Tomb Raider: Chronicles is UNINSPIRED CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATION, if you ask me
Вставка
- Опубліковано 10 чер 2024
- Here we go - the last original Tomb Raider! But, unfortunately, Tomb Raider: Chronicles feels very much uninspired so to speak. It feels like it's has been made just so the contract can be finished or something like that. Is the Chronicles thus bad or it has some virtues that would salvage it at the end? Check out the video to find out!
Once again, I slightly got carried away and this is the result. Hope you'll enjoy it! It took quite a time to put together, to be honest!
Like & comment if you like the video. That would mean a lot to me!
And as always:
╔═╦╗╔╦╗╔═╦═╦╦╦╦╗╔═╗
║╚╣║║║╚╣╚╣╔╣╔╣║╚╣═╣
╠╗║╚╝║║╠╗║╚╣║║║║║═╣
╚═╩══╩═╩═╩═╩╝╚╩═╩═╝
____________________________________________________
CHAPTER LIST:
00:00 - Prologue
01:09 - Act 0 - Is this trip really necessary?
03:24 - Act 1 - Chronicles of Lara Croft
05:38 - Act 2 - Final incremental tweaks of the stale formula
09:25 - Act 3 - When in Rome
16:11 - Act 4 - Spear of fatal destiny!
21:35 - Act 5 - Oh crikey! 'tis horror?
27:10 - Act 6 - I need scissors!61!!!
35:44 - Act 7 - Short and bittersweet
39:42 - Act 8 - Epilogue
____________________________________________________
Videoclips used in the video from other sources:
• Tomb Raider 3 - Area 51
• Tomb Raider AOD - Rare...
• Tomb Raider Level Edit...
• How to "Grind Subway R...
• DARPA Chief Donald And...
• 40 FATHOMS - Let's Pla...
• Armory►Tank Hangar►Can...
____________________________________________________
#tombraider #gaming #playstation - Ігри
If you wish to check out my other Tomb Raider rambling, here ya go:
TR1 - ua-cam.com/video/2wKkLE9bIYw/v-deo.html
TR2 - ua-cam.com/video/UM13DtCPWgg/v-deo.html
TR3 - ua-cam.com/video/H4Jhm5Y5ep8/v-deo.html
TR:TLR - ua-cam.com/video/GMmkadGuOXQ/v-deo.html
Chronicles holds a very special place in my heart, it was actually the first game I ever played. I remember playing it for hours with my dad. I could never do any of the complicated stuff at first so my dad used to teach me everything. Red alert was the only level I couldn’t finish no matter how many times I tried. Loved the video, you earned a subscriber. Svaka čast brate!!
Dude, just play the predecessors, if you haven't already!
You'll love them, if you like the old school controls.
The worst part was the main menu scenes that was not in any levels, and the trip to the ocean floor.
No Croft Manor even though it was in the main menu cutscenes
Didnt mind the underwater levels. Hated young lara levels
And not only that. Those scenes looks soo good. Too bad they are just that...showcase
if the menu scenes is the worst part of the game .. then this is a superb game, I mean, that's so minute
@@DarkMoe it promises more that it delivered
I was 10 years old when TR Chronicles came out and I remember it was the first game in the series where I could actually progress for some levels. Now I think if a Tomb Raider wasn't difficult enough to piss you off it wasn't a good classic Tomb Raider game
Chronicles is actually relatively easy, yes. Almost like the first Tomb Raider. If you exclude VonCroy industries. But I think you have a point - It's not Tomb Raider if it isn't difficult and isn't taking a piss evrey once in a while hehe
At one point Chronicles was my favourite which is interesting, i had difficulty understanding english so the story wasnt important, i understood what was happenint gameplay wise and was enjoying myself, the switchups in the story were nice because i wasnt saving ammo, i had no reason to. It wasnt too long either, it had just enough length for my full attention span as i play it without ever getting bored. But that was before i started enjoying videogames for something other than the gameplay (even though i hated the gameplay because i hadnt yet gotten used to retro gaming controls). Now it's deffinetly okay, but 3 remains my favourite forever and ever. I do wish we could get an exoanded and enhanced version of both 4 and 5, like the up and coming remasters of the first 3 games. They could deffinetly use the adjustments :)
Too bad 4 and 5 are not the part of remaster. Would be nice to have the package of all 5 sequels in one place
@@kristijan893 my friend🥺😎🤘 i think they plan to remaster the other 2 sequels of tomb raider later on like in a year or 2 or something but they will definitely get a reamaster well at least the last revelations one thats for sure
40 mins about Chronicles! What a nice treat 😁 Can’t wait to sit back and watch it!
