Blog By James

I am very well aware that this could all be fake. But from what I’ve read, the below “leaked” concept art and information appears to be where the new Tomb Raider is headed. I will say that if horses and archery are indeed involved, I’m thrilled!

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When a sudden storm destroys her research vessel, a young and inexperienced Lara Croft finds herself on a mysterious and remote island, hidden off the coast of Japan. Despite several signs of various inhabitants, the island is oddly deserted, and an uneasy feeling settles in as strange sounds emerge from the shadows. With only her determination, inner strength, and resourcefulness to help her, Lara must overcome the challenges of a harsh and unforgiving journey that will take her through a vast island wilderness and deep into the claustrophobic and menacing underground tombs from the islands past. As she struggles to prevail through brutal combat encounters and treacherous exploration, Lara will be pushed to her limits and forced to adapt to her situation in order to survive the and escape the lethal predators that stalk her every move.

Hunt or be Hunted: Evade, outsmart and track and kill the mysterious enemies that hunt you as prey.
Survival Action: Brutally attack and defend yourself as you fight to survive through visceral one-on-one meele combat.
Strategic Weapons: Gain an advantage in combat by finding an array of different meeled and ranged weapons including a variety of guns and the hunters ultimate weapon, the bow.
Creative Survival: React and adapt to the island by using only that which you can salvage from the environment like climbing axes, rope and machetes that can be used to unlock new traversal and combat gameplay options.

Free Movement: Scramble up a vertical cliff wall, sprint and leap across a huge chasm, steer mid-air to land a misdirected jump. There is no one right way to travers, survive and explore the harsh environment of the island.

One Cohesive World: The diverse multi-region island is an open playground alive with creatures, weather and natural events.

Origin Story: This new Tomb Raider Concept reboots the franchise by exploring the origins of Lara Croft’s transformation into a hardened adventurer as you unravel the story behind the island’s mysterious past.

Eidos & Crystal Dynamics
Available for: $59.99 – Playstation 3, Xbox360 & $39.99 – PC
Expected Age Rating: ESRB M for Mature**

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It has been quite some time since I posted my thoughts on recent listenings so I’ve got a few albums to talk about. I’ll start with this one…

I bought Benny Greb’s “The Language of Drumming” and was absolutely floored by the entire package. In one of the performances on the DVD, he plays a song called “Grebfruit” which is just brilliant. (The YouTube clip below is from the DVD) So I made my way to his site hoping there was a CD with that song and more like it. Sure enough, I found Benny’s first solo album from 2005, also entitled “Grebfruit”, and bought a copy straight away.

If you’ll notice in the video above, the music Benny is playing with was created entirely with vocals. In other words, with the exception of the guitar solo, everything you hear is just Benny’s drumming and singing. The “Grebfruit” album is mostly that as well, with a few musicians sitting in for guitar solos and other misc parts like Sousaphone, etc. This album is extremely musical, made up entirely of great songs and is far from the usual wankfest you’d expect from a drummer’s solo outing. If you like what you hear in the video, you’ll definitely like the record.

Finally found the time to start playing Tomb Raider: Underworld. I just got started and took the following screen cap. Absolutely. Fantastic.