[Pangaea]

Why must every god damn game series get raped to hell and back by greedy developers? Seriously, has game development now become the go-to place for ex-cons who are unsure how to most effectively fuck people over these days?

I'm waiting for the Baldur's Gate MMO reboot, with 14 DLCs launched within its first month of release, with a single player campaign consisting of dressing up your paper figurine in clothes and makeup and prancing about in a hallway.

Even the devil is faceslapping himself.

Meanwhile, the devil's overlord, in this world known as Evil Arts, is rubbing their hands together in greedy and blissful joy.

[Dragon'sDream]

▫ Dona ▫ said:

That's a good article and it explains some of my problems with the 'new' TR, especially why I'm so annoyed with the fact they took away the sense of being on your own. Lara went against some of the biggest stereotypes and gave girls a bit of virtual space where they could be strong and unafraid, even in 'scary' situations. I'm sorry some of you think it's funny or belonging in 'misogyny' threads just because it's about a female character, because you don't understand how important she was, because you got hundreds of lone heroes you can relate to.

There was something magical about that, right? Just you, Lara and the beautiful atmosphere. I never thought about this aspect of the original games, but I can definitely see how the changes CD implemented could be upsetting.

On the bright side, the walkie-talkie could be a plot device used to further develop Lara as a character. After all, it's difficult to develop a character's personality without anyone around to interact with.

Quote

If Geralt got Zoltan and Dandelion constantly calling him on a magical headset and telling him what to do, you'd be annoyed, too.

Are you kidding me? That would be awesome!

Can you imagine Dandelion communicating with Geralt in a similar manner to Alex Jacobson in Deus Ex? Just imagine the possibilities, like Dandelion's reactions to Geralt's sexual encounters.

[▫ Dona ▫]

gregski said:

Considering the fact that the MP is developed by another team/company, I wonder how is it possible that they come up with only ~12 hours of SP campaign. Not much productivity there. ›››

All of Crystal's TR games have been very short. I don't understand it either (except for Legend, since they had to do it from the scratch and Eidos was on the verge of being closed down back then) and it's so confusing because they created the complex and lengthy Legacy of Kain series.

yayodeanno said:

I think it was Eidos tasking Core with annual releases back in the day, and when the developer team wasn't able to deliver anymore Eidos just took the franchise off from them and gave it to Crystal Dynamics. There's a video floating around with a version of Anniversary which was being developed by Core but never saw the light of day.

Yeah, they had an Anniversary project going on. Core Design was let go because they couldn't deliver Angel of Darkness in time. Why? Their deadline was tight enough, and then Eidos made them release it 6 months earlier to come out at the same time as Tomb Raider 2 movie to maximise cash flow. We all know how that one went down. Eidos already had financial trouble and tbh that was just an excuse to give a boot to Core before merging with Square-Enix.

Dragon said:

There was something magical about that, right? Just you, Lara and the beautiful atmosphere. I never thought about this aspect of the original games, but I can definitely see how the changes CD implemented could be upsetting.

Yeah. I admit I'm biased towards Egyptian levels, I really miss that... visiting Egypt would be a huge selling point for me if Crystal decided to head that way. Sure she'll have to interact with other people more now that they're giving her an actual story, but they better keep blatant hand-holding away.

Dragon said:

Can you imagine Dandelion communicating with Geralt in a similar manner to Alex Jacobson in Deus Ex? Just imagine the possibilities, like Dandelion's reactions to Geralt's sexual encounters.

He can narrate the whole encounter to us

[Pham]

Now I have the idea of Dandelion narrating everything in TW2 Bastion-style in my head and its not going away.

[gregski]

Pham said:

Now I have the idea of Dandelion narrating everything in TW2 Bastion-style in my head and its not going away. ›››

Well, he narrated the cutscenes between chapters in EE and not everyone liked it. But personally I love narration in games & movies, so the idea sounds good to me

[cyber12]

the year didnt even really start so relax

[Booraz]

▫ Dona ▫ said:

That's a good article and it explains some of my problems with the 'new' TR, especially why I'm so annoyed with the fact they took away the sense of being on your own. Lara went against some of the biggest stereotypes and gave girls a bit of virtual space where they could be strong and unafraid, even in 'scary' situations. I'm sorry some of you think it's funny or belonging in 'misogyny' threads just because it's about a female character, because you don't understand how important she was, because you got hundreds of lone heroes you can relate to. ›››

Hmm, Dona i have to say I am surprised at your description of original Lara as a strong and fearless heroine. I always looked at her as a character most appealing to horny 13-15 year olds, big boobs, tight shorts, lack of personality (wearing them in -20 degrees temperature must be tough). It was rather a unrealistic teenager dream than strong, confident woman

[▫ Dona ▫]

Booraz said:

Hmm, Dona i have to say I am surprised at your description of original Lara as a strong and fearless heroine. I always looked at her as a character most appealing to horny 13-15 year olds, big boobs, tight shorts, lack of personality (wearing them in -20 degrees temperature must be tough). It was rather a unrealistic teenager dream than strong, confident woman ›››

The article Yayodeano linked describes everything perfectly, especially why Lara can and is viewed as a strong rolemodel: because she was a loner girl going up against the powerful, ancient creatures, not giving two fucks. And honestly I didn't notice her unreal proportions and silly outfit (sexiness aside, shorts and a one-piece tightsuit call for a lot of cuts and sunburns... and a yeast infection) until much later, which is also something the author mentioned. Really, the majority of Cara's thoughts mirror my own, it's all in the article.

edit: While we're at it, Steam is having a big Tomb Raider sale for the next ~15 hours. You can get ALL of the games (classic & Crystal Dynamics') for 15 euros total, or 2.5 each. It's missing expansions for TR1-3, though.