Awesome, thank you for this comment :D I hope you liked it :)
Great video!!! I personally loved the game! Ireland was so spooky and refreshing. 😊 Lots of great adventures in that game. My conscience still bothers me about killing Pierre, though. Anyway..busy girl. Got to go.
hahah, thanks for the comment. Don't worry, Pierre is one resilient dude, at least until you confront him in TR1 :D
Thank you for your Videos, Kristijan! We all can see how much time and passion you put into it.
I just replayed the classic Tomb Raider games myself and I'm waiting for the Remastered Trilogy.
It's a lot of fun hearing another educated opinion about these Classics. Keep up the good work!
thank you very much for this kind comments. Comments like these mean a lot and makes me pumped to do more videos :D Can't wait to start remastered trilogy, I'm sure it will be fun to replay these games once again with the solid facelifting hehe
Another enjoyable video. I do like Chronicles a lot tbh, so I do disagree with a lot of what you said, such as during Ireland it got stale and then during VCI you suggested it is too un-TR? 😜 Regarding Deapsea Dive I think with the limitations of PS1 there's not much they COULD have done, and having a "convenient" explosion to make it timed was doing something. 😊 I actually have a dedicated video praising TRC on my channel if you want a positive spin on the game. 😅 Ultimately even Core's "worst" effort is better than most of Crystals Tomb Raider IMO 😅
Thanks man. I have to check your video out :D I have that constant feeling that after Rome section - the game tried to be something else. Especially when you have submarine and VC section where it all looks like infiltration and extraction mission - it feels like the game wants so much to be MGS or Syphon Filter. I mean, after all, stealth genre was becoming popular in those days so it's not surprising. But I am all for different opinions - maybe I can understand somethings better from a different perspective :)
I still prefer this to Tomb Raider 3. Sure it's rather mundane and uninspired but after 4 games of giant odysseys (ESPECIALLY 4), ending on a short romp was refreshing. It's also all around more functional than 3 aside from the rope and final level. Not nearly as many blind instant kills and has better paced levels.
Actually yes, Chronicles doesn't have nearly as much traps as 3 or Last Revelation have. Lot's of stuff is actually predictable. I guess that's when I say "If you played past games, you know Core Design game philosophy" and it get easier to play
I remember there were 2-3 moments where I had no idea how to progress due to mechanics not explained anywhere or hard to find objects. Or puzzles that required a bunch of trials and errors.
BTW will you try expansion packs for the original trilogy? There is TR trilogy Remaster coming in February and it will contain expansions (TR1 Unfinished Business, TR2 Golden Mask and TR3 Lost Artifact). They are worth playing based on my last playthough for the whole saga...
I will play them all expansions at some point. And can't wait to play remasters to see if they will live up to the expectations :D
This is actually one of my all-time favorite classic Tomb Raider games. I put it up there with 1 and 2 as one of the greatest Tomb Raider games, and I do like quite a bit of it better than Revelation. It does has its problems though, and the stories do leave a lot to be desired from a game-play standpoint. Fortunately, I never encountered that Red Alert bug. Didn't even know that was a thing...
I love Chronicles, but my play through nearly ended because of those game breaking bugs
I feel for ya, I almost got pissed and didn't finish the game myself
this is one of my favorite tomb raider games. IDK why people hate on this game it's tomb raider 3 i couldn't beat without cheats back in day.
I believe if this game was made in 1998 instead of TRIII, it would be greater and better than it turned out to be. I'm sure of it.
Finished chronicles recently, it's not the best TR game, but I liked the new mechanics, the difficulty and the short story.
I would probably say the same if each story would have one extra level or something. I got used to have 4 levels per location.. don't know why, though
Your videos get better and better. Furthermore, your jokes reached a new level, thanks for the laughs :D
Thank you for recognizing that :D Appreciated it highly!
