have surfaced since. As a result, Tomb Raider: Legend will appeal to most anyone with a taste for adventuring. The massive rooms with ledges and poles have returned, but the geometrically remedial way Lara used to navigate them has not. Now, there's a much more free, analogous vibe to everything -- which makes exploring that much more satisfying. You'll thrill to each new area and challenged placed in front of you, as Lara scales unbelievable heights and battles impossible odds.

You don't have to as meticulously set up your jumps or push blocks into place anymore. The puzzles have advanced to include physics, but still have the right amount of challenge to them. Lara moves faster and smoother, and you can speed up things like shimmying or swimming when need be. She's basically leaner and meaner. A grapple wire gives you yet another gadget to play with, and rest assured that it's used often.

The old twin pistols and their unlimited ammo return, and the lock-on targeting is near where you'd hope it would be (it's sometimes tough to switch targets mid-firefight). The helpfulness of manual targeting is negated a bit by the fact that you remain still while using it. Lara's added some up-close attacks to her arsenal; things like leaping off of shoulders or kicking foes. Overall, combat is better, though not as deep as some titles.

Dragon's Lair-style interactive cutscenes are excuses for Lara to earn more cool points doing things that are basically physically impossible. How else could she keep up with protagonists like Kratos and Dante? Riding a motorcycle isn't as effective at doing this, due to some rather weak driving mechanics; it's not horrible, but is one of the weaker portions of Tomb Raider: Legend.

As a nice throwback, you can once again explore Lara's manor. Instead of the tutorial level it once was, it's a clever little exploratory section filled with secret pick-ups and a few roommates. The only bummer is you can't lock your butler in the freezer, a la Tomb Raider II.

Tomb Raider: Legend is most definitely a pretty game, using the 360's muscle to display some breathtaking scenery. These are the types of environments we've always dreamt of exploring with Lara Croft -- with lighting and shaders running rampant -- and it's even better that she's better at what she does now. It is a little surprising that Lara's character model isn't more stunning, however. She looks good, but lacks some of the detail we've seen in other games like Dead or Alive 4, and her famous chest is pretty understated. The lady does look right at home in the real-time cutscenes, though, so there isn't much reason to complain -- unless you're that much of a pervert.

It bears noting that this game may be the shortest in the entire Tomb Raider series. While we didn't expect an 18-level epic, you can complete the whole thing in around eight hours. This is both good and bad. More people will actually finish the game this way -- and you'll definitely want to -- and it's the first TR that leaves the audience wanting more rather than stuffing them to the gills. On the negative tip, when you're spending $60, you want to feel like you got your money's worth. Sadly, some gamers may feel a little gypped. Everyone will welcome the save-anywhere feature and the abundance of checkpoints, though the load times after you die can be a buzzkill.

During its prime, Tomb Raider was in a class by itself. Nowadays, the action/adventure genre is jam packed with great titles. In an ironic twist, Prince of Persia -- which was originally very influential on Tomb Raider -- returned to reclaim the exploring/platforming crown. God of War may rely more on combat, but it too must be considered in the same vein. These are widely considered some of the best games in recent years, and provide some stiff competition for a series on the rebound.

As we all know, Tomb Raider is a gaming legend. Tomb Raider: Legend is easily its finest iteration in almost a decade. It puts up a fight against the genre's best, but remains faithful to the reasons it was so huge back in the day. The story will even keep you intrigued. That's really all that you can ask for, so why not give Lara Croft another chance? You may fall in love with her all over again.

Графика - 4,5/5
Звук - 4/5
Геймплей - 4,5/5
Сюжет - 4/5
Интерфейс - 4,5/5

Итоговая оценка - 4/5

[ACE]

Появились оценки нового номера популярного американского издания “Official Xbox Magazine”. Максимальная оценка для данного издания составляет 10 баллов. На этот раз в список проектов попали:

- Blazing Angels (Xbox 360, Ubisoft): 5
- Tomb Raider: Legend (Xbox 360, Eidos): 8
- Far Cry Instincts Predator (Xbox 360, Ubisoft): 7
- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Xbox 360, Bethesda): 10
- Top Spin 2 (Xbox 360, 2K Sports): 7
- Football Manager 2006 (Xbox 360, Sega): 9

Инфа с GameMAG

[ACE]

Кто переведет?

