In the summer of 1998, I borrowed both Tomb Raider 1 and 2 from a friend and was completely engrossed. I beat them both, back to back. They were each completely different experiences to me, but I enjoyed each of them in their own frustrating way.


No... not like that, pervs. I meant playing the games.

For their time, they were amazingly original 3D adventures. They did new things no one had really done before at that time. It was fun going through the levels very slowly figuring out how things work, and what you needed to do to get to the end of the level. Pretty simple really when put like that but over time I learned to appreciate them for that. Even with their quirky camera, shoddy aiming and tank-like movement. It took a level of patience I never knew I had before. The full motion video cut scenes helped to make things better though.

They made all the hard work, worth it. Back then, FMV anything was still amazing and Lara Croft was a joy to watch in action. She moved like an acrobat, had great voice acting, and preformed some pretty impressive stunts. Yeah, she was sexy, but above all things, she was an interesting character that wasn’t full of herself. She had the right level of cockiness and confidence. She was the female version of Indiana Jones, and it worked.


What? The original games are VERY old 3D graphics. Retro Lara Croft is much easier on the eyes, trust me.

Then I tried the 3rd installment of the series... I choked back the bile in my throat and decided to stop playing the series. It didn’t feel like Tomb Raider anymore. It was something else and I had had enough. I was more than okay with that decision after seeing what Core Design did with the series in the following years. The Last Revelation in 1999, Chronicles in 2000 and The Angel of Darkness in 2003, by all opinionated accounts were all sub par games. I figured I wasn’t missing much.

Recently however, I heard mixed things about the new Tomb Raider game, Underworld. After reading reviews/comments and hearing random podcast discussions (Destructoid, I love you) about how good/bad it was, my interest in the series was sparked once again.



Where has the series gone since I last left it?

Where the games really good again?



I looked into who was making them these days and was shocked to find that Crystal Dynamics had taken the reigns from Core Design. How did I miss this news?? As a big fan of the Soul Reaver/Legacy of Kain series, I knew there was now potential for worthwhile Tomb Raider games once again. Not only did they do Underworld, they also made the last two games in the series, one of which was a remake of the very first Tomb Raider! Wow! Where the hell have I been? Oh well, it’s never too late to play a good game. So I did just that.

Tomb Raider Anniversary (slight spoilers, not really)

Tomb Raider Amazing, is what they could have named it. I am blown away by how much difference 10 years can make in a game series. From beginning to end, I felt like this was the absolute perfect Tomb Raider experience.



No longer does Lara Croft move like a robot. She is agile, quick, and easy to control. Everything about her movement, feels very tight. From wall running with the newly added grappling hook to pole swinging acrobats onto moving ledges, everything has a smooth feel with seamless animation that makes for fun, not tedium. I can do so many cool things with relative ease when years before, I could only watch them in cut scenes. Its almost as if the FMVs of the old games are now the gameplay. Well, almost.



The level design in Anniversary has got to be some of the best out of all the Tomb Raider games. There were parts I remembered vaguely from the original game, and it wasn’t surprising to find out that Crystal Dynamics purposefully worked memorable sections in to the new designs. They kept the original feel and look of almost all of the levels, and then added so much more with traps and puzzles galore. It became very addicting solving things on my own without a guide.


Told you Tomb Raider 1 screens are hard on the eyes, lol. Back then, it was amazing I swear.

Seeing how everything else is fun in this game, it comes as no surprise that fighting enemies is too! Flips, spins, rolls, along with the new dodge mechanic are all a delight to work in combination with the lock on aiming. Boss fights no longer suck the fun out of exploring! They are a welcome and exciting change of pace now. Enemy encounters are still as short and intense as I remember them, only now they have a seemingly cinematic quality to them.



The biggest change from TR1 to TR2 was the addition of human enemies. It always felt like killing people was wrong. Add a flawed aiming system (or lack of) on top of that and you have a recipe for fail. TR1 was full of creatures, monsters and critters. Then, out of no where, Lara Croft found herself in a John Woo movie, complete with motorcycle tricks and all. While it was entertaining to watch, the developers kind of missed the point of their first game. Lara had now become a cold blooded killer with zero explanation as to why. I have no problems killing people, if that’s where the creators want to take the character. They just forgot to lead us there story wise.



