Lara 360 in shops next week

By Robert Purchese Published 17 October, 2007

And on Live in November.

Eidos has said that the Xbox 360 version of Tomb Raider: Anniversary will be in European shops next Friday.

But, if you don't want to move, then you can wait until November when you will be able to download it from Xbox Live in two episodic instalments for a total of 2400 points (GBP 20 / EUR 28).

Each of these will have two chapters and the mansion level bundled in, but you will need to be an owner of the Tomb Raider: Legend disc to be able to download them.

Anniversary is a remake of the very first game responsible for rocketing Tomb Raider to worldwide success, which eventually prompted Hollywood to make a film based around it starring big-lips Jolie.

The PlayStation 2 and PC version came out back in May, and bowled us over with its back-to-its-roots approach, restating why most of us fell in love with Lara in the first place.

Those of you with a 360 will likely enjoy slightly polished-up graphics, as well as some picture packs and other Live guffery to go with it.

Head over to our Tomb Raider: Anniversary review to find out why any Lara Croft fan should buy this game.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (40) Latest comment 4 years ago

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  • reality_cheque #1 4 years ago

    Mmm... Jolie.

    How much is the retail in-the-shops version going to be?

  • krudster #2 4 years ago

    Can I have that house now Eidos? ;)

  • chicknstu #3 4 years ago

    "you will need to be an owner of the Tomb Raider: Legend disc to be able to download them."

    wtf? why exactly? I traded that in months ago.

  • BadBoyBonner #4 4 years ago

    Not before time, getting fed up of seeing the advert between Prison Break that has been telling me for ages that I could be playing TR:A on 360 for what seems like an age.

  • Bits #5 4 years ago

    Wow, they certainly kept that quiet. If this is cheap (i.e. not too much more than the DLC version) I may have to pick it up when it comes out.

  • Latin #6 4 years ago

    I thought this was going to be about a Brian Lara cricket game exclusive to 360.

    :'(

  • JonFE #7 4 years ago

    't was about time...

  • homerramone #8 4 years ago

    Thats a bit crap really. Why isnt the DLC version getting a release before or at least the same day as the retail one.

  • Wayne #9 4 years ago

    @chicknstu

    I'm guessing it uses the same engine as Legend, so the downloable is just the levels and stuff. Saves on bandwidth.

  • BrokenSymmetry #10 4 years ago

    The requirement of owning the Legend disc is probably because Xbox Live does not have any option for non-Arcade games without a disc. The only way to distribute Anniversary through Xbox Live would then be as an expansion, just as Shivering Isles.

  • BadBoyBonner #11 4 years ago

    Don't think the foot-print of the engine would save much bandwidth - much more likley that "stealing" the textures from the disc is the reason it is required.

    Or a clever marketing scam!
    Edited by 2 at 17/10/07 @ 15:28

  • monkie_king #12 4 years ago

    @wayne: it's unusual for the code to be of significant size compared to the assets in this hi-def age, and I'd also be surpised if there were no tweaks at all to the engine between Legend and Anniversary.

    However, they may be trying to eke out every last byte I suppose, and it may contain a patch rather than the full game engine.

    Still seems like more of a marketing thing, although an odd one.

    (EDIT: and what the two posters above me said -- texture reuse is probable. Caves is caves after all.)
    Edited by 1 at 17/10/07 @ 15:31

  • Darren #13 4 years ago

    I'm buying the boxed game for £25 from Gameplay.com, better than paying £21 for the downloaded version, which still requires a disc to play anyway. At least I can lend my copy to friends/family and trade it in for a £10 once (if?) I'm done with it. As a boxed game, it's excellent value but as a download it is overpriced IMO.
    Edited by 1 at 17/10/07 @ 15:35

  • HazyUK #14 4 years ago

    £24.99 @ Gameplay :)

  • bushwod #15 4 years ago

    'I'm guessing it uses the same engine as Legend, so the downloable is just the levels and stuff. Saves on bandwidth.'

    Hmmm, maybe. But I'm sure that one of the development videos stated they had made some minor tweaks to the game engine.

  • Darren #16 4 years ago

    @monkie_king - I hope the Anniversary engine is tweaked as Tomb Raider Legends apparently ran at 600p (yeah, it's another one of those!) but yet still managed to stutter a bit at times and feel a bit "treacly" when I played it last year. Apparently Legends ran better in standard definition 480i and 480p! LOL

    I'm hoping the engine at least runs at 720p now with the framerate issues sorted out.

  • wizbob #17 4 years ago

    '"you will need to be an owner of the Tomb Raider: Legend disc to be able to download them."

    wtf? why exactly? I traded that in months ago.'

