Tomb Raider
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Square Enix action, stealth triple packs head to North America
Square Enix is preparing to launch the Ultimate Action Triple Pack and Ultimate Stealth Triple Pack for PS3 and Xbox 360 in North America this year, according to listings on Amazon spotted by @Wario64. The Action Triple Pack includes Tomb Raider, Just Cause 2 and Sleeping Dogs; the Stealth Triple Pack features Thief, Hitman: Absolution and Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Each bundle is $30 and available for pre-order. The release date – December 31, 2015 – is most likely a placeholder. The Stealth and Action triple packs launched in Europe last year for £30 / €40 each. We've reached out to Square Enix for clarification on the release date. [Image: Square Enix]
Tomb Raider prequel series revealed by Teen Wolf actor
To prepare fans for the 2015 launch of Rise of the Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics is plotting a live-action series focused on famed adventuress Lara Croft, according to actor Stephen Lunsford. In a message posted to Instagram alongside a photo of the actor at the Crystal Dynamics offices, Lunsford explains that he "will be creating a [Tomb Raider] mini-series to be released with Rise of The Tomb Raider" that will serve as a prequel to both the upcoming game and an "eventual" live-action feature. How this series might relate to 2013's Tomb Raider, which is set prior to the events of Rise of the Tomb Raider, is unknown as Lunsford offers no concrete information about the series' story, nor any hints at its title. Lacking from Lunsford's message is any mention of what his role on the series might be, whether he'll be working in front of the camera or behind it. Lunsford's IMDB page lists primarily acting credits - he's best known for appearing in 40 episodes of tokusatsu transplant Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight and for a stint on MTV's Teen Wolf reboot series - though he's also worked as a writer and director, most notably on a series of promotional YouTube shorts dubbed "Tomb Raider Facts" that was created in conjunction with Crystal Dynamics. [Image: Microsoft]
Tomb Raider II is now on iOS, but seriously don't play it without this accessory
Last year, Square Enix brought its absolutely ancient original Tomb Raider title to iOS. It's an absolute classic -- and looks like an absolute dinosaur on a Retina display -- so it was great to see it appear on the App Store. Today, the sequel makes its debut, bringing all the deliciously blocky graphics of the hit PC and PlayStation title to iOS once again. If you were a Tomb Raider fan many years back the game is exactly as you'll remember, complete with drivable vehicles including ATVs and boats. The AI is just as silly as it ever has been and navigating the open 3D world is exciting, if a bit clunky. However, as fantastic a port as this seems to be, controlling everyone's favorite explorer of ancient temples can be extremely frustrating using the on-screen touch controls. Mistimed jumps, inaccurate aiming, and broken bones will all happen with great regularity. With an MFi game controller -- and I've personally put a whole bunch of them through their paces -- it's a fantastic experience, so much so that if you are planning on getting a game controller at some point in the near future I would recommend you skip Tomb Raider and its sequel until you have one in-hand. [via iMore]
Last of Us art director abandons swans for tombs
The Last of Us Art Director Nate Wells has joined with Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics, according to a tweet from the artist. Wells departed from Giant Sparrow after spending roughly eight months with The Unfinished Swan developer. The art director previously worked at Irrational Games for 13 years before leaving the studio for Naughty Dog in August 2012, then Giant Sparrow this past April. Wells' departure from Giant Sparrow follows the release of The Unfinished Swan on PS4 and Vita in late October, and the developer's next project largely remains a mystery. It announced "Edith Finch" in March 2013 before changing its announcement to "Unannounced Giant Sparrow Project." The next project will not be a sequel to The Unfinished Swan, though the developer said it's "not a million miles away either." [Image: Giant Sparrow]
Rise of the Tomb Raider is exclusive to Xbox [Update: Trailer added!]
Rise of the Tomb Raider is exclusive to Xbox platforms, Crystal Dynamics Head of Product Development Darrell Gallagher announced during the Xbox Gamescom press conference. It's due out in holiday 2015. Gallagher didn't mention whether it was scheduled for Xbox 360, Xbox One or both. Rise of the Tomb Raider is the sequel to Crystal Dynamics' 2013 reboot, Tomb Raider. The first trailer for Rise of the Tomb Raider shows Lara Croft in a therapist's office, anxious and unsettled over the horrific events of the first game, before she appears in a cave, bow in hand, and says, "We become who we're meant to be." Update: Gallagher takes to Tumblr to explain the decision to make Rise of the Tomb Raider Xbox exclusive, noting that PlayStation and PC players will have Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris. Read the important bits of his statement below.
