Author Topic: Tomb Raider Underworld DLC Pack "Beneath The Ashes" (Read 14008 times)

bork · « **on:** February 23, 2009, 04:57:22 AM »

Is it true that this is finally being released on the 24th? I'm looking forward to it, but hopefully they won't be ripping us off for too much.

demi · « **Reply #1 on:** February 23, 2009, 05:14:02 AM »

The DLC is all stuff that was supposed to be in the original game. It's a ripoff from the start.

bork · « **Reply #2 on:** February 23, 2009, 05:47:22 AM »

Yeah I know, that's why I said "hopefully they won't be ripping us off for too much." :'(

It's weird how I'm all $:-\$ over DLC stuff in general, but then happily fork over the cash for unlock keys in Soul Calibur IV and SF4. :'(

tiesto · « **Reply #3 on:** February 23, 2009, 09:07:08 AM »

Perfect timing, I just beat the game last night...

bork · « **Reply #4 on:** February 23, 2009, 05:39:42 PM »

800 points for one new level, six outfits, and I think 200 new achievement points.

So with the other DLC, that brings the grand total up to $80 if you want to play everything that was supposed to be in the game from the start. It's only going to get worse with the next generation of consoles, isn't it? $:-\$

bork · « **Reply #5 on:** February 24, 2009, 03:32:08 PM »

It's out!

siamesedreamer · « **Reply #6 on:** February 24, 2009, 03:50:25 PM »

800 points for one new level?

Even the 800 points for Knothole Island sounds better than that.

bork · « **Reply #7 on:** February 24, 2009, 05:51:49 PM »

Just started it...surprised to find real-time cut-scenes with dialogue are in. This takes place right after the level where Lara goes under the mansion into her father's crypt, but is worded in such a way that it could also be set after the events in the game are over.

And maybe they should call this the "ass n' titties pack," because you get one new casual outfit, one new re-colored shorts outfit, and then four bikini outfits, all the same except for color.

G The Resurrected · « **Reply #8 on:** February 24, 2009, 05:57:22 PM »

Is 800 too much Lyte? I'm just wondering the girlfriend loves TRU and I am point ruler in this house.

bork · « **Reply #9 on:** February 24, 2009, 06:06:48 PM »

Quote from: G The Resurrected on February 24, 2009, 05:57:22 PM

Is 800 too much Lyte? I'm just wondering the girlfriend loves TRU and I am point ruler in this house.

It's just one new level. I'm sure it will take about 45 minutes to an hour to complete...I can't say anything until it's over, but some gamefaqs posters are saying it wasn't the best of levels.

demi · « **Reply #10 on:** February 24, 2009, 06:07:12 PM »

Well what is beneath the ashes!?

bork · « **Reply #11 on:** February 24, 2009, 06:10:45 PM »

Quote from: demi on February 24, 2009, 06:07:12 PM

Well what is beneath the ashes!?

Lara is hunting for another relic that her father found previously. There's a dungeon under the house crypt that you explore. Turns out that:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

This relic can control all the thralls, and based on what people who beat it already are saying, this includes Lara's doppleganger too! So it looks like Lara's Shadow is going to be Lara controlling her doppleganger and using it to go after Natla.

[close]

bork · « **Reply #12 on:** February 24, 2009, 06:58:55 PM »

What do you guys think of this picture?

http://handofwin.ning.com/profiles/blogs/tomb-raider-underworld-beneath

Or should I have gone for ass instead?

Anyway the pack is pretty decent so far. No puzzles that we haven't seen, but good enough. I think it should have been 400 points.

Bildi · « **Reply #13 on:** February 24, 2009, 07:22:15 PM »

Which outfit is that?

I've barely started TR:U but I'm tempted to pay another 800 points based on that picture.

demi · « **Reply #14 on:** February 24, 2009, 07:28:32 PM »

800 is just a ripoff for this. I just paid 800 for two pieces of DLC for Skate 2. I'm at my yearly DLC limit.

bork · « **Reply #15 on:** February 24, 2009, 08:41:29 PM »

800 points is indeed a lot to pay for just one level. I do think it's shaping up to be a decent outing, but yeah.

