Tomb Raider: Anniversary

[Richmond Clements]

Anybody else playing this?

It's pretty bloody good, in my opinion.

[Adrian Bamforth]

Haven't played it yet and don't have a PS2 but I like the idea since Tomb Raider 1 was always my favorite. I think perhaps I'm too much of a Lara purist though - I played Tomb Raider Legend on the PS2 at a friend's house: It was amazing...but I kind of liked the way in Tomb Raider you could see how far a 'block' was, know know many blocks you could cerver with the right kind of jump etc, there was a neat kind of maths to it. Now it's rebuilt from scratch, for people like me it just doesn't feel like Lara. That's the thing about progress I suppose, I guess I'm just a stick-in-the-mud.

[Richmond Clements]

but I kind of liked the way in Tomb Raider you could see how far a 'block' was,

Yup- I know exactly what you mean! It's a lot harder to judge a jump nowdays...

But if you like the first one, then this is a good 'un. No fancy weapons or torches. Real back to basics.

[Bico]

'Tis good - if a bit easy.
The jump mechanics are a bit hit and miss on this one - it's sometimes impossible to tell what direction you should be pulling on the control pad when the camera sweeps around mid-swing/shimmy and the directional controls do (or don't) flip around accordingly, and you end up pushing at random and dying, but you'll at least know when you restart how to do the puzzle this time around.  The abortion monster is a bit of a let-down compared to the original, too, and I definitely preferred the old swim controls.
Less of a proper gripe is that the levels seem very 'samey' visually - all brown and grey rocks everywhere you go.  Legend managed a good mix of settings and backgrounds, so I would've thought it'd be a better idea to remake TR2 (the oil rig, Maria Doria or mentalist alternate dimension levels would've been fantastic )or 3 (Area 51, dino-infested Pacific Island Jungles, London Rooftops, St Paul's, the cannibal-infested london Underground stations).  As it is, it comes across a bit Prince of Persia - not necessarily a Bad Thing.

[Byron Virgo]

Surely the one and only point of Tomb Raider was to shot endlessly repetitive wolves, and then let yourself get slowly killed by vampire bats or drowning once you got bored?

Then you ceased being fifteen, left school, got a job and never played computer games again. Or was that just me...?

[Adrian Bamforth]

"I would've thought it'd be a better idea to remake TR2"

TR2 just doesn't have the magic - too many thugs, not enough tombs).

[Bico]

"Then you ceased being fifteen, left school, got a job and never played computer games again. Or was that just me...?"

If all you've ever owned was a Snes, perhaps.  Though even then, I recall people well into their twenties tripping off their napper playing MarioKart at all hours.  Despite it clearly featuring a main character who resembles a paedophile.
These days, consoles are made for and marketed towards twenty/thirtysomethings with huge wads of disposable income - hence the ludicrous sums asked for the last couple of next-gen home systems.http://www.meristation.com/EPORTAL_IMGS/GENERAL/articulos/Diciembre2005-APM23TuchicaenunaDS/IMG2-cw438e3a9a1f7d8/zona2_apm23.jpg">

[,Mr. Nice]

There's a "trick" to whether the control directinos change or not. If it's all part of the same "action" (the same shimmy, a series of swings, whatever), then the original direction pressed remains "valid" as long as it is held. Only once that direction is released (or you move to pressing another direction) are the control directions re-evaluated. In the small sense, without this even just a single jump in a direction other then forward/back would be screwy, it allows you to hold the same direction during the jump without the fact that the camera turns immediatly to get behind Lara again causing her to swivel in mid air. In the bigger picture, it makes all those times when you jump away from a wall to peform a series of pole swing/jumps easier, those always make the camera do a 180, from facing the wall at the start to behind Lara as soon as she jumps.

[Bico]

I know the basic theory of how control flipping works from many a game - it's just that in more than a few instances in TRA, the practice falls short of the theory.  The wall in Natla's mines where you 'clip' against something that isn't there mid-swing, for instance - or the third (or so) shooting puzzle in the Great Pyramid, where you have to jump to another pole, but have to change direction first, which means taking pressure off the control stick and then pulling in the opposite direction, which causes you to stop swing entirely, rather than change direction without stopping (rather important, as it's a timed puzzle).  There was one in Egypt which was pot luck, too - you had to swing and jump off a wall, but the camera wouldn't pan around to let you see the top of the pole you were trying to jump onto, so it was just a matter of doing it over and over until you landed where you wanted to.
There were a few more, but not enough to put off a seasoned gamer, I'd imagine.

[Wils]

Although I'll be getting this at some point, what's the T-Rex bit like in Anniversary. It's one bit that really sticks in my mind vividly about playing the original.

[WoD]

I'm waiting for the 360 version.

[VampiraJen]

i've been meaning to start a thread on this for days.

Link: http://uk.gamespot.com/ps2/adventure/tombraider10thanniversaryedition/player_review.html?id=460864" target="_blank">Once again Jen is pimping her blogs

[VampiraJen]

shooting puzzle in the Great Pyramid, where you have to jump to another pole

the only bit of the game i really didn't like. but i hadn't played the last level when i wrote the above

[Bico]

The T-Rex bit is a proper boss fight now - no hiding in caves and shooting him in the back when he gets bored and wanders off, as you need to use a specific strategy to kill him this time around.  The velociraptors are a lot more rock than I remember, too.

[Bico]

"wrote the above"

Dear god, woman!  You played Angel of Darkness all the way through?

MADNESS!