The new Tomb Raider in development by Crystal Dynamics paints series hero Lara Croft not as a worldly, whip-smart adventurer, but as a scared, innocent young girl thrown into a terrifying situation. It is the event that shapes the character into the character that we’ve come to know these last fifteen years, and developers note that this character had to come from somewhere.
The premise here, is that a 21-year-old Lara, just graduated from college, sets off with a mentor figure on the hunt for the lost fleet of Kubla Khan, but is caught in a storm and their ship sinks off the coast of Japan. From there she is on an island ruin, struggling to survive – and as the player navigates with her through the game’s myriad scenarios, she is hurt, bruised, cut and scraped, and she reacts visibly to the circumstances.
Lara moans in pain, whimpers and cries in the face of adversity. It’s a far sight from the wise-cracking, gun toting archeology mistress we’re used to. She’s not a killer, yet. When she DOES take a life, it is a pivotal moment in the game, say the game’s developers.
The developers have crafted moments of discomfort and pain for Lara to go through, for the player to go through with her, to push players into bonding with the character. Her reactions might be closer to how we might react in unreal and terrifying situations, and that’s what Crystal Dynamics is counting on.
We’ll know more on how well that goal is reached when Tomb Raider is released in late 2012.
I won't sugar coat it - I love Tomb Raider games (except for Angel of Darkness, was never able to get anywhere in that piece of crap) - I especially loved the last 3 games, they were well done, graphically and in gameplay, and just seemed to get the "essence" of the games right. Of course THOSE were reboots as well.
Hell almost every game released in the series since Tomb Raider 3 have been called "reboots". Its like the developers feel the need to change so they can capture the $$$ from the original few games, yet fans of the series still buy enough to keep the series going.
I like the way this game looks. I think its great to go for an Uncharted feel in terms of storytelling and cinematography - the series does need a kick in the pants. And the idea of controlling Lara before she became the headstrong tomb raider that the world knows is an interesting one, I just hope that they can do it right.
why does she look like a boy though
Not enough boobs for Tomb Raider.
It looked very guided in the demo.