Geoff Keighley has "heard rumblings" of new Lara Croft project at GDC

The Lost Gamer writes: Geoff Keighley has revealed that he has "heard rumblings" of the unveiling of the highly anticipated next installment within the Tomb Raider franchise.

[PimpHandHappy]

if this was PS3 exclusive and Nathan Drake made a cameo... maybe giving the high hard one to Lara and then Lara saying "your my daddy"

[TOO PAWNED]

keep TR away from Uncharted, so no thx

[Morituri]

This could be disaster, or they could surprise us and step their game up. It could never reach the brilliance of Uncharted because it will certainly be multiplat, but it could get in the ballpark.

What they should really re-do is the Soul-Reaver franchise. To this day that playstation1 title is a memorable masterpiece, and one of my top 10 games of all time.

[vhero]

Dont like S-E own this franchise now?? Its changed hands so much now I lost track..

[Seedhouse]

I'm really looking forward to what they have to unveil actually. Reboots have been really successful for other things, and I'm hoping this will bring fresh appeal to the Tomb Raider series.

I'm a huge fan of what Crystal Dynamics have been doing with it though :)

[Noctis Aftermath]

After playing uncharted anything lara can muster up will no doubt be underwhelming, just give it up lara and Rest In Peace.

[RockstarExclusive]

Somehow I always believe the next TR game will be a good one.

[ABizzel1]

Lara needs to retire, Drake has taken her spot.

[BattleAxe]

is if geof keighley were to tell us something we don't already know.

[Tony P]

@battle: Right? I thought we already had info on a survivor horror type TR.

[ThanatosDMC]

SE is gonna mess her up... more than she all ready is. Anyway, im hoping they'll compete properly with Naughty Dog instead of puking out half hearted games.

[tplarkin7]

It's Tomb Raider without Lara Croft.

[Wolf873]

you can apply the same formula for TR, it being Indiana Jones without Indie.

On a personal note, I will say that Uncharted has TR beat in almost every aspect. I've played both and it's suffice to say that Uncharted has more charm and integrity. But again, it's a personal preference, everyone likes what they like for various reason e.g. nostalgia, memories etc.

[DarkTower805]

TR needs to retire already. There hasn't been a TR I liked since the 1st one, every one since was boring as hell and all of them never perfected the camera angles.

For those who compare TR to Uncharted must be on crack or have never played either game. Sure they might share some of the same gameplay mechanics, but TR was boring while Uncharted was fun. It's like comparing a BMW to a Ford, they both have the same mechanical parts, but after that there is no comparison.

[Minimox16]

for me Lara need to make a 3D video game porn so that will be different. xD

[CaliGamer]

Why another Tomb Raider, lets fact it, UC has taken the throne and that's a fact.
Crystal Dynamics should really concentrate on bringing back Legacy of Kain or something, they could really make some waves if they made a next gen Kain.
Tomb Raider? Really?

[Roper316]

I actually like TR better then UC for the reason the TR emphasizes the level exploration and harder puzzles, where UC is more of a TPS with some light exploration & puzzles that you have the answers to in your journal instead of having to figure them out for yourself. I prefer harder puzzles & exploration over shooting everyone and basically no exploring and UC is far more linear feeling the TR also.

[CaliGamer]

Well, to each his own, but if you look at the tomb raider series as a whole it seems like they ware trying to achieve the same level of cinematic flair and action that UC had but never succeeded.

Your preference is well taken but the fact that the tomb raider series has been in sharp decline cannot be denied. An overly busty main character, passable graphics, and okay puzzles don't cut it anymore, if you like TR then by all means be excited, the rest of us can continue to enjoy UC and UC2, games that truly take the TR premise into the next generation.

Come to think of it, GOW outdid Legacy of Kain when it comes to action/adventure so Crystal Dynamics really need to get their stuff together.

And so you know this is MY OPINION, so if you like any of the games I mentioned go forward and enjoy.

[Roper316]

don't get me wrong I loved UC & UC2 platinumed both of them but prefer the exploration & puzzle solving of TR over the shooting everyone in UC. I have always preferred a female lead in my games over a male lead just a preference I guess and I could careless how big her boobs as that is not the reason. I know Drake doesn't fall into this category but most male leads in games look like they are roided out and are nothing but testosterone tanks instead of normal looking & proportioned characters which they don't do with a female lead character.

So in conclusion I am as excited for the next UC as much as the next TR. Both a great series and have a different play style to them which is a good thing.

