A Return to Tombs A Glimpse into Rise of the Tomb Raider [Full Article]

 [Minor Spoilers: Although the piece focuses more on Crystal's approach to tomb design rather than detailed examples and locations.]


A little introduction: a few weeks ago, as part of the E3 Ambassador Program, I wrote an article for the official Tomb Raider blog (and which I can now post here) about the reemergence of tombs in the latest installment of the franchise. After listening to fan feedback from the previous game, the team at Crystal are expanding these areas making them more complex and captivating. For the piece I had the pleasure of interviewing Jeff Wajcs, Senior Designer at Crystal Dynamics who gave amazing answers.

It's an element of the upcoming game that I am seriously excited about, and I loved having this opportunity to talk about it. Read the article below:

A Return to Tombs

For Lara Croft, her journey across Yamatai was one of survival, which tested her determination and strength to their limits. The struggles she faced through the game shaped her, turning her into the character that many of us grew up with. Her experiences made her more determined, and kindled an interest to learn more about the secrets of the world. The next game, Rise of the Tomb Raider, continues Lara’s story and takes her to new locations in search for new truths, new challenges, and excitingly, new tombs.

Community feedback from the previous game highlighted an interest for bigger and more complex tombs, an element which Crystal Dynamics seems eager to deliver on for Lara’s next adventure. To understand Crystal’s vision for tombs in the upcoming game, I recently spoke to Jeff Wajcs, Senior Designer at Crystal Dynamics.

Instead of encountering tombs as a means to escape enemies or as an optional puzzle, in Rise of the Tomb Raider, Lara will be intentionally and actively seeking out these areas. As Wajcs explains, “besides just having more tombs in general, we have a new philosophy for critical path tombs. Every critical path tomb throws one ‘big problem’ at Lara. She needs to solve a series of puzzles in order to chip away at the ‘big problem,’ bit by bit. We also refer to these as ‘nested puzzles.’” These areas combine elements of puzzle solving with traversal and combat challenges, which enables Crystal to “balance the pacing without compromising the puzzle theme of the level”. image

The game will also see the return of challenge tombs. These tombs focus on a single puzzle and a single goal. While smaller than those encountered on the critical path, they are still packed with goodies to entice the player. Lara will be able to collect a number of resources in the tombs, which can be used in the game’s new upgrade system to improve Lara’s weapon and ammo, increasing the level of variety in the gameplay.

“There are ton of new skills this time around, and several of them can only be acquired by completing Challenge Tombs,” Wajcs reveals. For completionists, some Challenge Tombs will hold maps containing the locations of other collectibles outside of the area. “So no matter what kind of player you are and what kind of gameplay you like, Challenge Tombs will have the right reward for you.”

Previously many of the Challenge Tombs were stand-alone areas of exploration, which the player would venture to in search of a reward. This is an element which the team has been focusing on and improving upon for the new release.

“One of the biggest improvements to the Challenge Tombs has been in the story department,” Wajcs explains. Even in these optional areas, Lara’s fascination with archaeology will be growing, and the player will not only collect rewards but discover more about the location they’re in. “Each Challenge Tomb has a history for the player to discover, both in the documents left there but also in the environment itself. Each tomb feeds into the broader mystery that Lara is trying to figure out. The environments are certainly much more exciting as a result.”

Rise of the Tomb Raider sees the return of many features from the previous game, but thanks to next gen technology and graphics, the potential for tombs and puzzles has been greatly expanded. In addition to the scale and the realistic, yet magical appearance of these tombs, the team has been working on creating real-world puzzles to bring a new level of immersion to the title.

“The most challenging aspect of designing a tomb is always tying in the fiction. The days of random pressure plates and gigantic wall switches are long gone,” Wajcs says. One of the improvements made with the tombs is an expansion of the use of physics. “Water is one of my favorite things to use for puzzles, and you’ll see a lot of new next gen materials and FX on display. Lara will need to use the different physics of water to solve a wide variety of puzzles. There are changing water levels, water currents, water used as weight, water powering machines - there’s a lot.” image

The game is also promised to be accessible to players who have yet to play the previous title in the series. The return of the Survival Instinct feature teaches new players how to assess and manipulate the environment.

“Every puzzle can be solved without Survival Instinct, and players that enjoy being challenged by puzzles can definitely go without it. Lara will provide more hints the more Survival Instinct is used, so less familiar players can rely on it more,” Wajcs says. “The presence of Survival Instinct is actually what allows us to include the harder puzzles in the game that we hope our longtime fans will appreciate.”

Wajcs also teased about the challenges that Lara will be facing, as she’s now a more experienced adventurer. “Of course, now that Lara actually wants to get into the tombs, the tombs themselves have to try even harder to keep her out. We’ve prepared a bunch of new traps and hazards that only Lara Croft could survive.”

[Transportation, lodging, and E3 badge provided by Crystal Dynamics and Xbox as a part of the E3 2015 Ambassador Program]

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Exclusive Interview with Rae Wright Voice Actor for Isis in "Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris"

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Rae Wright, the talented voice actor behind Isis in the recently launched, "Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris". The character's role in the game was important as Isis drives the story forward; introducing the players to new situations and storyline aspects. Throughout the game, Rae's voice became a major part of creative an immersive gaming experience. Read our interview with her below!

To follow Rae's adventures, make sure to "Like" her Facebook page, HERE.

Photograph from Rae Wright's Professional Facebook Page.

How did you get the job and does applying for voice over work in the video games industry differ from other acting roles?

I was initially hired as a local actor to record Lara’s lines to help finalize the script. An audio placeholder, if you will, so they could hear how everything would flow. I was lucky enough to have a friend who was working on sound for the game and he threw my name into the mix. I submitted a demo reel and booked the job. They liked what I was doing and offered me the job for Isis’ voice.

