NEW DIRECTION
FOR NEXT GENERATION
Copyright 2000 www.tombraiderchronicles.com
[ September 13th 2000 ]
Amid
a whirlwind of rumour and speculation about the
direction of the Tomb Raider series following
on from Chronicles, Core Design's Adrian Smith,
fresh from his first interview on Chronicles,
is back talking to GameSpot UK about Next Generation,
the rebirth of Lara Croft and gameplay as we have
never seen it. The Last Revelation, aka Tomb Raider
4, sees Lara entrapped in the Temple Of Horus,
twiddling her thumbs while millions of fans around
the world become embroiled in the flashback adventures
of Chronicles, giving Core Design a clean sheet
for the creation of the Next Generation of Tomb
Raider. "The last thing we want in Tomb Raider
Next Gen is Lara Croft standing up outside a tomb."
comments Smith.
The design
and structure of Next Generation will move away
from the more traditional start and end genre
while Core steer their new instalment along a
more episodic route. The thought behind this would
be to avoid the "throw is away in 12 months" attitude
and instead begin authoring chapters of the same
game, over many releases Smith says the first
game in the new series will include three or four
chapters, unique adventures as well as play based
on a larger picture. The following release a further
three of four chapters, and the story gradually
evolving release after release, more like a book
than a video game. "Even though there's a self-contained
episode there are hooks in every episode to the
bigger picture."
In a
phenomenally moving technological world, Core
hopes that this approach to gameplay will also
marry well with the changing hardware market,
making the studio able to adapt and render according
to the latest model on the market. Core also plan
to envelope the release of their Next Generation
series with sporadic information, perhaps as Smith
suggests, two or three weeks after release, adding
to the new feel of chapter gaming, and using the
growing success of online interactivity as a dominant
medium for the release and moulding of the story.
Speaking
on the ever evolving Lara Croft, Adrian brings
to the attention the privileged life Lara Croft
has led up until now, but drops a hint that the
Temple of Horus might not be the final resting
place of his heroine by speaking of her return
to England after her near-death experience. "She
may be having problems adjusting to normal life.
She may become an alcoholic, she may be taking
drugs, Croft Manor might have burned down." suggesting
a more mature audience.
"The
possibilities are endless. There are no intentions
of having the abrupt endings we had in the past.
That shocking new system means that Lara is going
to be plunged into a very different lifestyle
which will be totally the opposite of what she's
used to. Obviously Lara has to see the adventure
through from beginning to end. There's no way
she can get out of it halfway through. She has
to prove something, almost her innocence"
Interaction
has always been paramount in the design of any
Tomb Raider episode, and Lara Crofts future intends
to be filled with many new characters, each with
their own unique personalities, evolving with
Lara as the story unfolds. According to Smith,
some of the external characters might actually
be playable, while others maintain their more
static environmental interaction with Lara, supporting
her or challenging her as she unfolds more and
more adventures. New playable characters will
have their own adventures to contend with, but
Smith says that their paths will most certainly
cross with the intrepid Lara on more than one
occasion, adding weight to the true scope of directions
the game could take.
Lara's
own character development will allow her not only
to participate and investigate, but also mature
more in herself, allowing the user to understand
Lara not just as a gun-swinging action hero, but
also in a more intellectually developing light.
Role playing elements will be introduced, and
the user will then choose the kind of game he
or she plays. "We've always understood that the
consumer forms a very strong link with Lara and
they form two camps: they are either a force protecting
Lara or they are actually Lara.
"We want
to build on this and therefore, dependent on how
you play the game, how you look after Lara and
how you control Lara will be reflected back in
the stats and the type of Lara that you build.
An example would be that if I choose to run everywhere
myself during the game then you find Lara's skill
set for running will increase, just like a traditional
RPG model. You won't get an onscreen prompt saying
that your running skill has just gone up by one
point but you will notice that you can run a bit
faster or a little bit longer, just subtle things
like that."
The direction
within game play will also develop Lara's character,
more skill or agility being applied to the character
makeup if a certain, perhaps harder or trickier
route is taken over a more easier one. "That means
I [Lara] can get to the secret ledge or hidden
corridor or what ever. It will just mean a different
route, a different path."
Arian
Smith describes the differences between the original
Tomb Raider series and Next Generation as a game
specifically for the new generation of gaming
consoles. While Tomb Raider, 2, 3 and so on have
each undergone extensive architectural makeovers,
as much as complete mechanical recoding in the
case of Chronicles, Next Generation will see a
completely different approach to design and makeup,
initially exclusively designed for the PS2, then
later developing towards Microsofts XBOX. "We're
bringing something darker, more mature. We're
definitely aiming this at a more mature audience.
We've looked at films like the Omen and The Exorcist,
which are very dark and deep kind of films and
that gives some kind of indication of what you
can expect to see."
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