A while ago I published my review on
Tomb Raider III, and in it, during the final sections I posted links for both
the original and the remastered edition. And I did threaten people that they
would join Winston in the freezer if they didn’t go and pre-order or buy the
re-release.
Well, 6 months later, and having played
the games and their expansion packs to death, I’m here going to do my own
little quick recap review of this wonderful collection. The reason why I won’t
be doing a deep review like before is because these are essentially the same
games, but with a fresh new coat of paint, so I won’t be writing down an entire
book expressing my thoughts, remarks and opinions.
With that said and done… THIS REMASTERED TRILOGY IS SIMPLY FANTASTIC!!! It’s a Remaster done RIGHT!!!
Developed by Aspyr Media (in
collaboration with some of the most significant members of the Old Tomb Raider
modding community) and published by Saber Interactive, Tomb Raider I-III
Remastered is a collection of the first 3 Tomb Raider games + their expansions.
The game (or games in this case?) is released for the PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series
X/S, Playstation 4, Playstation 5 and the Nintendo Switch. The collection was
released on February 14th, 2024. The date is a nod to Lara Croft’s
birthday, and that’s a pretty good way to celebrate her birthday.
The biggest selling point of these games
are the new visuals, which are wonderfully done. In fact, the new graphical
settings for the games seems to be that of the FMV cut scenes that play before
or whenever the player finishes a major chapter. And honestly, it’s quite
incredible.
Not only do the new graphics look great,
but the developers actually managed to keep that distance fog which was present
in the originals. For those that don’t know, distance fog is a feature present
in old games that would conceal parts of the maps that were too difficult to
render or draw. In Tomb Raider, this was the cherry on top. The lone atmosphere
accompanied with that distance fog made the games feel grand and mysterious.
That same vibe was kept in the remasters too! Albeit the distance fog isn’t as
dark as before, it achieves the same result. Additional details have been
spread out throughout each level of each game, with some levels becoming almost
brand new, and for players that are just starting the game or are returning
players who haven’t played the games in a very long time, they can become
overwhelmed and challenged, in a good way.
Lara and the enemies all got an upgrade
too! Lara’s looks are a mix of the pre-rendered cut scenes and promotional
material for the first 3 games. And she looks the way we all remember her:
Gorgeous, sexy, stylish, badass, sociopathic, dangerous… She’s pretty much the
long lost sister of Doomguy. What’s also badass is they gave her facial animations
during the gameplay. Before she would show 2 facial expressions: Neutral and
Anger. The former when she does everything, and the latter when she fires her
weapons. She still does that in the HD version too, but during the neutral
state, she blinks and observes her environment, as if looking for clues,
platforms to climb, secrets. Like honestly, it is nuts!
The weapons also received the HD treatment
and look great. The Desert Eagle and Rocket Launcher being the best looking.
The stopwatch, artefacts, menu icons for controls and sound, and the passport
also received new looks. The passport are now detailed and are official looking
(as a non-British person, it was awesome looking at how they actually look. And
seeing the stamps when entering new areas was a nice attention to detail, too!)
However, while I like the new looks, some of the weapons stay the same across
the 6 games. The Pistols, Shotgun, Uzis and the Grenade Launcher all look the
same. The HD model for these weapons remains the same. For example: the Shotgun
in TR1 and TR2 is based on a Mossberg, while the one in TR3 is that of a
SPAS-12. The Grenade Launcher from TR3 differs from the one in TR2 due to its
cylinder used to store the grenades. But these are just tiny nit-picks that don’t
really break the vibe and mood of the games. The health items got a tiny touch
up as well, but blame the Red Cross for that one. The health items got
retouched in both HD and SD version.
Now that I mentioned the HD and SD
versions, it’s time to mention that as well. Pressing the F1 key on your
keyboard (I’m going to use the PC controls for this one only), you can change
the graphics on the fly. This applies not only during gameplay, but the main
menu backgrounds and items. The graphical changes also affect the echoing that
is present in deep in-door areas; the muffled sounds and music you hear when
you’re underwater… It can also help out with some puzzles, should you get lost.
The classic view/SD version, is a supposed idealised version of how the
original games would look like. The PC and PS1 version mixed together. Although
there are some graphical issues that exist in the SD version for TR3, most
noticeable in Antarctica, where certain textures are straight up invisible and
can be a bit problematic during gameplay. But nevertheless, both versions complement
each other really well. TR1 has taken some liberties with the HD design.
