Tomb Raider: Legend - First Look

[TombCrow]

Tomb Raider: Legend

03/06/2005
By: Chris Leyton

Tomb Raider: Legend - First Look

Legendary Lara travels back to the future for the Tomb Raider franchise and Eidos...

The prominent rise and dramatic fall from grace of Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider franchise is one of the most noted in the videogame industry; for years Lara and her obvious charms entranced gamers who sucked up everything they could, and then things began to go a little wrong. The heavily delayed debut of Lara Croft on the then next-generation technology of Playstation2 was hugely hyped and promised much, starring a darker, edgier heroine and the introduction of Stealth/RPG aspects – surely it couldn't go wrong, but how wide of the mark they were.

The result as everybody knows was an absolute disaster, adamantly refusing to evolve important elements such as the fluidity of control and camera-work, Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness subsequently almost killed Lara off and ensured that the franchise' original creators, Core Design, were hastily removed from the franchise they created and assigned the task of creating PSP titles.

We say "almost", as Eidos took the late decision to put the franchise under the capable hands of Core Dynamics; the best news however for Tomb Raider fans is that the series creator and the man responsible for bringing Lara Croft to life, Toby Gard, has been reacquainted with his creation having left Core after Tomb Raider 1 to begin work on the equally notorious Galleon.

E3'05 provided the first chance for us to see what Crystal Dynamics have been up to with the debut of Tomb Raider: Legend, and mercifully a combination of entirely new technology and design looks to put Lara back to where she belongs – or more importantly out of the cities and into the tombs!

One of the most startling changes regards Lara herself, who courtesy of Gard has undergone a significant make-over, resulting in a more natural style that is in no-way less enticing for all the pre-pubescent males out there and those like me who refuse to grow up. There's less doom and gloom surrounding Lara these days it seems, and the changeover certainly seems to have given her a new lease of life.

Thankfully the team at Crystal Dynamics have started from scratch, completely removing the grid-based movement system that signified previous Tomb Raider titles and implementing an advanced camera system that rarely frustrates. The result looks to be a fluid blend between character control and camera movement, something that the franchise has desperately needed for many, many years and more importantly no more "one step forwards and two steps back" before every jump.

Within the game Lara has access to a variety of gadgets and gizmos designed to help her progress, but rather then store these away in a clunky interface system, you can simply see what you've got by looking at Lara's model as everything is visually stored on her. The demonstration introduced a Blue-Tooth headset which allows Lara to keep in touch with a tech-team presumably back in England headed by Lara's trusted Butler. Lara's most useful new toy has to be the Magnetic Grappling Hook however, which allows her to pull items towards her, interact with objects and also to traverse the environment in ways never before possible; examples of the grappling hook in action included pulling a raft towards herself across a ravenous white-water section and swinging across a chasm in traditional Tomb Raider style. Other bits and bobs accessible to Lara include a Personal Light Detector attached to her chest that automatically switches on when natural light is limited, along with binoculars to scout a particular area, a variety of grenades and the return of flares!

The integration of real-time physics appears to be a significant drive behind the title as the game's various environmental puzzles are largely integrated within this, while the technology also allows for destructible environments to some degree. The result appears to emphasise the action and helps to create a more believable game world, which in turn leads to some interesting scenarios within the game.

Although the game breakdown takes an even split between combat/action, exploration/platform and puzzles, each element appears to have been significantly overhauled to the point of becoming something of a rebirth for the franchise. Combat in particularly looks to jump way beyond what was offered in previous titles, placing the emphasis back on Lara's gun-slinging skills. Although she could probably kick your arse with a blindfold on, Crystal Dynamics have created a system whereby you use melee attacks to create a split-second opening in which to pull back the triggers – swing onto a ledge, into a roll to kick-flip an opponent into the air and then let the double uzi's do the talking, or perhaps a slide tackle against an unsuspecting adversary to gain a similar advantage. Combine the stylish moves with a targeting system that actually works and takes in a variety of context-sensitive actions, and you finally have a Tomb Raider game that has evolved to present day expectations and possibly beyond.

Taking note of previous criticisms, Crystal Dynamics have taken the camera system straight back to the drawing board and come up with a method that whilst not revolutionary should certainly ease the frustrations associated with the franchise. The game stays close to the traditional third-person methodology but presents "sensible" cinematic views when needed; during the 30 minute demonstration we witnessed a variety of occasions when this became apparent and was surprised that the camera didn't get lodged at a weird angle or become fixated on Lara on a single occasion. Thankfully you can still take manual control of the camera, however it's looking unlikely that you'll need to resort to this during the game as it makes vast leaps in terms of fluidity and response.

The main target for the team was completely eradicating the "trial-and-error" nature of the series in order to save her from the "stupid-death syndrome"; through the vast improvements made to the camera/control system, most notably in the removal of the grid-based system, Tomb Raider: Legend finally looks likely to be the Tomb Raider game we've wanted.

