TEST Tomb Raider I-III Remastered: laziness has a name

Who doesn’t know the license tomb Raider Today ? The lovely Lara Croft has crossed generations and charmed players since 1996. Aspyr And Crystal Dynamics want to touch the hearts (and wallets) of old people by offering a compilation bringing together the first 3 opuses. So, Tomb Raider I-III Remastered sees the light of day and invites itself onto the machines of Sony Interactive Entertainmentof Nintendoof Microsoft, and on PC. What’s good fun with some new things? Let’s take stock in this test.

New graphics and… that’s it.

Let’s talk little, let’s talk well, what does it look like in terms of graphics? First point that jumps out at you, the rendering in 16:9. This may seem normal today, but seeing these titles, originally in 4:3, with a more extended image is good for the eye. And for good reason, this makes it easier to distinguish certain platforms and anticipate certain enemies which we did not perceive at the time because of the format. A real pleasure.

Next, we are treated to a small visual overhaul. Indeed, the developers redid the settings, the light effects, the character modeling, and also added a small exclamation point above the objects (and other switches) to make it easier to spot. THE frame rateit is much higher, the productions are much more fluid to play, a joy in the hands. Rather funny thing, by pressing a specific key, we can switch from one rendering to another. Old school or modern, it’s up to you to choose the one that charms you the most.

Concerning the sound part, we are disappointed. And for good reason, the firm has simply adopted the effects and chants of yesteryear, without adding any real auditory novelty. As a result, we find ourselves with old-fashioned sound effects combined with a more contemporary visual. For now, why not offer more recent sounds adapted to the image? New with new, old with old. A few video game collections have included this type of setting, so why not do it here? New graphics and… that’s it. Really a shame not to have pushed the concept of “redesign” even further.

And the handling in all this? Well we find the gameplay of yesteryear, namely rigid movements, where we can jump sideways, hang on ledges, do angel flips, and draw our weapons to massacre nasty hidden dinosaurs. Point to take into account, the camera is positioned differently when we switch from one rendering to another, and it can now be controlled with the right joystick ; handy for distinguishing areas.

It lacks fat.

Obviously, the team has included a new option allowing you to enjoy more “modern” movements, as it puts it. Lara can move in all directions, with total freedom. It’s more flexible, easier to handle, and yet it’s hell to have fun in this aspect. The reason ? The universes were designed for gameplay directive and precise. Obviously, when we find ourselves at the top of a cliff and we have to jump from one plateau to another, it becomes a mission impossible. Disaster… Sincerely, we recommend the old school gameplay because it is simply adapted to the level design. So of course, the first minutes are not easy, but once you understand how the levels are designed, you will understand why it is important to play with more austere controls.

What’s up ? Each opus is entitled to an additional world which ends quite quicklybut it’s still good to see something new in a retro universe. We also have access to a mode Photo pretty basic with some nice optionssuch as the possibility of changing the outfit or pose of Lara. Then you expected sketches, a playlist to listen to, testing demos of theE3 in the 90s, to bonuses that we see absolutely everywhere today in a compilation? Well there’s nothing else, there’s a lack of guys, we agree.

To add a layer, when remasters very old games return to our homes, cheat options are added to progress fairly easily and quickly; settings intended for people who have already completed these adventures dozens of times and don’t want to bother. Well there too, it’s nothingness… Well at the moment Aspyr didn’t make the mistake of deleting the codes (phew). Indeed, during the game, it is still possible to carry out certain commands to unlock all the weapons and pass the levels, but a menu adapted to take advantage of all this would have been more judicious.

What can we finally say about this Tomb Raider I-III Remastered ? So, it’s nice to be able to play in 16:9 with a slightly flashier rendering, but there’s nothing else to enjoy. It’s light, too light for our taste. Additionally, saves are only manual (too bad) and can be used anywhere (pretty cool). An “automatic” system would have been more appreciable to bring a little more modernity to these old things. Brief, Aspyr etcCrystal Dynamics were simply satisfied with the minimum, and that doesn’t particularly make you want to waste 30 euros on this video game album truly lacking in consistency.

You can buy Tomb Raider I-III Remastered on gamesplanet for €26.09.

Tested on PC.