[Gilrond]

A pity GOG has only a few old titles for Tomb Raider.

[Luc0s]

▫ Dona ▫ said:

That's a good article and it explains some of my problems with the 'new' TR, especially why I'm so annoyed with the fact they took away the sense of being on your own. Lara went against some of the biggest stereotypes and gave girls a bit of virtual space where they could be strong and unafraid, even in 'scary' situations. ›››

Lara Croft is still on her own in the Crystal Dynamics games. Well, most of the time.

Sure, you get feedback from Zipp and Alistair on your headset, but it's clear that Lara is always in charge. Lara is the expert, the boss, the leading lady. Zipp and Alistair are simply providing her with extra feedback.

I can see why you think they're annoying though. Hell, even Lara Croft herself in the actual game thinks they are annoying. She even literally says: "I can hear you guys you know and it's a tad bit distracting."

So I guess you'll be happy to hear that Lara will be on her own most of the time in Tomb Raider 2013, without a (working) walkie-talkie.

▫ Dona ▫ said:

[12 hours for the campaign is] not a lot, and pretty standard for Crystal's previous TR games (and marginally better than Legend's 6h). With a short game like that, I wonder if they are going to go back to Core's "a game a year" TR model. ›››

12 hours for the campaign is plenty and just as long as Tomb Raider 1, the first Tomb Raider.
I recently replayed that game and managed to beat it in 14 hours (that is including collecting all the secret treasures). That means Tomb Raider 2013 will be only roughly 2 hours shorter than Tomb Raider 1996.


Edit: Am I the only one who actually sees some resemblance between the new 2013 Lara Croft and Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games? Do you think Crystal Dynamics took some inspiration from Katniss Everdeen when they designed the new Lara Croft?

[▫ Dona ▫]

Yeah, I'm aware she'll be (mostly) alone in TR 2013, and that's good. I think they are aware how annoying Zip and Alistair were, hence what happened to them... Ironically, I liked Zip in that one Chronicles level. That is how collaboration should have been done, in the sense that you're working with someone, instead of someone telling you what to do while cracking bad jokes.

It's a bit shorter than the 1996 game, but remember that TR1 was pure gameplay. A couple of short cut-scenes here and there, but that's it. Now 12 hours for detailed cinematics, story, diary/lore stuff... it's a damn short game. I am sure as hell not going to pay the full price for that, if I decide to buy it at all.

IDK about Katniss inspiration, some connected them because of the longbow, but tbh that's the only thing they have in common. I am not a fan of either (longbows or The Hunger Games), and they started designing TR2013 long before THG became a thing. I guess they could have been inspired by the book.

[Bloth]

Wasteland 2, South Park: The Stick of Truth, Dead State, Age of Decadence, Grim Dawn, Shadowrun Returns, Path of Exile. Sounds like a damn good year to me, in all honesty I don't think i'll have time to play 'em all.

[Aver]

Yeah, for me it looks like 2013 will be much better year for gaming than 2012.

[gregski]

This looks interesting:

[gregski]

If EA buys Dawn of War or Company of Heroes or Metro frachises - yes, 2013 is going to be bad

http://www.eurogamer...goes-to-auction

[Sirnaq]

gregski said:

If EA buys Dawn of War or Company of Heroes or Metro frachises - yes, 2013 is going to be bad />/>/>

http://www.eurogamer...goes-to-auction

Damn man, imagine what would happen if EA bought witcher.

Quote

-Nudity? Are you insane? Then we can't sell the game for kids. Remember the Mass Effect shitstorm?
-We have to put some famous people here. People like fantasy shit like Game of Thrones right? Who's that queen from the show? Let's have her, then we can use her for marketing.
-The combat is too hard, people don't want games to be difficult. Make it like Skyrim.
-Whoa, a new engine? Let's just use unreal and cut costs, besides that takes time and game needs to be ready this year.
-Someone call Machinima and tell them to call it, like, Far Cry 3 with swords.
-Right, i know we just start development but you people have to begin making the DLC right now so we can sell it one month after release. $3 for sword, $5 for an armor and $10 for a totally new quest never seen before.
-Enhanced Edition? Great idea, we can charge 25 buck for that.
-And don't forget, we want to look progresive, make Dandelion a gay love interest.

[Chromie92]

So...I'm kind of excited for this now.

https://www.youtube....h?v=4bIrWryFc7A

[AnthonyF1227]

Dragon said:

I can't wait for that game to answer the age old question - how stupid is humanity? ›››

DA3 may actually be good. BioWare knows that if it sucks they're cooked. Who will ever buy another BioWare game if DA3 is bad?

[Aver]

AnthonyF1227 said:

DA3 may actually be good. BioWare knows that if it sucks they're cooked. Who will ever buy another BioWare game if DA3 is bad? ›››

From what I've read DA3 looks promising. I bet it will be really solid game, even tho ME3 and DA2 were big disappointments for me.

[AnthonyF1227]

Aver said:

From what I've read DA3 looks promising. I bet it will be really solid game, even tho ME3 and DA2 were big disappointments for me. ›››

I still have to play DA2, but I thought that ME3 was a really good game until the end. Was the game perfect? No, but it was still enjoyable until the whole story came crashing down.