Tomb Raider This Weekend

[Nature Boy]

Apparantly it's gone gold and might be in stores this weekend.

Any guesses as to how the game is going to be/sell?

Personally I'm still pretty skeptical. I'm glad they took time to fix stuff but with all those delays I can't help but wonder if they fixed enough. They should've not announced anything until they were happy with where they were - would've done them better in the short term (in the long term, if the game is good, the delays mean nothing).

[zmeston]

Apparantly it's gone gold and might be in stores this weekend.

Any guesses as to how the game is going to be/sell?

Personally I'm still pretty skeptical. I'm glad they took time to fix stuff but with all those delays I can't help but wonder if they fixed enough. They should've not announced anything until they were happy with where they were - would've done them better in the short term (in the long term, if the game is good, the delays mean nothing).

My reviewer-friend at PSE2 Magazine says The Angel of Darkness is awful, for a variety of gameplay and technical reasons, and I've yet to disagree with any of his opinions (except his hatred of RPGs, but he's hardly alone in that regard).

Eidos estimates, according to an article I recently read, sales of 1.5 to 2 million units, but I don't think it'll reach that, especially not when the brutal reviews and negative word of mouth kick in. Eidos was screwed either way: delay the game further and miss the end of the fiscal year (which they couldn't afford to do), or ship it now and damage the franchise probably beyond repair.

-- Z.

[Kim Possible]

It just looks bad. I mean, its no longer TOMB RAIDER, its now some kind of weak Resident Evil, Silent Hill, James Bond, Metal Gear Solid clone thing. Everything I have read or seen makes it look absolutely wretched.

Give me back the two pistol, puzzle solving, shoot-em ups, ANY DAY. >)

[Nature Boy]

[My reviewer-friend at PSE2 Magazine says The Angel of Darkness is awful, for a variety of gameplay and technical reasons, and I've yet to disagree with any of his opinions (except his hatred of RPGs, but he's hardly alone in that regard).

That explains why it's going from Gold to production so quickly then. Get the game out there before the reviews start bashing it.

That's too bad if it's true - I was hoping to see the franchise redeem itself.

[calthaer]

Unless they show Lara Croft topless I don't think anybody's going to care anymore. That game series has been sequel-ed to death, and all with exactly the same gameplay with few (if any) innovations.

[digdug]

Not too defend this awful game. But sequels, in general have been the mainstain of games these days. Every game that has sold a bunch has made a sequel. I.E. Final Fantasy (which has gone downhill since 3). Mega Man, Sonic, Mario, all of these games were great sellers in the beginning but now the uniqueness of these games has been overused and saturated the market.

Tomb Raider will sell well just because of its name, unfortunately people buy based on the name of the franchise not the quality of the games.

Dig Dug

Sorry for the Rant

[Videogamerdaryll]

I Pre-ordered that game...and I'm not very excited about getting it.
I've always been a Tomb Raider/Lara Croft fan..and I buy everyone of the games...It's just not the same anymore..

I'll always love the first one..Damn that game Rocks...the old Good Times..playing Tomb Raider on the Saturn,the unexpected,not knowing what was gonna pop out at you..jumping out of my seat when the Wolves jumped out at me....The great levels/puzzles/that big Dino fight etc..

What I'd do to play something that great and unexpected again..

Same goes for Resident Evil ..I loved the part where the dogs jumped through the windows...I jumped out of the seat and cursed..lol

Thanks for letting me know about it's release..
The EB I buy from hasn't been calling me when the games I pre-order come out lately..

[Nature Boy]

Tomb Raider will sell well just because of its name, unfortunately people buy based on the name of the franchise not the quality of the games.

It will do better than the same game would without the Tomb Raider name, but I don't necessarily think it will sell well should it suck. Games are not much different than movies in this respect.

[digdug]

A perfect example of why this game will sell based on its name:

Evil Dead for both PS2 and X-Box. THe game is AWFUL, but it will sell based on the fact that it has a following, not because the game is good or not.


Just my 2 cents

Dig Dug

[Oobgarm]

Well, I did get my hands on a demo copy over the weekend, and I am not very impressed. If the horrendous slowdown in the first level is any indication of how the rest of the game plays, count me out. This game series needs a MAJOR overhaul, or it just needs to die.