As a gamer, how did you feel when you heard that you got the part?

I was beyond ecstatic! It’s always been a goal of mine to work on a video game so I got to check that off my list. But I hope to do more.

How much of an idea of the character did you have before the recording, either as preparation material sent by Crystal Dynamics or your own personal ideas on the sort of character?

Since I had already been reading the script for Lara, I was familiar with Isis. Also, Egyptian Mythology is something I have read a lot about over the years and it really helped me get Isis off the page.

Temple of Osiris was your first voice acting role in a video game, how was it and was the experience different to what you thought it might be?

It was a wonderful experience. I believe it really helped me having a theater background because you really have to convey everything through your voice. Camera work allows you to use your whole body and expressions but with voiceover you have to bring all that to the delivery through audio only. And you have to record all manner of strange scenarios… Getting punched/shot, being attacked by a wild animal, slipping and falling off a ledge… you get the idea haha.

Official screenshot from Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris.

How was it working with Crystal Dynamics?

I absolutely loved working with Crystal Dynamics. Being a gamer all my life, it honestly was surreal just being in the building.

How long did it take to complete the recording for the entire Temple of Osiris script?

We were able to have a table read with everyone and I believe we had about two or three recording sessions that were a few hours each.

Have you had the chance to check out the game yet? If so what did you think of it and was it strange hearing your voice in the game?

Yes, I have gotten a chance to play the game. I love it! I enjoyed GoL so I figured I would enjoy LC2 as well and it didn’t disappoint. It really is bizarre to hear myself. I haven’t gotten used to that yet.

The latest game had a distinctive art style which also took advantage of the next gen graphics, what are your thoughts on Isis’ design?

The graphics are just beautiful. The landscapes are so vast and detailed and the characters have so much depth. I am amazed at what designers can create as everything advances. It is fascinating!

Promotional Image for Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris.

The end hinted towards possible sequels for Temple of Osiris, if you had the opportunity to voice Isis again, would you like to continue the role?

If given the opportunity, I would jump at the chance to voice Isis again. Most definitely.

What games do you enjoy playing and are there any that you are looking forward to?

My go-to games have always been RPGs and Action. My favorite series’ are Zelda and Final Fantasy but I’m really looking forward to Arkham Knight and Kingdom Hearts III. Oh, and Rise of the Tomb Raider, of course!!

A big thank you to Rae for the interview!

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(Transcript) Exclusive Interview with Karl Stewart at E3 (1/2)

My sister recently travelled to E3 as a Tomb Raider UK Ambassador. During her time at the event, she had the opportunity to interview Karl Stewart (Global Brand Director). The questions were a combination of some my personal ones, a selection sent in by the owners of Music of Tomb Raider and Lara's Society (G&G E3 partner sites) and a handful sent in via this site's social media pages:

Transcription of interview with Karl Stewart which took place in Los Angeles on 7th June 2012:


Jaden from Guns & Grapple would like to know were there are any reference photos taken to aid the creation of the concept design and artwork?

Yeah, Brian took a lot of photographs, I’ve - every now and then I try to inspire myself by dipping into his archives, you know, to just sort of help me understand and get an idea of his perspective so when we’re talking about the game and when we’re presenting it we’ll know more about the process in every area, yeah – let me just say there’s a lot of photographs in Brian’s folders!

I’ll underline “lot”! And where were they taken, which locations?

In a variety, as Brian mentioned we travelled to Japan not so long ago, and Brian took a day off the beaten track off up to Toniko to be able to take some photographs for reference. And in general Brian likes want to try to get out and see things from himself as well so most of the locations that are in the game, at some point in time, Brian has had the opportunity to get out and study them and analyse, make sure that they feel real and feel natural.

And we also work with a very talented group of concept artists who have done a tremendous job of using source material and reference material to be able to bring our world to life, so it was a lot of photographs have taken but the goal is to try to make it feel as real as possible.

Harry from Music of Tomb Raider has asked if there’ll be additional bonus material in the Collector’s or Limited Edition sets?

Yeah, we actually, we’re right in the middle of deciding that as we speak, there’s a lot of content that get created in making a game and there’s a lot of stuff that ends up on the cutting room floor, you know, much like movies, you know, a movie starts at four hours and ends up at ninety minutes.

You know, for us, there’s a lot of stuff we want to talk about, we’ve been a little more strategic in the way in which we go about doing it now, so that when we do performance capture we capture all our B-rolls to make sure that we’ve got it all and then instead of just launching it all, you know, in one big lump in a collector’s edition, this is where we’re going to be doing these chapters as you’ll see over the next coming months is to bring some of that to life and in a very unique way, so it’s very important that we show people some of the procedure that we go through, the process that we go through, so yeah, you’ll see a lot of additional content.

Harry has also asked, regarding iTunes releases whether any of the music either from this title or from previous titles (or any other – other suppliers are available).

I need to have a look at that right now, I think it’s - obviously, you know, iTunes has now become the defacto place to go and get most all your music in a lot of cases so I know Meagan’s worked hard to make sure that we do things like getting podcasts are up there, I know certainly from our experience of our soundtrack when we do release the soundtrack we’ll make sure that it’s on iTunes because it’s the defacto, so, you know – it’s interesting, I might have a look if they’re not up there already I would like to make that happen actually, it would be great to get all the previous soundtracks – or whatever soundtracks are out there, up on iTunes.


You said the soundtrack will be released in line with the game – regarding the game’s release, is that going to be a worldwide release date or is it going to be staggered?

