Tomb Raider I–III Remastered

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Tomb Raider I–III Remastered
Developer(s)Aspyr[a]
Publisher(s)Aspyr
SeriesTomb Raider
Platform(s)
Release14 February 2024
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Tomb Raider I–III Remastered Starring Lara Croft is an upcoming action-adventure video game developed and published by Aspyr. It is a remastered compilation of the first three games in the Tomb Raider series: Tomb Raider (1996), Tomb Raider II (1997), and Tomb Raider III (1998), all of which were originally developed by Core Design.[1] The game is scheduled to be released for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on 14 February 2024.[2]

Gameplay

Main articles: Tomb Raider (1996 video game), Tomb Raider II, and Tomb Raider III

Tomb Raider I–III Remastered is a collection of remasters of the first three games in the Tomb Raider series: Tomb Raider, Tomb Raider II, and Tomb Raider III.[2] Each game features archaeologist-adventurer Lara Croft as she travels through a series of ancient ruins and tombs in search of ancient artefacts, and is presented from a third-person perspective.[3][4][5] Like in the original games, Lara uses two pistols with infinite ammo by default in combat, and can run, walk (which prevents her from falling off ledges), look around areas, jump forwards and backwards, shimmy along ledges, roll, swim through bodies of water, and move blocks.[4][6] The collection includes new features across all three games, such as options to choose between enhanced and original graphics and classic and modern control schemes, as well as camera lock-on, health bars for boss battles, photo mode, and over 200 achievements.[2][7][8][9]

Development and release

A comparison between the third level of the original game (above) and the Remastered version (below)

Prior to the announcement of Tomb Raider I–III Remastered, Realtech VR initially attempted to remaster the first three Tomb Raider titles for Windows as early as 2018, but these plans fell through due to not having asked permission from then-franchise owner Square Enix first.[10] In 2022, Embracer Group acquired several assets of Square Enix Europe, which included Tomb Raider and its current developer Crystal Dynamics, for US$300 million.[11][12][13] Embracer Group expressed interest in sequels, remakes, and remasters of established franchises, including Tomb Raider.[14]

Tomb Raider I–III Remastered was officially revealed on 14 September 2023 during a Nintendo Direct and is set to be released for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on 14 February 2024.[15][16][17] It includes three expansion packs from the original trilogy: Unfinished Business, The Golden Mask, and The Lost Artefact.[2][18] While the collection is exclusively a digital release, a physical release is not currently planned. The game was developed and published by Aspyr, another Embracer Group company, in partnership with Crystal Dynamics;[19] Aspyr previously ported the first six Tomb Raider titles to macOS.[20][21][22] In response to fans' concerns about the game's lack of promotion and updates ahead of its release, the official Twitter account for Tomb Raider promised that it would have "plenty more to share soon".[23][24][25][26] More details for the game were revealed via a PlayStation Blog post on 16 January 2024, including key artwork.[9]

Aspyr, having wanted to revisit the original Tomb Raider titles but always debated "the right approach", knew they would use the original source code and engine, allowing players to revert to the original look and feel for all three games.[9] Director of product Chris Bashaar described Remastered as a love letter to all of their "memories of these games, but it's also truly fascinating to see how far hardware pushed in the '90s to make Tomb Raider work".[9] For the game's modern controller settings, the team took inspiration from Crystal Dynamics' first rebooted Tomb Raider trilogy: Legend, Anniversary, and Underworld.[27] As a result, the way Lara Croft controls in-game changes significantly; the player can rotate the camera with the right stick and the character's movement is direction-dependent based on camera position. However, the original tank controls are still available to players via a menu toggle.[28] The team also added health bars for boss fights as the games' minimal UI can be considered "frustrating for tougher bosses with massive amounts of health", as well as replacing 2D sprites of in-game items with 3D models.[29]

For the art of Remastered, Aspyr worked closely with Crystal Dynamics on modern art updates, such as "baked and real-time" lighting effects, graphics toggle, and adding new models, environments, and enemies.[9] According to Crystal Dynamics, the team used an artificial intelligence program to upscale textures for the remaster.[30] Bashaar further stated, "Our philosophy here was rather straightforward; we want the games to look the way they did in your mind. We knew we were on the right track in our early playtests because some playtesters didn't even know they were playing with the modern art toggled on."[27]

A content warning was added by current Tomb Raider series developer Crystal Dynamics to the game, warning about what it describes as "offensive depictions of people and cultures rooted in racial and ethnic stereotypes". The warning explains that rather than "removing this content", they've chosen to present it in its original unaltered form in the hopes that they may "acknowledge its harmful impact and learn from it".[31]