Anniversary did something very clever with the writing in that regard. They added an element of character development for Lara, by including the emotions, feelings and events that surrounded her very first kill. I won’t give away the exact details, but it is very cool to witness and once again especially because Lara now has actual facial expressions to show a mixture of emotions. Like everything else in this game, it felt right.



Why are the quick time events awesome in Tomb Raider Anniversary? Because my friends, the action on screen slows down when a button press is about to be present. That way, you can focus both on which button to press, as well as what is happening to the characters on screen before, during, and after a button press. What a novel concept! With most games, QTEs have things moving at an unbelievably fast pace. So fast that you can’t enjoy what’s going on, because the second you get absorbed by the action, you miss the button. By slowing things down momentarily and then speeding up again, it gives the player a chance to both be a part of and enjoy the event. Sweet!

Musically, I have no recollection of the original games. None. Not to say they weren’t good, but 10 years ago, they really didn’t make an impression on me. Anniversary however, is another story. It took Troels Brun Folmann 5 months to compose the score, and it is outstanding. The title music is wonderful and if you play through the Croft Manor side quest, turn up the volume! It never once got old to me. Subtle changes in track from room to room while keeping the main Croft Manor theme going was a very impressive artistic choice. More games need to do this.



Needless to say, I love this game. I know, I probably should have played Legend first since that is Crystal Dynamic’s first attempt at Tomb Raider, but I just couldn’t pass up the original Tomb Raider experience of isolation and exploration. I love that feeling, and they recaptured it very well.

From what little I played of Legend just recently, it is easy to see how much extra polish they put on Anniversary. Everything just feels a little bit better. It is also weird to be killing people again, but not nearly as jarring as TR2 was thanks to Anniversary’s story. I’m glad I went back in to the series in this order as things make more sense.

I’m looking forward to completing Legend and then playing through Underworld. By that time, they’ll have screwed up the series again I’m sure. From what I hear, Eidos wants another revamp in gameplay, another re-image for Lara in another sub par game. They just don’t know a good thing when they have it, do they? In any case, at least Crystal Dynamics was able to attain near perfection with Anniversary.

As most of you know already, its rough to be a gamer these days. There are so many good games out right now its easy to get distracted. This is especially true if your open to retro gaming which can open up years of awesome backlogged titles you missed out on. If you can't find a game worthy of your time these days, you may be a bit touched in the head and should probably get that checked out. Or am I the crazy one? You tell me.

The list of games currently be played by me on a weekly basis

Fallout 3 (PC)
Dead Space (PC)
Suikoden 3 (PS2)
Armored Core (PS1)
Front Mission (DS)
Godfather:The Don's Edition (PS3)
Pixel Junk Eden (PSN)
Wipeout HD (PSN)
Mega Man 9 (PSN)
Bionic Commando:Rearmed (PSN)
Warhammer:Age of Reckoning (PC)
Left 4 Dead (PC)

Am I an idiot for still wanting an XBox360 to add even more games to my list? Do I have Gaming ADHD? Is there such a thing? What does the tooth fairy do with all of those teeth?


What I looked like when I saw this months release list

TOO MANY GAMES!

And I love it! Its one of those problems in life that you don't mind being troubled with. Like having a significant other that makes you watch movies your normally wouldn't. Or having too much beer in the fridge. These are all good problems to have. Solutions aren't necessarily needed either, thats the beauty of a good problem. You don't need to fix them, just manage them.

However, my big problem with my problem is that twelve games isn't very manageable. I should really finish a few and narrow the focus a bit. Which is hard to do when two of the twelve are open world games, and another two are online games you can never truly finish. Plus, my newly boughten copies of Valkyria Chronicles and Zelda: The Wind Waker are begging to be played, but do I dare add to this list? Playing so many games is almost exhausting!


Its a hard knock life, let me tell ya

What about you guys? Does anyone else suffer as I do? Shall we start up a support group and enjoy punch and pie with group hugs? Who out there has a bigger list to make me feel better and how are you managing it?

