Tomb Raider (Reboot)

[jakilgore]

I have been going through a little bit of a slump(?) when it comes to good video games. Either I have played them till I get to a point where I am frustrated, (see Dark Souls), or I am just bored with them (see any first person shooter made in the last 3 years).

But, the new Tomb Raider, (released on 03/05/13), has taken my breath away. This game is a must have. The cut scenes blend seamlessly with game play, something that I have been waiting on for a long time. The story-line is phenomenal. The main thing that has sucked me into this game for the last 18 or so hours is the character, Laura Croft.

If you have ever played Tomb Raider in the past, you know that Laura Croft is an archeologist that gets herself in trouble searching for various relics and myths. With the revamp of this franchise, Laura Croft is still an archeologist but way more vulnerable. Gone is the ego that Angelina Jolie created, and in so much, destroyed the character.

During the game, Laura constantly tells herself that, "I can do this." Now I know that may not seem like much, but to me it is that little affirmation that makes the character real. In this game, she isn't a badass that can do flips, duel-pistol wield, and still look good...no....she is a young character who throws up after the first time she shoots someone.

If you are a fan of adventure games, stories, or intense game-play pick up this game. You won't be disappointed.

 

[JBryden88]

Yes. And there is no controversy with this game. Someone on an old thread mentioned something about Lara Croft getting violated - that isn't the case. People are trying to kill you - but as with any adventure/action game, you get to fight back.

 

[Feo Takahari]

It warms my heart that this game started at $50 in the U.S.--I've refused to pay $60 for a game ever since I made the mistake of plunking that much down on Fallout: New Vegas. Still, I think I'll wait for it to drop to $30 before I purchase it.

The main things I've heard: this Lara is surprisingly well-written, the story and the gameplay sometimes clash a little (killing ten guys with a pickaxe not long after Lara freaks out about killing one), the bow and arrow's awesome, the quicktime events suck, and the game-over sequences are just plain wrong (gif is from Clueless Gamer.)

 

[JBryden88]

Honestly, it places you in the position of kill or be killed. I can believe that if you crash land on an island, and find yourself being hunted by bad guys, you could probably adapt to defending yourself. When you've got say, five guys using bows an arrows and letting them loose on you, what do you do, fret around the possibility of killing them... or killing them so you don't die? And really, almost every battle I go into, Lara's constantly saying "Why are you doing this?" She doesn't want to be a killer, but she also wants to survive.

And the game over consequences are just fine The game isn't rated T.

 

[PlotHolio]

I could tell just by looking at the cover that this was going to be better written than the previous Tomb Raider games.

Why?

Because Lara Croft is no longer a Double-G.

 

[saellys]

Yes. And there is no controversy with this game. Someone on an old thread mentioned something about Lara Croft getting violated - that isn't the case. People are trying to kill you - but as with any adventure/action game, you get to fight back.

Oh, so they cut the attempted rape scene? The one that was supposed to make the player "want to protect her," which Crystal Dynamics then called "pathological assault" and "close physical intimidation"?

I find it interesting that a game company thinks they have to make a female character vulnerable in order to make her playable, and players think this is a step up from a female character who is as confident as a man.

 

[Nihal]

I never played any of the games, but like PlotHolio, it looks really interesting, because, well, she looks more like an ordinary human.

Now, if this "attempted rape scene" is the one I saw in the trailer, seriously? From my point of view it's overreaction.

I'm not sure if we can discuss this issue there...

The reasons for they included it are wrong, but they're still valid somehow. It's not a game aimed for children. The players are grow up and they're supposed to be able to deal with the reality.

I think the most of us live in a society that encourages the men to be strong, and more than that. Often this "strong" concept is twisted. Being powerful, having the control, being aggressive, being the alpha male. Untouchable, no one can stop you. You do what you want, when you want. Unfortunately it's associated to gender, you often hear things like "be man enough to do something", "having the balls to do something", etc. This kind of behaviour often isn't purely sexual, it's about being in control, show the dominance. And it happens.

If the game was encouraging rape I would have a problem with this. If it was a reoccurring event I would be bothered. However, what it's portraying is that some men believe in the above definition. Specifically, her foes. Lara Croft isn't a goddess, emanating a holy light that would block this kind of thought from appearing to a character who believes in the above "being powerful" definition, she isn't above everything.

