Tomb Raider # 5: Eyes in the Heavens Review

Between the announcement of the new Tomb Raider game, Rise of the Tomb Raider, coming out in 2015 and the whispers of a possible reboot of the Tomb Raider Movies, what better time to release a comic series where the storyline picks up right where the most recent game leaves off.

Gail Simone, the writer, does a fantastic job of seamlessly placing flashbacks throughout the series to ensure that readers who have not played the game aren’t lost. Follow Lara as she returns to the island of Yamatai in the Devil’s Triangles to save her dearest friend Sam who has been kidnapped because four artifact were removed from Yamatai on their last visit. After four issues filled with gun fights, confusion, incoherently mumbled prophecies and lots of exposition the reader finally gets the true adventure expected of the infamous Tomb Raider and everything begins to connect and fall into place.

“Four Guardians, Four Calamities, Four Pieces to build his horse. The Circle has to be broken” The ill-fated statement made by Jonah in the first issue is starting to make sense. The leader of Sam’s captors, Matsu-Sama,  explains that he is not Solarii, but a group that worships the Solarii and seeks to resurrect Matthias the sole disciple to Himiko, the sun queen of the Solarii. The four guardians are  Matsu-Sama, his two daughters who are beautifully illustrated as statuesque Makara Lara finds in the second issue, and a mystery guardian yet to be revealed. As Matsu explains how they need Lara’s blood to bring Matthias back, Lara, while scaling a mountain on the outskirts of Yamatai, realizes that the ‘four calamities’ are linked to the four element. First there was the flood in the desert where it hadn’t rained in a hundred years. The second was when the fire on the ship and the last an avalanche the almost kills Lara.  Luckily after an ominous warning from Alex, her doomed comrade, “Beware the Fourth Guardian,” a stranger with a familiar face pulls Lara from the water. The man who saved Lara from her first encounter with Matsu-Sama… Serendipity or treachery?

Well looks like readers will have to wait for the next issue to figure out that last Guardian and the final calamity.  

Final Score: 7.5/10

Square Enix's Tomb Raider DeviantArt Contest

Crystal Dynamics™, a Square Enix® studio, today announced a contest sponsored by Gamestop, Microsoft® and deviantART inviting fans to submit interpretations of the new Lara Croft from the TOMB RAIDER® reimagining releasing March 5, 2013. The grand-prize winner will get $6,000, a TOMB RAIDER custom Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, and have an art print of their artwork sold in the official TOMB RAIDER store which opens for business later this month.

In 2012 Crystal Dynamics hosted a digital art exhibition to celebrate the 15-year anniversary of TOMB RAIDER. The team commissioned eight original pieces by a selection of esteemed artists. Andy Park, the primary penciller for the original TOMB RAIDER comics, contributed an iconic “Deviation” for the exhibition. These pieces of art sparked a wave of fan-created artwork. The initiative inspired Crystal Dynamics to draw from the international talent pool directly through a partnership with the biggest community showcase platform, deviantART.

“Over the past fifteen years TOMB RAIDER and Lara Croft have garnered a passionate and talented fan base from around the world. As such, many have naturally flocked to deviantART as a portal to showcase their creativity,” said Karl Stewart, global brand director for TOMB RAIDER. “Partnering with deviantART was a perfect fit to challenge and inspire our established followers, while engaging the artistic efforts of the greater deviantART community.”

“DeviantART is thrilled to be working alongside Square Enix to promote TOMB RAIDER,” said Daniel Bornstein, vice president of global advertising and sales for deviantART. “The deviantART community has embraced the iconic Lara Croft, and participants from all over the globe are invited to submit their entries for a chance to have their original TOMB RAIDER interpretations featured on a print to be sold within the official TOMB RAIDER store.”