Right now it’s a world-wide release date, we’ve been talking with our European counterparts and we’ve made the decision that March 5th will be the date that we launch the game in our EFIGS territories [English, French, Italian, German, Spanish] and North America, we haven’t made a final decision yet with regards to our Asia markets and our Japanese markets, that will be a little harder because they’re a little more complex, to make sure that, you know, translations and VO and making sure it hits at the right time.

So certainly from North America, South America, right through to all of Europe our goal is for it to be day and date, which is a big thing, because obviously normally it’s Tuesday at one place and Friday at the other – we wanted it to be March 5th as a global release date.


Tiernan from Lara Society has some queries regarding Lara’s background in her reinvented form and wants to know how much has changed and whether she still has her aristocratic roots.

So, obviously, I get that question a lot you know, about who she is and where she’s from and really we looked at the character and thought, you know, when breaking it down and trying to bring this new vision for Lara and reimagining her, you had to be willing to – to be willing to take the risk of delivering emotion you have to have a character which feels believable and real for today and you look at Lara on this journey, this is her first adventure and already you see a very different side to her, she hasn’t paid to be on this – in past worlds Lara would have bought the ship and paid for it herself and hired a crew – or not even bothered hiring a crew and doing it herself – this is a girl that wants to be accepted, she wants to be a part of the team, she doesn’t want to be, you know, kind of left out on her own, you know, she really wants to do this and she wants to show her worth. And we see a side to Lara which we’ve never really seen before.

You know, we haven’t and we won’t just yet, start talking about her backstory in any depth because I think that detracts from what we’re trying to present right now, I think there’s a time and a place to be able to get into that detail but for now certainly what we’re presenting is a young girl that’s energetic, ambitious and maybe a little bit naive because she thinks she can do the things that – you know, it’s a little bit like Nemo’s dad? You think you can do these things but you can’t? You know, we’ve got to take you on the journey to see how she grows and she becomes a person, you know, and when we set the foundation on this game, we’ll see how that plays out, but right now we don’t really want to get into – too deep into the backstory of, you know, who she is versus who she was.



There’s been some interest in an animated series like the Gametap episodes, is this something you might be interested in bringing back to promote this game or possibly future releases?
(asked by @RyanRaider_)

There’s no plans right now to do any animation, or animated series, our goal as a studio is firmly in making sure we build a great game and we take this awesome opportunity to, you know, bring the series back to life in a way which hasn’t really been done in video games, so I think we have to be careful that we don’t lose focus.

CLICK HERE to Read Part Two of the Interview

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(Transcript) Exclusive Interview with Karl Stewart at E3 (2/2)

How much work is still to be done in the game - a statement’s been made [by Mike Fisher - President & CEO for Square Enix US] that it could be released at this point and it would be a perfectly satisfactory game – obviously you’re going for a bit higher than satisfactory – what bits will you be focusing on between now and the release?
(Asked by Karen)

So one of the things which we’ve tried to communicate, hopefully it’s come across pretty well, is that we don’t treat this lightly, we take this very seriously, that we’ve had the opportunity to take a fifteen year old franchise and bring it back to life in a way in which very few media have had the opportunity to do so and for the guys and the team who have worked on it, this is the game of their careers, right? How many people get the opportunity to do this?

And we have to be very careful that we don’t, after spending all this time, rush it and put it out in a window or at a time when we just don’t feel like it’s going to live up to the expectations that we want to set, you know, we’ve talked a lot over the last year about the work that’s gone into it, so really for us it was a case of –in times gone by we probably would have looked at the game right now – let’s polish it, put it in a box and ship it, right?

And it’s great, it’s playable from start to finish, but we made a promise, before we ever announced Tomb Raider we made a promise that Crystal Dynamics would be about quality over quantity, we didn’t want to rush things, we wanted to make sure it was done right and, you know, despite it being used a lot, it would be ready when it’s ready that’s really where we looked at it, it’s that, you know, we wanted to make sure that we delivered the best experience and the time that we’ve got between now and March next year, really the focus is to look at story, look at the way in which we can bring certain things in that get to shore up, maybe, some of the holes that we feel - after we’ve played it over and over and over again – need to be fixed, you know, that we, you know, have an opportunity to do something that we really very rarely, ever get to do and that’s play our game, a thousand times, and actually question some of our questions, some of the decisions that we’ve made and make sure that shore them up and put a great amount of polish in and deliver a great experience.

Regarding the more vulnerable Lara, coming from a point where she doesn’t have any special skills or even a deliberate aim to get into a situation like this – how do you go about creating a vulnerable female protagonist that doesn’t fall into stereotype? I know that in the demos we’ve seen - obviously early in the game - the men are very predatory and I know that there has been some concern that this is putting her in the role of a victim and that she’s going to be stronger because she’s been victimised...
(Asked by Karen, this was also a concern at the TRF)

So I think there’s two sides to that, one is - taking away the victimisation side for a second - we want you to go on a journey to see her grow, we want you to see her become something which is going to stand the test of time throughout the franchise.

In regards to the sort of victimisation, that will play out in the story as to why you feel that way and there’s going to be “eureka” moments that make you go, okay, now I understand, it all comes together, and without getting into spoilers, we don’t do things for the sake of saying victimisation is going to be a great way to get people to go “oh my god, let me talk about it”, there’s a reason for everything we do, right, so we’re going to have to - so in some sense some of the negativity that we’ve read – and it’s very, very little that we’ve read, over the last couple of days, I think that when people see the demo and they talk to us they quickly realise what our intentions are.

I think that’s always going to be there when you show a very small portion of your game, a snippit, but I think after people play the game they’ll quickly realise that we have built a game that has been mapped out from minute to minute and there’s reason behind every decision that we’ve made.

