An unfortunate truth of the modern video game industry that many individuals choose to overlook, is that it’s all about the business. There was a time when games were made out of a love for the medium and the drive to develop new and interesting artistic creations, but that is becoming less and less the norm with each passing financial year.

Each new console generation brings with it a crush of fanboys (and fangirls of course), all slavering to represent their chosen platform in a petty argument of “who’s better”. But when the Head of Xbox speaks up on the subject, you need to sit back and pay a bit more attention. This isn’t just some kid playing games.

Speaking to Gameinformer, the Head of Xbox, Phil Spencer has said, “At some level, it is a competition, and I’ve said before I want to win,”…“At the same time, I want to build a great platform for gamers. If somebody else does that too, and they do really well? Hats off to them, but I can have success in our own space if we’re selling a lot of consoles and people are buying games.”

With that being said, Spencer knows that making the PS4 vanish would be counter productive and harm the industry as a whole. But at the same time he wants to sell more Xbox One units than Sony sells PlayStation 4’s. So despite having respect for them from a businessman’s point of view, he still wants to crush them.

“We shipped at the same time and we’re in direct competition with the PS4,” he goes on to say. “I’m not going to duck that. I want to win. I want to win this generation, but I want to win more than I want the other guy to lose. I own a PS4, and it’s not like I want it to get dusty or not have games. But I do want to sell a lot of Xbox Ones, and for many people that’s a direct competition with the PS4. As the Xbox team, we are the underdog.”

Some people may criticize Phil for using words like “win” and “competition”, but at the same time he has done an admirable job in re-branding and reinvigorating the Xbox One after the departure of  Don Mattrick who is largely blamed for the consoles embarrassing launch, so can we really blame him for wanting to be a bit competitive?

With that being said, the obvious move for Microsoft is to play it cool and act humble in the face of defeat, thus making any potential wins seem all the more impressive, but with the recent announcement that titles like Ryse: Son of Rome are coming to PC and the unfortunate Tomb Raider exclusivity issue, it’s hard to say just what will happen in the near future.

Source

The first thing that may separate the two series is the new Lara that will star in the TR reboot. Being an origin story, the game is set to show a weaker and less experienced Croft that could breath new life into the game’s narrative. Leaked lines from the games script reveal such a direction that will hopefully show gamers another side to the Lara they thought they had completely sussed. Crystal Dynamics argued that a prequel was necessary as Croft had already been fully explored in terms of character. Comparatively we don’t see such a multi-faceted personality in Drake. As witty and charming as he is, we only see him in his experienced demeanour in the two current Uncharted games, and Uncharted 3 seems as if it will be no different. We all love Nathan Drake as he is, but a little bit of character variety can go a long way.

A younger Lara will add more depth to Ms. Croft's character

Other new gameplay elements seem set to rouse new life from the Tomb Raider engine we know and love. Mention has been made of a new “free shooting system.” Whether this means the game will more closely resemble 3^rd person shooters, (such as Uncharted ironically) or if it is just a flashy name for a new control scheme is uncertain. You can count on the lock on systems used in Legend, Anniversary and Underworld getting a miss.

A new survivalist aspect will also be added, with players needing to scavenge for food and water in order to keep Lara alive. This could be a mixed blessing though. Gameplay elements such as this will certainly add an element of immersion to the proceedings, that even Uncharted may not be able to compete with. That said, survival based gameplay could also ruin the game’s pace and slow things down to a crawl. Once again, it seems that trust is the order of the day. We can speculate about the impact of this idea until the cows some home but, ultimately, if Crystal Dynamics make it work then there’s no problem.

Players will have to be able to survive this time around, as well as explore

The game’s setting also offers up some interesting new directions. For a start, the game sees the young Lara shipwrecked on an island, rather than exploring tombs of her own volition. As a result, you can expect a more refreshing and varied narrative than what we’ve seen before in a Tomb Raider game. What’s more interesting is the fact that the island locales will offer an open-world structure, rather than the level based progression in previous TR titles.

Leading on from this is the fact that Lara will evolve over the course of the game, allowing her to tame parts of the island that may have been previously out of her reach. Base camps throughout the game will allow Lara to upgrade her abilities with the game’s new (but sadly as of yet undisclosed) skill system. You can also combine items in your inventory to create new tools and weapons. The base camps offers contact with human NPCs as well, a first for the series outside of the horrendous Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness. It sounds like the Tomb Raider reboot is set to absorb a lot of new material from other genres. Whether this is a blessing or a curse is still uncertain, but it will definitely lend the TR reboot a diversity that the Uncharted games have yet to acquire.

The new island setting will offer a new open-world experience for the Tomb Raider franchise

A variety of tune ups also seem to be gracing the new Tomb Raider. The base camps you find on the island can be used to fast travel to various points of importance on the island that you’ve previously explored. This certainly sounds like a boon in terms of keeping a swift gameplay pace. Crystal Dynamics have also confirmed that they will be using performance capture for the game’s animations. With motion capture technology at the helm, the Tomb Raider reboot will see a smoother presentation than ever before. It will certainly need it if it is to compete with the graphical finesse that was so highly praised in Uncharted 2.

With a grittier, darker tone and aesthetic the Tomb Raider franchise looks set to re-invent itself. It certainly seems like it will include gameplay innovations to match. We won’t know how well these ideas work until more things come to light, but one thing’s for sure: The Uncharted series will no longer completely rule the third person action adventure roost uncontested when the Tomb Raider reboot gets a release.

What, you miss Lara Croft? Well, cheer up mah boy, she’s going to be back soon.

The next Tomb Raider title will be featuring in the next issue of GamesMaster,CVG’s has confirmed.

The issue which is due out next month, will be on sale from January 4.

In a strange (not) coincidence the latest GI cover has been teasing something which looks awfully similar to the next Tomb Raider title aswell.

Rumour also has it, that the next TR title will see Lara go to a unheard of Japanese island. The game will feature a younger, more raw version of our treasure hunter which we are yet to see.

Rumous also also has it that the title will be releasing sometime next year, likely near the end.

Okay, enough with rumours now, we await an official confirmation.