Amazon UK lists Rise of the Tomb Raider for consoles old and new
Rise of the Tomb Raider from Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix may have been announced during Microsoft's Xbox press conference at E3 this year, but if Amazon UK is to be believed, Ms. Croft will sink her climbing axe into both current and previous-gen platforms, as well as PC. The sequel to 2013's excellent series reboot has appeared on the online retailer's site, noting PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC as the platforms it will call home next holiday season. While we expected the game to plumb the depths of Xbox One and PS4 - Square Enix CEO for the Americas and Europe Phil Rogers confirmed as much last August - it's a bit of a surprise to see listings for PS3 and Xbox 360. A nice surprise though, if true. We've reached out to Square Enix for official word. [Image: Square Enix]
Lara seeks professional help in Rise of the Tomb Raider reveal
If you finished the (quite excellent) reboot of Tomb Raider, you know that Lady Croft has some post-traumatic issues to work out. Apparently, so does the audience in their interpretation of the issues presented in the new Tomb Raider.
Lara Croft: More than just an action figure
It's difficult to think of Lara Croft as ordinary. She's the Tomb Raider, after all, a gun-slinging, cliff-climbing, insouciant stealer of artifacts and slayer of mercenaries. But she wasn't always like that. As the recent reboot illustrated, she started off as something else entirely - just a girl with a penchant for myths and histories, more comfortable trying to puzzle out ancient mysteries than hanging out with her peers. Still not ordinary, really - she's an extremely well-educated and wealthy woman, someone who's had the best opportunities in life - but not the larger-than-life action figure we've known from previous games. The reboot showed a different Lara, a more relatable Lara. One who was frightened and calling for help, but who rose to the challenge when she realized help wasn't coming. In those moments of strife, one does what one must, but what happens when those moments are over? How do you go back to the normalcy of life once you've gone so far outside of it? That's a question raised by the trailer for Rise of the Tomb Raider, as we see Lara in a psychiatrist's office, foot bouncing with anxious energy as a therapist uses his most soothing voice to help try and guide her focus toward making sense of the turmoil in her mind.
Rise of the Tomb Raider exploring holiday 2015
Lara saved her band of friends from the Tomb Raider reboot, but she'll face a new batch of danger in Rise of the Tomb Raider, due for holiday 2015. Rise of the Tomb Raider's debut trailer puts Lara back in hazardous wilderness, teasing glimpses of a temperamental bear and a frosted cave as an older man talks over Lara's hike: "People become who they are meant to be."
Tomb Raider creator forms new studio with former Yaiba dev team
Toby Gard, creator of Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider franchise, has formed Tangentlemen, a new development studio focused on experiential game design. The studio's team met while developing Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z, which Gard served as director of, and includes Yaiba's lead designer, producer and art director. Tangentlemen is currently in concept phase of their first project, a horror game currently being referred to as "Daedalus." In Greek mythology, Daedalus is the creator the Minotaur's labyrinth and Icarus' wings, so you know what that means: it means ... um, well let's see, the labyrinth could be ... uh ... okay, no, we have no idea what that means yet. [Image: Eidos]
Tomb Raider stretches to 6 million sold, one year later
Has any franchise reboot endured more scrutiny and debate over its degrees of success (or is it failure?) than 2013's Tomb Raider? Perhaps it's apt fallout from Lara Croft's rugged origin story, in which she proves herself against wolves, wild cultists and supernatural weather. Tomb Raider's commercial splash has gone from "'biggest opening" to "weak," back to "profitable" and onward to exceeding "profit expectations," according to a fan-facing note from Square Enix's head of studios, Darrell Gallagher. Looking back at the year since Tomb Raider first launched, Gallagher plays the referee and makes the call fans have been waiting for: "By the end of this month we will surpass 6 million units for our Tomb Raider reboot, and, having achieved profitability back in 2013 Tomb Raider has exceeded profit expectations and continues to make significant contributions to our overall financial performance." Publisher Square Enix was never going to get an instant Call of Duty caliber hit out of the story-driven Tomb Raider, but this affirmed success becomes important when we see doom hanging over major AAA studios, investing years into a game that hits – but doesn't hit quite hard enough. For now, Lara Croft appears to be a viable business again, even if she's not yet swimming in it. And let's get some actual swimming in the next one, please?
Lightning Returns adds Tomb Raider cosplay in day-one DLC
Thanks to the magic of intracompany synergy, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13 will see a DLC costume lifted from the Tomb Raider armoire when it debuts later this month. According to publisher Square Enix, heroine Lightning will receive the same costume worn by Lara Croft in 2013's Tomb Raider. Likewise, the DLC will swap out Lightning's typically over-designed fantasy weaponry in favor of more pragmatic gear: a survivor's axe and riot shield. Though Square Enix was kind enough to provide the above trailer demonstrating the DLC costume in action, it fails to mention what sort of price point (if any) will be attached to the downloadable addition. Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13 is slated for North American release on February 11. Australian and European releases will follow on February 13 and 14, respectively. All versions of the game, regardless of region, will receive this Tomb Raider DLC.
Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition is the new, definitive-ish UK No. 1
FIFA 14 used to be the UK No. 1, then it took an arrow to the knee from Lara Croft. Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition is the new chart leader in Her Majesty's Kingdom, usurping the six-week rule of the footie sim. Not that it was a definitive victory, mind you. The PS4 and Xbox One ports were less than 500 sales ahead of the latest FIFAball, underlining just how well EA's game is still doing. While a new No.1 has us excited enough to go on a mass-murdering island tour, the rest of the chart is Samesburg. Still, the King is dead! Long live the Queen - until next week that is.
Tomb Raider, a reboot game that also reboots Mac gaming
The iconic Lara Croft got a franchise reboot last year with the new Tomb Raider game was released for Xbox, PlayStation and PC. Now, Feral Interactive has brought Tomb Raider to the Mac and, after only a week of playing it, I'm certain it will be be the 2014 Mac Game of the Year. Here's a little background on Tomb Raider. This edition takes everything you know about Croft and throws it out of the window. Tomb Raider is a complete reboot of the series. Similar to how Batman Begins replaced the film Batman with a gritty, stark realism, so too does Tomb Raider. Gamers play a young (late teens) Croft on her first solo outing. This isn't the same rich brat from earlier versions of the game, flirting with danger for kicks. Instead, young Croft is insecure, weak and very, very afraid of the situation she's gotten herself in to. The game begins with Croft on the Endurance, a boat carrying a crew of archaeologists trying to discover the lost kingdom of the Sun Queen on the island of Yamatai, and island that is part of the Dragon's Triangle near Japan. The boat is shipwrecked during a storm and things go from bad to worse. Almost immediately she is abducted and wakes up hanging upside-down from a cave's ceiling among several dead bodies. During her escape, she falls, is badly wounded and scared as hell. Unlike in previous Tomb Raider titles, she's not yet a world-class acrobat, nor is she any kind of fighter. It's the writers and animators of Tomb Raider that deserve the praise for conveying just how scared Lara is when she begins her adventure. And now let's talk about that adventure. Tomb Raider is a great mix of stealth, puzzles and first-person shooter. But unlike past editions, the puzzles are integrated into the story well, and don't come off as being set up by an ancient civilization whose favorite past time was apparently making puzzles for future adventurers. The tone of the story appears to be heavily influenced by Lost (stranded on a mysterious island with weird stuff going on) and a psychological horror movie. Without ruining anything, the game's makers do an incredible job of explaining why all these murderous cult members who are trying to kill you are insane murders -- you learn, in one of the creepiest parts of the game -- why they are so messed up. Another nice thing about this Tomb Raider is it's not entirely Croft's show. Refreshingly, the other members of the Endurance have survived the crash and they are as much as part of the story as she is, with Croft meeting up with various crew members throughout the game. Graphics-wise, this is the most beautiful game I've ever played on my Mac. I was running it on the latest MacBook Pro with Retina display at full resolution and the game didn't have so much as a hiccup. And those graphics -- I could hardly tell where a cut scene ended and gameplay began; the graphics are that good. Everything from the environmental effects to blood dripping from her body was as lifelike as anything I've ever seen on a Mac. Gameplay was also easy enough with the keyboard and trackpad, although I see why Feral advises users to use a gamepad. The one thing I do wish Feral would have done is give a few more cues earlier on in the game on how to perform a movement. When the cues first appear, they only show once and are so brief, I, at first, found myself getting frustrated trying to figure out how to do stuff. The game also has a few, limited bugs. One time the game froze and navigating the main menu system appears to lag sometimes when you are selecting submenus, but overall those bugs are minor and infrequent and can easily be fixed in a minor update. A game that is as graphically rich as Tomb Raider understandably has some hefty system requirements, so be sure you check to make sure that your Mac can handle it before you buy. The minimum system requirements are a Mac with a 2.0 GHz Intel processor, 4 GB RAM, 512 MB graphics and 14 GB of free space. However, Feral recommends a 2.4 GHz Intel processor, 6 GB RAM, 1 GB graphics and 14 GB of free space for best performance. Also note that the following graphics cards are NOT supported: ATI X1xxx series, ATI HD2xxx series, Intel GMA series, Intel HD3000, NVIDIA 3xx series, NVIDIA 7xxx series, NVIDIA 8xxx series and NVIDIA 9xxx series. At US$49.99, Tomb Raider isn't a cheap game, but it's the best one you'll buy on the Mac this year. Tomb Raider was meant to reboot an aging franchise, which it's done successfully, but in the process, thanks to the porting by Feral Interactive, it's also rebooted gaming on the Mac and set a new standard for Mac games yet to come. Tomb Raider is available on the Mac App Store.