And I think it would be fair to say, I wouldn’t want to put words in your mouth, but that the decisions that have been made have been made with thought and consideration rather than just a shortcut to – we want this emotional reaction--

Oh yeah, yeah, we’ve spent, you know, I can’t say how many times we’ve laboured over scenes, we’ve gone back to the motion capture studio more times with this game than I think we have on three games put together, because I think it’s about making sure that the scenes are played out correctly and the story has gone through many iterations to make sure that we deliver the start, middle and end to a scene, not just one particular emotion to one particular scene but there has to be a build up, you know – you watched that demo yesterday and what you saw was a side to a character like Whitman bringing you on this journey where you feel, okay, now I don’t trust him, he’s a little bit strange, a little bit cagey, and eventually you get to a point where you think ‘ah, now it’s starting to come together, but look at me, now I’m captured, thank you very much Whitman, you shouldn’t have done that’ – so everything feels like it’s got a start, middle and end and that it’s not just done for the sake of shock factor.

And on the game on the whole you’re confident that will be validated?

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

One question left – and can I just ask what question you would like to be asked in interview that you haven’t been asked ... and please answer!
(Asked by Karen)

(Laughs) What’s awesome is that question! That’s the question that...


Can I get a slightly fuller answer?? (Jokingly)

Well, yeah, slightly fuller answer, I’ll give you my perspective actually – interviews like this are the interviews that I love doing because we can talk a little more in depth, you know the game very well because you’ve been following what we’ve been saying and how we’ve been saying it and it’s great to be able to put meat on the bones and not say the same thing over and over again – I wish, and this is just an unfortunate – I get asked the same question so many times that sometimes I go, you’ve got me for the next fifteen minutes – ask me an awesome question that nobody else has asked!

You’ve read everything, right? You’ve obviously studied it really hard, and you know - it’s things like that that I feel not enough people pick, you know, look for the meat on the bones of what we’re saying and we’ve spent so much time passionately building this game, that I wish that sometimes people would ask the harder, harder, questions and get a little bit more deeper, but I think it’s opportunities like this where I can do that.

So I think this is very unique, this, you know, your line of questions and the rest of the team’s line of questions are things that we don’t always get asked because people are looking for the high moments, they want to kind of [clicks fingers] get it onto a website, get readers and this is more about the passion of what goes into making this.


I did have a question about dual pistols and whether they’ll come back if you’d wanted questions that had already been answered! 
(Asked by Tiernan)

Never say never! Never say never ...

(Thank you to Karl for answering our questions, they were very informative! And it was a real pleasure interviewing you. And thank you also to Meagan for setting up the interview and for inviting the ambassadors to the event! You're wonderful.)

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Exclusive Interview: Meagan Marie Tomb Raider's Community Manager)

As well as being a fantastic writer and cosplayer, Meagan Marie is also the Community Manager for the Tomb Raider franchise, at Crystal Dynamics. She joined the team in Summer 2011, moving to San Francisco from her previous job at Game Informer. Since joining the team she has established the Official Tomb Raider Fansite Programme, organised and ran a series of community days across the globe, created an official blog for the series and kept fans up to date with regular newsletters and podcasts. 

Recently Meagan very kindly took a few minutes out of her busy schedule to talk with us about her life at Crystal, her favourite games and tips for getting into the industry. 

- MEAGAN'S TWITTER- / - MEAGAN'S FACEBOOK PAGE-  / - MEAGAN'S WEBSITE -

What do you find  the main challenge in working with a large community?

Connecting with everyone has been the most challenging task, especially because of the many language barriers. After introductions and those initial few emails everything has fallen nicely into place though. I’ve now got a database up and running with fansite administrators, forum moderators, and other super fans catalogued for easy contact. I’ve even been lucky enough to put many names with faces this past year during our European tour, making the connection between the studio and community even stronger.

With tools like Google Alerts, TweetDeck, and various RSS feed readers, it’s actually pretty simple to keep up with the community, track content, and monitor brand sentiment. Time to respond and participate in every sub-community is hard to come by though, which is the other primary challenge. It gets much easier with time however!


What part of the Tomb Raider Community tour did you find the most memorable?

Each stop on the tour was very memorable, especially considering that it was my first time in Madrid and Hamburg! It was very exciting to demo Tomb Raider for fans at my first tradeshow (GameFest in Spain), and the community dinner in Germany was epic – complete with custom Tomb Raider menus. The stop in the UK gave me a chance to meet up with coworkers I’d not yet met in person, and the entire fan gathering turned out to be female, which was really fun.

I think perhaps the most memorable moment however was walking through the ancient Egyptian exhibit with fellow Tomb Raider fans at The Louvre. It was my first time at the museum, and something about the entire day was surreal. I’ll never forget it.

Meagan with Tomb Raider fans in France, during one of the community sessions. Photo from the Official Tomb Raider Blog.

What is it like working for Crystal? Could you describe your average day at the office?

While social media is perhaps the most public aspect of my job, in reality it’s an all-encompassing position that requires a strong understanding of social tools, data analysis, public relations, brand and franchise development, general management, event planning, and more.

I usually kick off the day with email and forward-facing communication such as posting blogs, updating Twitter and Facebook, and checking in on the forums. This is all part of keeping both longtime and new fans apprised of information as well as growing and garnering excitement for our upcoming products.

After checking in on the status of our community, it’s onto the long-term projects such as fleshing out PR plans with the brand team, exploring licensing opportunities and product partnerships, conceptualizing and realizing brand initiatives (such as the Tomb Raider 15-Year Celebration), and keeping a pulse on the sentiment of our studio and products through monitoring press coverage and fan discussions. This sort of information is compiled and presented to the team for analysis. All of the above requires working regularly with international Square Enix teams and weekly check-ins with territories worldwide.

