One major piece of gaming news dropped this week--the announcement of a new Half-Life game! Even though it's not Half-Life 3, Project Alyx is a dose of HL that has long been missing from the gaming scene. Valve is a tricky, tricky trickster though and decided to make the newest entry into one of my most beloved series a VR exclusive. Damn you! Part of me is waving an unhappy finger at Valve but this other part of me wants to say "I see wut u did there." Fans have long been frothing at the mouth for some HL and this rare opportunity could very possibly see those semi-rabid hordes investing $999 (I don't know how much Oculus cost, but you get Project Alyx free with Valve Index) to get that much needed HL. I'm not gonna lie; I did click on the Valve Index ad after the trailer dropped--and then I laughed at spending $999 for one title (I mean, of course you could buy other games, but still!).
Currently, I am spending my time falling off of virtually everything as Lara Croft in Shadow of the Tomb Raider. This newest entry into the series has Lara adventuring in the jungles of South America in an effort to destroy yet another evil plot by Trinity to find and use an ancient artifact to destroy the world. I'm not a die hard Lara Croft fan, but I have enjoyed the rebooted games. One of the new features in the game is improved stealth through the use of camouflage in the form of Lara smearing herself with mud. Once she has adequately covered herself, she can can hide in special mud-covered vine patches and wait for unwitting enemies to creep close enough to be stealthily stabbed. It's a new, added challenge to sneak through the jungle and not be detected.
If there's one thing that the new TR games have in common it is the fact that Lara Croft is nigh-on indestructible. Even though she can nimbly navigate a wide variety of narrow ledges, sketchy looking rock outcrops, and dangerously high areas, she is constantly falling off of things. One of the sequences I completed was a flashback of Lara as a precocious, freckled kid. Her vibrant imagination had constructed her own special backyard Croft manor adventure. In true Lara style though, she veers off into dangerous territory as she scales up the side of massive manor house...and, of course she encounters a loose section of gutter and goes tumbling off (but, always managing to fall to safety). Can poor Lara just have it a little bit easier? Maybe not fall so much, please?
I constantly find myself holding my breath as I guide Lara through some truly treacherous areas. SotTR has some sequences that will trigger any mild phobias lurking deep within you--fear of heights as Lara clambers up a precipice; claustrophobia as Lara squeezes herself through excruciatingly narrow passages; aquaphobia as she swims through some truly challenging underwater areas (caves, tunnels, and again, freakishly tight passages)...and so many more that it's truly nerve wracking. Those things might sound like a negative experience, but I am always astounded by the fact that these fictional experiences are made with such high quality that I am feeling those things while playing.
One of the things that I always forget about with TR is the fact that Lara's deaths are particularly gruesome. Last night I played through a main storyline tomb that involved Lara suddenly sliding down a slope...but, not just any slope, a slope with strategically located spiky poles sticking out from the wall. Being completely caught off guard, the first round saw me steering Lara directly into the poles and then grotesquely having a spear impale her. Poor Lara!
Shadow of the Tomb Raider is particularly gorgeous and I am enjoying the photo mode. Here are a few screenshots I snapped:
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| Mayan and Incan ruins feature prominently. |
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| That's not ominous at all, right? |
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| Challenge ahead! |
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| Inside a story tomb. |
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