    I suspect a lot of DLC and the use of daily game tasks (cf Animal Crossing) are all ways to stop people trading in games and keep new sales up for a bit longer.

  • Slamhound #18 4 years ago

    Am I perhaps the only person here who clicked this news item in his RSS feed expecting it to be about the latest Brian Lara cricket game?

    *Scrolls down*

    Nope, seems that Latin was under the same impression as I.

  • cyacomini #19 4 years ago

    So is it a full game with 1000 achievement points or just an add-on with the usual 250 points?

  • Triggerhappytel #20 4 years ago

    I loved this on PS2; game of the year for me so far.

    I would heartily recommend it to fans of Lara's old adventures.

  • spliffhead #21 4 years ago

    I'm sure there were more than four chapters in the original TR?

  • Darren #22 4 years ago

    @cyacomini - I presume it'll have the full 1,000 points as it's available as a boxed game first then a download later. It isn't an expansion pack a la Shivering Isles, it's a full game of a similar length to Legends, possibly longer. It also doesn't have those dreadful motorbike sections. Hurrah!

  • jonsaan #23 4 years ago

    Boxed before download? Strange days indeed.

  • drumbaby #24 4 years ago

    I'd love this for PS3. Upscaled PS2 games on my 42" Sammy FTL.

  • Darkedge #25 4 years ago

    @Darren
    "@monkie_king - I hope the Anniversary engine is tweaked as Tomb Raider Legends apparently ran at 600p (yeah, it's another one of those!) but yet still managed to stutter a bit at times and feel a bit "treacly" when I played it last year. Apparently Legends ran better in standard definition 480i and 480p! LOL

    I'm hoping the engine at least runs at 720p now with the framerate issues sorted out."

    Err I played it in 1080i and it was smooth as silk so dunno what issues you had.

  • Darren #26 4 years ago

    I experienced the same framerate issues that were reported on various forums and mentioned in a couple of reviews I'd read. Obviously you never noticed them but the game did have a few moments of slowdown from time to time and never felt 100% smooth to me. If you run it at 480p, it runs fine though, again that was reported on various forums shortly after the game's release. I presume the game was running at 600p because the engine couldn't run it at 720p without the framerate really taking a nosedive? That said, it still ran better than it did on my PC with Next-Gen content enabled... ;)

  • Darren #27 4 years ago

    Check out GameSpot's review of the game, for example, where they refer to the framerate in the 360 version as being 'unstable'. I quote: "Each version of the game suffers from occasional frame rate instability, though. It never gets unbearably slow, but it never quite runs as smoothly as it should.". Even IGN said "Crank the res to 1080i and the effects are even greater, but the framerate drops a touch.".

    'Stodgy' is how I'd best describe the framerate at 720p. ;)

  • lennon #28 4 years ago

    Never noticed a single problem with Legends at all.

    Gameplay have it for 24.99. So tempting.

    22.99 from shopto ahhhhh
    Edited by 2 at 17/10/07 @ 16:54

  • MBar #29 4 years ago

    Legends was good. I am relatively interested in this.

    Most important question though: Is there Achievements?

  • IAmBatman #30 4 years ago

    Yes
    http://ww w.achieve360points.com/game/tom...

    There are 32 achievements worth 1000 points
    Out of the 32 achievements, 5 are secret
    Edited by 1 at 17/10/07 @ 18:05

  • thepiedpiper #31 4 years ago

    is it the whole of the first Tomb Raider game, or just the bits they liked? cause i remember it being absolutely massive!!!

    oh and england are rubbish. rooney and gerrard are poop

  • ZuluHero #32 4 years ago

    @latin & Slamhound

    I have the same disappointment when I misread a link for a Brian Lara game expecting to see news on a new Tomb Raider game ;)

  • Scimarad #33 4 years ago

    I hope they've optimized the engine since Legend as that ran like crap on the 360 - And that was on 720p AND 1080i. I got to the level just after Japan but I just couldn't stand it anymore...

  • Slamhound #34 4 years ago

    So there are at least three of us that, when hearing the name "Lara" thinks "cricket" rather than "bouncing jubblies" then?

    We're a missing generation, chaps. I'll put the tea on.

  • Superschmeltz #35 4 years ago

    About time!

  • Lukus #36 4 years ago

    £40 for the download, for which you need to own TR:Legend? What a massive rip off. I thought downloads were supposed to decrease the cost to the end user. Stoopid.

  • Lukus #37 4 years ago

    Erm, ignore my previous comment, I clearly can't read.

  • Darren #38 4 years ago

    You can delete posts you know? ;)

  • Lukus #39 4 years ago

    I think I should leave it as a reminder. It's the only way I'll learn ;C

  • jimbob101 #40 4 years ago

    Any news on the Wii version?