Outside of The Last of Us (which is gruesome for a reason), I can't remember more graphically violent death sequences than those in the rebooted Tomb Raider games. Usually, origin stories give these characters motivations, rather than qualifying their superhuman abilities in a trail of blood and tears. 'Uncharted: Lost Legacy' is what a female video game power fantasy looks like Uncharted's Nathan Drake was given more of an origin story in Uncharted 4, but it was nothing short of adorable in comparison to Lara Croft's ever-evolving torment. It wasn't a prerequisite to him kicking ass, and we never linger on his physical pain, bruises, cuts, or even much of his emotional suffering. Kratos from God of War had a tortured past, sure, but he was a badass before that. There are few other action-adventure game heroes we've felt the need to torment like this. That still doesn't explain the increasingly baffling question of why we feel the need to watch Lara Croft endure so much punishment before awarding her the title of legendary hero. But as Caty McCarthy of US Gamer reports, Edios seems to recognize that Lara is kind of awful, and aims to address the colonizing undertones of her story.
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I still can't help questioning the way the game appears to position Mayans as this violent, sexy, exotic "other" who serve as the latest trial Lara must conquer for more character development. Before you can accuse the story of being a white savior narrative, though, the game makes clear that it's at least somewhat aware of the questionable politics of this quest.Įdios Montreal (which has taken over for Crystal Dynamics as the leading developer) even inserted an Assassin's Creed-like disclaimer assuring players that their team is made up of diverse people, including cultural experts. The basic premise is that Lara must stop the Mayan apocalypse. There's also an added layer of emotional reckoning, as she - a rich, white British lady raiding other people's cultures for personal growth - will be forced to face the selfishness of her whole legacy. Judging from the hour-long demo we played of the final and third installment of Lara's new origin series, the next ordeal involves not only physical pain (though there's plenty of that).
In the second, she wrestled with the trauma of being a survivor (before kind of forgetting about it), while following in her father's footsteps to solve the mystery that killed him. In the first, Lara fought tooth and nail to survive the island on which she was shipwrecked.
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The 'Tomb Raider' movie surpasses gaming's Lara Croft, but is that enough?Įach game offered a different torment, and it all seems to have been in service of her "earning" the title of bona fide badass.
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