So after almost two weeks solid of Warhammer Online and various half hour sessions of Mega Man, I decided to take a little break by starting a new series I haven't played before. After seeing the trailer for the new Armored Core game coming out, I decided perhaps it was time to check those games out.


1997 with my Playstation, here I come!

Now, usually when someone goes back to play an older game like this they have a safety net built from nostalgic memories to fall on to when the game appears to fall short. That is, unless you've never played the original game before. In that case, its a requirement to always remember two things.

1) The graphics are old, get over it.
2) No, the game doesn't suck, you do. Learn the controls, learn the game.

My first attempt at play, was a complete failure. At first, it seemed like an easy enough concept. Just complete missions, earn money, buy upgrades. Sure I sucked pretty bad but thats alright. I didn't have a manual for the game and I wasn't using a guide. Learning things the old fashioned way left me feeling pretty frustrated only because I had no idea what to do.

I kept at it though. Each mission I tried to move just a little better, aim just a little straighter. Using L2 and R2 to look up and down really threw me for a loop, but I got used to it. Just like a good pilot, you have to put your time in to learn how your craft moves and become better at maneuvering. 10 missions later I felt like I was finally getting a handle on things and pulling off some slick moves with my boosters, except I was -10k in the funding department... not exactly good.

Then it hit me. Progression relies on your ability to buy the right upgrades which in turn depends on you making as much money possible by not sucking. I had not thought of that. This is a good thing to know. So far my mech sucked and I bought him crap parts with what little I could afford.

However, I then discovered the beauty of this game. You can sell your parts at full price, and buy them back at full price. There is no penalty for scrapping your equipment and trying out different parts. I soon found out that this is key. And so began the process of learning what works and what doesn't through trial and error with experimentation. A few hours later and I was ready to start over.

With everything I learned so far, I was finally able to demolish the first 10 missions. Auto-firing missile lock is slick, laser weapons have terrifying power but limited ammo, quad legs (Tachikoma style) to zip around and support the most weight are VERY useful, shiny new generator to recharge energy levels quickly is a must, sell the useless radar, and mix and match the core/arms/head to get just the right build down. Now I'm having fun! Missions went much easier for me the second time around and I had lots of money to try some of the pricier parts and options.

So far I'm very glad I decided to play this series. I can't wait to finish this game and get to Armored Core 2 where the graphics start to really catch up to what the AC units look like in the much improved cutscenes. Not to mention a farther draw distance and levels that don't make me feel like I'm playing in a dark basement.

I'm also thinking the story might be better told in later installments of the series, because right now... emails from random corporations just isn't cutting it for me. I guess if wanted story in my mech games, perhaps I should be playing Zone of Enders.

Not sure how many comic/movie nerds that we have amongst the D-Toid readers, but I'm thinking more than enough to warrant a blog on this.

THIS


Now I know... it looks somewhat cheesy with THAT much violence but you know what... I say fuck it! There is no way they could top Batman and the Watchmen (verdict is still out but I'm hopeful) for intelligent comic book depictions, so why not? Lets have some balls out violence that the Dark Knight was missing. We need some more bad assery guts and gore in our movies!



Why not? All these horror torture porn flicks can get away with it? Why can't I enjoy a bloody gun fight as opposed to Saw or The Hills Have Eyes. Bring on the new Punisher movie... lets hope they make it an R.

Introduction

Castle Wolfenstein, originally released for the Apple II in 1981, was the first game to ever use stealth. It wasn't until 1998 that we got to see the next form of stealth based games in two Playstation titles you may have heard of, Metal Gear Solid and Tenchu: Stealth Assassins. That same year their was a little known PC game that came out and pushed the limits of what an first person perspective game could do in terms of stealth play. From the great minds that brought us Ultima Underworld and System Shock, came the PC masterpiece entitled Thief: The Dark Project. And with it, introduced us to this man...


Garrett

This is what he calls home

"The City"

And this is his world

Welcome

The Game

The Thief series has a unique and twisted setting oozing with dark atmosphere. It combines a disturbing mix of medieval steam punk, fanatical industrial cults, and pagan magic.

