Yes, another post about Tomb Raider: 2013. What can I say, I'm extremely excited about it's upcoming release. So I have been doing some browsing and have come across a really informative and interesting website for all things Tomb Raider. On this site, I located a news article detailing the announcement of the game's first multi-player map. Now, this is the first time a multi-player aspect has come to the Tomb Raider franchise but, let's face it, it's what everyone looks for when they buy a game these days - "can I play with my friends", well yes you can! Right from the title, you can see that the first map is going to be a shanty town style. Now, whether or not they actual map will be called Shanty Town I do not know, but it's a brilliant source. It also states that certain retailers are now offering you the map if you pre-order the game. Whilst this may entice some people, I don't like the idea of being forced to pre-order something in order to get a perk before anyone else - I am quite happy playing through the single player campaign before jumping into multi-player. After all, the Tomb Raider games are renowned for their single player action. I've included some concept art below. All three are taken from the source website, but I cannot find them anywhere on the official tombraider.com site, so I cannot guarantee their authenticity.
Click on the icons for a larger preview image. All Photos: www.tombnews.com
I really don't know what to expect from Tomb Raider multi-player. I can't see how it's going to work, unless they're going to make it the bog standard FPS model. If they do this, it'll just be a Call of Duty masked as something else. I hope they incorporate other features into the multi-player. Perhaps a unique co-op campaign?
I will add more Tomb Raider news to the blog when something juicy is released. If you want all the latest news, regardless of category, you can visit the website that I got my information from today - www.tombnews.com
Les Miserables is a well known novel by Victor Hugo. It has been adapted into theatrical performances for many years now and has, this year, been turned into a film. Sam managed to pick up some free tickets to a preview showing of the film this evening, so we decided to go and see it. I must say, I was impressed. I will admit that I was not looking forward to it. Having seen the theatrical performance (which is stunning, by the way) I couldn't see how they would successfully convert it into a film, a decent one anyway. However, as it was free, I though I might as well give it a go - after much persuasion from the Sam. I'm not going to spoil it. If you have read the book or seen it at the theatre then there isn't really anything to spoil but for the benefit of those who are new to Les Mis I won't mention any part of the story.
Iconic image used to promote theatrical performances of Les Miserables
I was pleasantly surprised by the film to be quite honest. With strong performances from Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe, you won't be disappointed if you do decide to go and see it. I must warn you, especially if you haven't seen Les Mis in the theatre, it is a very long film - around 2 and a half hours. It's worth mentioning that this will probably turn to about 3 hours ish with adverts and trailers (something that a preview doesn't have, fortunately).
Also, with it being a sung-story musical, there is non stop songs from start to finish. If this isn't your thing, don't bother.
Film poster
I would definitely recommend giving it a watch. It's an inspiring story and one you are not likely to forget. It also has an unforgettable music track list with favourites such as "I dreamed a dream" and "Look down".
If you haven't read the book, and would like to know the background story before watching the film, then you should be able to pick up a second hand copy relatively cheap. It's a French book so you'll need the English translation, unless you can read French of course. You can actually pick up the Kindle edition of the English translated version for £0.00 - yes, it's completely free at the moment. (Please note that this price is correct as of 23:54GMT on 08/01/13).
The film is released in UK cinemas on 11th January, 2013. It's a very popular tale so expect queues and packed screens on release day.
The hugely anticipated, latest instalment of Tomb Raider is due out in early March. As you can see from the image above, taken directly from the tombraider.com website, Lara looks a lot different than in previous games.
Then again, the entire story is different. Square Enix, who now publish the franchise, have taken a different spin on the life of Lara Croft. No longer is she the hardened adventurer that you experienced in previous versions. In the new Lara Croft, she's a fresh adventurer, new to the field and rearing to get going. Unfortunately she gets herself into a right pickle and has to learn how to survive, and how to do it well.
The story on the official site explains how the game explores Lara's origins and how she must adapt in order to survive and become the veteran she is on previous titles. The developers, Crystal Dynamics, have really thought through this one and the trailer makes the game look incredibly enticing. I know this is the sole purpose of a trailer but I don't know, with this it's different and obvious that a lot of time has gone into it. I mean, we've been waiting since 2008 for another instalment. I genuinely thought they weren't going to reboot the series.
Many people have already jumped the gun and criticised Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix of creating an aura of sexist fantasy amongst male gamers. The most informative article I found that tackles this topic was from The Guardian. You can read the article here. In my opinion, Tomb Raider has always been targeted more towards the male gamer. Why else would they use an athletic, fearless and strong female lead who hardly wears any clothes and has larger than average assets?
A multiplayer mode has also been confirmed. I wonder how this will turn out, and what is planned for it. What types of game modes will see, weapons, maps. Building a multiplayer platform is just as important and requires the same attention to detail as the standard single player mode. It is being developed by none other than Eidos Montreal, the developers responsible for Deus Ex: Human Revolution, so I have my fingers crossed for something at least half decent. It also pleases me that the studio developing the multiplayer have a link to the franchises old publisher, Eidos Interactive.
Price wise, it marries up nicely to other high end games of this modern day. There are 3 separate packages for sale: Standard, Collectors and Survival. You can pre-order them now from Game UK for the following prices:
Standard: £39.99
Collectors: £74.99
Survival: £54.99
It is worth noting that, with the collectors and survival versions, you get some rather nice additions. The collectors additions comes with an 8" Lara Croft figurine - great for all those die hard fans who want good old Lara in their display cabinet. There's also a map, art book and a "survival tin" that the game rests in. In-game content wise, you get a weapons DLC pack (presumably for the multiplayer aspect but can't confirm) and a 10 track score (not entirely sure what this is).
The survival pack is very similar to the collectors, although there is no figurine and the game packaging is different. You still get the map, art book and in-game content however.
Personally, I won't be pre-ordering a fancy copy. I'll go to the shops on release day and purchase a standard copy instead. I cannot justify the massive price hike, sorry.
Tomb Raider: Survivor is released in the UK on 5th March, 2013 and will initially be for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC. I reckon it'll play better, or at least feel right, on the PS3 because the Playstation is Tomb Raider's roots - where it all began. I'm not sure if they'll release a Wii version, but there's no sniff of speculation about it so I can't see it becoming a possibility.
