Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary
| Tomb Raider Anniversary | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
| ' | ||
| Release Date | June 2007 | |
| Platforms | PC, PS2, PSP, Wii, XBox 360 | |
| Levels | 14 | |
| Secrets | 58 | |
| Developer | Crystal Dynamics | |
| Publisher | Eidos Interactive | |
| Game Chronology: | ||
| Tomb Raider Legend | Tomb Raider Anniversary | Tomb Raider Underworld |
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary is a game that is currently being made to celebrate Tomb Raider's 10th anniversary. At first it was supposed to be a PSP game made by Core Design, but this was cancelled. Shortly later Eidos Interactive announced that the game was back on track.
The game is now available for PC and PlayStation 2; with a PSP, Wii and XBox 360 version coming soon.
The Croft Mansion will also be back in Anniversary, as it was a success in Tomb Raider Legend and dearly missed in The Angel of Darkness and the later games of the first generation.
Contents
Release Dates & Platforms
Full Version
PC, PlayStation 2
-
Europe - June 1st 2007
- USA - June 5th 2007
PlayStation Portable
- Europe - July 3rd 2007
- USA - August 9th 2007
Nintendo Wii
Later throughout the year 2007.
XBox 360
Later throughout the year 2007.
Demo
- /May 25th 2007
Levels
- 01 - Peru - Mountain Caves
- 02 - Peru - City of Vilcabamba
- 03 - Peru - The Lost Valley
- 04 - Peru - Tomb of Qualopec
- 05 - Greece - St. Francis Folly
- 06 - Greece - The Coliseum
- 07 - Greece - Midas's Palace
- 08 - Greece - Tomb of Tihocan
- 09 - Egypt - Temple of Khamoon
- 10 - Egypt - Obelisk of Khamoon
- 11 - Egypt - Sanctuary of the Scion
- 12 - Lost Island - Natla's Mines
- 13 - Lost Island - The Great Pyramid
- 14 - Lost Island - Final Conflict
About the Game
The adventure begins when Lara is hired by a powerful syndicate to retrieve a mythical object called the Scion. As Lara searches ancient tombs and isolated worlds that have lain undisturbed for thousands of years, she discovers that she is not alone. Not only has she awoken their fearsome guardians but there are others desperate to learn the Scion’s dark secrets.
Celebrate and commemorate ten years of Tomb Raider and Lara Croft with Tomb Raider: Anniversary, a new action adventure inspired by the original Tomb Raider video game, one of the greatest action adventure games of all time.
(Source: official Site)
For those who haven't yet played the first game, Lara is hired by Jacqueline Natla of Natla Technologies to uncover the Scion of Atlantis artefact. Natla has already located Vilcabamba, the city leading to Qualopec's Tomb.
Content
The Anniversary Edition is going to be a remake of the 1st Tomb Raider game but with better graphics and difficult puzzles. TR Anniversary will have the previous game Legend's controls and gameplay.
Features
The story will be told using more cut scenes than 10 years ago.
- Play the living Lara Croft
- the world’s greatest action heroine of all time – use all of Lara's guile, latest fluid movements, athleticism and gadgets in her quest to conquer the unknown and uncover ancient artifacts.
- Explore uncharted and mysterious worlds
- enter into strange, undiscovered lands and solve their deepest, darkest mysteries, open doors to new realms, uncover great rewards and unearth secrets to Lara's past.
- Includes classic environments from the original Tomb Raider as never experienced before
- Crystal Dynamics latest technology allows you to fluidly manoeuvre Lara using her latest moves and gear, through all the worlds from the original; Peru, Greece, Egypt and more. The dynamic world allows multiple play-through options and also opens up new places and ways to explore.
- startling enemy encounters
- Encounter fierce animal and supernatural enemies, wolves, bears, crocodiles, horrific monsters and of course, the T Rex. New and improved AI means that all enemies will exhibit a more diverse behaviour set, providing improved combat challenges for the player.
- directors commentary
- The original Tomb Raider game designer, Toby Gard and Tomb Raider: Anniversary’s Game Director Jason Botta from Crystal Dynamics, provides an unlockable commentary on how this game was made, with some previously undisclosed secrets from Toby about the original Tomb Raider game.
Gameplay
The environments in Tomb Raider Anniversary are much more interactive: Lara can use them for lots of things, pick up a piece of wood on the ground and use it as a ladder. Puzzles are more complicated than in Tomb Raider Legend. There is no clue or sparkling thing to show you where to go.
There is more than one way to explore the environments and complete a level. You can choose the acrobatic way, or the easier way.