[Chris399]

This should be posted on the main page. Seriously /claps + bubs

Re: TR. I think that she should to be more than a (brainy, purportedly) stripper with guns. The series' TITular (heh, see what I did there? :P) heroine is in need of a reboot and some breast reduction.

$hit, make her a mousy, British redhead who tumbles into this whole criminals/ tomb-raiding affair rather blunderingly. There's so much that you could do with a plot/ character like that; it's much more endearing and human. Part of what made Drake so successful is that he's passably good-looking, but moreover 'average'. Characters are more likable when they're believable. To me, at least.

[nycredude]

This conversation is TOO civilized dammit!!!

Tombraider sucks!!! Uncharted owns!!!

Seriously though the recent Tomraiders, although decent games really are not close to what UC 1 and 2 are. I love the emphasis on exploration in TR games but they just cant seem to get the camera, combat and tech right.

[PrimordialSoupBase]

Tomb Raider has always had fantastic platforming and puzzle solving. Bring the horrid combat back from the brink and it'll be a damn good game.

Uncharted and Tomb Raider each set out achieve very different things. The comparisons don't make a lot of sense.

[CaliGamer]

So, enlighten us as to what TR is trying to achieve that is so different from UC?
Just wondering because they seem kinda close to me. Other than the more cinematic nature of Uncharted, they would be categorized as the same type of game.
What would be a more adequate game to compare TR to?

[PrimordialSoupBase]

Uncharted lives on the briskness of its script and rotating locales/set pieces. It aspires to be Half Life 2, and does it quite well.

Tomb Raider is about coming to understand an environment and applying different skills picked up along the way. There's plenty backtracking and reforming known environments which demands an constant re-learning of the game's ruleset. It's far closer to Metroid in structure.

[Gamer7l]

Oops...that was my stomach....I had TexMex last night. Sorry Geoff. :o

[cmrbe]

The other main factor was offcourse U1 was developed by ND.

Regarding the first post. Yes. Lara would fit in Uncharted's world.

[dkgshiz]

The last good Tomb Raider game was Tomb Raider 3. After that they all stink. Besides we have Uncharted now.

[mrmikew2018]

Unless they do it right, Eidos should just make a brand new IP and kill off the TR series. The last couple of games were average.

[MysticStrummer]

@CaliGamer - The early Tomb Raiders, which were the best ones, didn't try to incorporate the cinematic elements. They were about exploration and puzzles, with combat being the least dominant element. There's no reason why Tomb Raider can't return to greatness and exist alongside the Uncharted series. @Roper316 - I agree with you about the exploration and puzzle elements. They were the reason I loved the early Tomb Raiders and I wish the Uncharted series would have more of those things. The puzzles in the Uncharted games are so damn easy they might as well not be there, and there is pretty much no exploration. From what I've read, this incarnation of Tomb Raider should feature plenty of exploration due to the more open world format. If they improve the combat and have some nice puzzles, it could be amazing.

[CaliGamer]

The very first Tomb Raider came in at a time when 3D gaming was still fairly new, as a result the whole realm of story telling at that time was lacking to say the least. Even subsequent TR games have done little to push the initial premise into a new realm save for a few tweaks here and there.

We can argue about the level of mental intensity the the puzzles present in UC vs. TR but when I played both I saw a similar sense of exploration and puzzle solving in, and today UC is still one of the closest things we have that we can call the next phase in the evolution of the initial TR concept.

By your standards you could say that games like MW2 or Halo are not directly comparable with Doom or Wolfenstein because of the story sequences included within them, or the fact that they don't contain the level of exploration of those games, yet it is universally agreed that these are all the evolution of the previously identified games.

It seems to me that it is a matter of having the technology now to spend more time on a story and to create a believable setting as well as level design, there is a lot more to take into account rather than just saying, it would be cool to have a tiger pop out here, etc. The audience being more sophisticated today actually want a good story and some level of cohesion to go along with their games.

All the elements of puzzle solving and exploration are there with the UC series as they were in TR, maybe not to the extent you would like but I have seen nothing said in this thread to discredit my initial comparison between the two games.

It seems like you prefer the simpler gameplay of TR and that is something that relates to personal taste which cannot be debated.

[Imalwaysright]

I remember when 360 fanboys were saying that Uncharted was a copy of TB and the PS3 fans were saying that it wasnt. Now PS3 fanbabies are saying otherwise!! Hey Stupid fanboys you were right these games are different like roper said above. TB focuses more on exploration while Uncharted is pretty much a shooter. Resistance and Killzone are much more alike than TB and Uncharted and yet you stupid fanboys want them both. Why because they are from sony's 1st party studios?

