If you’re one of those Tomb Raider fanatics who can actually remember every cheat code from the PS1-in days (up, down, left, right, circle, square-that’s actually Crash Bandicoot), then you will found this. That indeed, is the problem since the newly discovered Tomb Raider I-III Remasters has a little Easter egg.
If you collect EVERY SINGLE SECRET in Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation and Tomb Raider Chronicles (the two that came after this original trilogy), unlocks the so-called original outfits from the early three games, full-blown-the classic teal tank top of Lara, those shorts, the whole 90s thing. And it gets even better-you can actually use them in-game. Like, full gameplay. No mods, no hacks-just plain, unadulterated throwback glory.
Now let’s be honest-collecting all the secrets in those games is no picnic-hidden medpacks, obscure artifacts, a ton of outlandish jumps requiring pixel-perfect precision. But then again, if you’re patient enough (or have a really good walkthrough), the payoff is nothing less than melt-in-your-mouth-tempting.
This is not your ordinary unlock thing. This is a love letter to the loyalists who have followed Lara ever since the beginning. Well, the remaster does do everything remastered: revitalize updated graphics, smoother controls, and all those niceties, but hold on; it’s really this kind of detail that just gives one that realization-the devs get it-totally know what we want. They know we dreamed about reliving those golden PS1 days without the mostly janky camera angles.
And truthfully it is kind of really absurd that it wasn’t in giant lights in all of the marketing. Imagine booting a game up with no idea that you’re not even going to realize for a while that you can run the entire thing in Lara’s original duds. It’s as good as having a $20 bill crumpled into the seam of your old jeans.
Internet has already begun the secret hunt speedrunning-now. Probably few of these madlads are able to do that in just hours from the time of the remaster’s release. Well, the rest of us are still figuring out avoiding dying on the very first level of Tomb Raider II – those Bengal tigers, man…
Including now, if you’ve got a thing about picking up the remaster, then that’s pretty much it. Or if you really did pick it up, you know, guess you got some secrets to hunt down. Just don’t blame us when three hours are wasted trying to nail that single jump in the Lost Valley, because some things never change.
And hey, while we are at it-who wouldn’t like a complete remake of Tomb Raider IV next? Just saying. The people demand it.
So meanwhile, happy hunting, raiders. May your medpacks be many and polygons, well, a tad less jagged.
