PlayStation 3 Tomb Raider Trilogy Released

PlayStation gamers rejoice! The Tomb Raider Trilogy is out now in North America, tomorrow in Europe. It includes Tomb Raider: Legend and Anniversary, both newly remastered in HD quality, as well as Tomb Raider: Underworld, which was previously released on PlayStation 3, together on a single Blu-ray disk. The updated Legend and Anniversary games now have PS3 trophy support. Other bonus content includes a PS3 Tomb Raider theme pack, Lara Croft and Viking Thrall Home avatar outfits, and a collection of "making of" trailers in HD for the entire series. (Some of those goodies are shown in my previous post about the game.)

In an interview with Sonia Im for the official PlayStation.Blog, Karl Stewart, Global Brand Director for Crystal Dynamics, talked about what went into updating the games for this new release. According to Stewart,

"The X360 versions of the game all looked graphically superb. The benefit of taking the time to go back and re-master and re-work all of the textures from the previous versions of Legend and Anniversary is that the technology has improved since the games were originally released. We can honestly say that visually these will be the best versions of the game."

Read the complete Q&A here.

The Trilogy retails for $39.99 on Amazon.com / €29.99 or £24.64 on Amazon.co.uk.

Tomb Raider Trilogy screenshot comparisons.
Click for larger images.

Official Tomb Raider Player Survey

In case you haven't already heard, the Tomb Raider developers have posted a community questionnaire on the official web site. The survey includes general questions, like how much you game, what systems you own, your gaming preferences and use of social networking, your participation in the fan community, as well as questions about the Tomb Raider series and the upcoming game.

To take the survey, visit www.tombraider.com and click on the community questionnaire link.

If the chance to voice your opinions isn't enough of an incentive to take part, Crystal Dynamics is giving away a copy of the January 2011 Tomb Raider issue, signed by the entire development team to one lucky participant.

If you have any questions about the survey or other Tomb Raider matters, check in at the Official TR Forums or contact Scott Fernandez, our community manager. His email address is included in the survey, and he's on Twitter @sokrox or @tombraider.

Tomb Raider screenshot - click for larger image

Tomb Raider PS3 Trilogy Contest Winners

I've spent the last two days reading and re-reading all the exciting, creative entries in this last competition. Choosing the winners has been a challenge to rival some of the traps, puzzles and boss fights you guys came up with. But, at last, I'm ready to announce the results.

I attempted to judge each entry based on creativity, originality and suitability for a Tomb Raider game. Naturally these are all fairly subjective criteria, so I hope those who didn't win will not be discouraged. I enjoyed reading all the entries and I appreciate everyone's efforts.

First Prize Winner · dark7angel
Puzzle/trap: Book of Thoth

As Lara searches for the Mythical Book of Thoth, her journey takes her to the fabled City of the Death, in Egypt. She must find Prince Neferkaptah's tomb where the book is said to have been buried.

Amongst the sand and ruins of The City, as the sun sets, she finds a small entrance hidden from the inexperienced eye. Lara crawls through the small entry, and as she goes deeper it gets harder to breathe. The tunnel has a slight slope and seems to go on forever. With the entrance far behind, soon Lara is involved in darkness. Suddenly, the tunnel ends abruptly and Lara falls into the dark. [read more]

dark7angel wins a copy of the PlayStation 3 Tomb Raider Trilogy collection.

Since Crystal Dynamics has so graciously provided 3 Tomb Raider T-shirt prizes, I decided to choose 3 runners up instead of the 2 originally planned. They are, listed in the order their entries were received:

Mman · Boss: Marduk's Dragon

Lara enters a lost Mesopotamian temple containing an entrance into the top of what is seemingly the Tower of Babel; watching over the entrance is a large, menacing statue of Marduk's Dragon. After much work elsewhere in the temple Lara finally finds a means to open the Tower itself.