When the time comes I’m also responsible for coordinating and prepping global asset drops, preview embargoes, and writing press releases. As the campaign for title ramps up, I’ll be traveling to industry events worldwide providing demos & hosting community events.

I’ve also taken on responsibility of promoting the studio itself, and as such have implemented monthly newsletters and podcasts (which I plan, schedule, prep, record, and edit myself) to help build up awareness of studio culture, charitable initiatives, and job openings. Quite a bit of my job is actually forecasting communication functionality of our studio and products so to best meet the needs of consumers and fans – be it through our website, forums, or social media tools.

When not doing the above, I’m occasionally asked to do something unique such as read temporary VO for the game, play test a level, act as a sounding board for ideas, do some design work, and more.

Just like Game Informer no two days are alike and I love it. It’s a very intense and demanding job, but every day I learn more about the inner workings of game development and am inspired to work hard in order to do the team and our collective work justice.



What are your favourite perks of the job? Are there any disadvantages?

Travel is the ultimate perk, as I’m quite social and love to be out and about. I really enjoy attending trade shows and demoing the game, or meeting up with fellow fans at a smaller event. I suppose a disadvantage to being a CM of a global brand is the hours, as there is always a Tomb Raider community awake in the world. That being said, the franchise has been a passion of mine for fifteen years, and as such the lines between work and play often blur. I enjoy working hard.

Meagan at during a Tomb Raider meetup at SDCC,  premiering her Lara Croft Steampunk cosplay.

How were you first introduced to Tomb Raider?

I first met Lara fifteen years ago! My love of gaming ignited the moment I was introduced to Lady Lara Croft, but I’ve been playing games since the furthest reaches of my memory. Tomb Raider was the first game I took ownership over, however. Although some may find it laughable that a preteen would identify with a buxom, gun-toting, aristocrat archaeologist, I did. Or rather I wanted to identify with her. Lara inspired me to be intelligent, strong, and independent – all qualities I do my best to embody even today.

What is your favourite moment from the series?

I have dozens, stumbling upon the T-Rex in the original Tomb Raider being the most obvious. I look back most fondly on exploring Croft Manor in Tomb Raider II and III (especially the maze with the quad bike), which made its destruction in Tomb Raider: Underworld equally memorable (and sad).


Do you have any advice for fans who would like to start up their own Tomb Raider site?

The best advice I can offer up is to find your voice! There are many Tomb Raider fansites out there, and all of them of great quality. If you want to stand out, perhaps focus on something specific like the movies, cosplay, fanart, or music. It’s easier to become an authority on a smaller scale topic first, and then you can expand your content to meet the needs of your new community.

Developer session at Eurogamer Expo.

Besides Tomb Raider, what other favourite video games are your favourite?

As far as franchises, Mass Effect, Uncharted, Gears of War, Left 4 Dead, Portal, Resident Evil, Kingdom Hearts, and a handful more top my list. I also love Fatal Frame III, Final Fantasy VII & VIII, Beyond Good & Evil, Batman: Arkham Asylum/City, Borderlands, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, Okami, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and Split/Second.


Your previous job at GameInformer sounds quite different from your job at Crystal. Was it difficult moving to San Francisco and becoming a Community Manager? And what advice would you give to someone who is planning on moving for work in the Video Game Industry?

I’d say it’s best to warm up to the idea of moving early on. The industry is healthy and expanding, but there are still hotspots such as San Francisco, Boston, and Montreal that are going to offer the most options if you can’t find a company or startup in your area. I knew when I first began my pursuit of finding a job in the industry that relocating was most likely in the cards.

Crystal made the transition quite easy, however, helping me with temporary housing and recommending places to live. As long as you do your research online through apartment rating websites and so on, you’ll be fine. Your new coworkers will most likely be eager to show you around once you’re a part of the team!

Thank you so much for doing the interview with us Meagan!

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Exclusive: Tomb Raider UK Press Event DAY FOUR

The Day Four preview begins with Lara running up to Captain Conrad Roth, her mentor and the only apparent survivor from the ship we've seen so far. The first observation I made about how Lara has developed over the course of the days is immediately by the way that Lara walks and her posture. She looks stronger and more confident, no longer limping and a definite similarity to Tomb Raider Underworld in terms of realism.

Roth is introduced in a cutscene in which the camera angle focuses from his knees up which is extremely effective in showing an awesome fighting pose, and it's my personal favourite camera angle scene from the preview, I may even have to turn it into a background later. Roth is armed with duel pistols against two wolves. There's certainly a nice link between Roth's fight against the wolves as an introduction to his character in the next game, and Lara's fight against the wolves in the introduction to Lara in the original game. I noticed several nice little tributes to the previous games in there, as well as tributes to real life events.

Now, I'm going to be honest, I usually don't like important secondary characters who have a huge involvement in the storyline; I've noticed that the main character doesn't get nearly as much attention as the player wanted and the secondary character is someone who the game wants you to like, but you think they're unpleasant...With that said, as soon as you see Conrad Roth, believe me, everyone will immediately love that character or at the very least thinks he's pretty great. When it was revealed that Roth was going to be on the island with Lara as her mentor, I would think, many of you (like me) must have been a bit unsure about his presence in the game, after all Lara has always been independent. Although after watching the preview of the game, I can say that his presence in it doesn't make Lara more dependent, in fact quite the opposite, Roth acts as a catalyst for Lara's journey from the young vulnerable woman into a gun-wielding Tomb Raider...And this is exactly why I love his character. Karl Stewart (Global Brand Director) mentioned that the character was inspired by Ernest Shackleton, and there was definitely elements of what I read about Shackleton and his voyage in Roth in terms of strength and determination. 

