KickStarter Poll - Best Tomb Raider

[Child of Malkav]

Legend and Underworld.
Also played Angel of Darkness or whatever it's called and I also remember the shit controls. Fuck that.

 

[JarlFrank]

The Last Revelation is the best. Many TR fans will tell you it's lame because it doesn't have globetrotting like the previous (and subsequent) games and therefore the environments lack variety, but these people don't know what they're talking about.

It may be set entirely in Egypt, but you get to explore:
- classical Pharaonic era tombs and pyramids
- the Hellenic ruins of Alexandria
- Cleopatra's palace which combines Egyptian and Hellenic motives
- modern Cairo which is being invaded by monsters from Egyptian myth
- a buried crusader castle with undead templars attacking you

It's got plenty of variety. Also it has some of the coolest puzzles in the game. One puzzle has you play the Egyptian board game senet and if you win you get a different path through the level than if you lose. Cool shit.
Levels are pretty large and tend to be connected by a hub. Some people say it has too much backtracking, but it doesn't really. The different level sections are standalone enough that you don't get confused, but everything feels nicely connected and coherent due to the hub structure.
It also has the most coherent story since it's contained in one location, involves interesting characters like Lara's old mentor and now rival Werner von Croy, etc.

It's the best of the classic tomb raider games.

Of the newer trilogy (Legend, Anniversary, Underworld) Underworld is the best. It's got great levels, good variety in them too, and some decent puzzles. It's up on par with the classic TR games. Anniversary is great too because it's a relatively faithful remake of TR 1, and TR 1 is the second-best classic Tomb Raider game, right after Last Revelation. The Saint Francis' Folly level alone is fucking genuis. Best level in the series IMO.

 

[JarlFrank]

I chose "boring" over "shit" because I don't think it's without merit (except the fucking jeep section) and I'd rather play TR4 than any of the games that have come after it, but all the samey Egyptian tombs just blend into one elongated brown-biege nightmare. I can't vividly remember any levels except the jeep - for the wrong reasons - and the train, which is just straight up cool.

Entirely disagree. I still vividly remember the final apocalyptic pyramid level, the Cairo level, the library of Alexandria with its steampunky elements, Cleopatra's palace, that ancient Egyptian temple with the big water pool in the center (forgot the level name but remember it - was the second or third level in the game), and the tomb with the Senet puzzle.

I haven't played the game since 2012.

 

[Lemming42]

You're right about the globetrotting thing, I really loved the variance of locations in TR1 and TR2, and sort of TR3. I don't really care about Egyptian history so any historical or cultural details of that sort put into TR4's levels were totally lost on me, I just saw a load of dull-brown rooms.

I don't remember a lot of the levels you cite as examples of the game's variance though (I can't remember the steampunky library or the undead Templars at all) so maybe my memory is unfair to it. I was planning to play the entire series again relatively soon so I'll have to see if I enjoy TR4 and the Crystal Dynamics games more than the last time around.

 

[DalekFlay]

Of the newer trilogy (Legend, Anniversary, Underworld) Underworld is the best.

Old fart alarm bells go off when you call the trilogy launched 13 years ago "the new trilogy," especially when there's a whole completed trilogy after that one.

 

[Echo Mirage]

For me I would go with TR3. Just for the sheer amount and variety in the levels which is something the series never fully recaptured even in the newer games. But even at the time I was playing it I felt like it was either the best the series had ever been, or the
beginning of the end.

My only wish for The Angel of Darkness was that it had been a Charles Cecil directed point and click spin off instead.

 

[JarlFrank]

You're right about the globetrotting thing, I really loved the variance of locations in TR1 and TR2, and sort of TR3. I don't really care about Egyptian history so any historical or cultural details of that sort put into TR4's levels were totally lost on me, I just saw a load of dull-brown rooms.

I don't remember a lot of the levels you cite as examples of the game's variance though (I can't remember the steampunky library or the undead Templars at all) so maybe my memory is unfair to it. I was planning to play the entire series again relatively soon so I'll have to see if I enjoy TR4 and the Crystal Dynamics games more than the last time around.

Levels I still distinctly remember after more than 7 years have passed (and I only played the game once):

Spoiler

The fire puzzle room in the first proper level after the tutorial. I still remember this one from back when I played TR4 as a kid for the first time. Never made it past the first level then, but this area stuck in my memory for how cool it looks.

The area with the big water pool in the center, and an underwater mirror puzzle:

The tomb where you play Senet against some nigger face in the wall:

Hellenistic ruins of Alexandria:

The Great Library with its robotic guardians that can only be hurt when you hit the heart, and a big planetarium puzzle:

Cleopatra's palace:

The streets of Cairo:

The step pyramids at the end, with an apocalyptic atmosphere in the sky:

 

[JarlFrank]

Of the newer trilogy (Legend, Anniversary, Underworld) Underworld is the best.

