Has The Tomb Raider Series Lost Its Way?

In a big coo of publicity for upcoming ‘Tomb Raider’ prequel ‘Crossroads’, or whatever it will be called (surely not that, unless it features bad acting and wobbly sets) has been all over the news (for instance see http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/gaming/crystal-dynamics-release-tomb-raider-rape-clarification-statement-7854068.html as one of many examples) after it was suggested on one website that Lara, seen in the game as a young inexperienced adventurer before all her big adventures, is threatened with rape before escaping which helps build her into the balls-to-the-wall Tomb Raider we know her as later. Now it seems to be coming out that this isn’t the case and the words of the website were ill chosen, but this aside has the series of video games, like Lara in a maze of tunnels and passage-ways leading to a room of treasure, lots its way?

I have played ‘Tomb Raider’ since the original 1996 game, and have played each entry in the series on one format or another aside from the handheld ones and have to say that none of the games have truly captured the magic of the series after Core Design lost the franchise after ‘The Angel of Darkness’ that was, yes, difficult to play control-wise but certainly more interesting than what has come after.

Though each game has improved ten-fold with the graphics and scope, in my opinion the heart of the games have gone. On both ‘Legend’ and ‘Underworld’ out has gone the exploration, the puzzle-solving and the general wonder and in has come a more gun-toting focus and a lack of magic. Even the original game re-imagined under the banner of ‘Anniversary’ was only good in seeing the original areas rendered in modern graphics.

Sure there may be a level of rose-tinted glasses here with games you grew up with always having a special place in your heart, and re-playing the originals now is a pain on the eyes due to the swift advancement in graphics, but I just don’t enjoy the Crystal Dynamics-created games as much as the old ones and I think it shows with their confusing plotting.

The original six games – 1, 2, 3, The Last Revelation, Chronicles and Angel of Darkness – all had the same continual storyline and built on the mythology but since then thanks to the reboot, the two movies and now another reboot coming next year, Lara’s past and upbringing is now muddy than the tombs she visits. It’s almost as if they’re stumbling blindly from one game to another to see what works and not, meanwhile dragging the once respected franchise down.

One classic example is about her parents. Did they die in a plane crash which led to her becoming the Tomb Raider? Or was her father alive like in the film and the later games? Or was her mother whisked away by supernatural forces to Avalon?

Did she become a Tomb Raider under the privileged tuition of Vernon Von Croy or because she had to learn to survive by being stranded on an island? I just don’t know any more.

And how can the original Natla-based story fit both the plot continuity of the original six games and the newer three games? Am I just being anal in trying to establish a continuity into a game series pulled apart and confused, like people trying to rationalise the actor changes of the James Bond series or creating a credible timeline for the Legend of Zelda?

The new game in 2013 certainly looks interesting and promises to feature more puzzle elements so I hope it is a return to the style of the originals with fewer shooting elements and more opportunities to do the classic puzzles that defined the game. Sections such as one where she is escaping whilst tied up piece shown in the trailer mirror the levels in the first game where Lara has to survive without guns so perhaps there will be a bigger focus on capturing the appeal of the original games.

I for one would happily forgo all the fancy graphics for inspired sections set in skyscrapers with laser beams; visits to Loch Ness with a surprise guest; and dinosaurs in the South Pacific.

I just hope they finally settle on what they’re doing with Tomb Raider and don’t get confused over what the series should be about and where the characters goes from here. I for one would love to see what Core Design could do, if they were given the chance, to help resurrect the series but will hold my judgement until next year’s game is released.

What do you think? Am I holding the originals in too high a regard or am I right about the changes in the series?