Chronicles was very underrated in my opinion. The only part i disliked was the tight rope walking otherwise outside of that it was decent
Actually no. When CORE was developing AOD, Eidos wanting a whole new gaming engine with whole new controls, new graphics, and everything that CORE had to come up with from scratch. That took more time than CORE had assumed, so CORE responded by coming up with Chronicles which at this point was easy, and they could speed-build a new game using the old TEN (Tomb Engine). Keep in mind that developers don't make the profits publishers do even if the developers are the ones who do all the work and in most cases the developers are the ones who created the properties in the first place, so Chronicles allowed CORE to pay their bills for one more year while working on AOD.
So in essence, Chronicles is just a speedy task to survive the possible development hell AoD turned out to be? I always assumed Eidos was the one wanting everything - to milk PS1 fanbase as long as possible and to have a game ready for PS2. Thanks for the clarification :D
@@kristijan893 There was even an AOD preview vid on the PS1 version of the Chronicles disc as well as preview pics in the game's booklet, clearly showing that development was already well underway.
I beleive that, while you're right mostly, Chronicles WAS indeed kind of a tasked forced upon Core by Eidos because they were growing impatient with AoD's development. Like you say at the end the game allowed CORE to pay their bills while working on AoD, but that was only because Eidos was pressuring them already and being stingy on the budget. They wouldn't have needed to release an extra game in between had Eidos allowed them to take their time with the new generation game.
You know what Eidos should have done, they should have made sure they had the most up-to-date PS2 dev kits and announced that Lara will return in her PS2 debut which would (or could) be a next generation remake of the first TR game. That way people would have hype and they would still get a TR game, just it would have been a year later than they would have liked.
They could have also done ports of the PS1 games with enhancements and new (optional) control methods for the PS2, which could have bought them time for a new TR game to be made. They could have also included the PC exclusives on the ports, which would have been the first time that they would have been playable on console as well as a great selling point to the people who mainly played on console at the time, which likely accounted for the majority of the gaming industry back then.
That's actually a good idea. It could have worked, but at the same time, I think people wanted a brand new game that Angel of Darkness was supposed to be. So.. Maybe in the parallel universe.. :D
Those lasers in Red Alert actually remind me of lasers in C-12: Final Resistance. Not sure if you're familiar with that one or not. It's a shame about the bugs in that final level too, without them it would actually be one of the coolest TR levels ever, I reckon.
Yes, I'm familiar. The devs of MediEvil created C-12. I played it shortly but I never finished it. I wonder if it holds up today?
@@kristijan893 Gameplay-wise, not so much. Plays similarly to Syphon Filter. Clunky by todays standards, but generally still playable. It's the atmosphere and aesthetic where the game really shines. The atmosphere reminds me a lot of those few glimpse we get of the future war scenes in the first Terminator movie. The game always scratched my itch due to that.
@@blakeprocter5818 I'll have to give it a go sometimes. I know that it had a potential, but I just never gave that game the chance to get me
Maybe it's because I didn't play all 6 core Tomb Raider games until I was older, but I actually liked this game. It's not as good as some of the others for sure, but I wouldn't call it bad.
Its not that bad, but if I compare it to the predecessors, it is worse. But at the end of the day, its still a classic that will provide decent, albeit short fun
Fantastic as always. I got as far as the Black Island and then got bored with it. So at least I avoided the worst of the bugs!
Yeah, only the last level is full of bugs, even though I managed to get stuck in the old mill level, as you can see in the footage, hahah:D
Very well produced, these videos
🙏
thank you very much!
_"Let's just get it out in the open... Chronicles is a piece of sh*t."_ -Core Design.
Ouch.
Off, did they actually said that?
@@kristijan893 Yeah. In an interview afterwards, Core basically disowned the game.
@@lonestar6709 thats actually pretty harsh
@@kristijan893 "Tomb Raider 5 was effectively a load of old shit ... just doing that for a paycheck because no other team wanted to take it on ... Three years of hammering it, and we were burnt out." -- Andy Sandham, artist & level designer
Personally I thought The Angel of Darkness was the worst one....so many glitches!