Next-gen Tomb Raider framerate differs, Microsoft defends Xbox One
Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition has gone digging in the not-so-ancient ruins of next-gen gaming consoles and come back with a shiny debate over framerate differences. While the PlayStation 4 version of the game has been confirmed to run at 60 frames per second, the Xbox One version's framerate is, as of writing, unconfirmed. A Square Enix rep weighed in on the issue to VideoGamer.com, stating that, "Delivering the core Tomb Raider gameplay at native 1080p and running at 30fps was always our primary goal given the type of experience Tomb Raider is and the exploration we want players to do. Anything beyond 30fps for this version is gravy." Microsoft Senior Director of Product Management Albert Penello told Gamertag Radio that the differences between the two versions were minor, and defended the Xbox One version by reminding listeners that we've only just begun the new generation of consoles. "Everybody wants to focus on, you know, there's a framerate thing going on in Tomb Raider, there is a resolution thing going on and okay, there's a lot of reasons why that could be true, but we're weeks in. We just shipped, it's a long generation."
Daily Update for January 23, 2014
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get some of the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the player at the top of the page. The Daily Update has been moved to a new podcast host in the past few days. Current listeners should delete the old podcast subscription and subscribe to the new feed in the iTunes Store here.
Watch Mario destroy Master Chief, Connor and Lara Croft
With all the advances in video game technology, it's easy to forget simpler times. Mario never needed guns or knives or a cybernetic super suit. Sometimes, as this video proves, all you need is a pair of overalls, some sturdy boots and one mighty impressive keister. A fortuitous Piranha Plant doesn't hurt either.
Lara Croft: Reflections card game launches on iOS for New Zealand, Australia
Square Enix recently launched a Tomb Raider-based card game on iOS. Dubbed Lara Croft: Reflections, the free-to-play game has players dueling one another in real-time card battles, combining weapon cards to upgrade and evolve them and protecting their artifacts from thieving opponents. Reflections also includes group battles in which players work to defeat special event bosses. Lara Croft: Reflections is currently only available in New Zealand and Australia. The game is compatible with iPhone 4 and iPad 2 devices or better and requires a network connection to play. It launched just a few days after the original Tomb Raider's iOS port.
The original Tomb Raider game comes to iOS
Seventeen years after it first launched on the PC, the first Tomb Raider game has come to iOS. Titled Tomb Raider 1, Square-Enix has ported the game for iPhone and iPad optimizing it for touch controls and also adding MOGA Ace Power and Logitech PowerShell game controller support. In my quick play at the game, it runs fluidly enough and the touch controls work well. But the biggest thing that happened when I loaded it up were the memories that came back from the mid-1990s. This was a game that set the tone for a decade and its amazing to see it today on an iOS device because it shows you just how far gaming has come. Tomb Raider 1's graphics are of the same quality as the 1996 original, but they look cheap when displayed on the iPhone. That's because gaming and graphics have gotten so good that our phones have surpassed the wildest dreams of what was possible on a gaming machine from the 1990s. Tomb Raider 1 is just US$0.99 in the App Store.
Spike VGX round-up: Telltale's new projects, Cranky Kong, No Man's Sky and more
Despite ending with musical performances that closely resembled a form of torture, the Spike VGX show packed some decent surprises! Joel McHale and Geoff Keighley endured four three hours of nonstop programming, and they only seemed to want to murder each other a handful of times. Let's recap everything that was shown: Telltale Games' success with the first season of The Walking Dead seems to have granted them a Golden Key to any partnership they desire. Naturally, they've revealed Tales From The Borderlands, a collaboration with Gearbox Software that will be set in the Borderlands universe. They've also started work on a Game of Thrones series, which will be based off the HBO show. Both projects are slated for 2014. Cranky Kong has had it with these youngsters and their rambunctious romps through jungles, so much so that he's decided to chase them all as the fourth playable character in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. Cranky must have gotten a few good strikes in with his cane for that delay, too, because the Kong family has settled on braving the Wii U's incoming frost on February 21. Titanfall had already shown a decent arsenal for blowing up buildings with, but in case you doubted its capabilities, Respawn Entertainment debuted two new mech types tonight. Aside from the Titans, Ogre and Stryder mechs will spread destruction across Titanfall's cityscapes. Ogres will be slow, clunky and powerful, while Stryders will focus on outrunning everyone on the field. Hello Games, the developer of the Joe Danger series, brought along the show's biggest surprise - No Man's Sky is a procedurally generated, exploration-focused sci-fi game planned for 2014. The game's trailer showcased vivid landscapes before blasting its way through asteroids in spacecrafts.
