 "How Lara Croft became Tomb Raider")
The game begins with Lara being shipwrecked with fellow archaeologists on an island full of ancient secrets and decidedly unsafe. Not only do you have to deal with deadly cultists, there are dangerous animals to deal with as well.
The first 60 minutes or so of Tomb Raider (Rs 2499 for PS3) leaves one feeling a bit disjointed, as one is more used to Lara pulling off the moves with élan. But that's the way it's meant to be - after all Lara is on her first expedition. And, through the course of the game, the intelligent and resourceful young woman turns into the toughened and fearless tomb raider we all know and love.
Lara quickly learns she has to survive against all odds and with all the resources she has at hand at that moment. And if the game's AI seems to be challenging, one can always switch on the Survival Instincts vision which makes getting around the island easier and helps in solving the puzzles.
| Meet Lara Croft's 'father' For Ian Livingstone, the life president of Eidos Interactive, Lara Croft is much more than a gaming icon. Not for a reason; he is popularly referred to as "the father of Lara Croft". |
"I guess you could say it was love at first sight," he said about his first 'experience' with Lara Croft. Livingstone's company acquired developer Core Design in 1995 and the first thing he did was visit the studio, where the first Lara Croft was in development. "That was one of the reasons we bought the company," he said.
"We launched Lara Croft in November 1996, and the rest, as they say, is history," Livingstone said. Crystal Dynamics, the California-based studio behind the latest game, had to make sure the game was as relevant to the audience in 2013 as it was in 1996, he said.
When asked how they hit upon the idea of an origin story, Livingstone said: "We can't keep on doing sequels for ever, and seeing what happened with Batman and James Bond - their reboots have worked very successfully for them - we decided to look at the original story of Lara Croft, especially when many fans have asked the question 'How did she become a tomb raider?'"
"At some point you (as Lara Croft) reach the stage of kill or be killed; so, it's a very tense experience," he said, adding that while the game had "constant adrenaline-filled action", it was story driven.
While the game is a survival action adventure, it plays to the primary strengths of Tomb Raider - exploration, adventure, puzzle-solving and combat, he said. "Because today's consoles are so interactive, graphic and cinematic, we decided the game has to be realistic… she has to look realistic and behave in a realistic manner," he said. So Lara Croft lost her armour-plating and can be mauled in battle, he said. We agree, Lara's end can be pretty gory in the game.
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The rebooted third-person action adventure has all the good elements of genre-leader Uncharted, yet manages to retain its own charm (of course you're dealing with a rather vulnerable adventurer initially). And this time combat is a whole lot of fun - not something you generally associate with a Tomb Raider title.
For the trigger-happy among us, who have taken Lara's double-pistol stance as a given pose, there's much to learn. Lara has to first make do with a bow and arrow and then find weapons along the way. But this silent weapon will make one fall in love with it and you'll make the bow your trusted companion throughout the game.
Lara always manages to get into a pickle at breathtakingly beautiful locations (ably assisted by the leaps and bounds in graphics over the years), and this one is no different. Whenever the emotional battle and blood and gore get too much, just look around and take in the beauty of the island Lara and her band of friends have been marooned on.
The game connects at the emotional level by the depth of Lara's character - one can actually "feel" for her and empathise with all she has to encounter. Kudos to Camilla Luddington and lead writer Rhianna Pratchett (yes dear geek friends, she is Terry Pratchett's daughter!) for bringing her to life brilliantly. The moving background score just adds to the experience.
The silent star of the game is, in fact, the story. But with Lara's character fleshed out so well, the other characters do seem a bit shallow in comparison. Also, this game is more about the origins of Lara Croft than a full-fledged reboot.
As Lara takes tentative steps towards the unknown, we discover the innate traits of the character - her passion for archaeology (ably helped by the tombs present on the island) and her fascination for lost civilisations - even as she fights the odds.
The game also has a multiplayer mode and while this is just about works, this is possibly the only chink in Tomb Raider's armour. Compared to the single-player mode, you won't lose much if you gave the mode a miss.
In Tomb Raider, Lara is pushed to the limits of her ingenuity in a battle to survive and the evolution of the character leaves the player with a sense of exhilaration and empowerment. And there are very few games which can manage that.
| The original femme fatale The first time I ever played Tomb Raider was after the Angelina Jolie-starrer movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was released sometime in 2001. Honestly, more than the game, at first I was bewitched by the movie, or to be precise by Jolie. Though I couldn't get myself to watch the second movie - it just looked tacky and a boring sequel - Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, my interest in the video game continued to grow. |
It was a bit strange - and do remember this was a time when there weren't many female protagonists in video gaming - to begin with, as one was used to being Mario or the Street Fighter characters like Ken, Ryu or Duke. The only female character which was popular was Chun Li, one of the fighters in Street Fighter. Not many thought Lara Croft would survive the male-dominated video gaming industry, but she has done it through many reincarnations - some worked brilliantly while some were just about decent.
The second instalment of Tomb Raider saw the game becoming relatively thougher as some of the puzzles were a bit hard to crack. The third edition saw Lara getting new aces up here sleeves. There was the famous "monkey swing" and then you could run faster than in the previous versions.
About five years ago, when gamers moved to consoles like Playstation 2 and Xbox, Tomb Raider came out with Tomb Raider: Underworld. Between the third instalment and Underworld, there were a few more versions of the game, but my interest in the franchise had dwindled. It was pretty much "old wine, new bottle" syndrome and the game got monotonous.
But, Underworld was a revelation, perhaps because of playing it on the consoles made the gaming experience far better. Lara Croft herself came in a more athletic avatar and apparently her physical features were based on an Olympics gymnast.
The latest version of Tomb Raider is more about Lara's survival where she has to collect her weapons. It has a great storyline, a lot of action, a bit of hunting and weapon upgrades which make it a good upgrade. Though compared to previous versions, in the latest one you see Lara a bit vulnerable, very unlike her, but it adds a nice touch to the story.
It's a testament to Lara and the creators of the game to keep the franchise alive for close to 17 years. Like most franchises, there have been ups and downs, disappointments, monotony, but just like the protagonists, Lara has clawed her way back and remains a popular character. Lara Croft has been called a sex symbol, a female icon, the femme fatale, but what she has been is a fascinating character who has developed a personality over the years.
Aabhas Sharma