I dare say that Thief is probably the most engrossing series I've ever experienced. Everything is designed to make you believe. From the ambient sound, to the interactive level design, as well as the hidden backstory given in the form of readable diaries and eavesdropping on conversations. Even the menu screen has grinding gears and menacing machinery while you change settings.

Immersion is something the people behind Looking Glass Studios perfected. Sadly they went bankrupt after Thief 2 in 2000. However, the same people from that studio continued to do things correctly later on in a little game you may have heard of called Bioshock. Say what you will about that game, you can't deny that the atmosphere is an incredibly creepy and unique experience.


If you play this game with the lights on, your doing it wrong.

Thief is also one of the most tragically misunderstood games ever. During the time of its release, every game of the FPS genre on PC consisted of the same formula; find guns, find bad guys, shoot them dead. Thief was NOT like that, at all and most people just didn't get it. Garrett is a master thief, not a murderer. That’s not to say he won't snuff out a life or two when pushed, quite the opposite in fact. He'll plant an arrow in your skull and not even think twice about it if he has to. It’s just a hassle to hide dead bodies, that’s all.


Selfish by nature, he is a thief after all, the only valuable life is his own.



"Thief is the single most terrifying, immersive, and rewarding game I have played and the one single-player game I continue to replay … There are countless books I wish I had written; Thief is one of the few games I wish I had worked on." - Marc Laidlaw, Valve (writer/designer: Half-Life 1 and 2)

Thief is a game that is meant to be role played. Yes, you probably could put the difficulty on easy, grab your sword and run around all willy nilly chopping up people and completing missions. If that’s the way you play, you are missing the point entirely.



Thief is also a shining example of using the first person perspective correctly. It’s not just so you can aim better with your bow. Your suppose to feel like your in the game, seeing as the character sees and doesn’t see. Never actually being able to view Garrett as you play is a design choice that helps to put the player in his boots, that is until they completely missed the point in the third game.

The Character

Folks just passed him by, like he wasn't there.

While his origin is a bit of a super hero cliché it does however work in doing two things at once, provided a set up for the training mission as well as give an introduce to Garrett's relationship with The Keepers that will become a huge part of the plot later on. After the little training mission is complete, the story skips ahead almost 15 years where we find Garrett is a cynical, sarcastic and legendary king of thieves that has made a living off robbing the fat and wealthy nobles of society without them even knowing.

They don't tell us why Garrett left the Keepers exactly. Who doesn't want to hang out with a bunch of soothsayers, living in the sewers, whispering prophecies and annotating the history of mankind in secrecy? Sounds fun, right?

Less is always more though and a little mystery to Garrett's past is essential to pulling the player in even more by piquing their curiosities. Who is this man? Who were those Keepers? Why the hell was that intro movie so freaking crazy? All these questions will keep you gripped to your keyboard, desperately seeking answers. Remember when I said everything in this game is designed to immerse the player in to the game’s world? I wasn’t joking.



Over the course of the three Thief games, Garrett goes through a lot of changes. It is a complex story, which is precisely the way he doesn’t want things to be. He is a man who likes things simple, allowing him control over any given situation. That’s how meticulous he is in his craft. Careful planning leads to quick and quiet execution, with no messes or surprises. At the end of the day, all he wants is to be left alone. Karma is a huge bitch though. And while the Keepers basically allowed him to leave and live as he pleased with a life of crime, eventually things catch up with him.

Garrett is constantly bothered with having to correct wrongs he inadvertently became a part of in a big way. That doesn’t mean he won’t crack a safe or two while he’s saving the world though. After all, it’s his neck on the line, why shouldn’t he be able to make a dishonest buck or two?

What He Means To Me

So now we get to the real heart of this write up. The reason I love Garrett happens to also be the reason this game still has an underground cult following still to this day. He offers me the perfect escape from life because when you play Thief, you don’t just play as Garrett. You are Garrett. It’s a game that practically opens a doorway into another world where you become this anti-hero that robs people blind then turns around and saves everyone with some amazing feat of heroics. The strong bond you will end up having with its fictional leading role is a very different experience than most games.

