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'Underworld' Press Introduction at Eidos France - the report |
Tomb Raider: Underworld - Press Introduction at Eidos France - the report
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| It was early in the morning when we gathered before the imposing historical station of Leuven, and tried the squeeze the five of us into the car, heading for the City of light. We killed some time reading and talking, but really our minds were looking forward to what was to come. |
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Finally we arrived at what seemed to be a stately building, where various companies were established. An elevator took us to the eighth floor and there we stepped into the world of Eidos. We came across life size statues of Hitman’s Agent 47, and gangsters Kane & Lynch, but our Lara Croft was by far the most prevalent. In the corridors and on the desks of the Eidos crew there were lots of small and tall Lara statues, art works and other goodies. All a delight to see, adding to the already mysterious atmosphere. |
| We were the only group invited to Eidos France on this day. So it was a really private visit, and we considered it an honour in itself. They took us to a small room and we sat down on a sofa (or on the floor when sofa space ran out), our hearts were racing with excitement. Thailand was the first destination from Tomb Raider: Underworld that we came to see and it wasn’t long before we were grabbing hold of the controller and taking Lara from her ship, where this level begins, and taking a dive into the ocean to explore. We started out a little uncertain because we were all pc-gamers and not used to the Xbox 360 controller, but after a while we got the taste of it. |
| After dealing with the first shark, we climbed onto the land and came across some new aspects of the game, like free climbing, which you may have seen in the movies from Leipzig. We clambered further into a tropical environment. Parrots flew off when we came too close, but there were also less innocent creatures. At one point we were attacked by fist sized spiders. |
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| Luckily such a spider is not a match for our beloved superhero and with a firm kick the spider is history… splattered all over the place! We then continued on our way, and soon we are confronted with yet another spectacular element: the wall jumps -Prince of Persia style. Between two walls we can move upwards, pushing off from the wall and jumping to the other side. This brought us to a higher terrain where we got into a fight with tigers. |
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| But as we know, Tomb Raider didn’t become big by squashing spiders or blowing up tigers, the game is mainly about the puzzle solving elements. After a beautiful cut scene, where Lara films her new discovery with a camera and adds commentary herself, it was time to pull our first lever. It didn't have any effect. Well, nobody expected it to be this easy anyway, because we and Tomb Raider are friends of old and have been down this road many times before. |
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After a diabolical search effort, we discovered the two sticks which we needed to remove to be able to activate the lever. The sticks could also be used as weapons, but at this time there weren't any enemies to try it on. Back at the lever we pulled it and activated an adrenaline moment, but by this time we had already reached the end of the demo. |
| Thailand is a magical level, with stunning graphics and beautiful music. Prominent are also the movements. Every move is very realistically modelled and fits perfectly into everything else. The interaction with the environment is spectacular: Lara pushes plants out of the way, corpses don't disappear, Lara becomes wet and dirty, even the menu got a pleasant and well-ordered look. Unique for Tomb Raider history is that in Tomb Raider: Underworld you can choose to activate Dutch subtitles! |
| Tomb Raider: Underworld has many novelties. Like the possibility of being able to shoot at two targets at the same time, or while holding onto a ledge, shooting enemies into oblivion. Also underwater there are several improvements. Lara now possesses an underwater sonar. This will grant her the possibility to discover the underwater world thoroughly. She can also fire underwater and pick up large objects. Done with the ever bottomless backpack! |
The concept art reveals what kind of graphical beauty Tomb Raider: Underworld is going to be.
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| A short break and a sandwich on Eidos leaves us ready for the second part of this spectacle. This time the journey took us to the Mediterranean Sea, which this time everybody has already seen the screenshots. After getting rid of the local shark population, who didn't give us too much trouble, we could dive into the caves to see what was out there. To open the gate we had to find two key objects, which were in other caves. |
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Despite the Light emitting jellyfish, which made the surroundings visible, it was still difficult to orientate. But finally we found what we were looking for and stepped through the gate. We entered a room with sky and got out of the water. Now there was yet another amusing cube puzzle to address and the usual bringing down of monuments, for it still is Lara. |
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Of course we have all seen the enormous octopus in the screenshots, in the game he is as impressive as ever. How to defeat him has been a giveaway from the start, but how to actually accomplish this is another story. Later we realised that the path we took was different from the path that we have seen from the gameplay trailer. Instead of hanging onto the poles we took a path that leads us through a dark corridor on the left side. |
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This is where all the promises of playing the game in different ways is not just salesman talk. After a while of climbing and puzzling we shot the two chains that were holding the spiky disc in place, it came down with thunder and landed on the head of the excessive invertebrate. End of demo. |
| Deeply impressed, and with some nice souvenirs, we left the Eidos building. |
| In the afternoon that followed we went to view the Eiffel tower and the Arc de Triomphe. But after seeing Tomb Raider: Underworld even the Eiffel tower wasn't that impressive anymore! |
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'Underworld' Press Introduction at Eidos France - the report