[ACE]

GamеSpot - единственный крупный портал, поставивший игре оценку, ниже 80% - 78% - это не дело. О чем они сейчас говорят? Можно хоть чуть-чуть перевести суть?

[ACE]

Кили такая лапа!

[ACE]

Кусок ревью и шот одного CD из новой Игромании:



”...Мягкая палитра, приятное освещение. Олдскульный геймплей. Узнаваемое с первых же секунд игры управление. Как же долго нам пришлось ждать, когда из Tomb Raider снова сделают приличную игру!.. Нас не обманули: Лара в новой части именно такая, как показывали на скриншотах и в видеороликах. Скажем больше — впервые в истории серии из нее сделали человека...”

Сам журнал выйдет 25 апреля.

Сообщение изменено: ACE (21 April 2006 - 18:24)

[rhyn]

Интервью британской The Guardian с Тоби Гардом от 18 апреля:

Last week I chatted to Toby Gard, the artist who designed the look of Lara Croft. A decade on and back working with Lara it was time to see what had changed and how he felt about the character he created. Oh, and how he was mobbed by French Tomb Raider fans, but that's for another day.

How do you feel Legend turned out? How has it been for you?

It's been a really enjoyable experience. Crystal Dynamics are strong and professional studio and it's been an experience for me seeing how a studio like that is run. The game has turned out so well because there is so much attention to detail from the guys. I came in at pre-production when they had all the game setup and I was bought into redefine Lara's look and then the other characters and the story. I worked closely with the story team too, to help define who Lara actually is. It's a question of adding details to her personality and not just physically.


What are the difference between working on Lara now and when you did originally?

It's all about detail now. The gameplay is fairly similar to what it was in the original game. So you have combat, exploration and puzzles. But it's the fidelity that is the difference now. Big basic blocks don't cut it anymore - you need swaying grass and butterflies now. Also the team for Legend is ten times as big the original team. It's gone from 6 to 60.


Do you think character design is underappreciated in these days of FPS and online RPGs?

I don't think so. FPS games don't need a strong character as that would get in the way of you. Look at Half Life - it worked brilliantly that Gordon didn't say anything. Also people really enjoy creating their own character in a game. The advantage of doing something like Lara is that it helps focus a story and narrative design.


Why do you think Lara captured the mid-90s zeitgeist in the way she did?

She had a real difference to the games characters of the time. Compared to the burly men shooting guns she had a real appeal. She was mysterious and had a danger about her this gave her a real difference to other female game characters that were basically sex objects. Lara had a mystery about her. Also I was very keen to get Lara to animate properly, which no one else at the time was doing. This made her move slowly but look realistic which helped player empathise with her.


How was Galleon?

I learnt a lot about the industry, let's put it that way.


You left Core originally over concerns that Lara was getting "sexed" up. She still seems that way in Legend - how do you feel about that?

It wasn't about her boobs getting bigger. She was always designed to look good - people's psychology is that they like attractive characters on both sexes. What I objected to was the marketing which represented Lara in a way that was nothing like the character. At the time I didn't like that and it prompted me to want to retain control of characters I created in the future, so that's why I left.


How many designs did you scrap before Lara?

About four or five. My initial design was a guy in some tombs. But when I started doing proper designs the female character just worked better.


Can Lara become an icon again for the next-gen?

Yes, I think she can. She's a really interesting character and Legend digs below the surface and gives a much clearer idea of her depth. But whether another gaming icon will replace her? I don't know.


This was supposed to be a return to raiding tombs, and yet a lot of the levels in Legend have urban settings?

The previous game wasnt about archaeology and the new one is, so tombs are important. But when you write a story it needs to have some modern day relevance. Lara does have a place in other locations rather than just underground. Especially now we can do it. One of the main reasons the original game was set underground was because we couldn't really do a convincing outside.


Any parts of the world that you haven't used that you'd like to?

That's tough, we're running out of ancient cultures!


Any chance of a re-release of earlier games as a directors cut with Legend quality graphics?

Good idea. It would certainly be an interesting nostalgia trip.


Reviews have mentioned the brevity of the game, how important is the length?

There's a finite amount of development time which obviously limits how you present the game. Legend was designed to be Tomb Raider amped-up. There is a real emphasis on action, even though it is still a fairly relaxed game. We can't make a game that goes on forever and would rather not spread it too thin. It's good that people enjoy the game so much that they want more.