The Tower seems to be some sort of huge elevator shaft, as the elevator begins its accelerating descent there's a quick sight of the statue turning to flesh before it goes out of view. Soon after, the Dragon jumps down the shaft, leaving Lara stuck inside with it. The creature seems near-immune to all Lara's weapons, but after a battle in the shaft-with Lara avoiding various assaults by its claws, tail and acid-breath-it is worn down and stunned enough that she can wrap its tail in the workings of the elevator with her grapple. after dislodging it's tail the creature seemingly drops dead after a roar of agony. The elevator slows down as it finally reaches it's destination... [read more]

Shaun · Puzzle: Stone Staircase

The player will come across a large room with a platform raised high above the floor, with symbolized stone objects in the center of the room. In order to reach the platform, the player must move each stone object onto it's counterpart pressure pad, which are located on the outside of the room. As you move each object onto it's corresponding pad, a set of stone staircases will start to erect towards the platform. If you place one of the objects onto the wrong pad, the puzzle will reset. [read more]

Hunter · Boss: Aztec Warrior

Lara is facing off, under her normal, yet strange circumstances, against a tribal warrior. He is a champion Aztec warrior, strong, athletic, and looking to defeat this challenging foe, and prove himself the leader of his people.

You are in a dug-out arena. The walls are steep and stony, not good enough for you to scale. The ceiling is actually open sky, but you see smoke from the locals' campfires in the distance, which blot the picturesque red-orange atmosphere, which sits behind a temple which looms above them. Large boulders are scattered about the ground, providing good cover from the enemies, or a good vantage point from above...Around the rim of the "arena", a hundred other warriors call out their battle cries, waiting to see what their champion will do. The sound of drums beats against Lara's ears, as sweat beads down her neck in anticipation. [read more]

Congratulations to all the winners and thanks again to everyone who participated.

Tomb Raider Trilogy

Tomb Raider: Underworld T-shirt (click for close-up image)

Tomb Raider PS3 Trilogy Contest

The Tomb Raider games are renowned for their fiendish puzzles, traps and boss fights—from movable blocks, secret doors and timed obstacle courses to spikes, lava, avalanches and quicksand, not to mention powerful enemies like deities, dinosaurs and giant mutants. Core Design, the series' original developer set the standard, and current developer Crystal Dynamics has put its own spin on Lara's dangerous world. Here's your opportunity to do the same.

For a chance to win a copy of the Tomb Raider Trilogy for PlayStation 3, invent and describe a new Tomb Raider puzzle, trap or boss.

My favorite entry will receive a copy of the game. Two runners up will each get a Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Underworld T-shirt.

Contest ends Saturday, March 19, 2011, at 11:59 p.m. EST (5 a.m. GMT). Complete rules can be found here.

The contest is now closed. Winners will be announced soon. Click here to read the entries submitted so far.

Tomb Raider Trilogy

Tomb Raider: Underworld T-shirt (click for close-up image)

The Tomb Raider Trilogy for PlayStation 3, slated for release March 22, will include remastered high-definition versions of Legend and Anniversary, with added trophy support, along with the original PS3 version of Underworld, all on a single Blu-ray disc. For more info, see last month's blog post about the game or the Amazon.com/Amazon.co.uk product page.

Special thanks to Sudeep for suggesting the theme for the contest and to Crystal Dynamics for donating the T-shirts.

Tomb Raider Fiction Contest Winners

I realize this isn't exactly breaking news, but I've been away from home for several days with limited computer access. So in case you haven't heard elsewhere, I just want to give a shout-out to all the dedicated writers who entered this year's Village of Tokakeriby Tomb Raider Story Competition. Their mission: create an original piece of short fiction starring a younger Lara Croft.

The winners:

First place: "The Floor is Lava" by Dog Lover
Second: "Brief Candle" by Phil Jones
Third: "The Doppelganger" by Harmoniad

The first and second place winners received a Tonner Lara Croft doll and a swanky Lara cosplay wig. (Whoo hoo!)

All the entries are posted on the VOT contest page. I highly encourage all Tomb Raider fans to check them out. Congratulations and thanks again to all the talented, hardworking fans who who shared their wonderful stories. I enjoyed reading them very much.