TOMB RAIDER CHRONICLES:
PROLOGUE
Copyright 2000 www.tombraiderchronicles.com
[ August 19th 2000 ]
The wrath
of Horus hones in on Lara Croft, the ground beneath
her rocks, unbalancing her, her stammered stance
kicking up tiny whirlwinds of dust as fragments
of small rocks rain down, a blizzard of dust,
partially obscuring the safe path through the
toppling pillars. Lara is running now, her heart
beating it's way through her chest, the beads
of sweat a torrid storm across her forehead, she
launches herself over a spike-filled pit, eyeing
through the corner of her blurred sight the fate
that lay beneath her. Hurriedly, she scampers,
leaves the pyramid as a myriad of explosions amplify
around the open space she once stood in, support
pillars continue their almost motionless glide
to earth, ricocheting all around her, as a huge
portion of the ragged ceiling, lined with stalactites,
silently detaches itself from above and descends
with evil certainty to the ground below.
Five
days later, England - Jean Yves, Winston and Father
Dunstan, exhausted from the emotional funeral
of Lara Croft, enter the Croft Mansion, and head
for the study. Pouring his guests a drink, Yves
is swallowed by the soft leather of a Chesterfield
and stares into the red liquid, his mind racing,
a million pictures enacting through the torment
of his imagination, the image of Lara’s tomb forcing
it's way to the surface past all other memories,
tormenting, reminding him of his loss. As the
fire crackles in it's glorious stone surroundings,
the flames licking the scorched tiled ceiling,
the firewood popping under consumption, Yves sighs,
and watches as his two friends sit down and gaze
thoughtfully into the dancing flames. Winston
smiles, remembering an earlier exploit involving
Lara Croft, and tilts his head towards Yves, the
shadows of the fire gently illuminating the side
of his face, the gentle tickles of light suggestively
forming a pose in his glasses, and he begins to
speak....."
Level
One - Streets Of Rome. Classic Tomb Raider lovers
are catered for in this entry level into Tomb
Raider Chronicles, with action and adventure the
key elements to this first level map. Lara Croft,
refined graciously through the complete character
recoding an rebuilding of Core Design, is accompanied
by Larson, the "half mad Texan dimwit" first seen
in Natlas Mines way back in the 1991 original
Tomb Raider classic, and his French partner in
crime Pierre.
Donned
in a glorious ball gown, Lara Croft, intrigued
at the slightest scent of adventure, purchases
a stone from Larson and Pierre. Soon after, doublecross
and espionage ensue, and a race through the winding,
ornamental streets of Italy follows. Similar to
The Tomb Of Seth, Rome incorporates the training
level where Lara is introduced to new moves and
weapons before departing on her first flashback
adventure. ".......Jean-Yves chuckles, pulls his
weary body from the all-encompassing airchair
and slowly drifts over to the fireplace, the fire
more consistent now, the heat gently kneading
the view above the fireplace. An oil-painting
of a classic ocean view, at it's centre a German
World War Two U-Boat, drawing the attention of
his gazing eyes as his mind slipped back into
thought and he began his rendition......"
Level
Two - The Submarine Jean-Yves reveals that the
ship was carrying the mythical Spear of Destiny..
Dressed in the armed camouflage uniform of a soldier,
Lara Croft's second mission marries her with her
narrator, Jean-Yves, and the story unfolds of
the ship carrying the mythical Spear of Destiny.
Steeped in magical mystery. the Spear that was
said to have pierced Jesus' side and was en route
to Germany when a mysterious explosion halted
it's journey.
Adventure
ensues... the tubular notes of crystal gently
tapping the neck of a bottle pauses Yves narration,
the calm and warm atmosphere suddenly cut short
by the violent clatter of a window almost torn
from it's hinges as the wind whistles through
the curtains, victorious over it's obstacles.
The candles blow out, and the white trail of smoke
gently circumvents in a dispersing, winding trail
to the ceiling. "Winston smiles, the momentary
snap to reality nudging a dormant memory thought
long forgotten........"
Level
Three - Spooky Island Tenderly aged sixteen, young
Lara prepares for an early night at Conussie -
the Butler's old Irish home, a violent storm desperately
hammering the stone walls, frantically searching
for a way into the tranquillity of Winstons home.
Curousity grapples Lara's attention once again,
this time in the vision of an aparition on the
neighbouring islands that are ramdomly illuminated
as forked lightning licks the top of the trees,
crackling through the air, the scent of scorched
plant life hanging in the air.
In true
Lara Croft style, she seeks out to investigate,
and is presented with a myriad of puzzles and
traps to solve in the third Chronicles adventure.
"Winston stands, and leads Jean-Yves and Father
Dunstan to a secret trophy room hidden deep within
the walls of Croft Manor. Tentatively blowing
the dust from old iron-held candles, Winston draws
a match and the warm, incandescent glow of the
candles gently illuminates the room, casting eerie
shadows across the golden accomplishments of many
lifetimes."
Level
Four - Tower Block Stealth and carefully planned
strategy are the key elements to this final, or
is it..., level of Chronicles. Lara is attired
in a black cat suit, and must use all of her cunning
if she is to succeed in this beautifully designed
high tech level. Accompanying Lara is Van Croy,
last seen jumping the light fantastic in The Last
Revelation, and a curious new character called
Zip.
The Gameplay
- The engine architecture, although remaining
predominately the same, has been refined to a
visually spectacular degree, with lighting adding
atmospheric glamour to an already attractive gameplay,
and an intriguing selection of new and improved
moves thrown into the virtual broth. Lara's interactivity
with her new environments has been greatly improved,
and new skills such as searching through filing
cabinets and draws adds a further degree of realism
to the game.
Lara's
characters are also smarter, some with new listening
skills, which Lara must combat with additional
stealth moves and silent strategies. Core Design
has taken the best from the rest, the memorable,
and the functional, the favourites and the intriguing,
from it's previous four Tomb Raider instalments,
ripped apart the environmental architecture, and
re-writen the code to produce a faster, smoother,
visually stunning fifth Tomb Raider. Included
in the PC version of Chronicles is a level designer,
one of the unique applications tailored to each
version of Tomb Raider.
Although
this may be the last in the Tomb Raider series
as we see it, Tomb Raider fans will be manipulating
environments and creating new levels for many
years to come. Lara aint dead yet!
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