Now this is an example of just how a remaster should be done. Take the original game — in this case, Tomb Raider — polish up the visuals (high-res textures, upgraded models) add a few optional modern features (such as mouse-look and WASD movement), then unleash the game into the wild.
Now, as the game is a remaster, this review of Tomb Raider I-III by necessity has to answer two questions: Firstly, how does it succeed as a remaster? Secondly, what is it like for modern gamers?
As might already be surmised, I think the remaster has been excellently handled. Using the original source code to ensure level layout, character movement, and enemy behaviour all stay the same (something readily checked as the original games are available from GOG), it focuses on sprucing up what is already there, rather than completely rebuilding. Indeed, there were only three areas where I felt the remaster stumbled slightly.
The first is with the addition of WASD and mouse controls. Yes, it does make navigation feel smoother, but at the expense of some of Lara’s move-set. It also, for some reason, mucks with the accuracy of the lock-on system during combat. The net result of this is that while navigation and platforming are made easier, combat actually becomes both harder and less satisfying.
Stumble number two is the slight redesign of Lara’s model, so as to include her ponytail (which the original games depicted as a tightly packed bun at the back of her head). Why does this matter? Courtesy of whatever trickery the devs have done to give Lara’s ponytail realistic physics, they’ve also bestowed upon it unnatural life, with it pulsating and moving slightly whilst Lara stands still. Not an issue while you’ve got something else to focus your attention on (such as lions and tigers and bears, oh my!) But is distracting at other times.
The third stumble is the rather gutless apology for daring to remaster a game which – ostensibly – doesn’t reflect the mores of the day; an apology that someone felt was clearly necessary to fend off rabid hordes of customers (or, more realistically, game journalists and influencers) offended by the lack of modern political correctness. True, the apology only showed up the first time the game was loaded, before quickly and embarrassingly scuttling away to hide, but it was irritating nonetheless.
So what about the actual game? And how does it fare in this day and age?
In terms of gameplay – as might reasonably be expected from games which launched one of the most iconic game characters and series still going strong today – they are good, solid, old-school games. Navigation and platforming are measured and methodical, rather than fast paced and frenetic. Levels and traps are delightfully abstract: such as 20 foot high swords, magically floating near the ceiling, which will drop and impale Lara should you steer her under them. Why? Because. Figuring out where you’re supposed to go requires careful observation of the level (and occasional recourse to the ‘net). Quicksave and quickload are also meant to be liberally used, both ensuring you don’t get frustrated by being taken back to the beginning of the level when you fail, and letting you try tricky jumps or combat encounters in new and novel ways to see just what happens.
Oh, and the player also has an extraordinary amount of control over Lara’s movements. Very little happens automatically. Do you want to grab the ledge? There’s a button for that. Do you want to carefully walk up to the edge of a drop, without falling off? There’s a button for that also. Likewise for combat. Dodges, tumbles, flips and 180° rolls are all under the player’s direct control.
So while it may take a bit for new players to get used to, it’s undeniably extremely satisfying. You know that cool looking swan-dive, or spectacular backflip off the end of a waterfall into the pool below happened, not because some designer thought it would be cool, but because you, the player, did. That insane fight where you dodged an enraged wolf by cartwheeling sideways, before executing a roll that spun Lara 180° and then is followed up by a backflip to give her more space, whilst firing continuously, is all under your direct control.
Such control also has other implications, such as that time I perfectly judged a jump into a pit, gracefully sailing over the lethal spikes by the narrowest of margins. Yes, the drop was enough to cost some health, but it meant that I circumvented a whole section of the level. (Hah! One to me!) Of course, the flip side of this is that when an Indiana Jones-style boulder squished Lara flat, I had no-one else but myself to blame.
It also feels, thanks to today’s gaming and entertainment landscape, quite refreshing. It hearkens from a time when censorship was about what you couldn’t depict, not what you were obliged to include. There’s no deep and meaningful story, no subtle, moralistic message to teach players. Indeed, if it depicts anything with consistency, it’s Lara doing her best to ensure endangered species stay just that.
No. What there is Lara, a sexy, sassy, gun-wielding character who is completely comfortable in her own skin; abstract, ancient ruins to explore and loot; and a whole menagerie of wild animals to kill or be killed by. (And, the occasional human/monster/mythical being – but mostly animals.). What you get, in a word, is entertainment.
All up, if you like old games, it’s worth playing. If you like action games, it’s worth playing. If you’re interested in gaming history and the origins of cinematic action games, it’s worth playing.
The Tomb Raider games were, and still are, good games. And while they show their age, that’s not actually a bad thing. ■