Prizes include:
1st place:

• The winner’s work will be featured on an art print that will be sold internationally via the official TOMB RAIDER store
• TOMB RAIRDER custom Xbox 360 console
• $6,000 cash
• 8,000 deviantART points
• dA PRO digital artist backpack
• One-year premium membership to deviantART
• One t-shirt from the deviantART store

2nd place:

• TOMB RAIDER custom Xbox 360 console
• $3,000 cash
• 4,000 deviantART points
• 6-month premium membership to deviantART
• One t-shirt from the deviantART store

3rd place:

• TOMB RAIDER custom Xbox 360 console
• $1,000 cash
• 4,000 deviantART points
• 6-month premium membership to deviantART
• One t-shirt from the deviantART store

Additionally, 22 semi-finalists will receive a TOMB RAIDER Xbox 360 Limited Edition Wireless Controller, a 3-month premium membership to deviantART and 2,000 deviantART points.

More information about the contest and prizes can be found at: www.deviantart.com/tombraider.

CRYSTAL DYNAMICS AND DARK HORSE BRING LARA CROFT BACK TO COMIC BOOKS

CRYSTAL DYNAMICS AND DARK HORSE 

BRING LARA CROFT BACK TO COMIC BOOKS STARTING WITH 

TOMB RAIDER: THE BEGINNING

MILWAUKIE, OR, JANUARY 30 – Crystal Dynamics™, a Square Enix® studio, and Dark Horse Comics, today revealed they have partnered to bring the re-imagined Lara Croft back to print in the world of comics. Look for news on the new series following the release of TOMB RAIDER®, the highly anticipated origin story for Lara Croft®, available March 5, 2013, and will chronicle Lara’s journey after her harrowing adventure in the Dragon’s Triangle.

To kick off the partnership, Crystal Dynamics and Dark Horse have teamed up to create “TOMB RAIDER: The Beginning.” This will be the first installment in the new TOMB RAIDER comic book series, and is a prequel to the events in TOMB RAIDER. “TOMB RAIDER: The Beginning,” was written by lead game writer Rhianna Pratchett. Fans can get the first series early when they pre-order TOMB RAIDER at Best Buy.

A 48-page, six-part hardcover omnibus, “TOMB RAIDER: The Beginning” follows the story of how the crew came together for The Endurance's fateful mission to discover the lost Japanese kingdom of Yamatai. Originally intended to feature as the latest instalment of Dr. James Whitman's successful archaeology show, Whitman's World, the show-biz archaeologist gets more than he bargained for when he enlists the help of Captain Conrad Roth. As Roth's unique and eccentric crew gradually come together and share their stories and secrets, the expedition faces unexpected threats before it's even begun.

“Lara Croft is an icon across all forms of media, including comic books,” said Karl Stewart, global brand director for TOMB RAIDER and Crystal Dynamics. “The team at Crystal Dynamics has worked closely with Dark Horse on ‘The Beginning’ to bring the relatable, re-imagined Lara Croft back to the comic book world.”

"Whilst penning Lara’s origins story for the game I had lots of ideas about the world she and the other characters inhabited, and the story behind their voyage: as great to be able to flesh out the world of TOMB RAIDER and work with the talented team at Dark Horse to bring Lara Croft back to comics,” said Rhianna Pratchett, lead game writer for TOMB RAIDER.

"The bold new vision of the game demanded we bring an equally fresh approach to the comics," said Dave Marshall, editor at Dark Horse. “We’re excited for TOMB RAIDER fans to experience a new side of Lara Croft as they accompany her on the earliest parts of her first adventure.”

To celebrate the partnership, Crystal Dynamics and Dark Horse revealed four pages from “TOMB RAIDER: The Beginning.” The full comic is available as a bonus when you pre-order TOMB RAIDER at Best Buy. More news on Tomb Raider comics will be available in the coming months.

New Tomb Raider Screenshots

Here is some new screenshots for the upcoming Tomb Raider game. This is looking better and better.

Microsoft XBOX360 E3 Conference

Hey Otakus and Geeks fans, Sean and Jeff here with our review the Microsoft Xbox Conference. We are going to give you some info and our opinions of what we saw.