Fighting enemies is still an important part of the game: the beast are much more realistic and their AI has really been improved. They are more dangerous than before, they develop a real strategy to kill you. For example the Raptors run around Lara in circles until they are enough to jump at her and attack her.
There will be checkpoints like in Tomb Raider Legend where the game is saved.
Story
On the search for the Scion Lara will travel to Peru, Greece, Egypt and Atlantis.
Locations
In-game Elements
Gear
The inventory will be like in the first Tomb Raider (rotating ring). Additionally Lara will have her grapple, which will, according to rumour, not be magnetic this time.
Weapons
First Aid Items
Other Gear
Secrets
There are 58 secrets in Tomb Raider Anniversary. 8 of them are special Relics, the rest are simple artifacts.
| Level | Relic | Artifact |
|---|---|---|
| Peru - Mountain Caves | 1 | 3 |
| Peru - City of Vilcabamba | 0 | 1 |
| Peru - The Lost Valley | 1 | 2 |
| Peru - Tomb of Qualopec | 0 | 2 |
| Greece - St. Francis Folly | 0 | 6 |
| Greece - The Coliseum | 0 | 1 |
| Greece - Midas's Palace | 2 | 1 |
| Greece - Tomb of Tihocan | 0 | 2 |
| Egypt - Temple of Khamoon | 1 | 3 |
| Egypt - Obelisk of Khamoon | 0 | 4 |
| Egypt - Sanctuary of the Scion | 1 | 2 |
| Lost Island - Natla's Mines | 1 | 4 |
| Lost Island - The Great Pyramid | 1 | 1 |
| Lost Island - Final Conflict | 0 | 4 |
| Overall | 8 | 36 |
Outfits
Lara wears her classical braid, not the hair of Tomb Raider Legend. Throughout the basic game she will wear her Classic green Outfit. Like in Tomb Raider Legend, several costumes will be unlockable, like the Sola Diving Suit and a full body black Catsuit.
- Anniversary
- Legend
- Doppelganger
- Camouflage
- Golden
- Croft Manor Sport
- Classic
- Wetsuit
- Catsuit
- Scorched Natla
Vehicles
There are no in-game vehicles in this game. We will see Lara driving her blue Norton Motorbike.
Riddles
Characters & Enemies
Alister and Zip will not accompany Lara during her travels this time.
Characters
- Lara Croft
- Jacqueline Natla
- Winston Smith
- Larson Conway
- Kold Kin Kade
- Pierre DuPont
- Jerome "The Kid" Johnson
- Tihocan
- Qualopec
- Richard Croft
Enemies
- Bats
- Wolves
- Bears
- Velociraptors
- T-Rex
- Lions
- Rats
- Crocodiles
- Giant Gorillas
- Pumas
- Cat Mummies
- Centaurs
- Winged Atlantean
- Crawling Atlantean
- Legless Mutant
- Atlantean Lara
Traps, Obstacles & Riddles
She has to solve similar riddles as in the original Tomb Raider.
Controls
The Tomb Raider Legend controls are also used in Tomb Raider: Anniversary. There are even some new moves like running along a wall, rope in hand and balancing on a pillar. When Lara walks on unstable surfaces, you have to maintain her balance. You can also do cart wheels.
Ratings
ESRB Rating
The rating is T for Teen because of Mild Suggestive Themes and Violence
Development
Press Releases
May 2007
LET THE CELEBRATIONS BEGIN ON JUNE 1st
LARA CROFT TOMB RAIDER ANNIVERSARY EUROPEAN STREET DATE ANNOUNCED
Eidos Interactive Ltd., one of the world's leading publishers and developers of entertainment software, can confirm the European street date for the PlayStation 2 and PC Games For Windows versions of Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary will be June 1st 2007, with the PSP version to follow very shortly.
The world's love affair with Lara Croft began back in 1996 with the launch of the original Tomb Raider game. Since then, Tomb Raider has gone on to become one of the world's most successful videogame franchises of all time, and Lara's latest adventure, Tomb Raider: Anniversary is a celebration of Lara’s original adventure in an entirely new Crystal Dynamics game.
"Our goal was to capture the essence of what made the original Tomb Raider game such an incredible adventure, and use this to create a brand new Tomb Raider game. Building on the technology, tools and experience we developed for Tomb Raider: Legend, we've created Anniversary, a completely fresh experience for Tomb Raider fans and a brand new game for those who are new to the series," said Sean Vesce, Studio Manager, Crystal Dynamics.
"The original Tomb Raider game made Lara Croft the icon she is today. Tomb Raider: Anniversary is our way of paying tribute to Lara and the history of the franchise that will not only appeal to her fans, but also encourage a whole new generation of Lara lovers," said Kathryn Clements, Senior Brand Manager, Tomb Raider.
