TOMB RAIDER: Angel of Darkness

LARA CONDUCTS LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA FOR GAME SOUNDTRACK

  Summary

  
If music be the food of games, play on! Yesterday at Abbey Studios Lara
Croft took time out of her busy diary to conduct the London Symphony
Orchestra in the recording of the soundtrack for her new video game, Lara
Croft Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, to be released in November this
year. We've even got pictures to prove it!

   Full Official Article

Lara Croft has long been pulling the heartstrings of video gamers across the world.  Yesterday she was pulling other strings as she conducted the London Symphony Orchestra in the recording of the soundtrack for her new video game, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, to be released in November this year.

Arguably the sexiest real life Lara to date, Jill de Jong brought inspiration to 82 members of the LSO as they played the score of the new game.  Peter Connelly and Martin Iveson of Core Design - the game's developers - crafted the music over three months to convey the darkly beautiful feel of the new game and continue Eidos’ commitment to the highest production values.

“To bring together one of the world’s most famous heroines and one of the world’s best orchestras in such a famous setting as the Abbey Road studios has been incredible,” says Peter Connelly.

The Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness video game will be released on PlayStation 2 and PC by Eidos Interactive in November.  Fans of the world’s most famous cyber-babe have something to get really excited about - she can now be seen in 100 times more detail! The new Lara is made up of over 5,000 polygons as opposed to just 500 in previous games.

In Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, Lara is both the hunter and the hunted. As a result she will have to show a new, darker side to herself and has to travel to some nightmarish places. She will also find herself in situations where choices are no longer obvious as the traditional demarcations of good and evil become blurred and the game takes on a new moral dimension. Lara will face more evolved characters and situations and must traverse an intricately detailed world which takes her from the back streets of Paris to darkest Prague in her struggle to clear her name and get revenge on her former mentor's killers.

To date over 28 million copies of the Tomb Raider games have been sold worldwide.

Peter Connelly – musician, sound designer at Core Design

Age: 29

Has worked in the video games industry for seven years. Classically trained on the cello, guitar and piano at school, he went on to do an OND and HND in Music Technology.  He names John Williams and Danny Elfman as exceptional soundtrack composers who have influenced his work.

  The Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness soundtrack is the first time he’s composed to the rules of an orchestra – instrument note ranges and number of players in each instrument group.  He selected the oboe, core anglais, harp and flute to represent Lara.

Martin Iveson – musician, sound designer at Core Design

Age: 28

Is keen on all types of music from jazz to good underground house.  He cites Schostokovich, Stravinsky, John Frizzell and John Williams as influencers for the soundtrack.

Outside of work he has a record label (www.mantis-recordings.com) and also enjoys dj’ing around the UK and Europe.

Peter Wraight – external musician

Is used to working with big band scores and supported the Core team with his full understanding of orchestral arrangement.

  For further information, please contact:

Steve Starvis (Head of Communications) at:

Eidos Interactive, Wimbledon Bridge House, 1 Hartfield Rd, Wimbledon, London SW19 3RU.

Tel: 020 8636 3000; Fax: 020 8636 3001;

www.eidos.com

The London Symphony Orchestra

Founded in 1904, it was the UK’s first independent, self-governing orchestra.  It is now the resident orchestra at the Barbican, London, where it gives around 90 concerts per year.  The Orchestra tours extensively and collaborates with artists of the highest calibre.  It is also noted for its film soundtracks and award-winning education and community programme, LSO Discovery.

Eidos Interactive

Eidos Interactive is one of the world’s largest independent publishers and developers of entertainment software.  Eidos develops and publishes a diverse mix of titles for the PC, PlayStation® game console, PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, Nintendo GameCube™ and the XboxÔ video game system from Microsoft. For more information on Eidos and its products visit http://www.eidos.com.

Reported by Chris Ridgeon

www.planetlara.com