Posts Tagged ‘Crystal Dynamics’

This Post Is Mainly About Tomb Raider

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009

Last weekend, in a bid to fill out my completion percentage, I decided to breath some life into stale releases with fresh downloadable content (DLC). For a couple of reasons I typically avoid DLC. By the time developers ship it I’ve long finished the game concerned and have moved onto something else. I also feel it’s rarely worth the extra cash, and accumulating everything I’ve spent on that one game generally leaves me thinking: “Wow, that was so not worth the £60 I’ve dumped on it”.

With the past few weeks, however, the completion force within me has been strong, and so I decided to revisit some of the older titles I had finished prior to the DLC. Because I had already whored Lara Croft for 1000 points in Underworld, I decided to chase after the additional 250 points. With it being a Tomb Raider game, I figured the extra Achievements probably wouldn’t be too hard to score.

Underworld has two expansions — Lara’s Shadow and Beneath The Ashes. Both are priced at 800 Microsoft Points, with a Gamerscore value of 125 Points each. Beneath The Ashes was the first to be distributed to Xbox Live, and so it was the first DLC I purchased. It was also the cause of controversy when a begrudged Crystal Dynamic’s employee divulged it was originally part of the retail game, only to be cut at a later point and re-branded as DLC. So, Crystal Dynamics are now charging extra for a level that was originally meant to be in the retail game. Cheeky, and just plain unethical.

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Posted in General Gaming | 5 Comments »

Aside: Does Lara Really Need Bigger Tits?

Monday, January 26th, 2009

Underworld performed badly sales-wise (and some of you may argue gameplay-wise, too). That, coupled with the economic downturn, has seen Crystal Dynamics cut 30 jobs. Shame, as I genuinely loved the latest Tomb Raider adventure. But being a long time Lara fan, I think I’m willing to overlook most niggles as my sentimental journey has such a hold over me. Regardless, poor sales and a waning interest in the franchise has prompted developers to, you guessed it, give Lara Croft another make-over.

If the developers think enhancing her bust or baring more skin is going to improve sales, they really need to stop and listen to the fans. For me personally, I think they should concentrate on prolonging typical Tomb Raider game-time, adding in longer levels and bigger puzzles - not necessarily making things more complex, just giving us a bit more to do and a few more levels to raid. I also want to see Lara doing what she does best; raiding tombs. None of this urban shite. Just good old fashioned tombs, caves and what-not. Tweaking the camera would help, too.

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Posted in Asides | 4 Comments »

*sings* Going Underworld, Going Underworld

Wednesday, December 31st, 2008

I love Lara Croft. She’s one hell of a woman. One who can swim the deep Atlantic seas and still emerge with her hair dry, untouched by the ocean. She’s also the only women to raid the stony tombs of the Mediterranean in her bare feet, and still have no sign of rough, leathery skin afflicting her heels. What. A. Woman. Which is why Tomb Raider Underworld was my first choice of game when offered some Christmas money to buy whatever I pleased. Within a £50 limit.

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Posted in General Gaming | 6 Comments »