Notes

  1. ^ Original games developed by Core Design[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Yin-Poole, Wesley (27 October 2016). "20 years on, the Tomb Raider story told by the people who were there". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 27 October 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d "Aspyr & Crystal Dynamics Reveal Tomb Raider I–III Remastered Starring Lara Croft, Coming to Pc & Consoles Feb. 14, 2024". Crystal Dynamics. 14 September 2023. Archived from the original on 14 November 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  3. ^ "Tomb Raiders: Lara Croft and the Temples of Doom" (PDF). Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 86. Ziff Davis. September 1996. pp. 88–89. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 August 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  4. ^ a b Blache, Fabian; Fielder, Lauren (31 October 2000). "GameSpot's History of Tomb Raider - Tomb Raider II". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 6 March 2009. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
  5. ^ Core Design, ed. (1998). "Actions". Tomb Raider III PlayStation Instruction Manual. Eidos Interactive. pp. 7–12.
  6. ^ GameTrailers (24 February 2013). Tomb Raider Retrospective Part Two. YouTube (Video).
  7. ^ Nightingale, Ed (14 September 2023). "Remastered original Tomb Raider trilogy headed to Switch next year". Eurogamer. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  8. ^ Foster, George (5 January 2024). "Tomb Raider Remastered Trilogy Finally Confirms Modern Controls". TheGamer. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  9. ^ a b c d e Bashaar, Chris (16 January 2024). "Tomb Raider I–III Remastered – PS4, PS5 features detailed, new key art revealed". PlayStation.Blog. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  10. ^ Hood, Vic (22 March 2018). "Tomb Raider remasters cancelled because no one asked if they could make them". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  11. ^ Bankhurst, Adam (2 May 2022). "Embracer Group Enters Agreement to Acquire Eidos, Crystal Dynamics, and Square Enix Montreal for $300 Million". IGN. Archived from the original on 3 May 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  12. ^ "Embracer Group enters into an agreement to acquire Eidos, Crystal Dynamics, and Square Enix Montréal amongst other assets". Embracer (Press release). 2 May 2022. Archived from the original on 2 May 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  13. ^ "Embracer Group completes acquisition of Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal, Square Enix Montréal amongst other assets" (Press release). Embracer Group. 26 August 2022. Archived from the original on 26 August 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  14. ^ Ivan, Tom (20 May 2022). "Embracer sees 'great potential' in Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal sequels, remakes and remasters". Video Games Chronicle. Archived from the original on 22 May 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  15. ^ Doke, Shunal (14 September 2023). "Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered Announced for February 14 Release". GamingBolt. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  16. ^ Deschamps, Marc (14 September 2023). "Classic Tomb Raider Remastered Collection Revealed". ComicBook.com. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  17. ^ Foster, George (14 September 2023). "Tomb Raider 1 - 3 Remastered Revealed". TheGamer. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  18. ^ "Tomb Raider I-III Remastered includes expansions". Tomb Raider Chronicles. 16 September 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023.[better source needed]
  19. ^ Smith, Graham (14 September 2023). "The original Tomb Raider trilogy is being remastered for release next year". Rock Paper Shotgun. Archived from the original on 5 November 2023. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  20. ^ "Tomb Raider Gold Is Released For The Macintosh". Aspyr. 16 March 1999. Archived from the original on 1 October 1999. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  21. ^ "Tomb Raider II". Aspyr. Archived from the original on 4 March 2000. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  22. ^ "Aspyr Media - Products". Aspyr. Archived from the original on 28 November 1999.
  23. ^ Tomb Raider [@tombraider] (4 January 2024). "We'll have plenty more to share soon. 😉" (Tweet). Retrieved 9 January 2024 – via Twitter.
  24. ^ Ramsey, Robert (8 January 2024). "Tomb Raider Trilogy Remaster Has 'Plenty More to Share' as Fans Question Lack of Gameplay". Push Square. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  25. ^ Ostler, Anne-Marie (8 January 2024). "The Tomb Raider remastered trilogy is a month away and has still only shown 30 seconds of footage, but the dev insists there's 'plenty more to share soon'". GamesRadar+. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  26. ^ Khan, Salman (9 January 2024). "Anticipation and Concern Surround the Release of Tomb Raider I–III Remastered Collection". BNN Breaking. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  27. ^ a b Croft, Liam (16 January 2024). "Big List of Tomb Raider Remastered PS5, PS4 Upgrades Revealed". Push Square. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  28. ^ Zwiezen, Zack (16 January 2024). "Tomb Raider Remaster Fixes The Worst Thing About The Original Trilogy". Kotaku. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  29. ^ "Tomb Raider I-III Remastered PlayStation Blog". Tomb Raider Chronicles. 16 January 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2024.[better source needed]
  30. ^ "Tomb Raider I-III Remastered upscaled textures". Tomb Raider Chronicles. 12 January 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2024.[better source needed]
  31. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley. "Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered Includes Racial and Ethnic Stereotypes Warning From Crystal Dynamics". IGN. Retrieved 13 February 2024. {{cite web}}: Text "date-February 13, 2024" ignored (help)

External links

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