With Shadow of the Tom Raider Definitive Edition having just been announced, we thought it the opportune time to reflect on the life of Lara Croft in the video game scene.

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The mid-90s was possibly the best era for gaming, with the Playstation being the first console to offer games on CDs, which helped music and ambiance be fully realized due to the increased storage of optical memory, but also the start of 3D gaming, with one of the first 3D polygon experiences being the award-winning Final Fantasy VII and the cult classic Super Mario 64. Despite all the games on the market, Tomb Raider didn't go unnoticed. 

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Tomb Raider (1996) was a perfect tech demo to showcase what was possible with 3D games, and also to show what EIDOS (the team behind Tomb Raider) could do. Tomb Raider (1996) doesn't give the player any hints or help in the levels, aside from the tutorial at croft manor, this was what made the Tomb Raider franchise. This was until some time after the first game released when EIDOS decided that the real reason people play the game is for Lara's sex appeal.

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Tomb Raider (1996)'s gameplay was the most basic of the franchise, with the only real mechanics being jumping, shooting, swimming and the ability to interact with objects, but this doesn't mean it isn't still a fun experience to have.

 

The environment was mostly square-based or had sharp edges and the foliage and item pickups were just 2D sprites, but this didn't stop the environment from looking awe-inspiring, especially as at the time this was revolutionary for gaming. An aspect of the environment that has now become much easier to create in games is water and waterfalls. In Tomb Raider (1996) the waterfalls that appear are animated textures on a wall and the water is a dynamic semi-transparent layer while the area underneath is tinted to look like you're underwater. In the modern Tomb Raider games, it is now possible to have proper fluid dynamics and a waterfall that isn't up against a wall but can still be passed through and affect the player.

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Sony developed the original Playstation with a CD-ROM/XA which allowed the processor to access audio, video and computer data simultaneously. You can play the game on the console from the disc due to the laser reading what is on the CD. The game data is loaded into the Random Access Memory (RAM), where it can be edited and received when needed. "As each specific part of the game is requested, the application code and hardware-render geometry are loaded into RAM, while the video and audio portions are usually streamed directly from the CD." (Jeff Tyson, HowPlayStationWorks).

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Since the RAM is volatile memory storage, meaning it is wiped upon the loss of power, all game data has to be backed up to another storage space. This was done via the use of Flash memory cards which would store Save Data for games. Due to the form of storage being Flash Cards.you had to make sure to look after them as they were easily damaged or lost, Thia meant when the PS3 introduced internal HDD storage to the PlayStation system it was a big improvement as it not only reduced the need for Flash Memory cards, but it also allowed games to be stored on the console (alongside themes, OST, etc) making loading times and gameplay be much smoother.

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The hostile entities, like bats, wolves, and a T-REX, are high poly models just like Lara, this means they have high details and have solid movement animations. The sound design was splendid and made full use of the 44.1 kHz sample rate of the SPU found in the original PlayStation.

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The main drive of the game was the puzzles that challenged the player to think, explore, and backtrack where necessary. Unfortunately, as the games went on, EIDOS catered towards those that played due to sexual marketing, and thus the game got progressively worse. After the failed launch of the first PS2 title "the angel of darkness," the franchise was handed over to Crystal Dynamics, who revitalized the franchise with Tomb Raider Legend, which had a perfect blend of Narrative, Puzzle, and easy combat phases.

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Now, looking at the present day, after the franchise was rebooted with Tomb Raider on the PS3, Crystal Dynamics appears to have fallen into the same predicament as EIDOS, and somewhat a worse one. The most recent Tomb Raider, "Shadow of the Tomb Raider", puts heavy emphasis on the narrative and combat, while putting the puzzles as optional tombs that offer bonuses for combat, e.g. bows. Even worse, the DLC for the game is 7 Tombs, which are actually really fun and interesting puzzles, and offer additional stories that should have just been post-game content, as the characters act as if the main game happened mere moments ago. This means that to get the true, core Tomb Raider experience you must pay £80 as the base game is not what Tomb Raider is.

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However, despite the downsides of Shadow of the Tomb Raider that make it seem like a new low in the series, the game doesn't fail at offering a fun experience to those simply looking for a new game to enjoy instead of the next installment in the puzzle genre. The parkour system found within is fully functioning with many different trials and tribulations to overcome when traversing the terrain. The combat system works well, with the option of using the bow with different mods (incendiary, explosive, etc) or using Lara's expansive arsenal of guns to make the combat be different every time you play. Unfortunately, Shadow lacks the stealth aspect found in the prior title "Rise of the Tomb Raider" which allowed the player many opportunities to take down enemies undetected.

 

The PS4 is 3 generations ahead of the PSX, the console of which the original Tomb Raider was on, and therefore there have been many improvements in the technology behind the console. The CPUs have gotten faster over the years, with speeds of 1.6GHz on a 2.75 GHz capable chip (according to IGN) and therefore the console is capable of performing multiple tasks at once making the games on the console more in-depth. Furthermore, the PS4 has an AMD next-generation Radeon based graphics engine, allowing high polygon models to be rendered by games and even realistic graphics able to be achieved, something Tomb Raider has taken full advantage of.

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