Tomb Raider: Anniversary

Tomb Raider: Anniversary
Developer(s)	Crystal Dynamics Additional work by: Buzz Monkey Software (Wii, PS3) Nixxes Software BV (PC) Robosoft Technologies (Mac)
Publisher(s)	Eidos Interactive Feral Interactive (Mac OS X)[1]
Designer(s)	Toby Gard
Writer(s)	Toby Gard Matt Ragghianti
Composer(s)	Troels Brun Folmann
Series	Tomb Raider
Engine	Crystal engine
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, Wii, Mobile phone, Mac OS X, PlayStation 3
Release date(s)	1 June 2007 Microsoft Windows & PlayStation 2 EU 20070601June 1, 2007 NA 20070605June 5, 2007 AU 20070607June 7, 2007 JP 27 March 2008 (PS2) PlayStation Portable NA 20070809August 9, 2007 EU 26 October 2007[2] AU 20071102November 2, 2007 JP 20080327March 27, 2008 Xbox 360 NA 20071023October 23, 2007 EU 20071026October 26, 2007 AU 20071102November 2, 2007 JP 20080327March 27, 2008 Wii NA 20071113November 13, 2007 EU 20071207December 7, 2007 AU 20080207February 7, 2008 JP 20080327March 27, 2008 Mobile phone NA 1 December 2007 Mac OS X NA 15 February 2008 EU 31 March 2008 PlayStation 3 NA 22 March 2011 EU 25 March 2011 AUS 31 March 2011
Genre(s)	Action-adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player
Distribution	Optical disc, download

Tomb Raider: Anniversary is a 2007 action-adventure video game, part of the Tomb Raider series. It is a remake of the first video game in the series, the original 1996 Tomb Raider. It uses an improved version of the Legend game engine,^[3] and it includes all of the original environments from Tomb Raider.^[3]

The game was co-developed by Crystal Dynamics and Buzz Monkey Software for the PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 2, Windows and Wii.^[4] Eidos announced 1 June 2007 as the European release date for the PS2 and Windows version, with the North American release to follow on 5 June 2007.^[5][6] Additionally, the subscription PC gaming service GameTap announced that the game will be available on their service on the same day as the game went to retailers.^[7] The PSP version was released on 9 August 2007 in the United States and on 26 October 2007 in Europe, with the Wii version released in Europe on 7 December 2007.^[8] An Xbox 360 version was released on 23 October 2007^[9] and a version for the PlayStation 3 is included in The Tomb Raider Trilogy collection released in March 2011.^[10] The Mac OS X version of the game was released in February 2008 by Feral Interactive.^[1]

The game was well received by critics, with the PC version holding the highest score. It holds an 83 on Metacritic and 84.28% on GameRankings. The game sold 1.3 million copies worldwide, making it the least commercially successful game in the franchise, nevertheless, it was still a success.^[11]

Plot

In 1945 in New Mexico, a blast from a nuclear experiment during the Manhattan Project reveals a strange crystalline structure, from which a winged creature breaks free and flies away. In Calcutta 1996, Lara Croft is approached by Larson Conway, who introduces her to Jacqueline Natla, who wishes Lara to find a piece of an artefact called the Scion, located in the Peruvian mountains. Lara, having searched unsuccessfully for such an artefact with her father in the past, agrees to go.

In the Peruvian mountains, Lara finds a tomb belonging to the Atlantean king Qualopec. She discovers that he was one of three Kings (the Triumvirate) who ruled Atlantis before it sank. Lara leaves with a piece of the three-part Scion, but notices movement from what had appeared to be a statue of Qualopec before the tomb collapses. Shortly after, Lara is confronted by Larson, who attempts to take the Scion piece from her. After knocking him out, she discovers that Natla has sent Pierre Dupont, another archaeologist, to find the next piece. Lara breaks into Natla's office and finds evidence that the next piece of the Scion is located in St. Francis Folly in Greece.

Lara departs to Greece, and finds the second piece of the Scion in the depths of a tomb. While Lara studies the empty coffin of Tihocan, the second member of the Triumvirate, Pierre ambushes Lara, forcing her at gun point to give up her piece of the Scion. After Pierre takes the piece Lara tries to take him by surprise but he escapes with the Scion piece in hand, only to be killed by guardian centaurs outside of the tomb. After defeating the centaurs, and joining both pieces of the Scion, Lara sees a vision,and it reveals the location of the third and final piece of the Scion: Egypt.