Old fart alarm bells go off when you call the trilogy launched 13 years ago "the new trilogy," especially when there's a whole completed trilogy after that one.

I called it "newer", not "the new"

 

[Ash]

TR2 >= TR1 > TR3. I don't rate the rest as worthy games.

Edit: except Guardian of Light. Very fun co-op isometric shooter/platformer/puzzler. Good for playing with girls and making their panties drop

You're right about the globetrotting thing, I really loved the variance of locations in TR1 and TR2, and sort of TR3. I don't really care about Egyptian history so any historical or cultural details of that sort put into TR4's levels were totally lost on me, I just saw a load of dull-brown rooms.

I don't remember a lot of the levels you cite as examples of the game's variance though (I can't remember the steampunky library or the undead Templars at all) so maybe my memory is unfair to it. I was planning to play the entire series again relatively soon so I'll have to see if I enjoy TR4 and the Crystal Dynamics games more than the last time around.

This. Where'd the variety of locales go? It's not a bad game, but it does suffer from a bad case of Egyptian syphillis. We had plenty enough Egypt in TR1. Globetrotting, wondering what crazy locales you'll visit next in your grand adventure, and a heavy dose of mysterious atmosphere was a big part of the classic Tomb Raiders. I felt this was lost somewhat in TR4.

 

[Wunderbar]

I liked TR2013 the most

 

[Ash]

TR2 is surely the best, but it unfortunately has a weaker soundtrack than 1 and 3 imo. Still some good, appropriate stuff though.

Hey what happened to that fan remake project of TB2?

0
He posted these incredible screenshots in May

Spoiler

So he is still working as it seems.

Anyway, I like all of them except Angel of Darkness even Chronicles and Shadow of the Tomb Raider. My favourites are TR2, TR3 Anniversary and Rise of the Tomb Raider. The only TR content I haven't played was the DLC for Underworld.

Will not play unless there's a "classic limited draw distance" option. TR1/2/3 were extremely atmospheric and at times scary, and some 40% of this is due to the limiting black fog. I don't think lots of darkness using realistic lighting can capture the same brooding dread. The black fog is ALWAYS there past a certain range, no ifs or buts. You never knew what was to come for you next past the fog of doom. AND then there was the actual darkness on top (which flares could cure).
Only if manual aiming were implemented and generally improved combat (namely AI intelligence and readjusted enemy placement to make up for the fact you can now see them at great range) could I forgive no fog of war. After all, the game was originally designed around this limitation. More is lost if you remove it (without making many adjustments as described) than gained.

 

[Sodafish]

Has anyone played TR1 with these HD texture packs? I'm thinking of playing through the series again and this has peaked my interest.

 

[Sodafish]

So I went ahead and completed TR1 with the HD textures. Not too bad at all. The game is much easier than I remember from playing it over 20 years ago, but still fun.

Now on to TR2. Apparently there is a higher res version of the textures you can use with that too, which were originally made for the iOS version of the game.

 

[Machocruz]

Will not play unless there's a "classic limited draw distance" option. TR1/2/3 were extremely atmospheric and at times scary, and some 40% of this is due to the limiting black fog. I don't think lots of darkness using realistic lighting can capture the same brooding dread. The black fog is ALWAYS there past a certain range, no ifs or buts. You never knew what was to come for you next past the fog of doom. AND then there was the actual darkness on top (which flares could cure).
Only if manual aiming were implemented and generally improved combat (namely AI intelligence and readjusted enemy placement to make up for the fact you can now see them at great range) could I forgive no fog of war. After all, the game was originally designed around this limitation. More is lost if you remove it (without making many adjustments as described) than gained.

Also the illusion of scale that the distance receding into darkness created though the environments were really not that big, as was later evidenced in Anniversary edition.

 

[skacky]

TR1 is the overall best in my opinion. It's got a really depressing, crushing atmosphere that, even if it is also found in 2, 3 and 4, is the strongest there due to the scarcity of human enemies. TR2 in particular just has too many human enemies and not enough tombs.

 

[Lemming42]

http://xproger.info/projects/OpenLara/

Anyone who's interested in playing/replaying TR1, check this out. You can play it at 60fps with all kinds of features, even slow-mo.

You can play TR2 and 3 too but you need the map files, fuck knows where you'd find them.

 

[Bad Sector]

http://xproger.info/projects/OpenLara/

Anyone who's interested in playing/replaying TR1, check this out. You can play it at 60fps with all kinds of features, even slow-mo.

