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Underworld movie sponsors Fable 2 Play & Win

by Dustin Burg { Jan 17th 2009 at 1:35PM }

160,000 Microsoft points are up for grabs during this weekend's Underworld: Rise of the Lycans Sweepstakes and all you need to do to attempt to win your share of the MS point pot is to play Fable 2. Registration into the sweeps can be done online or via the XBLM and, once completed, you're required to play a Fable 2 co-op game. First prize is 80,000 MS points (enough to buy even the most expensive XBLM content) and the giveaway fun ends Monday, January 19th.

Free skintight Lara Croft wetsuits now on the XBLM

by Dustin Burg { Jan 6th 2009 at 1:30PM }

There's new Tomb Raider: Underworld downloadable content on the Xbox Live Marketplace today, free content that'll add two new costumes to Lara's wardrobe. But these aren't just any boring old costumes, these two free outfits are skin tight, spandex-like and curve enhancing wetsuits. Mmmhmm. We aren't exactly sure what they look look (probably something like the pic above), but the DLC is free so there isn't much of a decision to be made. Download away!

Video: What Lara Croft can do in TR Underworld

by Richard Mitchell { Oct 8th 2008 at 6:30PM }

Honestly, when the developers at Crystal Dynamics talk about what Lara Croft can do in Tomb Raider: Underworld, they speak so passionately that one gets the impression they've spent one too many late nights staring at Lara's well proportioned figure on a computer screen. And that's exactly the right attitude. The video above notes that Cyrstal Dynamics began development of Lara's abilities by asking what she -- a highly trained woman with nerves of steel -- should be able to do. The list reads like a checklist of things that probably irked you while playing previous installments in the series.

Why can't Lara target more than one enemy? Why can't she just kick that tiger in the face? Why can't she shoot while hanging from a ledge? In Tomb Raider: Underworld, she can, and she does all these things using new motion captured animations. If the developers are to be believed, these animations number somewhere around 2000. Watch the video above and see how many you can spot.

MS secures exclusive Tomb Raider episodes

by Dustin Burg { Oct 6th 2008 at 1:15PM }

Microsoft just revealed that they've worked out a deal with Eidos to distribute two Tomb Raider: Underworld episodes exclusively through the Xbox Live Marketplace. One set to release this year.

The episodes - one titled "Beneath the Ashes", the other "Lara's Shadow" - will release as episodic DLC sometime after Underworld's November retail release and will provide up to six hours of gameplay per episode. Specifically speaking, "Beneath the Ashes" will release around Christmas time and "Lara's Shadow" will see release in early 2009. Yes sir, exclusivity FTW!

Tomb Raider devs talk story, locales

by David Hinkle { Sep 9th 2008 at 9:00PM }

While most of the in-game footage of environments from Tomb Raider: Underworld that is shown in the video above was taken from the other, non-Wii systems, it's still a great look at how the developers recreated the wonderful real-world locations we'll no doubt be traversing when the game releases, as well as Underworld's story. When Tomb Raider: Legend released, it brought an actual half-decent story to the franchise and ever since we've finished that game, we've been waiting to see how all of this pans out. Apparently, Underworld will involve a god and Thor's hammer.

Check it out above, as it shows all of the hard work developer Crystal Dynamics has put into the game. Excited? We are.

Tomb Raider: Underworld lets you kick tigers right in the face

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Aug 29th 2008 at 2:30PM }

The renowned adventurer and acrobatic grave robber, Lara Croft, finds her lithe self on the wrong side of a PETA protest yet again in November's Tomb Raider: Underworld. Though her abhorrent antics, which include mowing down exotic panthers and posing akimbo on the perforated corpses of fuzzy bears, have been widely witnessed before, these latest anti-animal maneuvers still leave our jaws agape. Or dislocated, if you're a marauding tiger who's just been introduced to the leg-end of Lara Croft.

Tomb Raider: Underworld vs. Legend

by Alisha Karabinus { Aug 20th 2008 at 7:38PM }

Click for more comparison shots

Lara Croft's latest handheld adventure looks, well, dark. Not necessarily in tone, but in color. As in, it's sometimes difficult to make out just what the hell is going on. If it's brown, does that make it next-gen? What's it mean if it's blurry?

Does Tomb Raider: Underworld look better than the DS's last tomb raiding experience? The backgrounds have a little more definition, but that leads to the murky quality in the screens. In our gallery below, not only do we have screenshots from the new game, we've also put together a few comparison pieces for your perusal. Which one looks better? Of course, as long as Tomb Raider: Underworld is playable, it will probably trump the DS version of Legend.

