The latest pair of stills from Tomb Raider 2's fanmade HD remake have just been released and the results are jaw-dropping. The project - aptly named Tomb Raider: The Dagger of Xian - is entirely fanmade using Unreal Engine 4 and headed up by an ambitious fan operating under the name Nicobass alongside his small team.
The project has already been underway for at least 3 years now. Although it might seem rather slow-going, it's incredible how much has already been produced. Keep in mind that this is a completely voluntary initiative being carried out not by a studio, but by a humble team of fans whose passion for the game is clearly quite remarkable.
A demo of the game was released at the end of August 2017 and is still available for free download. The demo shows a stunningly accurate portion of the game's first level, "The Great Wall." So far this is the only publicly available playable content of DOX, with just a few tasty screenshots intermittently uploaded to the project's Facebook page to keep us temporarily satiated. However, it certainly doesn't seem to be enough for the excited Tomb Raider community; everyone wants to know when they can expect a final product to be released.
That's the sad part - Nicobass and the team say that where things are standing now, they simply cannot put a date on it. Understandable, seeing as this is no small feat they have undertaken, made all the more challenging by their limited time and resources.
If you're a die-hard Tomb Raider fan, it probably isn't news to you that the classic fan favorite is getting a complete makeover. If it is news to you, your day should have just been made. The long-loved original Tomb Raider 2 has been hailed as one of the best installments in the entire series - impressive, considering it was made in only eight months by the team at Core Design back in 1997, following the monumental success of the first game.
TR2 is also a particularly big game, in terms of the range of locations Lara visits as the story unfolds, as well as the actual size and richness of most of those spaces. If you remember playing the original, it's likely you'll remember being frequently confronted by massive open spaces, which the devs back then could get away with by engulfing them in a menacing black mist-like veil (to help along the game's technical performance).
Nicobass and his team, however, seem to be aiming to do justice to every minute detail. So, yes, unfortunately, it might be a while until a final product is released to the hungry fans. For now, check out the demo for yourself and show your support for these super talented developers.
Source: Facebook