Quote from: Bildi on February 24, 2009, 07:22:15 PM

Which outfit is that?

I've barely started TR:U but I'm tempted to pay another 800 points based on that picture.

LOL. It's one of the DLC bikini outfits. If you want ass you can just use the free DLC blue wetsuit anyway.

Eidos is crazy if they think taking the tits n' ass away and making it more "girl-friendly" is going to do anything to increase sales. One look at GameFAQs should show otherwise.

Bildi · « **Reply #16 on:** February 24, 2009, 09:00:07 PM »

I did download the bikinis! Since I'm not very far in the game, I haven't figured out how to activate them though.

The new ass shot is good, but I think the tit one had more impact. I guess because her rack is quite iconic.

As for sales, releasing TRU when they did was fairly distinguished mentally-challenged and they're lucky it sold anything like it did. Lara might be well known but I think they smoking something when they thought Tomb Raider could go up against the big AAA titles that were coming out.

Bebpo · « **Reply #17 on:** February 24, 2009, 10:14:59 PM »

"Beneath the Asses" indeed.

smh, I know, but someone had to say it.

bork · « **Reply #18 on:** February 24, 2009, 10:42:37 PM »

Finished Beneath The Ashes. Didn't check my time but I think it was between an hour to an hour and a half. Didn't get all the treasures but did find the relic. The end really does set up the next DLC level too. Looks like we're going to be playing Lara's Shadow as a different character after all.

Quote from: Bildi on February 24, 2009, 09:00:07 PM

I did download the bikinis! Since I'm not very far in the game, I haven't figured out how to activate them though.

The four free DLC costumes? You can select them at the beginning of each new level.

Quote

The new ass shot is good, but I think the tit one had more impact. I guess because her rack is quite iconic.

As for sales, releasing TRU when they did was fairly distinguished mentally-challenged and they're lucky it sold anything like it did. Lara might be well known but I think they smoking something when they thought Tomb Raider could go up against the big AAA titles that were coming out.

Well, in CD's Tomb Raiders, it is really more ass ass ass since that's what you're staring at 95% of the time. Underworld was AWESOME, and yeah, they should have delayed it for release around this time or pushed it up earlier last year. If they had delayed it, it wouldn't have needed DLC either.

Quote from: Bebpo on February 24, 2009, 10:14:59 PM

(Image removed from quote.)

"Beneath the Asses" indeed.

smh, I know, but someone had to say it.

The same thing came to me after I posted that article on HoW, and I changed the pic and text underneath to go with that.

Bildi · « **Reply #19 on:** February 24, 2009, 11:42:25 PM »

Quote from: the lyte edge on February 24, 2009, 10:42:37 PM

The four free DLC costumes? You can select them at the beginning of each new level.

Hmm, I didn't see it. I must be on the lookout next time. Because I downloaded the costumes a while before I got the game, I never really check that they downloaded OK - maybe my download stuffed up.

Quote from: the lyte edge on February 24, 2009, 10:42:37 PM

Well, in CD's Tomb Raiders, it is really more ass ass ass since that's what you're staring at 95% of the time. Underworld was AWESOME, and yeah, they should have delayed it for release around this time or pushed it up earlier last year. If they had delayed it, it wouldn't have needed DLC either.

Good point about seeing ass so much. I feel like her rack has received more attention in PR material and box covers and so on, but maybe that's just me.

bork · « **Reply #20 on:** February 25, 2009, 03:45:31 AM »

People love those bikinis.

All the new outfits.

It's just like the good ol' days, huh? BOOB RAIDER returns.

Bildi · « **Reply #21 on:** February 25, 2009, 06:47:59 AM »

The texture on that gold bikini is pretty awesome.

I played a bit more of TRU tonight - I'm only up to the octopus. God damn the game looks amazing and the animations are brilliant, like when Lara stumbles a little when landing a high jump, or how she leans when running around a corner, or the various ways she scales a block. Such a shame they want to take the series away from CD.

bork · « **Reply #22 on:** February 25, 2009, 03:50:01 PM »

Quote from: Bildi on February 25, 2009, 06:47:59 AM

The texture on that gold bikini is pretty awesome.

