Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Legend Preview

作者 TombCrow, 2006 一月 27, 02:11:51

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TombCrow

Date: Tue., Jan. 24, 2006
Source: UGO

Ah, Tomb Raider, the little game series that could. Who could forget blocky, bosomy Lara Croft and her adventures through an even blockier series of complex dungeons? The series had always been plagued with its problems, be it the trial-and-error gameplay, the haphazard gun fighting mechanics, or the downright obnoxious grid movement system.

This isn\'t to say the games weren\'t any fun. It was certainly a rewarding experience to finish a particularly difficult string of puzzles, but more often than not, Lara would trip up and be forced to do the entire process over again.

Fast forward to today and the promise of a better Tomb Raider experience. The latest version boasts a new design team, new engine and even a new character model for the ever-sexy Lara Croft (who I might add is still pretty darn hot despite the noticeable reduction in her shirt area).

The good folks at Crystal Dynamics seem to have been paying attention to the faults of Tomb Raider. While taking the game back to its ancient landscapes, Crystal Dynamics has made quite a few must-have changes to the old archaic tomb-raiding formula. First and foremost, Lara will no longer move in the infamous grid pattern. With Lara being more fluid in motion, it will be very easy to pull the many acrobatic stunts required to complete each perilous stage. On that note, Lara now has many new animations for things such as wall-jumping, vine-swinging and shimmying. This opens the door to all sorts of new and exciting environmental puzzles, the likes of Prince of Persia or ICO.

Another much-needed addition to the series is the ability to restart from the last major puzzle. Gone are the days of being inches from the stage exit, dying a pitiful death, and being forced to do it all over again. In Tomb Raider: Legend if you get down to the final steps of a stage, accidentally step on a trap and die, you will automatically restart back to the end of the last major puzzle.

One helpful feature Crystal Dynamics implemented was an auto falling prevention. If Lara gets too close to a hazardous edge, instead of just taking the plunge, she will automatically stop moving forward. This will allow the player to worry less about those annoying small obstacles and focus instead on the bigger challenges.

Gun fighting has also been tweaked in Crystal Dynamics\' hands. In the heat of battle, Lara can whip out on of several new guns which will be mentioned later, and fight back using a new targeting system. Lara will be able to focus in on points of interest and shoot them with a specially mapped button. She can also cycle through her targets using the right analog stick. If that wasn\'t enough, the developers even included a first-person aiming mode for more accurate shooting.

Peppered throughout the adventure are a few other types of gameplay styles. At certain points in Lara\'s quest, cutscenes will play, and prompt the user to press a series of buttons in order to get Lara free from danger, a la Dragon\'s Lair or Indigo Prophecy. Also, during the trailers, Lara can be seen driving a motorcycle. Crystal Dynamics won\'t say for sure that players will be able to drive the cycle, but the footage looks as though Lara will get her fare share of burning rubber in before the adventure is through.

The gameplay isn\'t the only thing that\'s changed since the big dev team switch, though. Most noticeably, Lara\'s appearance has radically changed. Her face is set to more realistic proportions as is the rest of her body. Well, most of her body anyway. The things that made Lara popular in the first place are still a little... excessive, but I guess you could call it excess in moderation. The character redesigns were made to supposedly give her new acrobatic animations a more believable look. Personally, I always thought Lara look a bit like a cross between a baboon and a trashy stripper, so her redesign is very much welcomed by this writer. While Lara now sports a different look and more polygons, she also is able to visibly show the wear and tear of her journey. Lara\'s clothes will get dirty throughout the game, as will they get wet (don\'t get too excited) and dry off over time. These are small features, but they show just how far Crystal Dynamics will go to make a believable environment.

Of course, Lara can\'t go raiding tombs with only her short shorts and small overcoat. To complement the new redesign, Lara also sports new equipment such as a grappling hook to swing over chasms, a GPS to help her find her way out of a tight spot, and aflashlight, handy for seeing in the dark- thank God we don\'t have to use those sad disposable flares anymore. Lara will also be able to pack seven kinds of heat ranging from her dual pistols to shotguns, to assault rifles to even RPGs and grenade launchers. Needless to say, she\'ll be one tough cookie.

As far as the story goes, Crystal Dynamics and Eidos are being tight lipped about the whole affair. They claim that they are taking Lara Croft back to her roots and starting over again fresh.

