Tomb Raider: Underworld

[PhilB]

Besides, didn't the game sell 2.5 million copies? I think a lot of developers would be quite thrilled with numbers like that.

The devs probably were. Eidos obviously wasn't though which is why they're most likely going this route.

I actually enjoyed Underworld (for the most part) myself but I still think this is good news. It could be a much needed breath of fresh air for the series.

 

[fallguy]

I just bought it for $17 at gamestop. Played a bit, stuck at the craken (sp?) level. Seems decent so far, much more exploration and climbing than shooting.

 

[obonicus]

The devs probably were. Eidos obviously wasn't though which is why they're most likely going this route.

I actually enjoyed Underworld (for the most part) myself but I still think this is good news. It could be a much needed breath of fresh air for the series.

But wasn't it just rebooted? Well, you certainly can't accuse Eidos of being a good publisher. Killer IP, good studios, though, yeah, they have(had?) that. Too bad Square Enix isn't that great either this gen.

 

[ShootMyMonkey]

Besides, didn't the game sell 2.5 million copies? I think a lot of developers would be quite thrilled with numbers like that.

2.5 million copies is just about at the break-even point given how much it cost to produce. All it really means is that TRU hasn't lost money, but it hasn't produced a profit, either.

Granted, one thing about Eidos' sales reports is that they usually report sell-through figures, so 2.5 million is quite good in that respect. Still, a good position to be in would have been to get those 2.5 million in sales within the first 2 weeks. That kind of sales velocity would have actually meant yielding a profit of some sort since the retailers would still likely be ordering more shipments.

Similarly, I have a feeling that whatever becomes of TR9, they'll need to build a game around the more or less unreasonable goal of 5 million copies sold if they hope to hit a profit. By that, I don't mean it will be that much more expensive to produce, but that they have to aim for that kind of target and aim for a 90+ metacritic rating (which overall does have a strong correlation with sales) if they have any hope of actually selling well enough to turn a profit.

 

[Phil]

Open world survival horror. And I don't think open world would necessarily make TR's exploration aspects better. It could could just as easily dilute it. I like the way TR games progress. TR was almost a genre of its own. You would sometimes see people describe other games as TR-like(unfortunately they were often wrong like when some said Uncharted was TR-like except Uncharted has a heavy emphasis on shooting).

I'll wait and see on the next game with how they handle the open world and survival horror. There are two definitions of survival horror. There's the old one which relied on scarcity of resources and fewer enemies to build tension and the new one introduced with RE4 which has much more action. I hope they go with the old definition.

Sadly, I agree. I'm happy I sill have a copy of the first 2 games on the PSone. I'm sure I'll play them again soon. Nothing really beats the atmosphere of the first game...

 

[pjbliverpool]

Nothing really beats the atmosphere of the first game...

Agreed. I don't know what it is about that game, but no TR has come close to the atmosphere it engendered.

I guess it could just be that it was so revolutionary at the time of its launch and if we replay now, its just nostalga.

 

[joker454]

Agreed. I don't know what it is about that game, but no TR has come close to the atmosphere it engendered.

I guess it could just be that it was so revolutionary at the time of its launch and if we replay now, its just nostalga.

Hmm I dunno, I really liked TR Legend, thought it had great locations and atmosphere. Gameplay was awesome as well.

 

[Sigfried1977]

Anniversary is my favorite part so far. It god rid of most of the filler that was in the first TR, elaborated on the puzzle aspect, introduced a simple yet functional fighting mechanic, brought the updated controls from TR legend and it still managed to be quite challenging. The only thing I didn't like was how much the Cistern got dumbed down. That was just a mean spirited and nasty level in the original and I absolutely loved it.
Awesome PSP version as well. (probably the closest a PSP game ever got to it's bigger PS2 brother)

 

[Phil]

Tomb Raider 1 was special, because it had the great places, good puzzles and a plot that made it more interesting the closer you got. I also liked that enemies were quite rare and for the most part wilde animals/beasts. While the wolfs in the earlier parts of the level gave me the cripples, walking into a nest of dinosaurs really gave me the creeps. And the locations just got better and better too. Just the right amout of puzzles, exploring, jump'n run elements and action.

Tomb Raider 2 worked for me too, eventhough it had a lot more action packed in it. But I was quite fond of the places you visited and it just felt right.

Sadly, never played Anniversary, but I have to admit, I do miss the old style controls.