The Last of the Tomb Raiders

There’s been a lot of discussion lately around Tomb Raider, in part thanks to the wonderful re-releases by Aspyr. But there’s an issue that these remasters highlight: much of what we love about these classics has been left behind.

I’m not going to spend the next 450 words harking back to the “better” days of discourse around whether you can get Lara naked or not using Xploder cheats. The gaming world got bigger, and so Lara had to grow too. She had to develop a personality beyond the triangular boobs, p0sh accent and sunglasses. Maybe stealing other people’s stuff and putting it on a mantlepiece in your English manor isn’t a great look either.

But here’s the thing: it doesn’t have to be a good look. We’ve seen what happens when the bulk of Lara’s personality comes from the things inflicted upon her I enjoyed the latest trilogy of Tomb Raider games – the first two especially. But there’s not really a line between the Lara of the 90s and the Lara of the 2010s. And for obvious reasons.

Lara should be a rouge. She’s a gazillionaire who utilises her vast fortune to put herself in dangerous positions, just for the larks. She can afford to be bad, just like everybody else in her tax bracket. Giving her a conscience, while understandable, means these games will be forever hobbled by an attempt to make the player do the right thing – the thing Lara would probably never do without outside influences forcing her to.

Oh, and of course the conscience doesn’t stretch to not murdering hundreds of people. Because then the game wouldn’t be fun, right?

Tomb Raider: Accepting the Past

And this isn’t me calling for a free-for-all. Include the fact that she’s stealing stuff as a plot point. Have her face consequences for doing the wrong thing. Then have her get off all charged because, you know, the gazillionaire of it all. What? This isn’t a fantasy game.

The idea that Lara Croft or any character needs to be a hero is just one of the reasons narrative in games is so far behind other mediums. And even when we play as bad people, it has to be hidden beneath justifications to the point where many don’t even realise they’re playing as bad people. You only need to look at the backlash to Joel’s story in The Last of Us Part II to see how that kind of thinking works out.

And yet it’s worth doing time and time again. Good storytelling is more than just a series of set pieces. One of modern Tomb Raider’s biggest faults is that is relied so heavily on Lara being put upon. She wasn’t a person as much as a series of tragedies that forced her into her next adventure. Whether that’s better or worse than being what she was in the 90s will depend on what you’re looking for.

But one thing is for certain: Lara has yet to find herself. Like Final Fantasy, Silent Hill, Metal Gear and Resident Evil, it’s not always easy to bring a classic into the modern era. Here’s hoping the next game is its breakout moment.