Lara travels to Egypt, and successfully retrieves the third piece of the Scion. After assembling all three pieces, Lara's earlier vision becomes much clearer. In Lara's visions two of the three Kings, Tihocan and Qualopec, are sentencing the third one, revealed to be Natla, to imprisonment. Natla, after releasing Atlantis' own army against itself in an attempt to bring about what she refers to as the Seventh Age, is imprisoned in the crystalline structure for a thousand years.

With Lara in a trance, Natla steals the Scion, and has Lara restrained by her three henchmen. Lara escapes and follows the departing Natla on a motorbike, managing to sneak onto Natla's departing boat. Lara follows Natla into a desolate mine, and kills Larson when he tries to stop her. Visibly shaken, Lara then confronts Kold and Kid, who end up killing each other in the skirmish. Lara then travels to the top of the Atlantean pyramid and confronts Natla.

Not long into the confrontation with Natla, Lara realises that Natla's plan is to resurrect the army of Atlantis. Natla attempts to convince Lara to stop opposing her, and become immortal like her. Lara destroys Scion instead, and is then tackled by Natla, who falls into the lava while Lara uses her grappling hook to survive. Lara, thinking Natla dead, tries to escape, being confronted by a giant mutant along the way. She is soon confronted by an angry Natla, severely burnt, but unimpeded in ability. After a confrontation, Lara collapses a pillar supporting the pyramid onto Natla, trapping her under the collapsing pyramid. Lara escapes and sails away in Natla's boat.^[12]

Characters

Development

The new graphically improved Sanctuary of the Scion.

Core Design: Tomb Raider 10th Anniversary Edition

A video game trailer showing footage of a new Tomb Raider game was distributed on the Internet on 8 June 2006. The titles and logos of the trailer claimed that the title was Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary Edition, a PSP game by Core Design. The trailer featured Lara Croft in familiar yet remodelled environments from the original, Tomb Raider, complete with new animations, and interactions which were much more elaborate than what was in the original release of the game. The footage from the trailer was running on the PSP hardware, using the Free Running engine. The video is now difficult to find across the Internet, since it infringes copyright and was not supposed to be revealed to the public.^{[citation needed]}

The next week, Eidos Interactive announced that it would be making Tomb Raider: 10th Anniversary Edition for PS2, PSP, and Windows. It would be designed by Crystal Dynamics, an American game development company that replaced Core and went on to create the seventh entry in the series, Tomb Raider: Legend.^[13] In addition, Buzz Monkey Software would provide the development effort.

When creating the Free Running engine, the team played with a Lara model and suddenly developed the idea of creating a remake of their 1996 classic. They suggested the idea to Eidos, who agreed and allowed them to continue. Early on, Core decided that the game would have to be graphically similar to Tomb Raider: Legend, so they gave the Lara model facial similarities. New to the game was the idea of pole swinging, absent in the original. It also had the concept of 'ledge-hopping', as was seen in Legend. Coincidentally, Core introduced cross-hair targeting, which they later discovered was also being used in Legend. Core were also including a brand new extended final level, where Lara would battle a huge Atlantean war machine as Atlantis crumbled into ruins. As special features, a documentary, concept art, FMVs and character models from the original game would have been included. Nathan McCree would have developed a new score, and Core had originally planned on using Jonell Elliott to voice Lara, though they never reached the recording stage.^[14] Core Design is no longer able to legally produce Tomb Raider games.^{[citation needed]}

The game continues to be available in a digital format via Steam,^[15] although most of Europe is excluded from this service.^[16] However, in the UK and other countries the game had been re-issued under license in a physical format by game publisher Mastertronic Group, under its Sold-Out Software brand for bargain titles.^[17]

Xbox 360 episodic content

On 18 June 2007, Eidos announced an Xbox 360 version of Tomb Raider: Anniversary. The game is split up into four episodes on Xbox Live. The Croft Manor level is available as a free download for each set of episodes. It was the first time a full retail game was made available on the Xbox Live Marketplace. The disc version of the game was released on 26 October 2007.

Wii features

When the game was released for the Wii, various features were added to take advantage of the Wii controller's unique capabilities. Some simple switches from the other versions have been expanded into puzzle minigames. In one type of puzzle, Lara now has to find a cog and place it, along with smaller gears already in the mechanism, in the proper position to make a working switch. Another type of puzzle involves making a charcoal rubbing of 3 images then turning a stone mechanism until it matches the rubbing. Lara can also make drawings in crates of sand. New rewards and clues for the new puzzles have been added that require the player, as Lara, to dig for them using the Wii remote as an archaeological tool such as a shovel or pickaxe. Other new features include a flashlight (along with darkened corridors in which to use it) and a new room in the mansion that holds items found during the course of the game like keys, rubbings, and weapons. The room also contains hunting trophies from animals that Lara has killed (including dinosaurs and Atlantean creatures).

