Last week Game Informer asked readers to post their burning questions about the next Tomb Raider. This week their entire 40-minute podcast is devoted to a Q&A with Crystal Dynamics' Karl Stewart and Tim Longo. Tune in for the latest TR dish...plus a sample from the new soundtrack.
Game Informer Special Edition Podcast: Tomb Raider
Did you think Keeley Hawes was a good voice actor for Lara Croft?
ReplyDeleteKeely Hawes gave the character a softness, which I think worked well for CD's approach in their first 4 games.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny because Lara's not really like James Bond, where the actor really is the character, so each "Bond" is different. Lara is always Lara, and her movement is as much (if not more) of a part of who she is as her voice. So although a voice actor is really important, it's not as make-or-break as (say) choosing a Bond.
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Listening to that podcast was really encouraging. Crystal Dynamics seem to have earned Eidos' trust because they sounded really confident is assuring us that they won't release it unless it's ready. Often big publishers can be keen to just rush out a game and make as many quick sales as possible especially with a franchise. I suppose because developers ofte go for years between releases, a delay in game release time is potentially very risky.
I wonder if the success of Lara Croft and The Guardian of Light had anything to do with the confidence exhibited by Crystal Dyamics' staff in this podcast. Perhaps by showing their ability to release something polished, original and fun (with a short development time) that a) shows that experimental ideas can work and b) creates an income in between big releases, CD earned Eidos' trust and thus a more relaxed attitude to release dates.
I'm just speculating, obviously.
If you're interested, Darrell Gallagher (CD's General Manager) has some things to say about the advantages of developing for the downloadable/short game platform in November's EDGE magazine. I can't find the original article (and I'm not sure if you can read it in the US) but I have transcribed most of the relevant quotes here.
I'm so excited about the new Tomb Raider!
So can one expect, even a guesstimated release date with the trailor release?
ReplyDeleteI'm very very excited...
ReplyDeleteI'm a big fan of Tomb Raider and Lara Croft herself - and recently watched a video on Youtube showing a timeline of Lara's many voice-overs. I must say, Jonell Elliot's voice gave Lara a rather youthful impression, whereas Keeley Hawes made Lara sound a lot more sophisticated and mature. Both very well done, nonetheless.
You can see the video here - pretty cool!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UwYy3f5pxQ
I also heard Tomb Raider and the Guardian of Light, according to Crystal Dynamics, is apparently featuring a heavy Co-op, both local and online - where Lara's 'sidekick' is a Mayan tribesman going by the name of Totec. (Sounds very intriguing to me!)
I actually wrote a blog post about this 1 day ago, mentioning various other Tomb Raider games along the way. You can see it here if you're interested:
http://ariane-elle.blogspot.com/2010/12/thoughts-on-christmas-presents-tomb.html
Can't wait to hear more about this!
http://www.ariane-elle.blogspot.com