The cutscene continues with Roth defeating the two wolves but he suddenly collapses to the ground in agony. Lara notices the quite gruesome wound on his left leg caused by quite a ferocious animal bite. Lara runs over shouting "ROTH!", but the tone is full of concern, and they they clearly have a strong friendship. He leans against a nearby rock as Lara runs over to him. This is the first glimpse of the impressive facial motion capture, especially for Roth. who is clearly in complete agony. He reveals that the food pack, medical supplies and the transmitter to call for help were taken.

LARA

You need bandages, antiseptic, morphine…

ROTH

Also in the pack…

LARA

Shit.

ROTH

In a word.

They both know that the injury is too great but they must keep moving to regain the supplies. Lara helps Roth to stand and move, with her taking most of his weight. They manage only a few steps before Roth collapses again, this time he's out cold. 

"Don't do this to me you Yorkshire Bastard!" Lara cries out in desperation while trying to wake up her mentor. The swearing was also addressed in the presentation. Lara won't swear all the time, however because of her situation it's understandable; most of the swearing does come from Lara's desperation combined with frustration. 

The narrative seems to be driven by three factors, all of which makes an appearance in the preview:

• Cinematic Cutscenes  - Crystal has enhanced the immersion with these by using the camera to fous on the character's body language and face more. Even when characters aren't talking, you can tell by their posture what they're thinking. 
• Interactive Cutscenes - Whenever these are mentioned, they're not the most welcoming words to people, but in the game I've noticed that they always have a reason behind a certain movement. For example instead of (if you're using the XBOX360) pressing X to climb up a steep incline when Lara is escaping the cave, you have to push the right and left trigger buttons in turn, which represents a similar movement to Lara climbing. 
• Lara's Monologue - During these points, Lara will remind you of the objective. We can also get a glimpse into what she's thinking and the her opinions which helps build a picture of the new protagonist. 

After realising that Roth wasn't going to wake up anytime soon, escpecially without medical help, Lara knows that the only way her friend is going to survive is if she travels alone to find the pack and transmitter. Lara drags Roth away from the open and into a nearby campsite/hub section for safety. Meagan commented on the voice acting for Lara, the motion capture was recorded at the same time as the voice acting with the motion capture, so afterwards the actress is actually out of breath since she had to pull the weight of a grown man. The target is made clear by another of Lara's monologues as the player once again regains control of the character. She notices a pair of wolf tracks close by imprinted in the sodden dirt, the wolves must have taken it.

 Meagan paused the demo quickly and rotated the camera to show more of the scenery. She points out two specific locations which appear later in the game, a statue and the radio tower. She reveals that everything that you can see on the screen, you can travel to. Crystal are working hard to make sure that there are no invisible walls or jpeg images. Lara walks through an abandoned village, there aren't sacrificed bodies like in the caves, but there's obvious signs of a ritual. For instances a wicker man is slowly burning in a nearby shrine. After Lara travels a short distance, the camera pans up to a nearby wooden house in which we get the first glimpse of one of the wolves on the broken roof of a wooden house. The wolf turns and runs away in the direction of the cave. Meagan explains that there are numerous paths that the player can take including going through the village, climbing on the rooves so the focus is on exploration and adventure...It also means that Stella is going to have a difficult challenge on her hands! The heavy rain was incredibly detailed and really quite beautiful...but not something you would like to be stuck in. Another small detail that added to the realism was the water collecting in puddles, it's something that was small but it's something I really liked. 

Getting to the wolf den looks quite challenging. It's several metres above Lara's starting position and the only thing to really aid you is a couple pieces of wreckage and old constructions which the villagers who once lived in the houses built. During the climb to the den two things become clear. The first is that Lara moves realistically, I not going to say that it was a perfect fluid motion since there's a year left in development and there's still things that need to be polished, but so far it's looking really impressive. The second thing is that Lara's abilities have developed over the past couple of days, she is more familiar and confident with her surroundings as well as her strengths. I think it becomes less of a "Can I make that jump?" and more "What am I going to face after I do that jump?" (not real quotes in the game)

My favourite section of the preview is when Lara goes inside the den. It is very atmospheric and suspenseful. Inside it's dark apart from a luminous red light deep inside, and a loud beeping noise. The light is coming from the transmitter which is resting in what is obviously one of the wolves' beds. As you walk into the den, you can hear a howl, and a quick sudden movement in front of Lara about three metres away, the wolf is now incredibly close. Lara will walk slowly around the cave to avoid making noise. The player is able to walk over and pick up the essential items, and turn around again. 

Lara begins to relax slightly and tells herself that she needs to get to Roth. Her voice, the beeping or the light or the sounds of Lara's footsteps attracts the beast who immediately jumps forwards towards Lara, it grabs her leg before pinning her to the ground. I noticed several people in the room jumping when the wolf appeared, it was actually quite terrifying, especially if you're in a darkened room. To kill the wolf, the player must complete an interactive cutscene. Lara draws a knife and stabs the creature, however it is still dangerous and it is still trying to kill Lara and therefore she stabs it continuously either to fulfil her blood lust that is apparent in the older Lara or (and the more likely reason) out of fear to make sure she would survive. As she stumbles to her feet she whispers to the wolf "I'm sorry, it was you or me."

On the trek back to Roth, we walked through the village to take a proper look at the scenery. From here it is apparent that she is more confident. Yes, she is still incredibly young and frightened, however she's starting to believe more in herself each day and this is clearly portrayed in her gait, her personality and also in her choices. I don't think that the Lara I saw in Day One would voluntarily go into a wolfs den, not armed properly, she just wouldn't be that confident...Although Day One Lara probably had concussion, had been stabbed, and set on fire!

