Tomb Raider I-III Remastered will feature some nifty quality of life improvements, including the ability to enable modern controls and health bars for bosses. However, the developers of the updated collection make a point of preserving the original games and giving fans the option to opt out of most of the new tweaks and improved graphics.
First announced in September during a Nintendo Direct, the remastered Grave robbers Trilogy has been MIA ever since. The collection combines the first three 90s eras Grave robbers Play with the legendary adventurer Lara Croft. After the surprise announcement that introduced new and improved graphics, we haven’t heard or seen much from the collection for the rest of 2023. But now, a few weeks before release, developer Aspyr has shared a blog post full of new details Tomb Raider I-III Remastered.
In a January 16 post on the official PlayStation blogChris Bashaar, Aspyr’s product director, explained that the studio worked closely with long-time series administrators Crystal Dynamics to find what he believes is the perfect balance between “preservation and modernization.” What does that actually mean? First of all, you can switch between the updated graphics and the original graphics at any time.
Another nice visual change: Aspyr has replaced all 2D sprite-based items in the games with new 3D models. Bashaar says this optimization brings “a little bit more.” um for item pickups.”
Modernize the classic Grave robbers adventure
Not only visual changes were made to the first three Grave robbers games. To make these older entries more accessible to modern gamers, there’s now a control option that uses the right stick to move the camera, feeling more like most third-person action games in 2024. A separate tweet confirmed that the game will also feature a camera lock-on system. However, if you prefer the tank controls of the original games, you can re-enable the old system in the options.
Another interesting change is that bosses now offer health bars. This is useful because many of the larger enemies in the first three games could feel like damage sponges and it was difficult to know how much progress you had made during combat.
Other improvements include more than 200 trophies (or achievements on Xbox) spread across the three games in the trilogy. It seems that these trophies aren’t just awarded for normal things like completing a level or completing the game. An example hinted at in the post states that locking the creepy butler in the mansion’s freezer will earn you a trophy, a well-known tradition among Tomb Raider fans.
Finally, Asypr has added a full photo mode to all three games, allowing you to take in-game screenshots at any level and at any point. You can even switch between classic and modern looks in photo mode.
All in all, this blog post has me very excited to revisit these games with a fresh coat of paint and some modern quality of life improvements.
I’m particularly pleased that the controls have been tinkered with and modernized, as that has always been my biggest stumbling block when returning to these classic adventures. But I’m also glad that the old-school tank controls are still included in the remastered trilogy. This allows everyone to play the way they want, which is always nice.
Tomb Raider I-III Remastered releases February 14th on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and PC. In the meantime, Crystal Dynamics works with Amazon Games on the next “biggest” entry in the series.
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