Yep, AoD has waaaay more glitches
38:49 megaman. You lost the argument that badly
I knew it, hahah
My family PC couldn't cope with the lighting effects in the last submarine level, and crashed every time. So, I never got to experience the second half of this game at the time. But, I never felt as though I was missing out somehow
Well maybe my video gave you an answer if you ever felt you missed something after submarine levels.. After all, that's half of the game
I don't agree that Zapadnaya Litsa levels are not Tomb Raider-y.
At the bottom of the ocean (so, remote and exotic location) there's a sunken sub (a resting place) with the Spear of Destiny (legendary artifact), and rusty rails falling on those who disturb it (traps... kinda?)
The boring dock and submarine levels are only there for a build up. Think of them as TR5's Caves or Tibetan Foothills.
It would be cool if deepsea dive was longer, and that it has an underwater cave where you need to search stuff to reach Spear of Destiny..then, it would be sooo much better IMO.
We have found her... backpack...
whe have fhound heeeerrr!!
i heard someone saying that chronicles is the previous games in one like a love letter.. but it's hard to say so.. I think it's alright but not as good🤷♀️ the last level killd me wiyh the bugs and I ran out of ammo and I forgot all the goods about it at that point but let's not be so hateful coz we all know the story behind it 😞 thanks for giving the game a shot and sharing this fun video 💜
I can't wait to see the next video "aod" 😂😂 I like it though 👀
Thank you for the comment, appreciated it. Yeah, AoD is next in line heheh
Love TR5. My second favorite
I will never understand why Chronicles is considered "uninspired". It has BY FAR the most memorable levels and locations. I mean a submarine, a dark creepy island and a high-tech laboratory are way more memorable than some of the really forgettable levels in Tomb Raider 1 or 3. For me atleast. When I think about TR1, I think about how annoying traversal was in St Francis Folly or the cistern. Or TR3, I just finished it 2 weeks ago, and can't remember most of the India or South Pacific levels. TR5 locations felt unique, while the others are like "oh look, another jungle" or "oh look, another sandy tomb". I can understand that the team was burned out and hated working on this game, but I still think it was a more or less solid entry.
I agree, and so was Last Revelation, I’m not a fan of those two games.
So I didn’t know for a long time that Pierre and Larson died in this and TR1 because the overworked team genuinely forgot that they died already and killed them again. So I have had a long standing fan-theory that at some point in the past, they were out raiding a tomb, and, probably ignoring Lara’s warnings, disturbed the wrong artifact and got cursed with immortality, so they die all the time but no death truly sticks.
Idk I really like the idea of a pair of idiot henchmen doing standard hench shit but instead of dying they get stuck with the opposite problem.
I liked Chronicles more than Last Revelation and TR3. For me it goes: 1. TR1 2.TR2 3.TRC
Really? Is TLR so bad for you, or?
Why yes, I can name a developer who made five great PS1 games in five years. Naughty Dog of course.
Oh wait... They made only four of them.
Ok... Insomniac Games! But no, only three games.
Well then, Oddworld Inhabitants! Nope, only two.
Y'know, nevermind. Five games in a row, even in the fifth one is underbaked, is unmatched.
Hahaah, I'm telling you, it's hard. Maybe Ryu Ga Gotoku studio with Yakuza series.. They are on the roll in these days and age
I find it interesting how the first two chapters felt completely Tomb Raider by numbers, where the last 2 felt about as far removed from Tomb Raider as we got. I think the last chapter at the VCI headquarters was actually really good if you put aside the Red Alert bugs. A far cry from actual tomb raiding, but I liked most of the ideas they threw in there.
I might prefer this to Last Revelation, depending on my mood. Most of the game is just fine, which is still better than the Cairo and Giza sections in Last Revelation, which manage to be the only two classic Tomb Raider sections I actually dislike.
I'd rank the games:
1: TR1
2: TR3
3: TR2
4/5: Chronicles/Last Revelation
Tr2 solos. I don't know what you are on about
Its funny you mention in the title and also the video that the game is an Uninspired Contractual Obligation, I was wondering if you'd bring it up in the video, but since you didnt here's a fun fact: It actually 100% was. The only reason Chronicles exists was that Eidos forced Core to do another TR game while they were working on Angel of Darkness because development for that one was, in Eidos' opinion, taking too long, so they had Core make another classic one in between AoD and LR like some junkie feeling withdrawal from not pumping one game a year.
