Happy Birfday, Lara
Looks like Eidos and Crystal Dynamics have a good way to celebrate.
Published: June 16, 2006
Developers these days don't often let anything slip that hasn't been carefully spun through the PR machine for maximum impact -- and they certainly aren't going to let anything slip to us (not since that whole Wip3out exclusive many, many years ago, anyway). So when people at Crystal Dynamics, still high from the rush of completing a Lara Croft face lift to critical acclaim, tell us that something special is in the works, we count it as a bit of way-off-in-the-future pre-hype.
We counted wrong, and hooboy are we glad we did. Tomb Raider: 10th Anniversary Edition finally confirms them thar rumors that a remake of the original game (or, if the rumors hold true, the first two games) is in the works. What's rather surprising, especially considering the leaked PSP demo reel of a similarly-titled game, is that it's not the handiwork of one-time Tomb Raider architects Core Design, but the same Crystal D folks that worked on the amazingly good Tomb Raider: Legend. We can understand Eidos wanting to keep the game in good hands, but judging by the leaked demo, Core's work was solid enough to warrant at least some PSP luv. Apparently, it was no such luck.
“Our 10th Anniversary Edition of Tomb Raider, is a one-off title to celebrate both Lara and Tomb Raider, it will appeal not only to the loyal fans of the Tomb Raider series but will also attract a totally new audience,” oozed Larry Sparks, Head of Brands Management at Eidos.
And there you have it. It's certainly not a sequel to Legend, which means of course that we'll have to wait even longer now for that one, but given how much work already went into Legend's engine (which is in turn a heavily tweaked Legacy of Kain: Defiance engine), and the familiarity of the development team with the tools they have, this should be a fairly simple process.
It should be noted that Eidos has not officially confirmed anything about the game aside from its title and platforms (PSP, PS2 and PC). We don't know if Crystal D will add anything to the storylines or even if it is in fact a full remake (the name would certainly indicate that). As soon as we have confirmation, we'll pass it along.
We counted wrong, and hooboy are we glad we did. Tomb Raider: 10th Anniversary Edition finally confirms them thar rumors that a remake of the original game (or, if the rumors hold true, the first two games) is in the works. What's rather surprising, especially considering the leaked PSP demo reel of a similarly-titled game, is that it's not the handiwork of one-time Tomb Raider architects Core Design, but the same Crystal D folks that worked on the amazingly good Tomb Raider: Legend. We can understand Eidos wanting to keep the game in good hands, but judging by the leaked demo, Core's work was solid enough to warrant at least some PSP luv. Apparently, it was no such luck.
“Our 10th Anniversary Edition of Tomb Raider, is a one-off title to celebrate both Lara and Tomb Raider, it will appeal not only to the loyal fans of the Tomb Raider series but will also attract a totally new audience,” oozed Larry Sparks, Head of Brands Management at Eidos.
And there you have it. It's certainly not a sequel to Legend, which means of course that we'll have to wait even longer now for that one, but given how much work already went into Legend's engine (which is in turn a heavily tweaked Legacy of Kain: Defiance engine), and the familiarity of the development team with the tools they have, this should be a fairly simple process.
It should be noted that Eidos has not officially confirmed anything about the game aside from its title and platforms (PSP, PS2 and PC). We don't know if Crystal D will add anything to the storylines or even if it is in fact a full remake (the name would certainly indicate that). As soon as we have confirmation, we'll pass it along.