Tomb Raider - The Final Hours Digital Book
- March 7, 2013
- Geoff Keighley
Get on Steam"Tomb Raider - The Final Hours Digital Book" is an interactive companion to the Tomb Raider game reboot, offering behind-the-scenes insights, developer interviews, and exclusive concept art. It delves into the game's development process, providing an insider's view on the challenges and triumphs of the reimagined Lara Croft. This immersive digital book is a must-have for Tomb Raider fans, offering an enriched understanding of the game's narrative and design.
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Reviews
- A must-read for any Tomb Raider fan, offering fascinating insights into the development process and behind-the-scenes content.
- The interactive elements and exclusive behind-the-scenes videos provide a unique experience that enhances appreciation for the game.
- Well-written and informative, this digital book serves as a great companion piece to the Tomb Raider reboot, showcasing the effort and creativity involved in its creation.
- Many videos and links are broken or lead to external sites, diminishing the overall experience and value of the content.
- The application is buggy and poorly optimized for PC, making navigation difficult and frustrating for users.
- Despite its interesting content, the book lacks substantial depth and can be read quickly, leaving some fans wanting more.
- story30 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 77 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The story of the 2013 "Tomb Raider" game is praised for its powerful narrative that redefines Lara Croft's origin, moving away from earlier ghost story concepts to a more compelling survival tale. Reviewers appreciate the depth of storytelling, enhanced by multimedia elements, concept art, and behind-the-scenes insights that showcase the development journey. Overall, the effort put into the story and its evolution has garnered significant respect from fans and critics alike.
“Tomb Raider's story is amazing, and the amount of effort they've put into it since its creation is incredible.”
“Journalist Geoff Keighley chronicles the team’s journey, illustrating this 11,000-word story with never-before-seen art and videos from parts of the game left on the cutting room floor.”
“Tomb Raider's story is a simple one filled with rushed releases, a reboot that revived the series in a great way, then another reboot that modernized it.”
“The book contains extra info on how the game was built up, how the developers started with many ideas, a horror-themed game with monsters, and how they ended up with a survival story.”
“I must hand it to the team that it was a good choice to switch to this instead as it is such powerful storytelling and leads to Rise of the Tomb Raider and Shadow of the Tomb Raider, which were pretty good.”
- gameplay8 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 38 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The reviews indicate a significant lack of gameplay elements, with no meaningful interactions or gameplay loops present in the software. While some users appreciate the accompanying digital book for its insights into the game's development and content, the overall consensus is that the gameplay experience is severely lacking.
“This book is incredibly interesting and I would highly recommend it to anyone who has played Tomb Raider and/or wants to see concept art, cut content including videos of cut gameplay, and some game development behind the scenes. At this price, this digital book is really worth a look.”
“Well, I actually bought this digital book because I really like the game and the story behind the gameplay.”
“There are no gameplay loops in this software, no 'gameplay', no meaningful game-like interaction.”
“There are no gameplay loops in this software, no 'gameplay', no meaningful game-like interaction.”
“There are no gameplay loops in this software, no 'gameplay', no meaningful game-like interaction.”
- stability4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The app is reported to be highly unstable, with numerous bugs affecting both the content and controls, leading to a frustrating user experience.
“The app itself is incredibly buggy.”
“The content is okay, but the book is buggy and the controls are weird.”
- graphics4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are highly praised for their impressive design and artistic depth, with many reviewers expressing admiration for the early artwork and concept designs showcased during the production process. Veteran journalist Geoff Keighley offers an insightful look into the design journey, highlighting both the creative concepts that were ultimately not included and the successful recreation of a video game icon by Crystal Dynamics.
“It's so cool when you can see how a game is being produced and all the early artworks blow my mind away.”
“Veteran journalist Geoff Keighley provides a relatively comprehensive look at the design process, showcasing many concepts that never made it to the finished game, as well as artwork, sketches, interviews, and reports on how Crystal Dynamics recreated the video game icon.”
- optimization4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The optimization of the application has received criticism, with users reporting issues such as video stuttering and playback failures, indicating that it is not well-suited for PC viewing.
“Some videos are stuttering or not playing at all.”
“Lots of great information, but the application isn't optimized to be viewed on PC.”
- music2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The music aspect of the game features interactive elements, including panoramas of the developer's studio and a music mixer, allowing players to engage with the soundtrack in a unique way.
“Additionally, there are interactive elements, such as panoramas of the developer's studio and a music mixer.”
