Welcome to the third season of Gaming Union's community event New Game Plus! Think of it like a video game bookclub; each week Unionites will all take on the same game and play through to a pre-determined checkpoint. It's just like playing a game normally, but plus the GU community! The idea of the feature is to encourage in depth discussion about games in general but pushes people to focus on small sections of one title at a time. This can create a space where we can be more analytical or critical about game design or mechanics. No conversation topic is barred, but you must remember to do your homework to keep up with everyone else!

This is the first week in a new season of New Game Plus, the community is just about to set off on the adventure of Tomb Raider: Legend. This game goes back to the roots of Lara Croft, and sees her trying to recover a South American relic. Of course, there's going to be a bump or two in the road, and more than a few adversaries along the way...

Seeing as this is our first week, there's no excuse not to join in, whether or not you've participated in New Game Plus before! Look below to check out the guidelines to participate and for details of where to start from and where the next checkpoint in the game will be. Make sure to come back regularly to let us know how you're finding the game!

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We're hoping to split Tomb Raider: Legend into four sections. This is Week 1!

The checkpoint which you need to play up to is:
Go through Chapters 1 & 2
(Bolivia & Peru)
Inside the following spoiler tags is a slightly more in depth description of all the locations you go through before you get to this point, just to dispel any confusion:
Once unlocked, it's recommended to play Croft Manor as it gives you a chance to get used to the controls!

ALL DISCUSSION FOR WEEK 1 IN THIS THREAD.
(Previously: Introduction Thread)
All previous New Game Plus threads can be found in the dedicated section on the forums!

Also if you need any clarification of the guidelines then please ask!
Have fun exploring, guys!

GUIDELINES
- You can play almost any version of this game! The only ones that aren't allowed (due to the game and story being very different from the others) are for Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS. Many community members have also warned about the terrible control system in the PlayStation Portable version.
- A new thread will go up each Thursday telling you where the next check point is. All discussion for each section must go in the relevant threads. Previous threads will remain open to let people catch up and let the conversation continue if they're a little behind or joined late.
- You MUST resist playing on past the scheduled check points. I know it's sometimes too tempting, but for these discussion threads to work we need to all be at the same point in the game. Besides, it's not in the spirit of this activity!
- Please don't post spoilers for things that haven't happened in the game yet. We love that you're enthusiastic about it, but some people will be playing for the first time.
- However, you CAN post spoilers for anything that happens within the given section of the game. It would be thoughtful to use the [ spoiler][/spoiler ] tags to protect those still playing through, but it's not strictly necessary.
- There are no topics off limits here, so talk about anything and everything! Story is just one aspect, but if you love the sound design or hate the map, then speak up! Get a little more specific and in depth than usual! And yes, if you want to talk about Lara's butt, that's fine too.
- If you find yourself lost or stuck on a puzzle, post into this thread! The good thing with NGP is that people are playing alongside you and will remember exactly how to help you out!
- On the other side of the coin, if you've played this game before, feel free to take on a challenge. Tomb Raider: Legend has Time Trials so maybe try your hand at that? You could also use this as a clean up run, to get all the trophies/rewards to 100% the game.
- Remember to HAVE FUN!

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Just starting up my game on the good ol' PS2. This time around, I'm playing on Tomb Raider (Hard) difficulty ^_^ a first for me on both this particular version of the game and on the NPG (I've only played games on normal difficulty before, although FF1's normal was the hardest)

::EDIT:: just reaching the the ruins, I always love that cutscene that plays when you are about to enter

Zip: Ohh.. that sounded permanent
Lara: Death by irony is always painful

LOL

::EDIT2:: Bolivia cleared, the artifacts I collected
7/10 bronze
1/5 silver
0/1 gold
not bad, I'd say (for mostly just running through)

Also, I want to state that even turning the difficulty up, I didn't see that much of a difference in difficulty (although I haven't found myself at a boss yet...) This is probably the easiest TR game lol

::EDIT3:: alright, I see a huge difference in the first half of Peru. I just died twice, and I never die on the first half of Peru

::EDIT4:: Just completed Peru, thus reaching my checkpoint, my rewards collected there are
4/8 Bronze
1/2 Silver
0/1 Gold

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I have a confession to make. Back when there were rumblings of Tomb Raider being the next NG+ I went and bought the Trilogy for PS3 knowing that I would play them even if we didn't do it for NG+. And I couldn't resist playing a bit at the time so I played through the first chapter and I've already found all the secrets in Croft Manor as well.

I will replay the first chapter though to get reacquainted with the story.

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Fantastic! I wanted a good reason too boot this game up again. : ) I shall join in on the fun! Now I just have to re-download it...

ERROR: The version I have for download is the PSP version.... and I don't have my PSP anymore.... so I'll have to get the HD collection tomorrow and enjoy it on my day off. What a pity. : )

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Twitter / Facebook / Portfolio / PSN: FFXIIIfreak / Steam: RGmiller9

/ Skype: rgm9988

Can't wait to sit down and enjoy raiding some tombs as I wait for Prometheus tonight ^_^

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I've started playing, and I'm actually recording my play-through, if there's not too much failing going on, I'll try to compile it together and share it here

Update! I've just cleared Bolivia, here are my stats:

9/10 Bronze
1/4 Silver
0/5 Gold

I think that took about 45 mins? Although about 10-15 of that was spent AFK, brother wanted to show me something lol.

Currently playing through Peru. I think I know where Naughty Dog drew inspiration for its horse/truck chase sequence Combat's pretty fun, although controls feel a bit awkward.

PS Them quicktime events surprised me, was not expecting those lol.

Update 2! LOL I fell into a spike pit. Pretty sure I recorded that. XD

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Woo! First NGP for me that I've not actually played before, so be nice

I cleared Bolivia last night:
Time: ~45 minutes
Bronze: 8/10
Silver: 1/5
Gold: 0/1

I played through some TR:A this week in the lead up to NGP, so I'm still holding down R2 all the time to grab on to ledges etc. But otherwise I think the control scheme works well... except the swimming! Holding down X to dive and O to surface is a horrible system to get used to.

Will do Peru next week

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Downloaded TR:L last night on my vita...got the PSP version because I'm so use to the controls when I had it on my PSP. Will update more when I have time, only played 10 minutes so far of the game.

Update 1: Finished Bolivia just now.

Bronze: 5/10
Silver: 1/5
Gold: 0/1

Think it took me around 40 minutes or so.

Update 2: Finished Bolivia to get all the rewards

Bronze: 10/10
Silver: 5/5
Gold: 1/1

Took me 30 minutes maybe.

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This Monday I will be recording a podcast that follows us all playing Tomb Raider Legend and we would greatly appreciate all of you sharing your experiences as well as thoughts as you play the game. We will be sure to give you a shout out on the podcast and if you would prefer we not read your name and/or comments just put it in your comment.

Hopefully with all of your help we will be able to keep this going throughout NGP. So be sure to look for episode 1 of New Game Podcast next week and thanks to Varnis for helping me out with the name.

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Since i already have all trophies, i think i will do some time trials, have been busy studying for exams, but i think i might play the first level tomorrow or sunday

on a side note, NGP podcast looks a great idea, looking forward to it

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