In my opinion Lara Croft was never designed or supposed to be a casual likeable person. I’ve been a fan of Tomb Raider most of my gamer life, played all of them including Angel of Darkness and even the mobile J2ME one a long time ago. And I am hoping that the writers will finally grow her into the ass kicking, witty adventurer by the end. She is definitely more confident and aware than in the first game. I do think the lack in confidence is because it is still her first voluntary adventure. Adding the father issues is again an attempt at making her a little more relatable. Her wit and confidence made her likeable. That was the case with past games (which I love) but apart from Lara being a kick ass adventurer there was not a lot about her personal life (except her mum) to make her relatable. You also mentioned there is nothing to relate or connect to Lara. So, I assume this is an attempt at humanizing Lara a little.
However, I imagine the reason for that is the criticism against past Tomb Raider and Uncharted games where Lara and Nathan are killing 100s of people and then joke about it without any emotional damage to themselves or their sanity. There are a few quips with Jacob as well.īut yes, she is mostly serious. I remember in one of the tombs, Lara find a “relic” of a wine flask and she remarks jokingly, i might need a drink by the time I am out of here. Where’s the confidence? Where’s the swagger? Where is just one moment of humour?Īdd that, and the Tomb Raider games will finally be perfect.ĬOMPLETELY OFF TOPIC, BUT WHY IS LITERALLY EVERY NPC IN THE GAME A WHOLE HEAD TALLER THAN LARA? Rise of the Tomb Raider is genuinely one of the best action-adventure games ever made, and I can’t wait for even more fans to be able to play it, but I’m tired of this version of Lara. I’m excited to play the new zombies mode this fall. All the dramatic moments in the world mean nothing if your protagonist reacts precisely one way. For a game to be a roller coaster, it has to be an emotional roller coaster. Lara is a nice person who does scary things and is like “don’t worry, I will help you out,” but there’s never a cocky eyebrow tilt or a joke or any moment of anything else. Rise of the Tomb Raider isn’t bad because what is there is bad, it’s boring because that’s all there is to it. I could relate to and admire that Lara Croft, because she was significantly more human than Rise of the Tomb Raider’s dull version. This is a common story problem known as “assumed empathy.” Good fiction proves why you should care bad fiction assumes you will.Įven Angelina Jolie was a better Lara Croft than this, and the scripts she had to work off with were horrible, but at least her Lara was cool in some situations, clever even under pressure, genuinely terrified when terrifying things were happening, and so on. I don’t know her dad, so I don’t know why she’s obsessed with his legacy other than “he’s her dad,” which doesn’t mean anything to me. She’s a boring person there’s nothing to connect or relate to. It’s why I can’t connect to this rendition of Lara Croft, and why I enjoyed the previous version so much, even if Rise of the Tomb Raider is mechanically a far superior game.
The narrative features a sort of bland intensity from beginning to end, punctuated occasionally by moments of tragedy or fright. Rise of the Tomb Raider acts like a roller coaster, but the emotional tenor is so rigidly consistent throughout the game that it’s like a roller coaster on a track that has no peaks or troughs. She never jokes, never laughs and says “wow, haha, I can’t believe I survived that.” Indiana Jones was cool in part because he had a sense of humour where’s Rise of the Tomb Raider’s “shoot the guy with the sword” moment? Sure, there are many guys with swords you can shoot, but it’s never played for any effect other than “oh no, another peril to overcome.” She makes jumps that I, as a mortal human being, would never so much as attempt, and she scales cliff faces that would give even Batman a scare, but when it comes to dialogue and stuff, she seems to have just one speed, which never, ever changes, and she’s so fixated on her father - who we have never met, therefore having no idea why she cares - and his legacy that she never feels as if she owns anything. While Lara is certainly more confident, she never really feels like she’s ready to go kicking anyone’s butt.
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