Club Retro 2021: December - PlayStation Games
Dec 7, 2021 11:13:11 GMT -5
Post by Xeogred on Dec 7, 2021 11:13:11 GMT -5
A look back at Lara's third outing...
They don't make them like this any more, thank goodness. Within the first ten minutes of Tomb Raider III, we had suffocated in quicksand, drowned in a flooded tunnel, been eaten by piranhas, crushed by a spiked wall and we'd run out of ideas about what to try next. We were lost within sight of the entrance.
This is the hardest Tomb Raider in existence - simply because it hates you with a burning passion. The zeros and ones that make up this game's insides are zealots. If it was Lara who hated you with such vehement aggression, it might all make sense. (Look at what you've put her through. Look at what Core put her through.)
However, she's the same arthritic doll of the fi rst two Tomb Raiders. Instead, it's Lara's world that does the loathing. It seems to despise Lara's stiff-legged vitality and seeks to crush it at all times.
Actually, to call TRIII 'hard' is inaccurate, because that implies it's a fair challenge. Instead, it's unforgiving. Both death and success - the latter taking the form of weapons, supplies and the way forward - lurk unsigned, disguised in the open like tins without labels.
So both death and success frequently come as a surprise, usually stumbled upon entirely by accident. By squeezing out the player's skill this way, each one is devalued. Even the happy little chime that means you've found a secret - one of the previous games' most satisfying elements - is bittersweet.
It's likely to signify that you still haven't found where you're supposed to be going, when you thought you'd finally worked it out.
They don't make them like this any more, thank goodness. Within the first ten minutes of Tomb Raider III, we had suffocated in quicksand, drowned in a flooded tunnel, been eaten by piranhas, crushed by a spiked wall and we'd run out of ideas about what to try next. We were lost within sight of the entrance.
This is the hardest Tomb Raider in existence - simply because it hates you with a burning passion. The zeros and ones that make up this game's insides are zealots. If it was Lara who hated you with such vehement aggression, it might all make sense. (Look at what you've put her through. Look at what Core put her through.)
However, she's the same arthritic doll of the fi rst two Tomb Raiders. Instead, it's Lara's world that does the loathing. It seems to despise Lara's stiff-legged vitality and seeks to crush it at all times.
Actually, to call TRIII 'hard' is inaccurate, because that implies it's a fair challenge. Instead, it's unforgiving. Both death and success - the latter taking the form of weapons, supplies and the way forward - lurk unsigned, disguised in the open like tins without labels.
So both death and success frequently come as a surprise, usually stumbled upon entirely by accident. By squeezing out the player's skill this way, each one is devalued. Even the happy little chime that means you've found a secret - one of the previous games' most satisfying elements - is bittersweet.
It's likely to signify that you still haven't found where you're supposed to be going, when you thought you'd finally worked it out.
I see TRIII as the ultimate TR. The main challenge for any TR fan.
Man, Tomb Raider III sounds amazing to me. Seems like its haters just don't have the patience for extreme challenges.