Some games are old enough – re-releases should theoretically just add support for modern systems and resolutions. Others sometimes have to be changed to make them easier to play. But the case of the first Tomb Raider is unique: technically, the re-release made the game better… But it ruined the main mechanics of the project. Portal arstechnica.com speakWhy do tank drivers have the right to life?
Tomb Raider was part of the first wave of fully 3D cross-platform titles; it came out the same year as the equally groundbreaking Super Mario 64 and Quake. In fact, most modern AAA projects have their roots in one of these three games.
Because the 3D gaming market was still in its infancy at the time, the industry lacked effective and proven practices for control circuits and cameras. So Tomb Raider developers chose a design that was widely used for several years before being replaced by more convenient alternatives. Specifically, the so-called “tank controls”, the forward and back keys move the character in the appropriate direction, while the left and right keys rotate the character on an axis without moving.
This scheme works quite intuitively, which is why it was popular at first. But the industry abandoned it at some point because it was annoyingly cumbersome and imprecise. Tomb Raider boasts classy design and atmosphere; The developers did everything in their power to ensure that battles with tank control (most often) do not cause unnecessary discomfort. But there are still a lot of fighting scenes in the game, and sooner or later the controls will start to cause inconvenience.
In 1996, the novelty of 3D vertical levels resolved the complaints of most players. But after 30 years of ideation and iteration, the gaming industry has long since resolved these types of problems. That's why the studio working on re-releasing the first three Tomb Raiders decided to include an alternative, more modern control scheme in the remake. And it doesn't work at all.
When working on the original Tomb Raider began, the developers had a specific inspiration. They wanted to combine the true 3D environments seen in the revolutionary Ultima Underworld, the polygonal characters of Virtua Fighter, and gameplay inspired by Jordan Mechner's Prince of Persia.
If you played 1989's Prince of Persia, you'll know that the game's platforming is both challenging and demanding. To make a jump, you need to carefully approach the optimal starting point, step by step.
The same thing happens in Tomb Raider. Every puzzle, level and obstacle in this game follows a strict mobility system. Players can predict how far Lara Croft will jump based on her position on any square. You can even count your steps to find the perfect jumping position; in fact, it's practically impossible to do without it – otherwise, difficult platforming segments would simply be impossible to get through without anger.
Using the original tank controller, the player can make small steps forward, backward or sideways, jump in different directions, etc. Maneuvers are stable and predictable, and to perform them, you must press the cursor key a certain number of times. The entire game is built on this principle.
But in the re-release, the controls work the same as in Tomb Raider Legends from the 2000s, and it is this approach that has become the standard for most 3D third-person games. They feel more responsive to modern gamers who haven't seen anything different in the last 20 years. The short period of 3-5 years of muscle memory and ease of control of the tank has long been rewritten by 20 years of more convenient planning.
But unfortunately, modern flexible control systems have lost almost all connection with the mobile system itself. What was once a precise surgical process has now become a visual puzzle game. Obstacle courses and platform challenges were not designed with modern controls in mind. As a result, battles feel much better, while almost everything else is more frustrating than in their tank-driving days.
Of course, Tomb Raider is still worth watching. The more time players spend mastering the tank's controls, the more natural it will feel, but without the wow factor of revolutionary 3D gameplay, it will be harder to be patient. Tomb Raider is getting another remake that will once again innovate on the mechanics and gameplay. Many modern gamers can't stand tank controls, but abandoning them altogether means experiencing the original Tomb Raider as intended is simply impossible.