As stated during the opening paragraphs the game firmly puts Lara back to where she belongs, gamers can expect to explore tombs from all across the globe taking in exotic locations such as West Africa, Himalayas, South America, Russia and Tokyo in an experience that is likely to weigh in between 10-12 hours to complete. The team has worked hard on a save system stemming from previous criticisms, placing regular checkpoints that should hopefully eradicate past frustrations of struggling through a level and having to restart from the beginning all over again simply because you inched too far back and the camera was pointing the wrong way!

Perhaps the only doubt regarding the title came in regards to the crucial voice acting, an element that the team are meticulously scouring the earth for in order to find the "perfect voice" for Lara Croft. Those awaiting confirmation of the rumoured Xbox360 version will also have to wait, as no suggestion was alluded to at E3.

While we had little doubt that Crystal Dynamics would improve upon the atrocity that was Angel of Darkness, we were doubtful that it would be a significant leap and of the opinion that Lara's appeal amongst the masses may have past.

Having finally seen Tomb Raider: Legend in action however we're happy to say that Lara is well and truly back on the map, not only making up for her previous adventure but also making significant evolutions across every fundamental aspect of the game – this is the Tomb Raider that we've been waiting eight long years for...

[yew]

先翻译这一个行不行，那个杂志图片后翻译？

[TombCrow]

好啊,这篇还更新鲜

[yew]

疯掉了，作者怎么那么理性呀，前面说了那么多好话，最后却不停地doubt，又不是在考唯物辩证法。这次翻译，对文章动了点刀子，适当增强/弱化了一些句子的语气。晚上贴出来。

[TombCrow]

慢慢来，我最近的翻译也改了不少
主要是抱怨黑暗天使的废话实在是太多了，特别是GameRanking的第二篇，我就把好多话都给吃了

[yew]

好了，我来了。
第一句就没有按照字面意思来。【动作】 yew 两手一摊无奈地耸耸肩。

这个人把"franchise "用得太频繁了，好俗气！
03/06/2005
作者: 克利斯·莱顿

《古墓丽影：传说》预览

传奇人物劳拉为了古墓丽影的荣耀和Eidos又回来了。。。

劳拉·克劳馥特和古墓丽影系列大起大落的经历是视频游戏工业史上最值得大书特书的一个；数年来劳拉和她显而易见的魅力吸引着那些痴狂的游戏玩家 ，然后情况开始有点不顺。先是劳拉·克劳馥特数次的跳票然后是PS2次世代技术天花乱坠的宣传以及信誓旦旦的保证，加上一个更深肤色的，更急躁的女英雄还有"秘密行动/角色扮演"模式的引入——制作方认为稳操胜券不可能有什么闪失，但是这次他们错的离谱。

其结果为众人公认是十足的灾难，顽固地拒绝改进那些很重要的元素诸如流畅的控制以及镜头的动作，《古墓丽影：黑暗天使》几乎葬送了劳拉，正统的设计团队Core Design，也被仓促地剥夺了开发权并授命开发PSP平台游戏。

说"几乎"，是因为Eidos后来决定把开发权交给实力不凡的晶体动力;对于古墓丽影粉丝来说，最好的消息莫过于古墓丽影系列的创始人，那个赋予劳拉·克劳馥特生命的人，托比·伽德，被重新征招，他在完成古墓丽影1代后就离开了Core制作同样(应指《黑暗天使》译注)声名狼籍的《大帆船》。

05年的E3展会是一个机会，抱着对《古墓丽影：传说》的审视的态度我们第一次检阅了晶体动力的工作进展，不错的是全新的技术和设计的搭配似乎将劳拉拉回到了本源——或者更直白地说，从喧嚣的城市中回到了神秘的古墓!

最让人大吃一惊的莫过于来自劳拉自身，感谢伽德出色的人设，造就了一种更加自然的风格诱惑着在座的所有未成年男生和那些像我一样拒绝长大的人。 劳拉身上少了一些晦气和阴暗，这些变化确实给予她一个焕然一新的生命。

感谢晶体动力的开发组的另起炉灶，彻底抛弃了古墓丽影旧作中颇为重要的"格子"系统并辅以一个先进的极少出错的镜头系统。其结果看起来做到了角色控制和镜头动作流畅的融和，这些特性已经强烈期盼了很多很多年而且更重要的是做大跳跃之前不再"向前一步然后后退两步"了 。

在游戏中劳拉可以使用各种新鲜玩艺来助她一臂之力，设计者宁可将这些装备存放在别的地方也不愿存放在笨拙的界面栏里，你能够轻易地了解你取得的装备，只需看看劳拉身上有什么就够了。 演示动画介绍了蓝牙耳机使得劳拉能够保持与大概位于英格兰，由劳拉的亲信巴特勒所主持的智囊团的联系。 劳拉最有用的新玩具算是磁性抓钩了，藉此她可以到达以前无法到达的地方; 例如用抓钩拖来一艘橡皮筏来渡过一个诡异的白色水区，还可以用来以传统的古墓丽影风格荡过一个深坑。其它密秘武器还包括劳拉胸前挂着的个人测光电筒，会在自然光线不足的时候会自动打开，还有望远镜，各式榴弹以及再次回归的火炬!