And it's not selling. Not yet, anyway-I'm sure that people just figured it was delayed again and have no idea it's in stores. :-D

[Cheese]

I too have always had a soft spot in my heart for Lara. Tomb Raider 1 was the game that drew me back into gaming. So every year when they brought out a new one, I trotted out to the store and picked it up. I have been waiting on this one for some time now after seeing screens for it years ago. I got it on Friday and spent some time playing it on Friday night. And it's bad, real bad, like sink the franchise bad. The controls are awful, it slows down constantly, the levels are short and moronic, The 'buy your saves' function is awful, and it comes with the most pretentious 'making of' promo I've ever seen. After playing it for a about an hour and not making it past the second level due to the controls, I turned it off. Later I came back to it and made it to the third level only to realize I didn't have either enough money to save the game, or any kind of weapons at all. It's awful. Too bad, I was really hoping it'd be something interesting. Sigh.

So avoid it at all costs, it's damned near unplayable.

PS - "I.E. Final Fantasy (which has gone downhill since 3)."

ummmm.... ok? I was always under the impression that 5 or 6 were regarded as the best, but whatever floats your boat man.

[zmeston]

and it comes with the most pretentious 'making of' promo I've ever seen.

Ain't it, though? When Eidos debuted that video at a Tomb Raider "launch party" over a year ago, the crowd of jaded journalists was openly guffawing. No matter how artily he's filmed, a paunchy chain-smoking Englishman is still a paunchy chain-smoking Englishman. I was really surprised that Eidos included the MST3K-worthy video on the game DVD, 'til I realized that they probably spent tens of thousands of dollars on it and "wanted their money's worth."

The Tomb Raider franchise is officially dead.

-- Z.

[zmeston]

A perfect example of why this game will sell based on its name:

Evil Dead for both PS2 and X-Box. THe game is AWFUL, but it will sell based on the fact that it has a following, not because the game is good or not.


Just my 2 cents

Dig Dug

Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick is certainly no gem, but it's certainly more fun and less pretentious than Angel of Darkness -- and at $20, much less punitive to the pocketbook. Not that Eidos could have afforded to ship AoD for $20; hell, they've sunk so much money into the game, they probably wanted to charge $60 for it.

-- Z.

[ManekiNeko]

Excuse me? How the hell can a game "go gold" if it hasn't even been released yet?
Oh well... lies, hype, and a mediocre product are to be expected from Eidos and their idiotic Tomb Raider series.

JR

[zmeston]

Excuse me? How the hell can a game "go gold" if it hasn't even been released yet?
Oh well... lies, hype, and a mediocre product are to be expected from Eidos and their idiotic Tomb Raider series.

JR

"Gone gold" is an inside-baseball term for when a game is ready for manufacturing. Eidos must've paid Sony a little extra to put their game at the front of the line, since they went from gold to retail so quickly.

The CD-R masters we used at Working Designs for manufacturing weren't "gold," but they were special and VEEEEEERY expensive discs from Sony.

-- Z.

[ManekiNeko]

Oh, oops... sorry for the confusion.
I'm pretty sure Eidos *IS* calling the game "the hit of the summer" in their ads, though. That's a rather presumptious (and most likely incorrect) statement, don't you think?

JR

[Gamereviewgod]

Unless they show Lara Croft topless I don't think anybody's going to care anymore. That game series has been sequel-ed to death, and all with exactly the same gameplay with few (if any) innovations.


Unfortunately, people do care. Working at TRU provides an interesting perspective on the industry. I get probably 15-20 calls a day, each with the same question: "When does Tomb Raider/Madden come out?" I haven't played it yet, but I'm already sick of it....

[zmeston]

Oh, oops... sorry for the confusion.
I'm pretty sure Eidos *IS* calling the game "the hit of the summer" in their ads, though. That's a rather presumptious (and most likely incorrect) statement, don't you think?

JR

Very presumptious, but it might well become the best-selling PS2 game of the summer if the hare-brained masses have their way. And, hey, Maxim gave it (many months ago, long before he or anyone else had a playable version) five stars, so we'll see how much weight that ringing endorsement carries.

-- Z.

[FrankLee]

I was always a big fan of tomb raider i hadnt bought any after the 3rd one, but i saw this one was out and asked my friend i was with if he heard anything about it and he's like "it sucks dont waste your time" so ehhh no Tomb Raider for me

[SoulBlazer]

Calling about Madden 2004 allready? Even I know you don't do that till August. :D