The village looks as though it has just been abandoned, however I have my doubts. The wicker man disturbs me, it looked as though it was on fire, however it could have just been the lighting in that specific section and there was a fire nearby, nevertheless the place did look as though it had been lived in. Or if it is actually deserted, it was abandoned recently, which may mean that there might be a backstory to some of the scavengers in the game. But we'll have to play the final version of the game to find out. 

As Lara reaches Roth another cutscene is triggered. Time has passed, and Roth awakes. Lara is sitting on the opposite side of the fireplace and crosses it to sit next to him. He looks down and noticed that Lara had cleaned the wound and bandaged it. 

ROTH

Not bad. Where does a young lady like you learn to do a thing like that?

LARA

Late shift at The Nine Bells. A wolf’s got nothing on a broken bottle.

I was under the impression that Lara's work in the bar was more of a metaphor than it actually happened in the game, however it appears that she actually did work in a pub. I decided to Google this, and discovered that there's a pub in Sussex, UK, called The Eight Bells, but sadly no Nine Bells.

Roth indicates to the transmitter and tells Lara that they need to get a message out for help. Lara becomes suddenly quiet. The camera focuses on her face, and there's a slight trembling in her lip. He confirms her fears when he states that he's in no condition to climb a cliff, as he hands her a think red climbing axe. There's an important but of dialogue I absolutely love because it foreshadows who Lara is going to become:

ROTH

You can do this Lara; after all, you are a Croft.

LARA

I don’t think I’m that kind of Croft.

ROTH

Sure you are. You just don’t know it yet.

LARA

Then let’s hope I’m a fast learner.

There's a brief pause before she picks it up. She knows what do to do, but at the same time, she's terrified. Determined, she stands up and prepares to climb the cliff, as she walks away from Roth, the screen fades to black and the preview ended.

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Exclusive: Tomb Raider UK Press Event Q&A and Introduction

First of all I just want to say a big THANK YOU to Meagan for setting it all up, it was absolutely brilliant, and also to Karl Stewart who answered several questions, they were both incredibly kind and lovely.

Crystal recently arranged a special Tomb Raider Community Day, run by Meagan Marie and Karl Stewart. The event was split into several parts, the first section was the introduction to the franchise and Crystal's changes, then Meagan showed us two sections of the game (so far) and talked us through specific features about the game, then each of us got to play a section of the game which was shown for the E3 demo, and after we were taken out for a meal at a nearby restaurant.

Eidos
I'm not going to lie, I often refer to Eidos as my "happy place" because the building contains several brilliant game franchises and merchandise that I adore - not only Tomb Raider but Hitman (which does make me sound a little psychotic) and also Mini Ninjas. From the outside the building is completely white with several rows of windows close together on one side of the building, and just a blank white wall on the other. Leading up to the entrance are several stairs and also a ramp for wheelchairs...Or if you looked at the stairs and thought "...No".

Inside is beautiful. The first thing that you will see, once you get past the two glass doors, is the reception area. Beyond reception is a large open area covered in beechwood, from there you can see into all of the floors since the inside walls are made of glass. On the second floor, where the press room is located, is another small reception area, which is decked out with a cabinet full of Final Fantasy models. Lining the walls are posters of Square Enix's series. The walls are white which makes the posters and life sized statues that much more dramatic. In the centre of the room is a shiny black desk with the Square Enix logo behind. As we walked out of the glass lift we immediately saw the smiling Meagan Marie standing by the table.

The press room is divided into several meeting areas, all of which are connected by a single corridor. One of the things that I've noticed about the building is that Eidos is very fond of its keycard locks, sorry guys no secret storyboards were discovered. The room we used was at the end of a corridor, and lined up against the wall leading us towards the room was a selection of several Tomb Raider outfits which the official models wore. The first one was worn by Rhona Mitra which should have the tag-line "That doesn't seem physically possible!". As we entered the main area there was another outfit, this time a black catsuit worn by Lucy Clarkson. The room contained two large blue sofas and a chair which formed a C shape around a large television set which hung on a black and red cabinet...Accidental colour scheme match? As I entered I saw many people whom I recognized, first of all the beautiful Kate Sykes who has done some terrific cosplays, Jay Walker who works at Eidos and who you may have seen about the Tomb Raider and Eidos Forums and who has been terrific in helping me with this site, and Jem Alexander who you will know if you visit the Square Enix Members Blog and who has worked with the TR community on numerous occasions.  On the screen was the promotional image of Lara beaten and bloody on the shore of the island...Or maybe London after the 2012 Olympics.

There's an accidental colour scheme going on here :) 

Meagan's Speech
Within a couple of minutes the event began with Meagan explaining the history of the franchise from the beginnings at Core Design to the switch with Crystal. She commented on how Crystal doesn't see Tomb Raider Legend as a reboot of the franchise since the Lara that we knew from the original games were still on our screens right from the start. She then talked about the effect Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light had on the franchise; it opened new doors for the company and showed that the company were testing out new ideas and proving to the industry that they were willing to take risks in order for their games to stand out and be new. She also wanted to point out that this upcoming game is a complete reboot of the franchise, including all the characters that the previous Laras have met; Natla, Kurtis and Zip never existed in this reboot...I like to think it's like an alternative universe like in the Star Trek 2009 movie.

Afterwards she mentioned the set-up for the new game. You're probably aware of the game's synopsis already but if not:


Lara, aged 21, is travelling on-board the Endurance with her mentor and friend, Conrad Roth. The ship passes across the Dragon's Triangle and a terrible storm occurs. The violent sea is strong enough to destroy the ship which washes up on a mysterious island along with several of the crew members. The game starts with Lara finding out where she is, what is the place and most importantly how to get away.

After the speech, Meagan turned off the lights and started the preview of the game.

