Prima strategy guide

adamtombraider · 08-04-21, 16:25

I bought the Prima strategy guide on Ebay for collector's purposes and I am shocked at the amount of mistakes and wrong information the book contains does anyone else have this book.

**ANoDE** · 08-04-21, 21:36

No, I don't. But I'd be interested to know more - can you maybe post a few examples of the mistakes they made? Just out of curiosity.

adamtombraider · 09-04-21, 05:58

The code for Francine's apartment is wrong by one digit.

It tells you an impossible route through the lasers in Louvre Galleries which you can't even do

There is a screenshot of the Sprint Jump in Bio Research Facility which is an ability you cannot have at that point in the game

It recommends using the V Packer Shotgun on the knights in the Vault of Trophies but you don't have the Shotgun at all in that level (unless you activate the glitch at the end of Galleries Under Siege which will allow you to still have it in Von Croy's Apartment)

It says that you can pick up a second Vector R35 from the Cleaner in Von Croy's Apartment and then combine it with the one you had picked up in Derelict Apartment Block which you cannot do and also you pick up a second Vector R35 in Louvre Galleries and there is no mention of that in the guide at all.

It says that the Mutant Fish in Bio Rsearch Facility and Aquatic Research Area cannot be killed when it obviously can.

This obviously means that the guide was written with an earlier build of the game and its not the build we got.

**ANoDE** · 09-04-21, 06:44

Thanks for the examples

I agree, some of the mistakes could be due to an earlier build, before things got cut / rearranged. But why would the code be wong? That kinda feels mire like a simple mistake to me.
I wonder if they ever released an updated version - probably not, giving the commercial success of the game it was about.

KIKO · 09-04-21, 14:29

Thank you for posting about this. You've mentioned some things I didn't know about before. I personally scrolled through the guide myself a few years ago and I remember reading about a strength upgrade in the Serpent Rouge that you could get by moving one of those stage equipments, the one you climb on in order to reach one of the lighting structures (the one that breaks when Lara stands on it).

I'm sure there are a lot more differences. As you've mentioned they probably had access to an early build.

Profc · 09-04-21, 16:44

I remember reading through the PDF version of that book 10 years ago.

The X-ray machine in the Louvre, the 4 engravings in Von Croy's walking stick are all mentioned there I think. (It's been a while)

It was so inaccurate that I was using it to find some of the deleted stuff from the game.

Jathom95 · 09-04-21, 20:09

I'm not surprised honestly. I don't think any of the PC copies ever had these, but I remember with the PS2 copies in particular - some actually came with an Addendum on a white card alongside the manual. It had a "thank you for purchasing the game" message, then had at least 7-8 things that it outright stated were removed from the game. One I remember was an option in the Extras menu called "The Story So Far" that would've shown how AOD was linked to the other classics.

Even back in the day, I thought that was quite strange. Games could be rife with issues even back then, but you didn't see developers outright telling you that things had been removed from the game. Hindsight sure is 20/20.

jackraider · 11-04-21, 02:20

^ I wouldn’t mind seeing a scan of this .

Girafarig32 · 11-04-21, 06:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by adamtombraider

I bought the Prima strategy guide on Ebay for collector's purposes and I am shocked at the amount of mistakes and wrong information the book contains does anyone else have this book.

It appears Lara is also doing the spring jump in the Tomb of Ancients. Also Luther Rouzic and the version of Muller with the netting is shown.

Ruu11 · 11-04-21, 10:57

I think they wrote this guide following a beta/unreleased version of AoD that they were able to play...
There's a huge ammount of -not mistakes- but early stuff that later was edited like
Janice's original position next to the hotel or even unused nephilim creatures!

08-04-21, 16:25	#1
adamtombraider Explorer Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 926	Prima strategy guide I bought the Prima strategy guide on Ebay for collector's purposes and I am shocked at the amount of mistakes and wrong information the book contains does anyone else have this book.

