On the topic of Tomb Raider, Eidos and AAA games

[JcGross]

Just as a notice upfront, this topic is mainly for me documenting my thoughts, as a sort of public online diary. If you find it too long and boring you are welcome to leave.

 

Something that I've been coveting for quite some time now was the Tomb Raider collection on Steam. In the recent Steam sale I said what the hell, let's do it. I started playing Tomb Raider and I was having the time of my life. This game was one of those prominent games of my childhood. I remember that one time when my brother went abroad he came back with a new game. It was called "Tomb Raider". This might have been the first AAA game that I had a legit copy of. Even though it was in German and I didn't understand a word. Truth be told I don't think I ever made it past level 3 or 4. Then in later years came TR 3 and 4 (somehow I totally missed TR 2), and after that I kind of lost interest until the reboot trilogy (Legend, Anniversary and Underworld). So the nostalgia is strong with this series, and I was afraid that it might cloud my judgement of the game.

 

This was the first time I really gave my best to beat this game. At first I was struck by a heavy sense of nostalgia, memories rushing back. But as I said, I never really got that far, so this subsided quite quickly. To my surprise I was still enjoying the game after that as well. There's just something that I can only describe as "AAA feeling". For 1996 this game looks and plays great. It aged very well. The blocky nature of the levels help with the navigation, even though it's sometimes an eyesore. But the animations, the lighting and the gameplay mechanics are all very well done. Oldschool games often had maze-like levels, like Doom or Duke3D for example, that involved searching for keys which broke up the fighting. In Tomb Raider, however, there were fighting sequences that broke up the platforming and navigation. There were levels in the Thief series where you had to explore ancient ruins and tombs that I just loved, and TR is a whole game based around that. Something about that just really captures my imagination. The best thing about it is that it has no "language" in it. They managed to refrain from written clues and puzzles. There are no markers where you have to go, no objectives screen that tells you what to do, Lara doesn't speak up to give you tips. The whole game is you, the player, trying to navigate this huge ass tomb, figuring out ancient puzzles, looking for keys to activate contraptions. An other thing is that it really has a sense of place. Peru, Greece and Egypt are all distinct. Not to mention Atlantis. I can't help but feel the enormous care and attention that must have gone into this game.

 

Growing up I didn't play a lot of Eidos games unfortunately, but in my later years I've been picking up and playing through more and more of their games. The Legacy of Kain series, Hitman, Thief, Tomb Raider, Commandos. These are huge titles and some of the best games I've ever played. And in my opinion these games are timeless. There's a certain quality that comes with these games that make me want to play them. It might just be that I have a certain kind of love for old games like these, and a tolerance for them. But I think that it's more along the lines that these games offer something more. They offer real challenges, not just based on player skill but also on cognitive tasks. And I feel that this is something we've lost. Games nowdays are afraid to challenge our minds. We've shifted to a more cinematic gameplay and story based games, which is not necessarily bad. Some of my favorite games a cinematic experiences, like Max Payne 3, that even though don't challenge your brain like Tomb Raider, Thief or Hitman would, these newer games try to challenge your thoughts and beliefs. But I think it's a shame that we as a consumer base have become to lazy and impatient to appreciate the beauty in figuring out a puzzle. Instead if it's not apparent right away we resort to online guides. And still, at the same time we praise games like Dark Souls for not holding the hands of the player.

 

Anyways, these are my thoughts. I finished Tomb Raider today for the first time, under 14 hours. I'm moving onto Tomb Raider II, maybe after I'm finished with that I will continue this little experimental online diary.

[Lotus]

You should download and play Myst. You can find an updated version called RealMyst on steam. You'd probably enjoy the hell out of that game. You're pretty much required to have a pen/paper by your side unless you want to use notepad and take screenshots while constantly alt-tabing.

 

It's super easy to cheat though if you refer to a strategy guide. The game can be beaten in less than a minute if you've played through it before because it's simply puzzle solving and the last puzzle is only solvable with clues from all the other puzzles. Since there's no mechanic preventing you from solving it first if you know how to, you can just beat it and the game instantly. NEVER look at a strategy guide.

[JcGross]

You should download and play Myst. You can find an updated version called RealMyst on steam. You'd probably enjoy the hell out of that game. You're pretty much required to have a pen/paper by your side unless you want to use notepad and take screenshots while constantly alt-tabing.

 

It's super easy to cheat though if you refer to a strategy guide. The game can be beaten in less than a minute if you've played through it before because it's simply puzzle solving and the last puzzle is only solvable with clues from all the other puzzles. Since there's no mechanic preventing you from solving it first if you know how to, you can just beat it and the game instantly. NEVER look at a strategy guide.

Thanks, I will definitely look at that in the future. Although I should've emphasized it a bit more that what I really like about these games are that "smart" gameplay is required, but it's also mixed in with "fun" gameplay. I am a big fan of platformers, like Prince of Persia and Tomb Raider, avoiding traps, navigating treacherous landscapes and figuring out puzzles. I'm also a big big stealth fan exactly because it requires the player to be smart and consider every move he makes. I like an aspect of "outsmarting the game designer".

 

I've heard of Myst before, and from what I understand it's a point and click game. I've never really looked at it but I'm putting it on my wishlist so I won't forget. I'm interested to see what it's like.

 

Going back to strategy guides though, playing TR I was quite tempted a few times to look up solutions or where to go. But after a few (or several) more minutes of searching around I always found the way to go. I absolutely agree that using a strategy guide kind of defeats the purpose of these games.