Looking back over the series, it\'s clear it has been in desperate need of an overhaul ever since episode 2. It\'s sad it\'s taken so long for Tomb Raider to get this much-needed revamp, but all changes are welcome. It certainly appears none of the old gameplay problems will show up in this new outing, but let\'s hope that the amount of programming bugs goes drastically down from that scene in Angel of Darkness. Maybe the seventh time\'s a charm for our lovely Tomb Raider and her short shorts.

http://www.ugo.com/channels/games/features/tombraiderlegend/default.asp

TombCrow

咦?台湾的朋友已经翻译了(还没有仔细看,应该是同一篇吧)


古墓奇兵已發展出好幾個系列的遊戲。誰會遺忘那個凹凸有緻、身材姣好的蘿拉卡芙特,以及她障礙接連、謎題重重的冒險呢?這些冒險總是有著惱人難解的謎題,無數個試驗與錯誤的輪迴,驚險刺激的技巧性纏鬥,以及十分令人不悅的方格式動作系統。

但這並不表示遊戲毫無樂趣。完成一項艱澀的謎團,是十分地有成就感的,但蘿拉偶而也會失常,讓整個過程必須重來。

整個遊戲發展至今,經驗足以累積成一個較完美的古墓奇兵。最近的新一代擁有全新的設計團隊,新的遊戲引擎以及特別為性感蘿拉打造全新的模型。

享譽遊戲界的 Crystal Dynamics 已經注意到了古墓奇兵過去的缺陷。 Crystal Dynamics 讓遊戲重返古代偉大遺跡的同時,也將一改過去老舊的古墓探險公式。首先,蘿拉將不再使用方格動作模型,蘿拉的動作將更為流暢,有效的在危及時刻簡單的使用特技動作完成每個任務。也就是說,蘿拉現在有更多更新的動畫,例如:蹬牆跳躍、藤蔓擺盪以及狐步 (shimmying) 。這些都將發展出各種令人驚喜興奮的謎題種類,就像波斯王子 (Prince of Persia) 與迷霧古城 (ICO) 一般。

另外一項革新就是將重新開始定義在上一個主要謎題的能力。那些步步為營死於非命,甚至是整個遊戲重玩的經歷都將不復存在。在\"古墓奇兵:傳奇\"中,如果你已經到解謎團的最後一步,卻意外地掉落陷阱死亡,系統將自動回到你上個謎團的最後一步。

其中 Crystal Dynamics 還有一項精心的自動防止掉落設計。如果蘿拉太靠近危險邊緣而不是出於自發性的跳下,她將自動停止往前。這將大大地減少玩家們花費心思去注意小細節,使能夠專心投入更多挑戰。

製作過程裡,槍戰的設計也曾讓 Crystal Dynamics 大傷腦筋。在幾場戰役當中,蘿拉將使用待會兒會提及到的幾項新武器,以及使用新的描準系統。蘿拉將能夠自發性地瞄準然後射擊,也可以透過右拇指搖桿做更具臨場感的射擊。如果還不夠盡興,研發團隊還增加了第一人稱補救模式,射擊更精準。

還有一些其他形式的遊戲操作將遍佈整個冒險。在蘿拉的探索中,過場動畫將提示玩家如何用一連串的按鍵擺脫危機,就像龍穴歷險 (Dragon\'s Lair) 和全面失控 (Indigo Prophecy)。透過預告片我們已經看過蘿拉騎機車馳騁,但 Crystal Dynamics 可不保證我們一定可以玩的到。

整個團隊已經轉移,遊戲方式當然不會是唯一的改革項目。值得注意的是,蘿拉的樣貌已經徹底地改變,她的臉甚至是其他身體部分都更為真實。至於那蘿拉身上的賣點還是有些......誇張,我想你大概也會同意要再適當一點吧!模型設計者已經在特技動畫中賦予她更真實的模樣。這樣嶄新與多邊形的蘿拉,還可以隨著旅途過程看到衣著的磨損與撕裂。蘿拉的服裝會髒,甚至也會溼(不用太期待走光)一直到自然風乾。縱使是小細節也可以看出 Crystal Dynamics 對於環境因子影響層面的用心。

無疑的,蘿拉不能總是指穿著熱褲與小背心穿梭於遺跡中。為了實現完美,蘿拉也配備了新設備,例如:掛在雙臀上的抓鉤,可以指引正確方向的 GPS 裝置,一只手電筒,謝天謝地我們終於擺脫了那些悲慘窮酸的照明彈。還有還有,蘿拉也將備有七種射程的武器,從雙槍到散彈槍、強力來福槍,甚至還有火箭彈發射器與榴彈筒。這次蘿拉也可是個狠角色阿!

到目前為止, Crystal Dynamics 與 EIDOS 的口風還是很緊。他們聲稱會回歸最原始的精神並展露創新。

回顧過去的作品,很明顯的可以看出在每個續作,都在冒險嘗試翻修,更不用說古墓奇兵花太多時間改頭換面,但終究是令人激賞的。我們一定可以在新作中擺脫舊作的種種缺失,但是希望不樣像\"黑暗天使\"那樣,出這麼多的紕漏。就讓我們展開笑容,迎接可愛的第七部古墓奇兵與小熱褲蘿拉吧~XDDD

資料來源:UGO.com
張貼者 Alexandre @ 11:46 下午
http://tr-news.blogspot.com/

台湾的朋友真有干劲......