How long can Lara go on for? Will she still be raiding tombs in ten years time?

Tomb Raider is essentially about solving mysteries and exploration and these will always be interesting. So I don't see why she shouldn't be relevant in years to come.


Why are you still using block-moving puzzles?
We've moved along away from switch based puzzles but the real puzzle focus now is on the physics. The goal was to modernise the puzzle elements from before. You really have to think physically now to solve a puzzle.


Do you get annoyed that people only want to talk to you about Lara even though you have worked on other projects?

It doesn't bother me too much at all. Lara is a great character to be associated with.

Источник.

[rhyn]

Всегда пожалуйста


Блин, народ, я не понимаю, как команда из 60 человек за "ограниченные сроки" не смогла сделать Легенду подлиннее?
Тоби еще сказал, что люди наслаждаются игрой ровно столько, сколько им хочется. Как можно наслаждаться игрой, если спустя семь часов она заканчивается?!

[rhyn]

Eidos в интервью GamеSpot'а

Spot On: Reviving a brand

Eidos' global brand manager talks about breathing life back into Tomb Raider and making people forget (or at least forgive) Angel of Darkness.
By Brendan Sinclair -- GameSpot
Posted Apr 20, 2006 11:49 am PT

Tomb Raider has been around for almost a decade, spawned a pair of blockbuster movies, and practically made a cottage industry out of its star's merchandising tie-ins, but few would deny it has fallen on hard times of late.

Last week, Eidos' attempt to repair the brand, Tomb Raider: Legend, arrived in stores for the PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Xbox 360. Definitive sales figures won't be available for about another month, but the reviews have been almost universally positive. Most of the reviews are saying the game is a return to form, or at least a step in the right direction from 2003's disappointing Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness.

Beyond just being met with critical apathy (to put it generously), Angel of Darkness was famously blamed by Paramount Pictures as the reason Angelina Jolie's film Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life fell far short of box office expectations in its opening weekend.

While Tomb Raider was still one of the most recognizable franchises in gaming, the brand was tainted. But even a tainted brand is still valuable. Just ask Howard Marks, the CEO of the new Acclaim Entertainment. Last year, Marks scooped up the rights to the oft-derided console game publisher's name after it went bankrupt. But the new Acclaim bears little resemblance to the old one; where the old Acclaim offered titles like BMX XXX and Turok: Evolution primarily for consoles, the new Acclaim imports Korean massively multiplayer online games and is among the first to test the waters of micropayment-based gaming in the American market. Despite the negative reputation the publisher had with many gamers and the lack of overlap in the products being offered, Marks felt the brand was worth picking up for a reported $100,000.

"Brands are critical to success in the games field," Marks explained. "The Acclaim brand has been experienced by over 200 million players. Players remember the games they have enjoyed and associate the brand with that experience. This type of relationship is extremely hard to re-create."

Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian says the value of a brand is built on trust--the idea that consumers are more likely to drop their money on products they're already familiar with.

"Tomb Raider is still a well-known brand," Sebastian said, "and you can count on at least some units moving at retail on that basis alone. However, if the goal is to establish, or revive, a large and sustainable franchise, in most cases you also have to deliver top gameplay."

So while Angel of Darkness might still have outsold many of its peers at the time (NPD pegs its lifetime sales at more than 500,000 copies), it doesn't measure up to a true hit for the company (last year's Lego Star Wars sold more than 2 million copies for Eidos). To Sebastian's point, some of the sales Angel of Darkness did accumulate can be attributed to trust built up from previous Tomb Raider games. On the flip side of that coin, mediocre games in the series can damage trust in the brand, an effect that might not be fully felt until those customers decide to pass on future offerings.

The health of the Tomb Raider franchise is one of Eidos' global brand manager Matt Gorman's big concerns. Along with the Legacy of Kain and Hitman series, Tomb Raider is one of Eidos' staples, which means Gorman must pay particularly close attention to it as the publisher's global brand manager.

After Angel of Darkness came out, Gorman says it was clear to Eidos that changes needed to be made. He says the company performed exhaustive focus-testing to get the most thorough picture of what needed to be done, but that the basics were obvious.

"It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what had gone wrong and there were a lot of clear indicators even before we did any of the research," Gorman said. "The control system in the last couple games was crap. Taking Lara out of the tombs and having her run around the cities of Paris and Prague took her out of her contextual landscape and we knew we had to abandon that."