I believe their intention, when including the scene, was to show the players how her enemies don't care. It's to instill the feeling of helplessness, to show that if you don't fight, you don't kill, they can do anything with you. They won't pity you or be stopped by any moral code (what contains way more things than "how to treat your female prisoner"). You either fight or they're going to subjugate you while you can do nothing else about it and kill you.

I feel it's realistic. Occam Razor: To demonstrate their control these enemies could also, I don't know, throw poo on her, but between this and N other ingenious possibilities, when a simple one would also bring some "benefits" for them, which one do you think they would pick?

 

[saellys]

I never played any of the games, but like PlotHolio, it looks really interesting, because, well, she looks more like an ordinary human.

Now, if this "attempted rape scene" is the one I saw in the trailer, seriously? From my point of view it's overreaction.

I'm not sure if we can discuss this issue there...

The reasons for they included it are wrong, but they're still valid somehow. It's not a game aimed for children. The players are grow up and they're supposed to be able to deal with the reality.

I think the most of us live in a society that encourages the men to be strong, and more than that. Often this "strong" concept is twisted. Being powerful, having the control, being aggressive, being the alpha male. Untouchable, no one can stop you. You do what you want, when you want. Unfortunately it's associated to gender, you often hear things like "be man enough to do something", "having the balls to do something", etc. This kind of behaviour often isn't purely sexual, it's about being in control, show the dominance. And it happens.

If the game was encouraging rape I would have a problem with this. If it was a reoccurring event I would be bothered. However, what it's portraying is that some men believe in the above definition. Specifically, her foes. Lara Croft isn't a goddess, emanating a holy light that would block this kind of thought from appearing to a character who believes in the above "being powerful" definition, she isn't above everything.

I believe their intention, when including the scene, was to show the players how her enemies don't care. It's to instill the feeling of helplessness, to show that if you don't fight, you don't kill, they can do anything with you. They won't pity you or be stopped by any moral code (what contains way more things than "how to treat your female prisoner"). You either fight or they're going to subjugate you while you can do nothing else about it and kill you.

I feel it's realistic. Occam Razor: To demonstrate their control these enemies could also, I don't know, throw poo on her, but between this and N other ingenious possibilities, when a simple one would also bring some "benefits" for them, which one do you think they would pick?

This I can agree with. Saying it's not controversial, particularly when the game's producers insist on calling it something other than attempted rape or sexual assault, and specify that it was intended to make Croft more vulnerable and make the player want to protect her, I cannot agree with.

On its own as one scene in a game, I can accept it the way I accept the way Stieg Larsson wrote rape into Lisbeth Salander's story. Coupled with the game creators' comments and the players' agreement that Croft is more compelling when she's vulnerable, it becomes something I can't accept.

 

[JBryden88]

Let me be clear. There was never any rape scene. There isn't any rape scene.

The reason there was controversy is because a CD rep said something along those lines - which the main project guy clarified and said there isn't.

The scene in question is the first time you kill one of the cultists on the island. He has Lara backed up against a wall, and because of the fact he briefly touches her face, everyone thinks he's going to rape her. He's not. If you fail the quick time event, he kills her. THAT ISN'T CONTROVERSIAL. Any other game in which you played as a male, the notion of some dude strangling you is just another event. Instead, it's a female, so everyone screams "controversy" and "rape." It isn't. You succeed in the quick time event, you end up with a dead bandit.

Lara IS vulnerable in the game... at the start, when she's unarmed and trying to survive. ANYONE whose being hunted by screwed up cultists in vulnerable when they're armed and well... you're not. There's no controversy there. The only controversy is the overblown over-reaction to an inaccurate statement by a CD rep who was later shot down by the overall lead of the game.

 

[saellys]

That clarification is super helpful to me because I haven't played the game or read what happens if you fail that event. That being said, in the trailer he ran his hand down her hip rather than her face, which I think is where everyone got the idea that he had plans other than just killing her.

The controversy surrounding the comments continued well after the inaccurate statement, because Crystal Dynamics went on to say rape "is certainly a word that is not in our vocabulary and not in our communication," and redefined that scene as "close physical intimidation" rather than attempted sexual assault.

I'm not trying to hijack the thread or anything, honest. I'm just making it clear that when a video game company decides to invent new words for nonconsensual physical contact with a clearly sexual overtone, whether or not it leads to a rape scene, that's controversial.