[E3 2012] Tomb Raider

[Psykoboy2]

It’s been a year since I’ve seen anything of the new Tomb Raider game from Square. In that time, it seems nothing has changed. They’re still putting Lara Croft through a living hell. I’ve never seen or heard a woman in a videogame go through so much in just two short demos. She’s fallen (multiple times), been impaled, beaten, threatened, nearly drowned, attacked by wolves (multiple times) and, if I’m seeing what I am seeing right, almost raped (it suggests as much, but perhaps I am taking it too far there, who knows?).

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In the demo I was shown this year at E3, it mainly dealt with Lara’s survival in the wild and how she comes about gaining her bow and arrow as a weapon. She must kill for food and take shelter with a fire she has to build. Upon doing this, you establish a base camp. It’s a place you can return to in the game to upgrade your weapons or craft new ones, as well as spend your skill points you gain as you level up in the game. Yeah, Tomb Raider gets a leveling system, likely with some kind of skill tree but that wasn’t shown off to us in the demo. Speaking of the demo, it was a longer version of what was shown on stage during Microsoft’s media briefing on Monday. The base camp was a new addition as was some climbing and maneuvering in the wilderness. We also got to see interaction with the story and a brief bit of puzzle solving and a QTE or two (which I happen to like), but nothing that really stood out beyond what’s already been said and seen.

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The game looks great and Lara has never looked so...non-cartoony. There’s some aspect of realism they are going for here with this Tomb Raider, which isn’t considered a reboot, by the way. It seems to be more of a prequel, taking place when Lara is only 22 years old. This is considered to be her first adventure. Although, again, it doesn’t look like much of an adventure with what they are putting her through.

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I’m not so sure I’m sold yet on the bow and arrow aspect of combat. It seemed a bit awkward during the demo when whoever was playing was trying to kill attacking wolves. Hopefully you’ll have the option to use a gun sooner rather than later in the combat. Still, it could easily get tweaked and worked on between now and when the game releases for the 360, PS3, & PC on March 5, 2013.

[Reverant]

Wow, that's really far out. Still, I'll keep an eye on this one.

[TheKeck]

I thought someone was saying recently that this WAS meant to be more of a reboot than a straight prequel. Was it not here?

[TheKeck]

It was this http://penny-arcade.com/report/edito...-lara-croft-to

Gallagher pointed out that this isn’t a look into the history of the classical character, but a re-imagining of Lara Croft for today’s audiences. “I would say that the outcome is closer to something like Batman Begins or Casino Royale, where the character at the end is certainly Batman or James Bond, but not necessarily the one from before,” he said. “They share many traits so you can recognize the iconography, it’s the same character, but it’s a more modern version. It doesn’t necessarily lead directly into Tomb Raider 1, with hot pants and a braid.”

Rosenberg agreed. “One of our goals is that she’s not a 2D character portrayal. When you get to the end there, are some things that are positive, and some things that are scarring, that she still has to deal with,” he said. The experience will have changed her in a positive way, but what she has gone through will have left a mark.

[Reverant]

RPS discussed how this game twists the usual "kill 300 guys without flinching" dynamic that occurs in most shooters and makes Lara's first kill a traumatic experience, which sounds like a nice narrative change of pace.

[MosBen]

To be fair, there was Lara Croft and the Kingdom of Light in 2010. I know, the last retail game was 5 years ago, but what is the internet for if not being pedantic?

[Troggles]

Originally Posted by MosBen

To be fair, there was Lara Croft and the Kingdom of Light in 2010. I know, the last retail game was 5 years ago, but what is the internet for if not being pedantic?

To be extremely pedantic, that was the last Lara Croft game, not the last Tomb Raider game. :P

[JayK47]

So this is going to be have a lot in common with the popular The Hunger Games. Why is the bow and arrow suddenly so cool that every game needs to have it? I was down with a prequel, but not so much with a re-imagining. Re-imagining is getting old lately. Again, everyone is doing it. And what does re-imagining for today's audiences mean anyways? People today like seeing torture or something? No boobs allowed, but hours of torture it just fine. I'll be honest, I'd rather see some boob. I guess I am not the target audience.

[Darkmatter]

The reimage is the new sequel. It's just the newest way to rehash and resell old ideas.

I just started to wonder what sort of game IP's will be made in 20 or 30 years but I'm afraid to guess. I'm not sure if they'll be so amazing that theres no way I could possibly guess or if it'll be New SUPER Future-Gen Sonic (Now with more coins.)

[muddi900]

Originally Posted by JayK47

So this is going to be have a lot in common with the popular The Hunger Games. Why is the bow and arrow suddenly so cool that every game needs to have it?

[TheKeck]

Originally Posted by muddi900

That video would have made more impact if it hadn't used the same games like 15 times each.