Gallery: Tomb Raider: Underworld

First gameplay trailer for Tomb Raider Underworld

by David Hinkle { Aug 18th 2008 at 6:28PM }

Eidos just dished out the first "real" trailer for Tomb Raider: Underworld. Those of you keen on Lara already know another trailer released for the game (along with that dev thing), but it was little less than a teaser. This one actually has a bunch of gameplay footage in it, so we're calling it the first. But, just as the previous teaser had something wrong with it (it didn't show any gameplay), so does this. We're pretty sure this isn't the Wii version. What tipped us off? The fact that it's in HD and the environments look a lot better than we could've hoped for. It's okay to still watch it, though. The console ports are essentially going to be the same game.

Are you anxious to tackle Lara's latest adventure? Have you been sucked back into the franchise by Tomb Raider Legend, like so many of us, and have high hopes for Underworld?

Gallery: Tomb Raider - Underworld

[Via press release]

Tomb Raider: Underworld E3 trailer blows our minds in reverse

by Griffin McElroy { Jul 19th 2008 at 2:30PM }

Based off of our explorations of the Croft manor in previous Tomb Raider installments, we can say with absolute certainty that Lara Croft has a pretty sweet pad. Or, rather, had a sweet pad -- in the latest E3 trailer for Eidos and Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider: Underworld, the titular adventurer, now sans hot pants, apparently lays waste to her extravagant dwelling.

The two-minute, gameplay-less trailer is visually impressive, though our minds are racing with questions surrounding the top-heavy historian's act of residential sabotage. Is she trying to collect on her homeowner's insurance? Is she attempting to quash a rather formidable termite infestation? Perhaps she's trying to earn a visit from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition? We'll be finding out when Underworld explodes onto store shelves November 18.

Lara Croft to visit the Norse underworld this November

by Jason Dobson { Jun 22nd 2008 at 11:00PM }

With Tomb Raider: Underworld set to be among the quartet of titles to be shown by Eidos during next month's E3, the publisher has launched the game's official website, simultaneously slapping a November release date on Lara Croft's latest trip underground for Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, DS, PS2 and PC.

In addition to offering a narrowed release window, Eidos also shed a few details on the busty heroine's "exploration-based" escapade, revealing in a statement that the game will see Ms. Croft seeking "the secrets of the Norse underworld and a forgotten power." This immediatly makes us think that she'll be hunting down Thor's hammer, because really, who needs guns when you're packing Mjolnir?

Tomb Raider: Underworld boxart revealed

by David Hinkle { Jun 20th 2008 at 11:45AM }

We're no boxart designers. But, we guess it's kind of understandable for Eidos to go and cut off half the head of your game's protagonist on its boxart, considering most don't remember her for the smart head she has on her shoulders (hey, she does solve a lot of puzzles). No, what they care most about are her pair of ... handguns. What did you think we were going to say?

And what at first appeared to be dirt, turns out to be some swirling dark energy thing. We're not digging that, to tell you the truth. It gives us flashbacks to that one really bad game she did.

[Via Go Nintendo]

Tomb Raider Underworld: death defying screens

by Richard Mitchell { Feb 1st 2008 at 4:15PM }

We've scanned through these new Tomb Raider Underworld screens several times to no avail. Try as we might, we can't find a single example of the game's hyper-realistic footprint physics. While we're disappointed, we suppose we'll have to make do with Lady Lara doing boring things like walking down a thin stone beam as jaguars slaver below. You know, everyday stuff. Still, we take solace in the fact that the game is apparently shaping up quite nicely, so we'll save our judgments for later. For now, we're happy to see she hasn't lost her penchant for raiding. Check out the new screens in the gallery below.

Gallery: Tomb Raider Underworld

IGN takes a look at Tomb Raider Underworld

by Alexander Sliwinski { Feb 1st 2008 at 3:00AM }

Lady Croft may be the first true comeback kid in gaming with a return to form in recent years in Tomb Raider Legend and Tomb Raider Anniversary. IGN got its hands on a demo of Lara's latest adventure in Tomb Raider Underworld and it appears the series will continue its upward trend.

A pre-alpha build of Underworld showed enemy AI actually going for cover and using squad tactics instead of just suicidally staying in the open to get picked off (which doesn't sound like much, but it's revolutionary for the series). Lara has also been given new melee abilities, including the use of a pole to whack jaguars and send them scampering. Not riddling creatures with bullets should make the animal rights people happy.

Check it out and prepare yourself for the inevitable question, "Who is the cooler tomb raider? Ms. Lara Croft or Mr. Nathan Drake?"

Blu-ray movie releases for the week of Sept. 24

by Chris Powell { Sep 24th 2007 at 12:00PM }

Although this week we don't get quite the quantity or quality of Blu-ray releases that we did last week, we can relish in the fact that if you compiled bits and pieces from each movie, it could possibly make the most bad-ass movie of all time.

Just imagine werewolves, cowboys and the Japanese doing battle against vampires, Nazis and Yankees as Halle Berry comes on screen to spout some nonsense and just looks pretty. You really can't get any better than that.

But if this week's releases don't satisfy you, just wait until next week when we're invaded by the undead – now that's something werewolves, vampires or Nazis just can't kill.