It has been three years since we have heard from our favorite curvacious, gun-totting heroin Lara Croft. Here popularity had fallen and the creators of the “Tomb Raider” series went back to the drawing board to give Miss Croft a makeover. Now, she is back in a new installment of the franchise.
In the latest installment of “Tomb Raiders” we find out that there have been a few changes to Miss Croft. The first of the changes we notice is that Miss Croft is no longer buxom babe with the unbelievable curves that we have been use to seeing in the previous installments of the game series. On closer inspection we also notice that no longer has her signature guns and lacks the confidence of the veteran adventure seeker that we have come to know in the last 18 years.
The writers were well aware some players would object. "I think some people are very attached to old Lara because she's very capable and she doesn't show any vulnerability and she knows she can get out of any situation," says Rhianna Pratchett, lead writer on the latest installment . "But that's not really interesting for a character."
Seeing this new Miss Croft will have many of us wondering what has happened to Lara Croft? The answer is simple that this isn't exactly the same Lara Croft that has grace our game consoles since 1995. The new Miss Croft is a novice barely out of her teens adventurer that is still learning the ropes that will turn her into the vivacious swashbuckling heroin that has spawned 11 sequels and 2 movies.
In the new game we find the young Lara Croft shipwrecked and separated from her crew. Armed with only a bow and arrow she will have to overcome her fears and find a way to survive. She will face many first in her career, such as, taking another life and facing life threatening perils that will shape the person she will grow-up to become.
"It's the first time she has had to take a human life," explains Pratchett. "It's very in-your-face. It's gut-wrenching and it's uncomfortable and it should be uncomfortable. That's what we were aiming for. We didn't prolong it, we didn't do it for titillation. We wanted to show Lara's reactions and that gut-wrenching moment of having to take a human life. She doesn't get out of that thinking: 'Oh my God, I was almost sexually assaulted.' She's thinking: 'Oh my God, I've taken a human life.'"
For more on this topic you might try reading the following articles:
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/mar/04/lara-croft-reinvention-of-sex-symbol
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http://popwatch.ew.com/2013/02/25/videogame-review-lara-croft-tomb-raider-reboot/
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/04/us-gaming-tombraider-idUSBRE9230OV20130304
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http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/technology/games/article3704660.ece
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