The Wii version also includes motion and pointer controls during normal gameplay. Flicking the nunchuk tosses Lara's grapple, and the Wii remote's pointer aims her weapons and flashlight. Also, Lara can speed up while swimming, shimmying, or climbing by quickly shaking the nunchuck. Finally, the adrenaline dodges are activated with motion gestures matching the in-game events (such as throwing a punch or diving out of harm's way).

Marketing and release

Nine official trailers and four developer diaries have been released. The first, released on 21 December 2006 revealed an FMV sequence, in which Lara slid into The Lost Valley, battled several raptors and suddenly turned at the sound of the T-rex approaching. What followed was then several seconds of gameplay footage from that level, including combat against bears, wolves and bats.

The second trailer, released 23 February 2007, showed one of the opening cutscenes (Lara's guide being attacked by the wolves) and gameplay footage from Egypt. A new move, in which Lara ran across a wall whilst gripping onto the grapple, was shown during the video. It also showed some mummies attacking Lara. Some of the moves they included was the ability to throw fireballs, unlike their original counterparts, which didn't use fireballs, and another part of the trailer showed the mummy standing up to look around, another move inherited from the original counterparts. The trailer revealed also that the game was planned for a May release though a 38-second trailer released on 14 April 2007 indicated a June 2007 release.^[18]

Several more trailers came out showing the Folly, the Coliseum, and Atlantis. Gametrailers and GameSpot released gameplay videos mostly from the Peru section of the game.

A demo of the "Lost Valley" segment from the Peru levels was released on 25 May 2007.^[19]

Music

The score for Tomb Raider: Anniversary is composed by Troels Brun Folmann. It took 5 months for Troels to compose, and is in the style of electronic orchestra. The majority of the album contains his original scores and themes. However, recognisable themes from the first game (composed by Nathan McCree) such as "Time to Run", "Puzzle Theme", and "Puzzle Theme II" have been recreated.

The "Main Theme" for Anniversary can be described as a celebratory version of the original theme from Tomb Raider, as similar chord and instruments are used in the piece. The song starts off with a heavy crescendo of woodwinds and low strings playing the famous Tomb Raider melody, and then breaks off into an almost playful arc, featuring parts of the original harp composition from first Tomb Raider. Pizzicato strings, cascading pianos and celeste, chimes, and glass instrumentation are prominent throughout this version, implying the fresh and modern twist that Folmann and Crystal Dynamics have placed in Anniversary.

Folmann's work for Anniversary is different from that of Legend, as it has no underlying techno beats or electronic effects. Anniversary's score resembles that of a combination between the original Tomb Raider and a typical movie score: entirely orchestral and choral. Folmann uses more complex instrumentation and composition in his scoring, acquiring more woodwinds, instrument articulation, and ambience. Folmann leaves somewhat of a trademark in his Anniversary music by adding a significant amount of wind chimes throughout the score.

Collector's Edition soundtrack

Tomb Raider: Anniversary included a 13-track promotional soundtrack in the 'Collector's Edition' of the game. The release contains music from both Tomb Raider: Legend and Tomb Raider: Anniversary, all composed by Troels Brun Folmann. An Audio CD was included in most 3-disc sets. However, the same content was instead included in DVD format in 2-disc versions following the Xbox 360 release of Anniversary.^[20][21]

Reception

Tomb Raider Anniversary received even better critical reception than Tomb Raider Legend. IGN gave the game a "good" rating, along with a 7.8 score. They criticised the camera angles, saying "If ever there was a title that screamed for a second analog stick, it's a Lara Croft game." But they did add, "If you're looking for a solid adventure game, this fits the bill." GameSpot said "This is one of those rare cases when the remake is better than the original" and awarded Anniversary 7.5/10. Eurogamer called the game "the best Lara Croft adventure to date" and added "It's as if Eidos and Crystal took a look at the long list of perennial bugbears anyone had about the game and scrubbed them off with a big red marker until every one was gone." Official UK PlayStation Magazine gave the game a very positive review, awarding it a 9/10.

References

External links

• Official website
• Tomb Raider: Anniversary at Feral Interactive