#tomb raider anniversary
A commission for Lara Croft versus the Hand of Midas, from Tomb Raider 1/Anniversary. The trilogy Anniversary is part of are some of my favourite games of all time, so I was thrilled to get a crack at this!
5x7 Consketch, ink marker and paint on card stock.
Commission Info|Buy Me A Coffee on Patreon|Colt (webcomic)
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I felt the urge to draw Lara Croft. And then I realized it soon will be Tomb Raider’s 20th anniversary! So this is my tribute. Tribute to the game that had great impact on my life. Tomb Raider I, II, II, V and IV especially were my favourite games in the early 00s. Atmosphere of loneliness among forgotten tombs fired up my fascination with ancient history and archaeology, which almost led me to studying archaeology in college. I was absolutely in love in the game and for many years I actively took part in Tomb Raider Polish communities, which resulted in having my own translation oficially included in the Polish localization of Tomb Raider Legend intro.
So yes, this is Lara Croft that I remember, recreated in my style. Preposterous big boobs and butt are mandatory.
As you may have guessed, I rather dislike the reboot. New Lara is not *my* Lara and I treat it as a completely different series with a new character. It’s obviously more realistic and aproachable, but I don’t care, nostalgia is nostalgia, you know.
Thank you Core Design for enriching my choldhood. <3
Painted in Photoshop CC with Cintiq 13HD tablet while listening to Alonzorion’s Tomb Raider let’s plays in the background
Texture used from here
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Disappointed in myself for being beaten by the original, and still wanting to experience the game, I decided to give this remake of the original a chance. Tomb Raider: Anniversary was released in 2007, over a decade after the original came out. It was built on the Tomb Raider: Legend engine, adding in elements like a grappling hook and a physics engine. Unlike it’s predecessor, I was able to complete the game. The save system, while not ideal, utilized checkpoints that were much more user friendly than the fleeting handful of save crystals in the original. Instead, I had a much more troubling issue with the game.
The graphical improvement is probably the most notable change. The game looks decent for an early Xbox 360 game, and it performed nicely at max settings on my laptop. However, it does lose a bit of the blocky charm that the original had. The environments, while still distinct, kind of take on a visual blandness. There’s nothing to really distinguish them from other games of the era. Regardless, the level of detail should be applauded.
Gameplay wise, the game has been very streamlined. While the platforming has been expanded with many new tricks, the levels themselves have lost a lot of the exploration, which was something I liked in the original. The expanded platforming is still a lot of fun, as long as it’s working. Swinging around and making leaps feels rewarding when you succeed. Swimming lost the most between games. There’s not a lot to do underwater, and Lara swims so slowly, especially when rising and falling.
The story has been expanded a lot from the original. Notably they tried to flesh out Lara a bit, giving her more personality traits then just “a badass.” The cutscenes are improved, but are still a bit silly (not like that’s a bad thing). The biggest flaw is that the story just isn’t that interesting.
Combat is alright, but feels overly simplified. It all boils down to enraging the enemy, dodging its attack and executing the counter attack. Boss fights try to mix it up a bit, but nothing really changes. The worst one is against two centaurs. I’m still not entirely sure how I won. I just ran around until they eventually died. The flying enemies of the game are also too aggressive, and their attacks stumble Lara so much that they can easily knock her off of ledges with a constant barrage of attacks.
What nearly made the game unplayable, however, are the glitches. I’m not sure if they are exclusive to the PC version, but I experienced a wide range of glitches. Some were benign, like Lara’s ponytail stretching all over the place, or bats blasting off like rockets when killed. One glitch however, was game breaking. Lara was unable to grab a hold of an important ledge. I was making the jump correctly, but after trying a number of fixes, I had to download a savegame from a checkpoint past the area. Otherwise, the game would have been impossible to complete.
Overall the game was good enough. It was nice to experience the updated version of a classic game, but I feel like too much was lost in translation. I would like the game more if it weren’t marred by a game breaking glitch.
6/10
Decent enough game but glitchy and lacks the charm of the original.