First we're going to start with Halo 4 unveiled at the start of the conference. This story begins with an advanced Spaceship meant to be used to explore new areas of Space, but Ship is somehow disabled and crash lands on a nearby Planet. Master Chief is on the planet where ship crashes and sets out to investigate the crash. Master Chief not only encounter's old enemies (Covenant), but discovers a new one.   

Key Features

1. The Reclaimer Saga Begins: Experience the dawn of an epic new Halo adventure, solo or split screen with up to three friends.

2. Go Beyond the Story: Halo 4's Infinity Multiplayer features a vastly expanded suite of multiplayer modes, weapons, vehicles, armor abilities, a new loadout and Spartan IV player progression system.

3. Edge-of-your-seat Entertainment: Immerse yourself in Halo 4's graphics, sound and epic game play including a mysterious and deadly new class of enemies.*

Jeff's Opinion: The environment looks good, It seems to be a Jungle environment. After you kill one of the New enemies you pick up his weapon. the rifle looks pretty cool and fun. The new alien enemies look good also, new bot like aliens. It looks like you can still only hold two weapons at a time. Halo 4 looks good, but it feels like all the other previous games. I would like to see more to give a better opinion.

developer: 343 industries

publisher: microsoft

genre: shooter

release date: 11/6/2012

console: Xbox 360

Splinter Cell: Black List. The events of the game pick up after 2010’s Splinter Cell: Conviction, with the stealthy super soldier pursuing a terrorist organization with a mysterious black list of targets, set on the Iraq/Iran border.

Jeff Opinion: The game look freaking SWEET! The New tag and Kill system is great and the new voice command system through the Kinect is a hot feature. Spy vs. Mercs competitive multiplayer returns, and there's a cooperative mode as well. The game is due spring 2013.

Tomb Raider: The first  game footage of the game that aired at E3 last year. A bruised and battered Lara is seen hanging upside down in an underground cave trying to free herself. Once she falls to the ground, there's a series of explosions and she eventually makes her way out, only to find a massive shipwreck.This year at E3 they debut some new footage and game play.  Lara is alone on an island after being shipwrecked and is surrounded by lush foliage. In terms of weaponry used, Lara retrieves a bow from a dead person and the next thing we know, she kills a deer to fend for food. Other weapons include guns, pistols and knives which appear later. 

 Other Games announced at their Conference were Fable The new journey and Ascend  the New Gods. Both look good, but I was never that interested in the previous Fable games.

  Hey Guys Sean ( The Comic Guy ) . Today I’m going to talk about Madden 2013 and Nike plus using Kinect. Xbox unveiled at the E3 conference how the Kinect will interact with both games.

 First I’m going to start with Madden 2013 using the Kinect. I have to say Xbox 360 has done a great job with the interaction between the user and the game. For example you can voice the play you want to run as oppose to selecting it with the controller. It looks as if  Kinect will Make the Madden experience little more fun for the die hard Football fans.

Xbox also unveiled a new fitness game. Microsoft Corp. and NIKE Inc. ushered in a new era of home fitness, unveiling “Nike+ Kinect Training” only on Kinect for Xbox 360. Featuring Nike trainers who work with some of the company’s top athletes, “Nike+ Kinect Training” is customized to your level.  The game will track your progress and show you the data from your workout. You can even compare your data to that of your favorite Athlete.  

Finally to wrap things up Resident Evil 6 and Black Ops 2 look amazing. Resident Evil continues the Game play we love started in part 4, along with bringing back Leon. The story mode for Black Ops 2 Looks great and the game play looks like it will be as challenging as the first one.

Other Feature:

New xbox features allow you to connect different devices which allows you to take the movies you were watching on xbox and continue watching where you left off on your tablet or smart phone. It will also tell you info on what your watching for a deeper movie experience . They are unveiling their   dual screen viewing called Xbox Smart glass. Internet explorer is now coming to Xbox with the help of Xbox Smart Glass and Kinect.

Overall XBOX had a pretty good showing to start off E3.