14 DAY TRIAL // At last, Mac owners are getting an insight on the latest Tomb Raider game, Tomb Raider Anniversary, straight from Apple. What seems to be a mere revamped Tomb Raider 1.0 is actually much more. Jumping in Lara Croft's military boots, players revisit the same locations found in the first installment. However, 10 years have left quite a mark on the setting, which implicitly adds new challenges.
Theoretically, Anniversary isn't the latest TR title, Underworld is. However, Underworld is still under heavy development over at Crystal Dynamics and the next-gen adventure title isn't due out till 2009. A recent Apple report talks about the second Crystal Dynamics-developed Tomb Raider, Anniversary, which is heading to Mac computers now.
"We strove hard to find the right balance of nostalgia and freshness and to create an experience that captured the sense of isolation so prevalent in the original," says Creative Director Jason Botta, in his Note to the Fans.
This time around, Feral Interactive is doing the publishing for TR Anniversary. The company is tight with industry-leading publishers, such as Electronic Arts, Lionhead Studios, UbiSoft, and of course Eidos Interactive, the big name behind the Tomb Raider series. Feral is a prominent publisher of Macintosh games.
As for the game itself, players will be able to experience Lara's signature moves such as Pedestal Jump, Somersault and Swan Dive, while using that nifty grapple to swing off and onto ledges, cliffs, cracks in walls etc., available only with late installments of the series. You'll also be introduced to some of Lara's new moves, such as the Adrenaline Dodge, which will prove useful when fighting the Tyrannosaurus Rex.
All these elements are sure to make the delight of Mac users and fans of any genre, not just adventure.
System Requirements:
- Mac OS X version 10.4 (10.5 recommended) - 1.83GHz Intel processor (2.4GHz recommended) - 512MB of RAM (1GB recommended) - 128MB video RAM (Macs with Intel GMA chipsets not supported) - 4GB hard disk space
A gamepad is recommended for an even better gameplay experience. Apple and/or Feral still have to announce an exact launch date for the Macintosh version of TR Anniversary.