OXM was supposed to have the exclusive details on Tomb Raider's multiplayer reveal, but you won't have to buy the issue, as members over at the Tomb Raider forums have already posted most of mag's info.
"Miss.haggard" boils writer Dave Rudden's article down to a few key points:
- "He acknowledges that fans will be wary of changes." Changes are to be expected, as we all learned when Crystal Dynamics' Karl Stewart revealed some pretty startling information on the rebooted Lara Croft.
- At least two modes are confirmed for the multiplayer, "Team Deathmatch is in," as is "Rescue," where "survivors have to collect a certain amount of med-packs and deliver them to rotating destinations while scavengers must reach a certain kill count." The Rescue mode "gives survivors a 'bleed-out' time, that you can cut short with a 'brutal' melee finisher."
- The teams are made up of "Lara's surviving allies pitted against a group of hostile natives cutely referred to as 'scavengers.'" Not too disimilar from the way Game described when they first reported the mode. Apparently the selectable characters come from "a deep roster of characters," each with their own stats. Players can earn XP for their characters, allowing them to level up their characters, or purchasing bigger and better ones, maybe even weapons. Lara however, was not seen in the multiplayer mode.
- Each character comes equipped with a weapon, sidearm, projectile "grenade style" weapon, and a climbing axe which serves for melee attacks. Bows can serve as a distraction to enemies
- The winner is determined from the "Best-of-three matches, alternating between sides."
- As far as the levels themselves, the one demoed for the mag was called "Wind Chasm," was set in a tropical environment with plenty of vantage points. Other maps "aren't too wide open," but seem to be filled with traps if players aren't too careful: "an immediate wrong turn out of our cavernous base ... had us sliding down a rocky water tunnel..." Levels also feature "lever-baser traps that shot spikes out of walls, climable surfaces, destroyable environmental elements (like bridges)."
The latest issue of OXM is available in newstands now for gamers who'd rather read the feature for themselves. We'll get our chance to try out Tomb Raider's multiplayer, developed by Eidos Montreal, when Tomb Raider releases for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, Mar. 5.