I have a soft spot for htis game, something about the settings and ideas it tried to play with are just cool to me. That being said though, it is definitely the worst one of the classic TR games, its noticeably unpolished and rushed, which is a testament to how much of a good job Core did with all of the previous 3 considering those were made in hellish development cycles too. The softlocks and oversights in the final chapter of the game in particular are egregious and unacceptable. I remember back when I first finished Chronicles, I had to actually do Red alert TWICE because I got two different soft locks from it, the Cyborg getting stuck in the pits and also the laser issue you encountered. That experienced unfortunately REALLY soured my experience and lasting feeling for the game, as it was the last stuff the game threw at me.
It does look uninspired, but I give Core cudos for making something in a year. In a just world, they wouldn't have been crunched like balls in a vice
Anytime anyone says FMV i get nostalgia and excitement feels.
Uzi is another one, maybe its got something to do with the 90s boy in me.
I love FMVs, too bad there is no need for them in the modern times since gaming has evolved quite a bit visual-wise. (which is understandable)..but there's just something about good ol' film animation
@@kristijan893 For sure. Lol pretty sure it was a selling point at one time. "Over 20 hrs of full motion video"! I'm sold!!
Why is everyone saying this is not a good game? I like it very much.
I'm currently replaying Chronicles for the 3rd or 4th time since release. It's just such a slog. When I reached Ireland I got so bored I skipped the whole thing and went straight to VC.
Yes, it kinda slows down in Ireland despite good atmosphere
I love this game
18:30 (hate being "that guy in the comments")
No i mythbusted this decades ago, its significantly quieter and faster to creep up on something than crawl up on something. Many reasons for this, one important one being you can't hold a weapon and crawl up on something, another maybe on the off chance the enemy combatant does turn or hear you, the last place you want to be is on your hands and knees with a surprised Pikachu face on you.
Then I stand corrected. When you elaborate it like that, it makes total sense. Maybe if Lara could walk ducked down behind counter, maybe it would make more sense
@@kristijan893 meh video games. Love your videos bro, great stuff.
@@leonbarry5403 thank you very much, highpy apprecuated :D
I liked playing this. 🤷
I hated the last level and never completed it because of the fucking bugs there and android getting stuck.. Otherwise it was nice TR game, uninspired and derivative, technologically identical to the 4th. Still I had fun playing it.
I hated this game. And the devs clearly hated making it too. After the grand adventure that was The Last Revelation this game didn't need to exist but because Eidos sucks, they forced the studio to poop out this terrible game.
My top 3 Tomb Raider Games are
1. Tomb Raider II
2. Tomb Raider (1996)
3. Tomb Raider the last revelation but even I have to admit chronicles is still the worst TR game, not awful or even bad but just mediocre or passable at best.
My bottom 3 would be
3. Tomb Raider (2013)
2. Tomb Raider Legend (2006)
1. Tomb Raider Chronicles
bro, why does Larson look like Donald Trump on FMVS?
Hahah, he kind of does look like Trump. Almost the same level of intelligence
I was impressed at the time with Chronicles graphics and animations. Trash game though
This is why I'm glad I lost interest in this series after III.
Well, tbh.. last revelation has its moments. Even this one, but those are few and far between
The way you use English is so foreign but so familiar. Its strange.
Might be broken since it's not my native language :D Hope you understood my pronunciation and stuff :D
bro you got so many comments and you dont evens ansers then ...
Sorry man, I was so busy with this one to finally get it out. I hope you'll understand. :D Longer videos took exponentially more time.. But I hope you enjoy what you see
TR Cronicles was the worst, Even Angel Of Darkness was a bit better.
Really? You are in the minority here, actually
AOD had great sound tracks and good atmosphere for a ps2 game. Second the game would have been better if it had enough time, She was supposed to face Eckhard nightmare on elmstreet style, TR AOD felt like a thriller with a storyline that could be in horror movies having some deranged jack the ripper type of murderer.
I might be the minority but that doesn't mean our opinion is less valid @@kristijan893
I dont like this game at all. Worst tr. I dont blame the devs because I know the story. But this game has no joy or sense of wonder.