I played a bit more of TRU tonight - I'm only up to the octopus. God damn the game looks amazing and the animations are brilliant, like when Lara stumbles a little when landing a high jump, or how she leans when running around a corner, or the various ways she scales a block. Such a shame they want to take the series away from CD.

Yeah. :'( Let's face it, Tomb Raider sucked before Crystal Dynamics turned it all around. I liked (some of) Core's games at the time, but I doubt I would be able to go back to any of them now.

demi · « **Reply #23 on:** February 25, 2009, 03:54:43 PM »

Tomb Raider 2 is still the best in the series... but ok whatever you say

Bildi · « **Reply #24 on:** February 25, 2009, 04:02:22 PM »

Yeah, I'm one of the 'new' Tomb Raider fans too. I mucked about with Core's Tomb Raiders now and then, but the series didn't really interest me until Legend. I think CD brought in a heap of new fans with that game.

bork · « **Reply #25 on:** February 25, 2009, 04:34:06 PM »

I don't think I ever finished one of Core's games. I liked the original back then but didn't complete it, only played a bit of TR2, was turned off by TR3, liked what they did with LR but it got too hard further in, never did complete the story in Chronicles, and just sorta lost interest in The Angel Of Darkness near the end.

Legend was great. Underworld was even better. Still need to go through Anniversary, which I may do now in fact. I feel like re-playing Legend though. Might do it on PSP this time.

chronovore · « **Reply #26 on:** February 26, 2009, 12:11:28 AM »

Quote from: the lyte edge on February 24, 2009, 10:42:37 PM

Well, in CD's Tomb Raiders, it is really more ass ass ass since that's what you're staring at 95% of the time. Underworld was AWESOME, and yeah, they should have delayed it for release around this time or pushed it up earlier last year. If they had delayed it, it wouldn't have needed DLC either.

I think you're missing the point (or intentionally ignoring it) about DLC: it's free money. It's money that the publisher/developer gets a much larger share of than in the retail-box case. MS/Sony gets a reasonable share, and the rest goes to the publisher. There's no retail cut of the profit, and no retail-returns or forced, hidden refunds from cascading losses when a publisher's Title A hasn't sold as well as expected and it's time for that same publisher to talk to the retailer about stocking Title B.

So, in terms of "need," the publishers aren't saying, "oh, here's shit we forgot." They're making money they can't make through retailers, with a model that retail can't compete with. In some ways, it's "free money" at this point -- look how many times customers get up in arms about the DLC just being an unlock key. But even if it's a sizable download, implementing the structure to accommodate DLC is a big undertaking that has to be handled at the core level, way beforehand.

bork · « **Reply #27 on:** February 26, 2009, 12:26:44 AM »

Yeah, that last part was a joke. Perhaps a "

" would have fit better than "

."

Did you happen to see the comments from a disgruntled fired CD employee last year? He was basically saying all the truth behind the DLC right when the Eidos PR people were trying to do damage control and saying the DLC was never meant to be in the game originally.

chronovore · « **Reply #28 on:** February 26, 2009, 03:33:41 AM »

And you can also bet that TR:Underworld was bit by the seasonal flood of games, as neatly summed up by Eidos' competitor, EA:
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/ea-weve-learned-our-lesson-on-release-dates

Quote

Electronic Arts has admitted it got it wrong with the releases of some of its biggest games of 2008, and insists the industry must now rethink its entire approach to putting products into the market.

Glen Schofield, general manager of the publisher's Redwood Shores studio in San Francisco, acknowledged that releasing new franchises like Mirror's Edge and Dead Space during peak season, which failed to hit sales projections, had been an education for the company.

“The one big thing we learned was, we came out with a bunch of new IP, actually with a bunch of new games at the same time,” he said, speaking to GamesIndustry.biz in Florence last month for the global unveiling of Dante's Inferno.

So many good titles, expensive ones, and really a very finite amount of time and money to be spent on them during the holidays. Devs have known this for years and years, and shouted it at marketing/sales, and marketing has always responded that devs are incredibly naive. It turns out to be correct. Fuckers.

Bildi · « **Reply #29 on:** February 26, 2009, 05:33:18 AM »

I can't knock Glen Schofield because there would probably be no Dead Space without him, but goddam, they needed to release two games to learn this lesson??