Sneaking through dark corridors, picking locks, knocking out guards, dousing torches, hiding bodies, rappelling off of rooftops, solving riddles, finding secret passages, making that narrow escape from detection, stealing anything that isn’t nailed down and just generally being a sneaky badass gives you this nervous anxiety you’ll soon learn to love. Keeping your calm just as Garrett would in tight situations takes practice and becomes an addicting thrill. It’s exhilarating when you start to make those right decisions with precision timing under pressure. The first time you find yourself stuck in a long open hallway with locked doors and you hear a guard coming around the corner grumbling to himself about his lack of dinner… you’ll know what I mean.

It’s as much of a mental game as a physical. All of your senses are honed in on not being caught. Almost like stepping in to the zone, where you just focus so much on what you’re doing, everything around you just kind of melts away. You forget about everything else for awhile.



After the first few introductory missions, the story begins to unravel in such a way that both Garrett and the player are left in the dark. There’s no lame amnesia cop out here, just spectacular writing. You’ll be second guessing things just as he will, because you’re both sharing the same experiences. In that sense, you really feel like you are him. So when things happen to the character, they are also happening to you. When it hits the fan plot wise, you’ll really feel the pain and anguish in his voice.

Speaking of his voice, the more of it you hear, the more you’ll fall in love with him. It’s a very rare thing to come across a game character that’s so engaging you hang on his every word. You’ll even start to look forward to mission briefings as they are narrated by Garrett himself. He’ll give his own thoughts and insights on the task at hand and as he fits the plot pieces together, so will you. Soon you even begin to think like him. A suspicious mind racing through a weaving tale of twisted plots, always on the guard for the set up, the fall, and of course, the big payback.

Mission Briefing

Stephen Russell is for Garrett what David Hayter is for Solid Snake.

His smooth yet menacing tone coupled with a unique style of delivery becomes engraved in your mind even as you play. Their are rare moments where he will make a joke out loud to himself and chuckle as certain things happen to you during play. Every time, its a delight to here insight from the voice inside your head that is you. Sounds odd, but it works so well.

Garrett’s story arc over the course of the games is fascinating. You’ll come to find that in this dark world Garrett is actually the single shining light of hope to be found. Which is absurd because he’s a thief that lives in the shadows and wants nothing to do with the laws of civilized society. This is exactly how you’ll feel too as the more you discover about the inner workings of the influential powers controlling the city, the more you'll find a genuine dislike for just about everyone. You’re the only level headed person that isn’t cooking up some crazy scheme to wield dark supremacy. All you want is to whack a few guards, steal a few purses, pay the rent and look cool while doing it.



Underneath his suspicion and contempt for organized religion and politics though is a lost soul that wishes things were different. He just sees no point in doing anything about it. That is, until he is forced to. It isn’t until the story comes full circle at the end do we get to see what his true character is worth.

For anyone interested in shining up their PC retro goggles and playing through the series for their first time I assure you, if you can get past the outdated graphics and the drastic changes in the third game, you won’t be disappointed.

I'm a huge fan of movies, but an even bigger fan of games. However, the two forms of entertainment have been at odds with one another for as long as I can remember. Very, VERY, few video game movies manage to get it right. So when I came across this news, I am hopeful for at least one enjoyable video game movie in the future.

I mean, could they really get it right here? Doubtful. But hey, an R rated bad movie is better than a PG-13 rated bad movie. So this is a good thing right? I mean, if there is going to be a terrible movie based on a good game, why not throw some violence in there to make up for its shortcomings?

Take the movie Wanted for example. Were it not for the R rating, I don't think I would have loved that movie quite as much as I did. Same could be said for the last Rambo flick. Thankfully there are some people in the industry who still see the value of putting some balls into their action flicks. I mean, isn't that what they are suppose to be about anyways? Gratuitous violence and over the top action!? Yes, please!

I would hope the success of Kill Bill, Sin City, and 300 (to name a few) would have already shown film makers the value of keeping violence in action films today but apparently someone tried hard to shit on Die Hard 4 in a big way. Tsk, tsk.

Keep the heads rollin' I say >:-) Both in my games and in my movies!


Please come back to your roots Mr. Chow!