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary will ship throughout Europe on June 1st on PlayStation 2 and PC Games For Windows.
July 2006
Eidos Interactive, one of the world's leading publishers and developers of entertainment software, confirms today that they are developing a special '10th Anniversary Edition' of Tomb Raider.
The new game is being developed by Crystal Dynamics, who recently launched Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend on Xbox 360, PS2, Xbox, PC and PSP, with versions on Nintendo DS, GBA and GameCube later in 2006.
"Our '10th Anniversary Edition' of Tomb Raider, is a one-off title to celebrate both Lara and Tomb Raider, it will appeal not only to the loyal fans of the Tomb Raider series but will also attract a totally new audience." Said Larry Sparks, Head of Brands Management at Eidos.
Tomb Raider originally launched in 1996 and is still one of the best selling videogame franchises of all time, with over 30 million copies sold.
The special '10th Anniversary Edition' of Tomb Raider will be available on PlayStation 2, PSP and PC.
August 16th 2006
We've also made plans for an anniversary edition which will be coming out next year, Ian Livingstone said in an interview with Eurogamer.
October 2006
Eidos' Message to the Tomb Raider Community Eidos is pleased to announce some special news directly to the Tomb Raider community. The official name of the next Tomb Raider game is Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary, and the first screenshot is going straight to where it matters most - the people who have supported Lara across the years. As most of you may already know, Tomb Raider: Anniversary is a revitalized version of the original adventure that started it all. This game is more than just a remake; it is a celebration of Lara Croft and the history of the Tomb Raider franchise. One would need to be blind to not see the impact that Lara Croft has had, both on gaming in general, as well as pop-culture. She is a character that people connect with, a character that transcends the media in which she was originally presented. However, Lara's rise to fame didn't just magically happen. There has been a very powerful, dedicated fan base that has not only tracked her every move over the last 10 years, but helped transform her from being just a video game character, to an international digital celebrity. Every time a new Tomb Raider game has been released, the fans have asked for a remake of the original. Tomb Raider: Anniversary is our answer. This game is for the fans. It only makes sense that the first information, as well as much more to come, goes directly to the fans. We hope you enjoy the screenshot, and keep your eye out for more information soon...
October 2006
Eidos Celebrates with Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary Inspired by the original Tomb Raider comes a totally new Lara adventure
Eidos Interactive Ltd., one of the world's leading publishers and developers of entertainment software, today confirms that the next Tomb Raider game will be entitled Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary and is set for release on PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable (PSP) and PC in 2007.
Inspired by the first Tomb Raider videogame, originally released in 1996, LARA CROFT TOMB RAIDER: ANNIVERSARY is a totally new 2006 adventure for Lara, faithfully preserving the elements which made the original Tomb Raider such a classic, selling over 7 million copies worldwide. Using an enhanced 'Tomb Raider: Legend' game engine, the graphics, technology, physics and engine bring Lara's adventure and pursuit of a mystical artefact known only as the Scion right up to today's technology standards and will offer gamers a completely new gameplay experience.
"Over the years we have had literally thousands of requests to re-make the original Tomb Raider for today's gamer, we have gone a step further, we have taken the original story and made a completely new version for Tomb Raider: Anniversary." said Kathryn Clements, Senior Brand Manager, Eidos. "We are re-telling an incredible story using today’s technology, we've taken all of the key moments from the original game and put them into the context of a brand new Tomb Raider adventure which will make fans of the franchise extremely happy but also attract a completely new audience."
"We've captured the essence of what made the original game so special and with today's technology, created a game that pushes the boundaries of the current gaming consoles. Tomb Raider: Anniversary is a special celebration of Lara's reign as videogaming's leading lady" said Ian Livingstone, Eidos.
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary is currently in development by Crystal Dynamics and will be available in 2007 on PlayStation 2, PSP and PC
Internet Rumours
A video has come out on the internet before it was supposed to, showing the animation of the T-Rex and of Larson when it apparently was not supposed to be. This is a genuine video showing the T-Rex's animations alongside the velociraptors and bears and the animations of Larson. Crystal Dynamics and Eidos have not meant for this video to come out. It was put online on the animation artist's website and from there reached other Tomb Raider Fansites as well as youtube. It was quickly and inexplicably removed, although it has been confirmed that this video has been banned on the internet.
Links
- with trailers
- official Core Design Website
- relevant Topic in the Core Forum
- Interview with Ian Livingstone by Eurogamer.net
- GameSpot Article & Trailer
- GamesRadar Exclusive Anniversary Week
- * Tomb Raider Anniversary Demo - The Lost Valley
