Why The Lost Artifact is the BEST TR Game - Page 3

synthsequence · 21-04-22, 13:33

What a fantastic write up. I came here to praise The Lost Artefact having just beaten it for the first time a couple of hours ago. It's crazy how much better it is than vanilla TRIII. Every level is so good, there's no filler and they're all so unique.

I can't believe I'm saying this but Sleeping with the Fishes has to be one of my favourite Tomb Raider levels of all time. A level that is predominantly underwater, which I usually loathe, but they pulled it off amazingly. Freeing the dolphin, and that final shot of the level where the level end theme starts playing before you board the boat. Brilliant stuff.

The difficulty is much more fair than TRII and III, so much more consistent and the secrets are by far the best in any Tomb Raider game.

I still think Tomb Raider and Last Revelation are better, but it takes my number 3 spot for sure.

TRExpertgamer · 21-04-22, 14:44

I think the reason why the extended chapter of TR3 is better is because new players certainly don't need to struggle with using the kayak because you know this version of TR3 no longer has the kayak anymore. So good luck to the new players with that.

perryloo · 21-04-22, 19:05

Have to agree the classic TR games were brilliant, and the add on 'gold' levels even more so, as the design team learned more each game.

Visually the Lost Artifact is one of the best, each level tells a story, a fantastic experience if you have never played it, so get out there and play it

CheshireBitch · 22-04-22, 10:56

It was a very nice read especially after all this time ! I wish it was on steam ! I have the CD but today my computer doesn’t feature a CD player…

I really loved this game for mostly the same reasons you described. The big secrets were so good especially for the first two levels !

And the fact that they were able to tell a story without cutscenes or dialog using only context, textures and music… so special !!!

I wish we had the one they planned for TR4, so curious to know how they would have improved again !!!

TRExpertgamer · 22-04-22, 18:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by CheshireBitch

It was a very nice read especially after all this time ! I wish it was on steam ! I have the CD but today my computer doesn’t feature a CD player…

I really loved this game for mostly the same reasons you described. The big secrets were so good especially for the first two levels !

And the fact that they were able to tell a story without cutscenes or dialog using only context, textures and music… so special !!!

I wish we had the one they planned for TR4, so curious to know how they would have improved again !!!

Do any of you know if it was optional or Core Design wasn't allowed to make any scenes for TR2 gold & TR3 gold?

redfox45 · 22-04-22, 18:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by TRExpertgamer

Do any of you know if it was optional or Core Design wasn't allowed to make any scenes for TR2 gold & TR3 gold?

They talked about it occasionally on Ash's developer streams.
They were a seperate team working on the Gold games and they were looked down on by Core initially, apparently at one point they all actually got surronded by the original Core members and told they were not welcome and not part of the team until Adrian Smith came and saved them.

But when it comes to the cutscenes I think they were just not given the time or money, mainly because nobody took their work all that seriously. Apparently they really did want to do cutscenes though, there's even a full write up of what the cutscenes would have been in Lost Arifact that you can download and check out.
https://www.tomb-of-ash.com/tomb-raider-gold/

TRExpertgamer · 23-04-22, 04:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by redfox45

They talked about it occasionally on Ash's developer streams.
They were a seperate team working on the Gold games and they were looked down on by Core initially, apparently at one point they all actually got surronded by the original Core members and told they were not welcome and not part of the team until Adrian Smith came and saved them.

But when it comes to the cutscenes I think they were just not given the time or money, mainly because nobody took their work all that seriously. Apparently they really did want to do cutscenes though, there's even a full write up of what the cutscenes would have been in Lost Arifact that you can download and check out.
https://www.tomb-of-ash.com/tomb-raider-gold/

Ok. Thank you for revealing me the details about this.

Anyway it doesn't matter to me that I see there's no scenes in the gold builds of the TR games because I like the idea I'll be able to get these games over and done with quickly

21-04-22, 13:33	#21
synthsequence Hobbyist Join Date: Mar 2022 Location: Australia Posts: 7	What a fantastic write up. I came here to praise The Lost Artefact having just beaten it for the first time a couple of hours ago. It's crazy how much better it is than vanilla TRIII. Every level is so good, there's no filler and they're all so unique. I can't believe I'm saying this but Sleeping with the Fishes has to be one of my favourite Tomb Raider levels of all time. A level that is predominantly underwater, which I usually loathe, but they pulled it off amazingly. Freeing the dolphin, and that final shot of the level where the level end theme starts playing before you board the boat. Brilliant stuff. The difficulty is much more fair than TRII and III, so much more consistent and the secrets are by far the best in any Tomb Raider game. I still think Tomb Raider and Last Revelation are better, but it takes my number 3 spot for sure.

21-04-22, 14:44	#22
TRExpertgamer Inactive Join Date: Mar 2018 Location: Home Posts: 1,426	I think the reason why the extended chapter of TR3 is better is because new players certainly don't need to struggle with using the kayak because you know this version of TR3 no longer has the kayak anymore. So good luck to the new players with that.

21-04-22, 19:05	#23
perryloo Explorer Join Date: Jan 2021 Location: Sunny UK Posts: 554	Have to agree the classic TR games were brilliant, and the add on 'gold' levels even more so, as the design team learned more each game. Visually the Lost Artifact is one of the best, each level tells a story, a fantastic experience if you have never played it, so get out there and play it

22-04-22, 10:56	#24
CheshireBitch Archaeologist Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 1,753	It was a very nice read especially after all this time ! I wish it was on steam ! I have the CD but today my computer doesn’t feature a CD player… I really loved this game for mostly the same reasons you described. The big secrets were so good especially for the first two levels ! And the fact that they were able to tell a story without cutscenes or dialog using only context, textures and music… so special !!! I wish we had the one they planned for TR4, so curious to know how they would have improved again !!!