Anyway, I'm playing more TRU and it really is one of the more spectacular looking games of last year. The shadows, including those cast by Lara's light, are

. And the general level of detail in the environment is also

.

Music is kick-ass too.

bork · « **Reply #30 on:** February 26, 2009, 10:54:40 AM »

Yup, despite it being rushed (although now there is a patch that fixes some of the bigger glitches), Underworld is an A+ effort all the way. Really makes no sense to me why Eidos would disband CD and get them off the series. It's not like it bombed or anything.

chronovore · « **Reply #31 on:** February 27, 2009, 05:45:43 AM »

Where are you hearing this "disbanded CD" stuff, anyway? The team they ditched was probably not the Underworld one.

dammitmattt · « **Reply #32 on:** February 27, 2009, 09:46:40 AM »

Quote from: the lyte edge on February 26, 2009, 10:54:40 AM

Yup, despite it being rushed (although now there is a patch that fixes some of the bigger glitches), Underworld is an A+ effort all the way. Really makes no sense to me why Eidos would disband CD and get them off the series. It's not like it bombed or anything.

I just finished Underworld (with all 1000) and I'm going to run through Beneath the Ashes today. I liked it a lot, but it's nowhere near an A+ effort. The battle system still sucks, the controls aren't fluid/forgiving enough, the camera sucks, you're on the bike too much, and the pacing is all kinds of fucked up. I'd give it a solid B and I still think I enjoyed Legend more.

tiesto · « **Reply #33 on:** February 27, 2009, 09:56:54 AM »

I liked the bike parts of TRU, thought it controlled really well... nor did I think you were on it too much. Totally agree with you about the camera and unforgiving controls, seems shit kinda hit the fan when swinging around on poles, I don't know how often Lara decided to jump off to her death when I wanted her to climb on top of them.

bork · « **Reply #34 on:** February 27, 2009, 03:52:53 PM »

A+ effort, not necessarily an A+ game perhaps.

Quote from: chronovore on February 27, 2009, 05:45:43 AM

Where are you hearing this "disbanded CD" stuff, anyway? The team they ditched was probably not the Underworld one.

People were saying this when the disgruntled/fired CD employee "spilled the beans" on the DLC a month or two back.

dammitmattt · « **Reply #35 on:** February 28, 2009, 01:39:16 PM »

Quote from: tiesto on February 27, 2009, 09:56:54 AM

I liked the bike parts of TRU, thought it controlled really well... nor did I think you were on it too much. Totally agree with you about the camera and unforgiving controls, seems shit kinda hit the fan when swinging around on poles, I don't know how often Lara decided to jump off to her death when I wanted her to climb on top of them.

They seemed okay until I started playing The Lost and Damned, but it sucked going back to the weightless TRU bikes after getting used to the heavy choppers in TLAD. Plus, they fucked up the Y axis camera controls when on the bike.

chronovore · « **Reply #36 on:** March 01, 2009, 11:26:11 PM »

Quote from: the lyte edge on February 27, 2009, 03:52:53 PM

A+ effort, not necessarily an A+ game perhaps.

Quote from: chronovore on February 27, 2009, 05:45:43 AM
Where are you hearing this "disbanded CD" stuff, anyway? The team they ditched was probably not the Underworld one.

People were saying this when the disgruntled/fired CD employee "spilled the beans" on the DLC a month or two back.

Ah. Sooooper unlikely. Layoffs, yes. Removing the title from CD to one of Eidos' other "stellar" studios? :smh

Bildi · « **Reply #37 on:** March 03, 2009, 05:31:01 PM »

Downloaded Beneath the Ashes last night, so I'll play it while I'm playing the main game. It looks pretty neat from the little I played and the new costumes are cool - the grey outfit in particular is sweet.

chronovore · « **Reply #38 on:** March 16, 2009, 06:46:34 AM »

TR:Unterwelt was special-of-the-week at Play-Asia.com, so it is now on its way to my waiting hands. Don't know if I'll do the DLC; I'm still interested in playing TR: Anniversary.
:hopeful

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Author Topic: Tomb Raider Underworld DLC Pack "Beneath The Ashes" (Read 14008 times)