Test - Tomb Raider IV -VI Remastered: Test: And again no revelation

It could have been so nice. A reasonably associated story tells of Lara and her mentor and later adversary Werner von Croy, with increased accessibility, modern optics and strongly drilled finals. But the ravages of time have gnawed properly at the once iconic action adventures in many ways.

In the Making of Videos on the Hobbit trilogy, his shape warns: Peter Jackson, who shortly after the turn of the millennium, brought the Herr-der-Ringe books in great quality as an incompatible manner and thus sustainably a generation of film fans Had shaped, sitting exhausted and revised in the scenes. It has to go on somehow in a few minutes, the release plan knows no mercy. The result was miles away from the potential of everyone involved and the template.

Core design was in a similar role in the first Tomb-Raider trilogy as Peter Jackson at Hobbit, because all attempts to somehow shut down the time were dismissed by publisher Eidos. The hype around Lara Croft, who performed in music videos and received multi -part poster, was financially simply too tempting. The result: a physically and creatively burned -out team that killed her heroine as the last idea. But even that did not protect against another release, just a year later. This studio was overwhelmed with an actually innovative reinterpretation of your work.

Tomb Raider IV-VI, as the anthology is officially called, are three very different games, much more than the higher-fast-second-swivel-predecessor trilogy. The Last Revelation presents the classic formula of a linear treasure hunt, albeit in a single, huge environment. Chronicles, on the other hand, consists of incoherent episodes and therefore offers a certain freedom. And with Angel of Darkness, the idea can be seen to try a little more, including role -playing elements, dialogues and another playable character.

Just like when publishing the remaster of the first three parts a year ago, Aspyr has gripped a clear graphic overhaul, an alternative "modern" control and a few comfort functions in the backpack. For the sixth part, Angel of Darkness, the team also ran software archeology and tried to expand the once hastily implemented and not fully thought-out elements. Unfortunately, it stayed with the attempt, but more on that later.

Lots of light and sometimes a little too much shade

Did that look really so bad? A shortcut makes the direct comparison possible: yes, saw it. What was eagerly soft and highly scaled in the collective memory no longer survives a reality check: the graphic of the first five parts combines all the bad properties of old 3D graphics. From 3D models that are reminiscent of cubist art to barely defined mud textures to a lighting model of the brand "We take the big light".

Accordingly, Aspyr deserves great praise for the revision of the graphic, because the Tomb Raiders look more considerable for dimensions. The optical preparation is not limited to the factors just mentioned. The team has also expanded several details in the game world and designed more atmospheres. Light and particle effects also contribute to improving the screen.

With a little courage to scrape you, you can see a little too much Instagram filter slide in the Lara model of part four, but that doesn't matter in the actual game. You can usually overlook the staged cut -out sequences. However, there is a real point of criticism: the new lighting system is often atmospheric and more coherent, but especially too dark, especially in the many interiors. So it is worth switching between the two graphics modes in order to recognize something. Something ugly, but at least something playable ugly.

We stood on the abyss earlier, now we are one step further

The second innovation in the game concerns the control. At that time, Lara was moved with a so-called "tank control": As in the early resident evil parts, all direction input is relative to the character, not to the camera. This does not feel terribly elegant and lets us marvel at the former admiration for Lara's graceful running and jumping movements, but is not the big problem.

This consists in the relentless principle of simply taking every extra step with regard to losses. He gets what the customer orders, and if he apparently wants to turn a touch too far in a series and then crash, that's the way it is. Here, too, surprising how much the memory has displaced the unchaste frustration potential of the control. More than once, my left-handed housework was pleased because I did it for a delegation after a that-not-my-but-my-flag-pcs.

In addition to small comfort extensions, there is a second pillar of the remaster: a modern control that is based on what is common in any action adventure in recent years. It remains incomprehensible why some common functions are only accessible through astonishingly cumbersome key combinations. There is a plus point on the consoles for the usual integration of the analog sticks into the control of the figure and camera, but a thick minus point for the tutorials, some of which provide completely unsuitable voice output texts and completely avoid text overlays.

A small icon shows when a lever or switch can be operated. However, this makes it even clearer that the corresponding zones are unnecessarily defined and require annoying alignment. It should also be aware that the game world serves fatal traps without warning. Well, with some getting used to and good will I got along with one of the controls at some point. After all, the keys on the PC can be freely covered.

The fallen angel

You don't even know Tomb Raider? Then the principle comes here in the quick run: jumping, running and shooting, it goes through levels, puzzles and human, animal and mystical opponents peppered with many traps, puzzles and human, animal and mystical opponents, to find out archaeological secrets with the extra shot plot twist. This is - especially in relation to the fourth and fifth part - as old -fashioned as expected. A switch somewhere sometimes has logical consequences such as opening a door in the immediate vicinity. Sometimes it is also landscape shifts, as if some deity had built one of these Rubold-Goldberg machines in which a falling marble turns on the toaster, the heat of which sums a cord, which then opens three streets further a balcony crossing.

You can find this silly or simply dismiss it as the classic design, but more modern information elements would certainly not have harmed. In addition, it is striking how empty and lifeless the game worlds are, in particular all theoretically populated areas. Even with a lot of nostalgic benevolence, it feels more like walking through a demo area and not like a credible, finished game world.

From the beginning, all three games can be selected in the menu, and the most attractive is the excursion to the last offshoot, Angel of Darkness. The graphic improvements here are also much more subtle. The title should one day become the big comeback for Lara - in terms of content according to the events of part four and playfully based on the creative idle of the previous quintet. It was known to be different: Core design overturned the ambitious ideas, had to remove or coat some content and features and deliver a product that was outdated a few months later by Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.

Aspyr had the admirable plan to put the legacy of game and team in the right light. And I would love to speak my congratulations on the successful undertaking. But unfortunately the deep -seated weaknesses could not be eliminated with a little surface. An example: the "role play elements", which is rightly smiled at one time. Lara must first expand certain skills. In the initial constitution, she only hangs a few seconds before the arms give in. Some cupboards also seem too heavy to move right away.

The solution is to carry out a certain action that is usually in the immediate vicinity. Lara comments on: "Now I feel much stronger." Unfortunately, this system is still in the game. Aspyr would have revised it and could have equipped it with the right talent and ability or- even better- simply deleted. It has neither a playful added value nor credibility. The short passages in an open game world (with little credible boundaries and breaks), the dialogue trees, the Schleich passages, the second character Curtis: Small improvements were made everywhere, but in total aspyr lack of courage for the necessary cuts and the budget for the required improvements. The great hope for a conciliatory end fails again.