08-04-21, 21:36	#2
ANoDE Golden Join Date: May 2005 Location: Austria Posts: 5,866	No, I don't. But I'd be interested to know more - can you maybe post a few examples of the mistakes they made? Just out of curiosity. __________________ 🎶 ~ Help me leave behind some reasons to be missed ~ 🎶

09-04-21, 05:58	#3
adamtombraider Explorer Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 926	The code for Francine's apartment is wrong by one digit. It tells you an impossible route through the lasers in Louvre Galleries which you can't even do There is a screenshot of the Sprint Jump in Bio Research Facility which is an ability you cannot have at that point in the game It recommends using the V Packer Shotgun on the knights in the Vault of Trophies but you don't have the Shotgun at all in that level (unless you activate the glitch at the end of Galleries Under Siege which will allow you to still have it in Von Croy's Apartment) It says that you can pick up a second Vector R35 from the Cleaner in Von Croy's Apartment and then combine it with the one you had picked up in Derelict Apartment Block which you cannot do and also you pick up a second Vector R35 in Louvre Galleries and there is no mention of that in the guide at all. It says that the Mutant Fish in Bio Rsearch Facility and Aquatic Research Area cannot be killed when it obviously can. This obviously means that the guide was written with an earlier build of the game and its not the build we got. Last edited by adamtombraider; 09-04-21 at 06:02.

09-04-21, 06:44	#4
ANoDE Golden Join Date: May 2005 Location: Austria Posts: 5,866	Thanks for the examples I agree, some of the mistakes could be due to an earlier build, before things got cut / rearranged. But why would the code be wong? That kinda feels mire like a simple mistake to me. I wonder if they ever released an updated version - probably not, giving the commercial success of the game it was about. __________________ 🎶 ~ Help me leave behind some reasons to be missed ~ 🎶

09-04-21, 16:44	#6
Profc Archaeologist Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 2,083	I remember reading through the PDF version of that book 10 years ago. The X-ray machine in the Louvre, the 4 engravings in Von Croy's walking stick are all mentioned there I think. (It's been a while) It was so inaccurate that I was using it to find some of the deleted stuff from the game. __________________ Morality is herd instinct in the individual.

09-04-21, 14:29	#5
KIKO Relic Hunter Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 5,795	Thank you for posting about this. You've mentioned some things I didn't know about before. I personally scrolled through the guide myself a few years ago and I remember reading about a strength upgrade in the Serpent Rouge that you could get by moving one of those stage equipments, the one you climb on in order to reach one of the lighting structures (the one that breaks when Lara stands on it). I'm sure there are a lot more differences. As you've mentioned they probably had access to an early build.

09-04-21, 20:09	#7
Jathom95 Hobbyist Join Date: Jul 2020 Location: United States Posts: 34	I'm not surprised honestly. I don't think any of the PC copies ever had these, but I remember with the PS2 copies in particular - some actually came with an Addendum on a white card alongside the manual. It had a "thank you for purchasing the game" message, then had at least 7-8 things that it outright stated were removed from the game. One I remember was an option in the Extras menu called "The Story So Far" that would've shown how AOD was linked to the other classics. Even back in the day, I thought that was quite strange. Games could be rife with issues even back then, but you didn't see developers outright telling you that things had been removed from the game. Hindsight sure is 20/20. Last edited by Jathom95; 09-04-21 at 20:10.

11-04-21, 02:20	#8
jackraider Inactive Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: USA Posts: 2,289	^ I wouldn’t mind seeing a scan of this .

11-04-21, 10:57	#10
Ruu11 Explorer Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: Spain Posts: 886	I think they wrote this guide following a beta/unreleased version of AoD that they were able to play... There's a huge ammount of -not mistakes- but early stuff that later was edited like Janice's original position next to the hotel or even unused nephilim creatures! __________________ Area 51 REDUX... coming soon =)