Because it’s the only game that doesn’t have flares, the HD version opted to
have some openings in the isolated tombs and areas to have light go through
them. This is an interesting way of explaining why the rooms in the first games
are always bright looking, despite the lack of owning portable light from Miss
Croft.
As for Lara herself, yet again, she
controls exactly the same, but tweaked to feel even better. Somewhat.
Every single move that was introduced in
each game from the PS1 era of Tomb Raider is part of her now. This includes
some of the moves featured in Tomb Raider IV and V (I’ll cover those games some
day). And now she can do the jumping backflip in TR1, which makes some puzzles
and fights a tad bit easier to do now. Another way to control Lara is using
Mouse and Keyboard, the standard control method used for Tomb Raider Legend,
Anniversary and Underworld. While they are good and work as intended, the
controls themselves don’t really belong in a game designed around the grid-based
movement, where tank controls feel more natural. But if you do find yourself
having trouble with the traditional controls, the neo-traditional controls are
on the table for you to try.
What’s other stuff that’s present in the
remaster…? 269 achievements. Yes, I’ve done all of them…
 |
| I had way too much free time to do this... |
Outfit selection for Lara, which was
introduced in Update #2. You want classic Lara in Nevada? Sure! Go ahead! Catsuit
Lara in Tibet? No problem! Training Outfit Lara in Antarctica? With her
sunglasses? GO RIGHT AHEAD, DUDE!!!
Photo mode is a feature that can
distract you from playing the game for a while, because it’s a decent photo
mode. You can zoom in - zoom out, rotate the camera, select poses for Lara,
facial expressions, which weapon she’s holding, which outfit she’s wearing. You
can move her around horizontally using the Left Mouse Button, and vertically
whilst spinning her using the Right Mouse Button. The photo mode is simply
10/10, best shit in the world! To activate it, press F3.
The saving and reloading is a bit
different. F5 still works for saving your game, but to quickly load, you have
to press F9. The reason for this is simple: the “-dev” command. This command
(works only for the Steam version as far as I know) allows real time free
camera movement, recording footage, playback said footage. F8 for the real time
free camera, F6 for recording your footage and F7 to playback the footage. The
recording of footage doesn’t work like a video that can be found on your hard
drive, but it’s a tool used for promotional material (for the trailers and
such).
The bad sides of this game is how the
modders weren’t allowed to use their fixes for the rematsers. It’s a shame,
since their fixes made the originals play a whole lot better. That is simply
not present here. No settings to tweak your graphics, too. The resolution is
based on what your monitor’s resolution is, so I guess that’s not bad? The game
runs flawlessly in 60 fps when in HD, and 30 in SD. Soundtrack is the same,
although Peter Connelly’s boss track for Willard in TR3 is restored and it’s
great!
When launching the game for the first
time, you’ll receive a “warning about how the games are a product of their time
and that Crystal Dynamics (the current owners of the Tomb Raider IP) have
nothing to do with it and don’t condone the actions done in the games”. Ahem…
CRYSTAL DYNAMICS!!! YOU ACTIVELY TRIED
TO ERASE LARA FOR YEARS BECAUSE YOUR VERSION NEVER WAS POPULAR NOR LIKEABLE! YOU
ALSO TRIED TO TAMPER WITH THE REMASTERS BY REMOVING COOL EASTER EGGS, WHICH
GUESS WHAT, THE FANS AND THE DEVS NOTICED AND BROUGHT IT BACK IN THE 3RD
UPDATE!!! JUST SHUT UP AND ADMIT YOU HATE LARA CROFT AND EVERYTHING TOMB RAIDER
STANDS FOR!!! JUST GIVE HER TO NIGHTDIVE STUDIOS AND SAVE YOURSELVES FROM
FURTHER EMBARASSMENTS!!!
Rant over. The warning doesn’t appear
when you launch the game/s the next time around.
You can easily mod it as well. And the
site Nexus Mods has a fuckton of them for you to choose from (you’ll need to
have an account to download them by the way).
All in all, aside from the rant I had in
the end and the nit-picks, this Remaster is wonderful! The $30 dollar price is
worth it in my opinion. I got it for a bit less due to having a Tomb Raider
game on my Steam account (thx Magimba for the gift. You
unintentionally gave me a 10% discount for the game). It gets updates once in a
while, and they are good. Not perfect but good.
I will forever play for sport…
Ѓорѓи „GioGio“ Илиев
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