> Read the Playthrough of the Game (DAY ONE) COMING SOON
> Read the Press Preview of Day Four (Exclusive to Press Viewing)
> View photos from the event


Q&A

(Please note that the answers aren't word for word, it's rather a summery of the information we were given in response to our questions)

Is the game entirely motion captured?

There are sections and animations which are done by actors and actresses however some are done by computer. In the cutscenes the voice actors were recording the words while recording the motion capture to improve on the realism aspect that Crystal is trying to push further. 

Is there any news about the voice actress?

As of yet, Crystal can't say who the voice actress is however it will be revealed nearer to the release date. 

Is there going to be a system like Player Tailoring that fans saw in Tomb Raider Underworld, is there going to be the same or a similar feature? (This was my one) 

There may be, however it's too soon to say. First of all, Crystal wants to get the game finished first before deciding on some of those choices. But it's possible, but they can't say anything yet. 

What is Lara's necklace and is that important to the game?

There's been some debate about what the necklace is meant to be, it could be a phoenix, a floral decoration, Ouroboros, a snake or a magatama, what it is hasn't been revealed yet. It's possible that the necklace is important in the game and that's why the secret is being kept under wraps since Karl did say that it does symbolize something in the game.

Will internship be possible at Crystal Dynamics?
There are some internships, however it's hard to get, because in order to work there you need a Visa however you can't get one just by doing an internship, you need to work there. At Eidos there's a similar problem if you want to do internships, because even though you don't need a Visa, there chances for an opportunity is rare. 

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Exclusive Interview With Chris Barrie Hillary, in the Tomb Raider Movies

If you're a science fiction fan, you may already be familar with some of Chris Barrie's incredible work. While he has starred in dozens of television shows, movies and documentaries, he is perhaps most famous for portraying Arnold Rimmer in the sci-fi show Red Dwarf. He also starred in the both of the Tomb Raider films; portraying Lara's faithful butler, Hillary. Guns and Grapple had an exclusive quick interview with him about his time on the Tomb Raider set. 

Chris Barrie with Angelina Jolie and Noah Taylor in the first Tomb Raider film.

1.    Did you know about Tomb Raider before going for the role?

I had certainly heard of Tomb Raider the computer game.

2.    How did you feel when you got role in the film?

Quite excited.

 3.    What is your most memorable time on the set?

Probably the ‘stick fight’ in the second movie.

 4.    How was it learning how to fight with the quarterstaffs in the Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life?

Being totally inexperienced in the area I found it a steep learning curve.  The stunt team were very patient with me.

 5.    Which film did you enjoying doing the most and why?

There were equally good fun.

 6.    If you are asked to star in the third film would you do it?

Definitely.

 7.    Did you have to undergo special weapon training to fire the shotgun in the first film and if so how did you find it?

Yes, I went out to a wooded area of Pinewood Studios and the armourer showed me how to behave with a gun, so that it would look ‘natural’ in the movie.

 8.    Would you want to voice a character in the video games if you were asked?

Yes.

Thank you to Chris for the interview!

 

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Exclusive Interview with Toby Gard The Creator of Lara Croft

Back in 1995, Toby Gard designed Tomb Raider, almost 15 years later she has become an icon. Not only has she survived so long in the gaming industry, she is often referred to as the face of video game heroines, the character has won six World Records recently and she's also been portrayed by Angelina Jolie in two Hollywood movies. Toby Gard talks exclusively to us about his experience while working on the Tomb Raider titles, who he wants in the role for the movie and what he is doing now after he has left Crystal Dynamics.  

This interview took place on 19th December 2010.

To celebrate the 15th anniversary of Tomb Raider, Toby created this fantastic piece of artwork which perfectly captures the atmosphere of Tomb Raider (2013).

For Tomb Raider Underworld, you worked as the Cinematics Director, was it hard describing your visions of what needed to be in the cut scenes to actors?

Tomb Raider Underworld cutscenes were done in a weird way. We recoded the lines first with the voice actors, then the animators would block out the scenes with the audio in Maya. We then took those simple 3d scenes to the motion capture studio and plot out marks on the floor corresponding to the layout of the room and marks for the actors to hit. Finally after rehearsals the actors would mime to the audio to get the body motion.Next, the data would come back to the studio and the animators would edit for timing, pose and animate all facial expressions by hand. Bottom line is that for Underworld, the animators had much more to do with the final performance than the actors did.

How are the myths chosen for the games?

People just suggest them. The criteria used to pick was never hard and fast, but generally we avoided any religion that people still believe in, and focus on myths that people probably have heard of, and ones that feature a cool item. Then the deeper the myth, the more ideas you can plunder.

What is your favourite Tomb Raider game you have worked on?

The first one, or Legend.

Why did you first want to make a game like Tomb Raider

I wanted to make an interactive movie. I loved Ultima Underworld, and when I saw Virtual fighter, my mind exploded with the idea of what the two crossed together could be.

Did you prefer having Lara's movements created by hand or using motion capture.
By hand is the only way to go, but mocap is great reference and sometimes a handy starting point.

Who do you think should play Lara in the next Tomb Raider Film?
I always wanted Salma Hayek to play her, but she's getting on a bit now.

Recently Crystal Dynamics began teasing the latest Tomb Raider [Editor Note: The title mentioned here would later be released in 2013]. The game appears to be a retelling of Lara's origin story, with a survival element element. Of course there's not a lot that's been announced about the title, but are you're first impressions of the upcoming game?
 It's going to be sweet.

What projects are you doing right now, or in the future?
I am making an iPad game, but mainly I am concentrating on my Otherworld Comic over at www.tobygard.com it's going to 'Epic' as Mr. Lindstrom used to say.

Thank you to Toby for the interview!

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