Gamesugar

March 9, 2013

Review – Tomb Raider

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 11:52 pm

Review Tomb Raider
Vegetation reclaims the land around ancient Asian temples. Turrets built during the Second World War rot into the cliffs overlooking ships that lay battered and broken against the rocks, where angry waves warn off any thought of escape. And the diaries of countless inhabitants throughout time are scattered across the ruins of an island rich with a dark history.

While Lara Croft’s first expedition uncovers an island prison run by years of stranded inmates, she also discovers a landscape that abandons the idea of singular globetrotting digs offering a sterile glimpse into frozen pockets of time, instead uncovering a complex web, where the strings of history intertwine around a mystery beating a rhythm of madness heard across the entire island.

And while Lara unearths the pieces to this puzzle, the franchise mirrors her efforts with a dig through the more recent history of the medium. It doesn’t take a gaming archeologist to see the influences running throughout Tomb Raider, particularly the unsteady ground and quick time events that fed Uncharted’s cinematic flow.

But as a student of history, Tomb Raider isn’t looking to simply copy answers during the test.

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June 11, 2012

E3 2012 – Tomb Raider

Filed under: Editorial Rants — Tags: , , , , — Jamie Love @ 11:02 pm

Tomb Raider E3 2012
Crystal Dynamics’ reboot of Lara Croft was a title I salivated over prior to E3. Still punch-drunk from last year’s showing, the footage offered during this year’s Microsoft Press Conference strengthened the belief that my optimism would be rewarded.

I’ve been pretty hung up on the idea that Tomb Raider really can offer an earnest portrayal of a female protagonist, one struggling to cope and overcome the dangers that seem to plague Lara around every corner of new footage shown – that the medium could gain a female protagonist capable of standing against the stereotypical idea of female characters in gaming the industry continues taking criticism for.

And if Lara Croft, who for so many years served as the poster for that idea of the stereotypical female videogame heroine, could fight against her own past to deliver a sincere and authentic portrayal of a woman fighting for her survival, well, it seemed like a rather perfect turn of events prior to my trip to Los Angeles.

These were the thoughts turning over in my mind as I sat down at the Square-Enix booth for a closed screening during E3, where I was entirely unprepared for what they planned to show me.

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