There were also a number of new competitors in the 3D action-adventure field, Gorman noted. While the original Tomb Raider all but created the genre when it debuted, titles like Prince of Persia had refined the mechanics, and were raising the bar.

The revamping of the Tomb Raider brand to meet that bar began almost as soon as Angel of Darkness fell to earth. Mere days after being embarrassed by Paramount Pictures' public scapegoating of Angel of Darkness, Eidos announced that it was taking the brand away from Core Design--the developers of every game in the series up to that point--and entrusting it to its Legacy of Kain studio, Crystal Dynamics. As for Core Design, the company has since worked on the PSP games Smart Bomb and Free Running for Eidos, and Gorman said it is also developing an as-yet unannounced title.

"We figured we need someone to take a fresh creative look at this," Gorman said. "We need some new enthusiasm and a new take. Having a studio with fresh eyes take a look at Tomb Raider seemed like the right thing to do."

While Eidos was taking the series away from its original developer and wanted "fresh eyes" working on the brand, it was also trying to get the series back to its roots. That meant focusing on the character of Lara and the exploration-driven, tomb-raiding gameplay that made the series famous in the first place. But Gorman was hesitant to call it a series revamp. Or a reset, or even a revisiting.

"We really consciously tried to stay away from using 're-' in any form because that essentially means at some point 'it' was gone," Gorman said. "And for all intents and purposes, it was."

Those who have followed the development of Tomb Raider: Legend have no doubt noticed that Eidos is not at all hesitant to distance itself from Angel of Darkness, and doesn't rush to bring up much of the Tomb Raider line of games outside of the first two PlayStation installments.

"We promised a lot about product quality [for Angel of Darkness]," Gorman said. "We promised a lot about what it's going to do. 'It'll be great, trust us.' And in the end, the product really wasn't what we had been promising the press and consumers and so forth, so a lot of people were let down. You can't fool people twice. So what we knew we needed to do was be absolutely honest with people."

Acknowledging past mistakes (and not repeating them) is another aspect of brand management. "We don't want to lead anyone astray, we don't want to overpromise on this one," Gorman said. "This was really a critical product for us to regain credibility both in the industry, but also with consumers."

Part of the effort to regain credibility meant cutting back on the pop culture phenomenon aspects of Lara Croft. That meant avoiding a glut of Tomb Raider toys, perfumes, or other merchandise this time around.

"In the past games, the selling of Lara almost took on a life of its own that had nothing to do with the game," Gorman noted. "Lara was just a symbol or a platform for other brands and other places to come and take a piece of. But with Legend we knew everything's around Lara. She's a pristine brand. She's a pristine character and we have to treat her like such."

While Gorman said a conscious effort was made to limit the game's ancillary agreements this time around, it does include product tie-ins with Ducati motorcyles and Jeep. However, Eidos felt those products fit naturally into Lara Croft's world anyway, and her character wouldn't seem out of place using them.

For all the massaging of language, calculated honesty, and managed merchandising involved with salvaging the Tomb Raider brand, Gorman hesitated to paint the situation as a now-or-never moment for the franchise. But he didn't exactly downplay its importance, either.

"We certainly didn't come into the development and re-branding of this franchise with [a]worst-case scenario in mind, but we knew this game had to be fresh, it had to be good, it had to be dynamic," Gorman said. "Lara Croft had to come across as live as possible so there were certainly more challenges and pressure that we deliver 100 percent on the hopes and wants and expectations of gamers."

As Marks said, "Brands do not die easily... Tomb Raider can succeed again if the next version is great. In fact, it could be that next version surpasses the first one in popularity, it all depends on the game. But there is no question that they have a head start with a built-in audience."

Marks should know a thing or two about how resilient even a neglected and generally dismissed brand can be. After all, Acclaim's name is not the first one he pulled out of the trash can, dusted off, and attempted to revive. In 1991, Marks and a group of partners picked up the struggling Activision, guided it through bankruptcy, and put it on the path to becoming one of the biggest third-party publishers in the world.

Can Lara jump back to life in the hands of Eidos and Crystal Dynamics? At least in the eyes of the game press, the girl is, so far, holding her own.

Источник.

[Artycus]

На "7 Wolf" также появился обзор по TRL (см. здесь).

[veresk]

Frau Muller, спасибо