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Quality Control and
Bugs
Is this TR as we
know it?
Graphics and
Gameplay
Conclusion
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21 July 2003
The recent release of 'Lara Croft, Tomb Raider: The Angel
of Darkness' has caused a great deal of controversy, some of
it earned, but much not...
Quality Control and Bugs
The PC release has, quite rightly, come in for much of
the criticism. There are a number of issues with this
release that should never have been allowed - for example
the graphic problems, and the general fussiness of the game
for certain hardware configurations. Not to mention that it
needs a lot of grunt to run well.
The PS2 release has also been criticised for a number of
bugs, but my experience has been that these may be batch
issues, or regional differences, as I've seen very few in
the Australian PAL release, and no crashes or slowdowns in
15 or more hours of play (although I'm now approaching an
area reputed to have a savegame bug so I could yet find
something).
But quality control issues aside, what of the criticisms
regarding the concept and changes to the game?
Is this really a 'Tomb Raider'
game?
Well that depends on whether you are prepared for changes
to the original classic TR style. Yes, it isn't 'Tomb Raider
As We Know It', but for years we've been asking for some
significant updating to be done to the game engine, instead
of just bolting extra bits on the old one. So now we have an
all-new game engine capable of enormous improvements, and
the cry is sounding that it's not the predictable old TR any
more! Get real, what did you expect?
The fact remains that it does have many great TR
set-pieces, and the underlying concept has changed little.
What about the laser guarded rooms in the Louvre Museum? Or
the fantastic 'Serpent Rouge' disco with all its lighting
effects, high platforms and gantries? Or the wonderfully
intricate archaeological site? How about a pillar jump
across a lava pit where the pillars are half the size we're
used to and sway in the wind? This definitely has 'Tomb
Raider' elements, just not quite as we've become used to in
the past - they're better...
Maybe it should have been called 'Lara Croft: The Angel
of Darkness', then we'd know to expect something a little
different? Maybe the tie-in with the movies has not been a
good idea? Maybe the first movie should have been called
'Lara Croft and The Triangle of Light'? I like it! But those
never happened, and we're stuck with the names we have.
Anyway, what's in a name? 'A rose by any other name would
smell so sweet...' Let's just deal with it, and get on
having fun! Face it, the classic TR games are great, but
there are a lot of great games out there that aren't called
'Tomb Raider'. The name doesn't matter - the enjoyment
does!
What about the graphic style and
gameplay?
Lara's familiar chunky look, bland skin tones, joint
dislocations, and detail limitations have gone. The
square-based map structure, with its shape and angle
limitations, and the blocky terrain (the combination of
which was so loved by TR fans as it made the old
'backhop-run-jump' so easy to perform) have gone. The
sterile environments have also gone. In their place we now
have a far better Lara, with proper joint movement, graded
skin tones, finely detailed costumes, and new moves. We have
a free-form environment, with none of the blockiness of the
classic games. There are narrow beams to walk, odd shaped
ledges to negotiate, and structures set at angles to each
other. The old sterility that we loved so much has gone and
I have to say that doesn't bother me...
Along with that, Lara now has more movements, although
the old 'backhop' has vanished. But it has to be said that
the original trademark Lara move in all the games - the
handstand - is still with us, as is the Swan Dive! Lara can
now take a short forward hop, and the standing forward jump,
running jump, and back- or side-flip are still there. She
can now run backwards or sideways while fighting (she must
be in combat mode to do that) and she now has a reasonable
set of stealth moves. Lara's feet kick up dust and leave
footprints in soft dirt. She splashes her way over wet
ground. And an extra touch is that her 'assets' have their
own inertia and can be seen to bounce or wobble. Not sure
whether that's a Good Thing, but it always seemed a bit odd
that they never moved at all - no bra on earth is that
good!
And the controls are different! But it has to be said
that with the disappearance of the blocky terrain, the old
style controls became obsolete. There is less precision now
(just like the real world), and the free moving camera can
take some getting used to, but with the PS2 controller these
do make a strange sort of sense. Left thumb, left stick,
move Lara - right thumb, right stick, move camera. It does
take some time to get used to, but in the end it seems to
add to the feeling that you're playing in a world that's not
so far removed from the real one we live in, warts and all.
And if you get it wrong, there's an automatic safety feature
built in - go over an edge accidentally, and as long as you
release the control quickly chances are that Lara will turn,
grab the edge, and save the day! In the time I've played
that's happened to me quite often, but I've rarely fallen
off an edge and seen Lara plummet to her doom, other than
when mistiming a jump...
Conclusion
'Angel of Darkness' is not a bad game! But neither is it
yet a great game! The changes made to the gameplay need a
bit more fine tuning, the game engine needs tweaking to get
it working better and more reliably, but underneath the
covers is a game with a heap of potential waiting to be
exploited! However, the criticism (in some cases more like
invective!) is damaging the prospects for future development
and we're now at risk of losing Lara for good - will
Core/Eidos pour more money into a game that's generated this
much controversy? Have the most vocal critics of the
gameplay changes actually played more than a few minutes of
the game - have they given it a real chance? I get the
disturbing feeling that a lot of the criticism of the
gameplay changes is the result of a quick look, and not a
serious assessment - the new concept is just not as bad as
some are saying.
I for one would hate to see Lara vanish! And she could,
partly because the changes we've been wanting for years have
finally arrived and some people are not sure they wanted
them after all! I despair...
(The above is a personal opinion. Feel free to
disagree...)
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