实时动画似乎是故事背后的关键要素，因为游戏的各种环境迷题在很大程度上与此惜惜相关，开发人员也一定程度上考虑了可加以破坏的环境元素。 其结果看来似乎是强调交互性以促成一个更加可信的游戏世界，并依次引发游戏中的有趣剧情。

尽管游戏对格斗/互动，探险/剧情和迷题方面作了恰当的分离，出于复兴的目的，每种要素看起来都明显经过彻底的推敲。体术特别是跳跃的方式超越了所有前作，突出了劳拉的枪技。 尽管她戴着眼罩也能踢中你的屁股，晶体动力还是设计了一个当你混战时使用的攻击系统来制造一个瞬间的空当来扣动扳机——荡到岩壁上，就地一滚将敌人踢到空中后再让双乌兹来善后，或者是用闪的方式应付一个未察觉到的敌人以取得相同的优势。 时髦的动作和瞄准系统配合良好加上各式灵敏的承前启后的交互响应，你最终拥有的是一个革新后的超越前作的古墓丽影。

由于注意到以前的恶评，晶体动力重新设计了镜头系统 并提出一个勿需革新的同时确实能减少失误的方案。游戏保持传统的第三人称视角，但是在需要的时候也会呈现"可辨别的"电影视角;在30分钟的演示画面中我们目睹了系统在各种情况下的表现并惊讶于镜头并没有出现奇怪的角度或是在某种情况下出现固定在劳拉身上不动的错误 。幸运的是你还能够手动控制镜头，然而在游戏过程中你似乎并不需要使用此功能，因为这会极大地影响游戏的流畅性和控制响应。

开发组的主要目标是完全地根除"错误"以期避免出现"低级死亡综合症"; 通过对"镜头/控制系统"的大量改进，主要是弃用"格子"系统，《古墓丽影：传说》最终很像是我们所期待的古墓丽影。

游戏从一开始就坚定地将劳拉送回到她属于地方，因此玩家可以预期到世界各地的古墓去揽胜包括那些充满异国情调的地点例如西非洲，喜马拉雅山，南美洲，俄罗斯和东京，估计需要10-12小时来通关。开发组已在存储系统上大作文章以阻止以前的批评，合理安排的自动存档应该有望消除仅仅是因为你跑的太靠后导致镜头指引你错误的方向造成的通关路上的失误!避免你不得不从头再来的噩运。

也许唯一的疑问就在于那关键的配音，开发组正小心谨慎的寻觅劳拉·克劳馥特的"完美嗓音"。 这些等待证实了传闻的Xbox360平台版也将不得不等待的事实，因为E3展上没有关于此的任何消息发布。

然而我们还是有一点怀疑晶体动力会做出比受恶评的《黑暗天使》更好的作品，这是否会是一个显著的飞跃我们还持谨慎态度，劳拉被团团包围的关注也许已成为过去。

但是最终能看到《古墓丽影：传说》在运作，我们还是高兴地说劳拉很不错，后果很理想，不仅修正了前作的优点而且游戏的每一个基础的方方面面都有重大的革新——这是一个我们已经等待８年之久的古墓丽影。。。

[TombCrow]

太好了，多谢yew！

[god_paul]

试验地点：lara家中客厅二楼的3个金属柱子
常规操作：去对面，就必须先跳起抓住柱子，等lara反转360度后按space就到了第二根柱子
问题来了：每次要等他转360度才到下一根柱子，太慢了，可否快一点，答案是可以的
新操作：跳上第一个柱子后往前跳到第二根柱子是立即快速按两下space键，lara立刻就到了下一根柱子，之间的过程看不见的（赫赫，现实中不太可能，毕竟是游戏吗）

[Rainbow]

是指那个空中连翻的动作吗？

[god_paul]

对，连空翻

[羽化蝉]

中间团了一下身，所以加快了回转速度。

[天生露露]

看了你的帖子我想了一下，你说的不是柱子，而是横杠，如果你觉得我理解错了的话就别往下看了。
这根本就不是什么新动作，也不是照你所说的连续按两下就可以完成的动作，而是要劳拉身体在与地面垂直的时候按下去才会发生这个动作，按早按迟也没用的，这个在一些会掉落的横杠上比较有用，还有，我感觉好像第一次跳上横杠一定要360度转一次才行，接着第二第三个才能出现这个效果，在日本的那关比较好用。

[ilovelctr]

楼上的说的没错!

[兰色补丁]

原来如此啊

[时空道标]

这个动作的确不是什么新动作，只不过双臂回环摆荡为零圈（一般习惯上要一圈或更多），只要有两个或以上横杆之类的地方就可以用到这个动作。。。。