You can play TR2 and 3 too but you need the map files, fuck knows where you'd find them.

Yeah i remember looking at this a few years ago, though at the time it seemed to lack some camera animations and even though overall motion was smooth (due to unlocked FPS) Lara's own animation was a bit stiff. But i played a bit the linked version and it looks great - at least as far as i remember from the original game. My only annoyance is the different control scheme, my brain is a bit too hardwired to Alt=Jump and using Del/End/Page Down for step left/backflip/step right, but i guess this conflicts with browsers' shortcut keys :-P.

 

[Tehdagah]

TR2 and 3 are terrible, too many cheap hitscan enemies.

 

[Pound Meat]

The Last Revelation is terrible even on the Dreamcast. Just brown brown brown over and over and you always have to have a damn flare lit to see anything even with the brightness turned up. TR2 is the best game of them all. I'd say remake it right the damn now but you know they'll just cut out all the good levels and replace them with woke dialogue and DEEP MOTHERFUCKING STORY!

 

[Egosphere]

So I went ahead and completed TR1 with the HD textures. Not too bad at all. The game is much easier than I remember from playing it over 20 years ago, but still fun.

Now on to TR2. Apparently there is a higher res version of the textures you can use with that too, which were originally made for the iOS version of the game.

I remember looking at some hd texture screenshots and they seemed to change a lot. Do they make the game a lot more grey?

 

[Sodafish]

So I went ahead and completed TR1 with the HD textures. Not too bad at all. The game is much easier than I remember from playing it over 20 years ago, but still fun.

Now on to TR2. Apparently there is a higher res version of the textures you can use with that too, which were originally made for the iOS version of the game.

I remember looking at some hd texture screenshots and they seemed to change a lot. Do they make the game a lot more grey?

In all honesty it's so long since I played TR1 I don't remember how closely the HD textures match the originals. However none of them felt out of place at any point.

 

[bloodlover]

I played the first five games on PS1 without understanding a thing because they were in German but I loved them so much. As a personal preference it would be TR2 > TR Last Revelation > TR Anniversary.

The new ones are fun to play and puzzles are generally good but at the same time forgettable, while some levels from TR 1 or 2 are still memorable to this day. Opera House and Temple of Xian were my favourites back in the day.

 

[razvedchiki]

is there any hd mod for the second game?

 

[Semiurge]

The Last Revelation is the best. Many TR fans will tell you it's lame because it doesn't have globetrotting like the previous (and subsequent) games and therefore the environments lack variety, but these people don't know what they're talking about.

It may be set entirely in Egypt, but you get to explore:
- classical Pharaonic era tombs and pyramids
- the Hellenic ruins of Alexandria
- Cleopatra's palace which combines Egyptian and Hellenic motives
- modern Cairo which is being invaded by monsters from Egyptian myth
- a buried crusader castle with undead templars attacking you

It's got plenty of variety. Also it has some of the coolest puzzles in the game. One puzzle has you play the Egyptian board game senet and if you win you get a different path through the level than if you lose. Cool shit.
Levels are pretty large and tend to be connected by a hub. Some people say it has too much backtracking, but it doesn't really. The different level sections are standalone enough that you don't get confused, but everything feels nicely connected and coherent due to the hub structure.
It also has the most coherent story since it's contained in one location, involves interesting characters like Lara's old mentor and now rival Werner von Croy, etc.

It's the best of the classic tomb raider games.

Of the newer trilogy (Legend, Anniversary, Underworld) Underworld is the best. It's got great levels, good variety in them too, and some decent puzzles. It's up on par with the classic TR games. Anniversary is great too because it's a relatively faithful remake of TR 1, and TR 1 is the second-best classic Tomb Raider game, right after Last Revelation. The Saint Francis' Folly level alone is fucking genuis. Best level in the series IMO.

It had a funny easter egg hidden in the skeleton warriors, the ones without helmets. You could use your laser sight mounted to a gun to pop their heads which would make them run around like headless chickens until they fall to their deaths.

 

[Semiurge]

Tomb Raider 3 is underrated. It's got everything that TR2 does but it does those things better - It has globetrotting, better music and graphics that improve the atmosphere, and better level design since many of the levels are non-linear. New moves for Lara and new game mechanics are added, and enemies are more varied. All "continents" are interesting but Antarctica avoids the typical 3rd act boredom by adding an eerie "The Thing" vibe to its first two levels. The only downside to the game is the unrealistic situation Lara gets into - she single-handedly slaughters the on-site security staff of area 51.

I have such nostalgia for the first game that it will always have the first place, but

TR1 > TR3 > TR4 > TR2 > TR5