[aGameDeveloper]

I agree with you fully: the games focus on different things...and Uncharted is NOTHING like tuberculosis (TB)!

[GrandDragon]

Those who say UC2 has taken away TR's crown are seriously deluded. Both games are completely different and they even play differently.

I agree with what 'Imalwaysright' said, TR is more of an exploration type of game whereas UC2 is basically half game half movie and ND were aiming for movie quality weren't they? well they ended up making a movie.

TR actually feels like a game, UC2 feels like a game in some areas but the rest is like a interactive movie and I really really hate that. It's also one of the reasons why I only completed it once and haven't touched it ever since.

I'll agree on one thing and that's the fact that UC2 looks absolutely amazing, but we seriously need more game 'GAMES' and not short playable movies.

[aGameDeveloper]

I agree with all your points, except I don't think UC2 is a BAD game for being such a movie, nor that TR is a good game for being such a game.

UC1 had too many animated cinematics (it seemed there was one for every 5-10 minutes of gameplay). UC2 seemed to have much fewer, and allowed you to play through most of the flashbacks. One thing I really hated was the extended "hanging train car" that gimped player movement to be cinemtaic...and then they forced you to play through it twice! Despite these issues, I loved the graphics, the combat system, the characters, and the humor of the game.

Tombraider, while being more of a "real game", as you say, has become a bit of a chore to get through in its latest incarnations (I have bought them all and played them through). The characters are boring (especially Lara), the graphics sub-par, the environments and puzzles predictable, the difficulty inconsistent, and the combat atrocious.

[Wolf873]

Uncharted has really spoiled me with raised expectations. And what's this I'm reading, Uncharted has no exploration!? What do you call going around from place to place, discovering hidden chambers and unearthing hidden valleys? Sight seeing? Well it is but it is also, of course, exploration. The series is a nice little package with everything for everybody, and which is near perfectly coherent. Also, what's wrong in trying to achieve movie like quality? Nothing really. If you look at the interactions between characters, they feel more believable than having to record each character separately. You can say that cut-scenes and interactions between characters feel like a movie, but not the game itself, 'cause in that case aren't "most" games guilty of trying to be like a movie?

[squeeb]

I really like Underworld. And I thought Anniversary was neat cause they revamped the original. But I would argue the series has lagged since the late 90s up until recently.

[Coolmanrico]

I really don't get the whole Uncharted/Tomb Raider comparison. Aside from the main characters being treasure hunters, the games play nothing alike. I can't believe people are already putting the games down, but i'll wait till I hear more. One thing Tomb Raider has over Uncharted is enemy variety.

[xg-ei8ht]

I think the Uncharted's are awesome.

But i think TR is pretty special as well.

Was one of the best games i played on the ps.

And some of the other games have been pretty good as well, difference is gameplay and they are different.

But both have a place for me.

[jack_burt0n]

my opinion....... lose the combat entirely it was such crap in the last game, make the climbing mechanics as unrigid as possible maybe more AC than infamous make it all about location, freedom of exploration and puzzles get some serious freeroam size and scale going maybe work a decent melee/stealth mechanic a decent story.

Underworld had some great puzzle set pieces the rest was crap.

[CLOUD1983]

I am an old school TR player I have complete TR 1,2,3,4 the 2nd game was my favorite and I think that the 3rd game was the hardest of all, recently I complete Uncharted1 like every1 else I was thinking that this game is a TR w/o Lara but it's not like that at all.
First of all in the old TR games there is so much exploration to do the game was full of traps, puzzles to solve, hidden paths to find, various wild animals to fight, the game focused on Exploration & Puzzles and very little to fighting it was a very hard game and I can say that I like this part very much, also here I must say that never and I mean "never" you have help to find your way (unlike Uncharted).
So when I first play Uncharted It was so easy.. so damn easy everything was automatic Drake jump and hold in various places just with a press of a button the difficulty was a joke.. you have all the time tips to how to solve a puzzle or where you must go I remember only 2 cases in whole game that i stuck more than 15' and everything else was just shooting... and what shooting, the shooting was endless SO MUCH SHOOTING!!! it was kind of boring for what I was expecting (a hard game with puzzles and riddles and vast exploration) it was good very pretty game the graphics was awesome but you cant compare it with TR this 2 games is completely different in what they do.
So all in all TR for my tastes is much better Uncharted is more or less a third person shooter.