2 Year Anniversary of Guns and Grapple

30th October 2010

Today is the second anniversary of Guns and Grapple. It seems strange that it is, considering it doesn't seem that long ago that I was planning which website host it would have. The past two years has been absolutely fantastic, and I really don't see this site closing down soon. Everyone that I've met has been awesome and really positive to the site and I thank all the TR fans that have helped me make the site become better and better and to all the visitors for coming to the site. The past two years has been epic and I look forward to many great years to come :)

As a thanks, I decided to bring back the magazine/newsletter. It was in the original plan for the site but I didn't manage to make it when the site finally went up. In the magazine I'm hoping to get a guest to be writing for each issue, as well as some really cool material. I'm not sure how often it will be sent out, my timetable this year is ridiculous but I am hoping to do it often :) To subscribe to the magazine CLICK HERE.

I would want to thank some people who has helped me the past year. (Alphabetically)
Crystal Dynamics and Eidos (Of course), Jana (Tomb Raider Girl), Katie Fleming, Keir, Lauren Stamp, Ostercy, Sam, Stella Lune, Tisa, and my family (they've put up a decade of listening to me talk about TR)

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XBOX360 Co-op on 27th October

20th October 2010

Next Tuesday (27th October) sees the arrival of co-op online for Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, if you own an XBOX360.

If you own a PC or PS3 those dates have not been finalised but as soon as I get the news I will post it on the site.

If you do own a XBOX360 this is your day. The DLC Pack 1 will be free and exclusive to you for the first 30 days.

Source: Eidos Forums

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Article – Myths, Legends and Adventures (READ MORE)

16th October

Does these matter outside the games?

One question has been thrown around the gaming industry for decades, it has been asked to presidents of companies, critics and developers as well as publishers, we often see forums mentioning this and professional gaming magazines but it's actually never been answered fully because a simple question of;
“What makes a good game?”
has so many links and aspects to it that you can't really answer “It must be fun” and go to lunch. So many people have different views on what makes good games. What made the Halo series good? Bioshock? Pyschonauts? Batman Arkham Asylum? Tomb Raider or Oblivion? We can all probably say one thing that each of the game can add to make it better or change something to improve it; whether it was to keep a character in the story longer or to have less boss battles so close together. I believe that a game appeals much more to a player when they finished the game and feel like they've got something from it. Whether that is inspiration, or knowledge about a topic.

Take for instance Tomb Raider Legend, the storyline was loosely based around the King Arthur myth, but I wouldn't be surprised if a percentage of the fans looked up on Wikipedia something about the myth afterwards, I sure know I did. What was rather awesome was up to that point in 2006, the Tomb Raider games didn't really focus on real myths or Legends (apart from parts of Tomb Raider 4, and Atlantis from TR1). And if you didn't look up the Arthurian Myth, perhaps you read up about the Norse Myth from Underworld, or Xolotl from Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light.

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Article: Inside Aldwych (READ MORE)

9th October 2010

Aldwych Station has been closed since 1994. Now the station rarely opens, but when it does it is used for film sets and exhibitions.

Living in London does have a lot of benefits, as a Tomb Raider fan you would have a lot more. A lot of scenes from the first Tomb Raider film was shot here, as well as the HQ for Eidos/Square Enix Europe, and several Tomb Raider levels takes place in England. My first Tomb Raider game I played was Tomb Raider 3, and my favourite levels took place in London, so for me visiting Aldwych station was really exciting, especially since not a lot of people can go there any more.

The tour took place early morning on 24th September. Since the station rarely opens, me and my sister attended one of the Blitz experiences which recreated what it was like during the Blitz in London, since the station was used as a place of refuge.

Inside the station it was very much like the levels. The walls were made of cream coloured titles with a band of green titles half way up the wall. The entrance led down a few steps to wooden telephone booths, similar to the ticket machine designs from TR3. The design for the station was quite different to the games, instead of a main area leading to two escalators there is a main area which lead down to stairs.As for the size of the location, the real station is twice as small as it appeared in the game but the platform is much longer.

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