Tomb Raider Remastered is a gorgeous game.
It's somewhere between 1996 and 1997, and I'm wandering a pitch-black coliseum, trying to figure out where to go next. The sense of isolation is palatable; here there is only the darkness, man-eating lions, and crumbling ruins. Can I make that jump? Are there spikes at the bottom of the pit? Does this switch release homicidal gorillas along with opening a door? These are the choice of the OG Tomb Raider, a game that I was not prepared to beat back in my preteen days, with a probable ADHD brain. Technical troubles also marred the experience--I remember a looping sound bug, along with a crash after fighting one of the end-game bosses in Atlantis. Early PC gaming was pretty fickle when it came to operating systems and sound drivers. Having just replayed about 75 percent of Tomb Raider Remastered, and having dabbled a bit with Tomb Raider 2, I have to report that these games are just delightful and have aged like fine wine. The first three Core Design Tomb Raider games were 3D grid-based platformers with tank controls. Puzzles formed a large part of the gameplay, and some of that puzzling was figuring out the level design. The shooting mechanics were not complex, and were frankly the least-interesting element of play. Taking your time to line Lara up, measuring the distance out in squares, and then taking that ridiculous leap (seriously, Lara has like a world record long jump as well as vertical) forms the essence of Tomb Raider. Well, that and battling the controls.
Tomb Raider Remastered sports remastered graphics along with support for modern over the shoulder third person controls. The tank controls feel terrible for about the first thirty minutes, but after that you quickly adjust and you realize that they are really the only option, since the game was designed around them. It's just so much easier to line up those jumps, and the camera, your constant enemy, is sometimes even worse with the modern scheme. Every one of Lara's movements has to be considered, which isn't something normal in modern games, but it gets you thinking about how novel moving around in a 3D space was in 1996. Exploration was part of the pitch, but unlike Dark Forces Remastered, Tomb Raider has much better level design. In fact, I'd say I've had as much fun exploring Peru, Greece, and Egypt as I've had in any other game in recent memory. There's no objective arrow, or even a checklist telling you what to do. Now I'm not saying that I didn't miss a switch or get lost in Greece's infamous Cistern level. But the sprawling labyrinths fit the setting, and a key hunt (especially when the key is the Eye of Horus or some other artifact) just makes more sense in Tomb Raider as opposed to your 90's shooter.
However, despite loving this collection, I don't know if I'd recommend it to your average gamer. Tomb Raider is pretty fucking hard, and TR2 and TR3 are even harder, to the point where I might consider them to be some of the hardest games of their generation. The first game ramps up the difficulty pretty gradually, with the Peruvian levels being pretty straight forward, and the Greek ones just a bit harder. Still, you'll likely consult a walkthrough if you've never played these games (I actually have the official Prima Strategy guide from back in the day, and I consulted it for secrets). For the more intrepid among us, I really recommend checking these games out. They're really like nothing around today, and they're an incredible amount of fun.
Still in pretty good condition, unlike my Tomb Raider 3 guide.
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