Late to the Party: Tomb Raider (1996)

Price I paid: About $1.50 as part of a Tomb Raider bundle while it was on sale on Steam.
Available on: Steam (reviewed), PlayStation, PlayStation Store, Sega Saturn, GOG.com, and probably others.
Released: 1996

When a game is so old it cannot recognize a mouse and the default controls have you using the arrow keys to move, it’s easy for it to turn players off. When the port to PC is so shoddy it loads a black screen if you don’t trouble shoot, I had to play it in windowed mode that didn’t take up my whole screen, and it looks like you’re watching the cutscenes through window blinds, it becomes difficult to enjoy the game because of all its problems. So when I say that Tomb Raider (1996) was one of the best games I played this year despite all of that, you better believe this gem has not lost its shine after 19 years. Unfortunately, I’m just not sure if I can recommend it because of how awful the port is.

VGR 401

Season 4 of VGR starts now!  Myself, Trey, Ryan and Colleen ease into the new semester by giving our thoughts on the now past Gamescom, along with a few other stories we've plucked from the news cycle. Take a listen and stay tuned!

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E3 2014 Microsoft Press Conference reaction

I am pleased to report that Microsoft's E3 press conference this year was much improved over last years arguably disastrous presentation. Nothing relating to kinect or t.v. was mentioned at this years press conference and Microsoft finally seems to get the picture that games should always be the center focus of E3 and they came to the show guns blazing this time. I will comment on various games shown off at E3 in order starting with COD: Advanced Warfare.

1. COD: Advanced Warfare- It's no surprise that the next iteration of Call of Duty would make an appearance at E3 this year. Debuting just a month ago, the trailer gave players a sense of high expectations and game play changes with COD stepping into futuristic warfare, exo-suits and all. The game play demo, while certainly looking stunning with a true next gen paint job, it still looked to be the same COD running with iron sights ready. Here's hoping the title has more to offer other than just Kevin Spacey when the full game launches this November; but as always I remain skeptical.  
2. Forza 2- This really isn't my area of expertise, racing games are certainly a popular genre but Ralph Fulton did say that the next Forza would feature a new dynamic weather system along with 200 cars and a full day to night cycle in glorious 1080p. So racing fans will have something to look forward to in September when the game launches for Xbox One and 360. 
3. Evolve- Now this one I am super excited to talk about. From the guys that developed the original Left 4 Dead, Turtle Rock Studios, comes the new ip called Evolve. Now evolve has been announced previously, 4 squad members track and kill an evolving monster, but today they showed off more gameplay along with the announcement of a new monster the Kraken. The Kraken is the first flying monster shown off for the game, basically a Cthulhu with laser beams and force blasts, which adds a new dynamic and new options for players eager to try other monsters other than the Goliath. I cannot wait for this game to launch being such a big fan of Left 4 Dead. They also announced that there would be one more monster in the game along with four more squad mates available when it hits this fall.
4.  Assassins Creed Unity- Ubisoft teased the next installment of Assassins Creed with a very gory trailer followed by some intense 4 player co-op featuring some neat acrobatic assassinations and how Paris is a great location for the next Assassins Creed.
5. Sunset Overdrive- Sunset overdrive is a new ip from the guys that developed the Ratchet and Clank games along with the Resistance franchise. It's nice to see Insomniac games return their roots with wacky characters and fun addicting game play. This game is a light hearted and cartoony zombie mutant slayer fest with big guns, tongue and cheek humor and platforming. This game looks to be something special and much more impressive than the recent flop Fuse released last year.
6. What the...I don't even- DLC was announced for Dead Rising 3 that pokes fun of Capcoms own terrible business practices while focusing on their obsession with fighting games. I would probably find this trailer more funny if it wasn't so satirical. They decide to make fun of their business practices just a week after releasing yet ANOTHER iteration of Street Fighter 4. Many people found this hilarious and while it is over the top, I can't really say that I find the DLC particularly cute. 
7.  Some Lovely returns of franchises- Along with some gameplay being shown from Fable Legends and another trailer shown off for Project Spark, there was also the announcement of a new Dance Central which is the only game that had even an inkling of Kinect associated with the Xbox One. 
8. HALO- This is of course the heavy hitter for Microsoft. Along with the announcement that Halo Anniversary, Halo 3 and 4 would be ported to the Xbox One along with a brand spanking new Halo 2 anniversary. All of these games would hit this fall with a $60 price tag all on a single disk, Blue-ray is a nice thing to have right? Along with this was gameplay shown from Halo 2 Anniversary which looks absolutely stunning and another trailer for Halo 5 guardians which teases a return of the Arbiter. The new character is mentioned and shown off in the trailer with the title Agent Clark if I heard correctly. The collection and Halo 5 looks to be shaping nicely and with the collections comes access to the Halo 5 beta in December!
9. Tomb Raider and Division- Rise of The Tomb Raider was announced. This comes as no surprise considering the reboots success and port to next gen. While no game play was shown, fans can expect Laura to climb, shoot, hunt, arrow and enjoy much needed time in therapy. No, I'm not kidding. The Division looked impressive although I'm still not clearly understanding what this game is striving to be. It looks like the developers are trying to make the Tom Clancy version of Destiny with an open world adventure tactical shooter. The game looks impressive and sounds fun but a short game play demo isn't enough to really sell me yet on what this game has to offer. 
10. Soul Bound- The next game from the developers of Vanish, Platinum Games, comes Dragon May Cry featuring Dante. Just kidding, although the protagonist does bear resemblance to Dante, the game seems to be about a Dragon and his headphone wearing trainer as they tackle kaiju sized monsters reminiscent to Shadow of the Colossus. Platinum always makes quality action games and this looks to be no exception. 
11. Phantom Dust and Crackdown return- Last but not least, Rare revealed that they are resurrecting another franchise from the dead, Phantom Dust. While I didn't play the original it was a mix of action and card game mechanics and had a cult following. Crackdown had some ups and downs in the series. The first game was well received, the Halo 3 beta didn't help at all I'm sure wink wink, the second not so much. The series is back with the original creator at the help so this time it looks to be a good online open world experience. Ow my hand. 

That was the press conference. Much improved over last year in my opinion and we'll try to have more articles up as E3 continues.