According to Tomb Raider fans, the best version of the recently released Tomb Raider I-III Remastered collection isn’t on Steam or Xbox. Instead, it’s on the Epic Games Store. Or, well, it was, until today when the studio behind the remaster patched it out of existence, leaving some players frustrated.
Two weeks ago, the new Tomb Raider remastered collection—containing fancy-looking versions of the original three games—launched on consoles and PCs. It wasn’t a perfect release, with some bugs and other issues, but generally, fans were pleased with it. But weirdly, some of the problems fans had—including overly dark levels, missing textures, and broken photo mode poses—weren’t present in the Epic Games Store version of Tomb Raider I-III. This led to some confusion as to why this happened and when the other versions of the collection would be improved to match the Epic Store build. However, Aspyr—the studio responsible for the remastered package—finally responded to fan complaints and claimed the Epic build was the wrong version, saying it was “incomplete.”
While a lot of fans had spotted the differences between the Epic versions and other builds of the Tomb Raider trilogy, one user on Twitter—Small Medipack—became the de facto reporter of the situation. They started tweeting about the situation on February 26, creating a long and detailed thread showcasing all the various differences people had discovered. And there was a lot to document.
Some changes are minor, like a texture being slightly different in ways you might only notice if directly comparing the versions side-by-side. Other changes are huge. Some areas of the game looked much better thanks to bigger holes in the roof letting in more light. Other levels had larger, more impressive skyboxes that weren’t hidden behind drab ceilings. Another difference is the inclusion of more photo mode poses and some, including one with Lara sitting, worked better in the Epic Store build compared to Steam or console. Some other minor changes included different, better-looking vegetation in a few desert areas, animated textures that are missing in other versions, certain items being easier to spot, and improved water visuals in some areas. And that’s not everything! So yeah, the Epic build seems much better.
However, it should be noted that achievements in the Epic Store version were broken. So it wasn’t perfect, but fans were more than happy to live with that one problem to get a better-looking Tomb Raider trilogy.
Tomb Raider trilogy’s best version is now gone
Naturally, many fans wanted an answer from Aspyr about the situation and a timeline on when other versions of the remaster would be similarly upgraded. And on February 29, they got an answer, but it wasn’t the one they were hoping for at all.
Here’s what the dev had to say about the differences on Steam earlier today:
In regards to the Epic Games Store build and related stories…
A development build with incomplete assets has been available for download on the Epic Games Store.
Content in that Epic Games Store build contained some work-in-progress materials that do not represent our final quality expectations. We have corrected the build to match the live Steam version.
The Epic Store version of the game has since already been updated and all of the changes and differences that fans had documented and praised are now gone. The version, at least according to fans, now matches the other ports of the Tomb Raider remastered collection.
“Oh crap it’s like the Steam version now,” tweeted Small Medipack after updating the Epic Store port.
It’s not all bad news, as Aspyr also said on Steam that it is currently working on Tomb Raider I-III’s first update and they plan to launch it in the “next few weeks.”
“We appreciate your patience as we want to ensure that the quality is meeting the needs and expectations of our community,” said Aspyr.
Now fans are left waiting and wondering if some of the graphical and gameplay fixes found in that so-called “incomplete” build of the new Tomb Raider trilogy will be included in this upcoming patch. If not, I expect even more confusion and frustration.
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