the tomb raider reboot

Jun20

on June 20, 2012

looks great, no problems here, i hope the block-pushing puzzles are back

ha ha just kidding, this lara croft looks like a mess. maybe if they wanted her to be interesting they could have given her… you know, something interesting instead of adding a torture backdrop

it’s kind of like how the big shocking reveals in each modern warfare game got lazier and lazier, but got branded “edgier and edgier”

└ Tags: crystal dynamics, games, gaming, lara croft, reboot, ripped from the headlines, ron rosenberg, tomb raider, video games

Pedro del Taco

I'm still waiting for my gritty reboot of tetris.

I want to see what bent that L piece out of shape.
- Robert Bobson
  
  Dr. Mario's patient is actually the new Lara Croft, riddled with exotic bacteria after fighting her way out of a tropical jungle.
- Lewis Powell
  
  There was a…bizarre reboot of tetris that had some sort of plotline to it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetris_Worlds#Story
- Rob T Firefly
  
  Two words: Tetris Cop.
Supaguest

Oregon trail as a tower defense game.
- Jen
  
  So you would be Oregon, then, deploying dysentery and floods.
EvanMacIan

Dang Kris, you're really kicking it up a notch art-wise. I like it.
- o0o
  
  looks like he might have broke out the pen brush again
scott hall

oh those video games!
Code Red

This summer… learn why those Birds are so Angry…
- @jknevitt
  
  Which do you want first? The TV show: http://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/03/business/…
  
  or the movie?
  http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/blogs/a…
@crsaldana

"…You're gonna tell me WHICH castle the princess is in"
- @zarawesome
  
  DOES SHE LOOK LIKE A PEACH?
Bloopy

Tony Hawk's 900 Trips to Orthopedic Surgery. Re-learn walking in a dimly lit room with Soviet decor.
Dan

Now Laura's Boigin!
@zarawesome

Duke Nukem still has a lot of gum to go through
- tldr guy
  
  "I'm gonna rip off your head and shit myself in shock before I go into therapy!"
Jesse

"They called it '10-Yard Fight', but that minimizes it. Every goddamned inch they took was a war."
RoboGoofers

Lemmings? I'm certain there's a lot of emotional distress in that game that they just couldn't portray in 1991: the lamentations of those that were saved over those tragically lost; the grim face of determination of those brave souls who sacrifice themselves for the greater good; the momentary clarity of the blind, stupid fools as they plummet to their untimely death. There's a lot of meat on them bones.
- MrGuy
  
  and then you hit the nuke button and everyone blows up and its really funny
oobgarm

I hope a gritty reboot of Pong would end up being much like the board game Crossfire.
- NicolasCage
  
  Would it include a bitchin' theme song? I could get behind that.
  - FanMan
    
    There's only one song bitchin' enough for that… the original commercial song… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCwn1NTK-50
    
    And come to think of it, the remake better look a lot like that commercial too…
- Croc
  
  Instead of edgy, we give you Tron Pong!
bracehare

How about a gritty reboot of Resident Evil? Instead of being a highly trained government agent or PMC soldier, you could be like, a rookie cop on your first day of the job, or maybe a relative of someone who went missing during the early stages of the zombie outbreak who comes into town to search for them. They could tone down the controls a bit to actually give you a sense of vulnerability, and limit the amount of ammo and health laying around so that you actually have to conserve both instead of just shooting all the zombies.
- H3Knuckles
  
  On one hand, that was clever, on the other hand I think the new RE's are more fun, and since they never did the horror or story elements as well as Silent Hill (or the original Alone in the Dark RE1 was knocking so much off of in the first place) I'm kind of glad they moved out into their own direction.
  
  But then, I've never really been a big fan of zombie stuff in the first place. Heresy, I know, but I think it's way overdone, almost to death, you could say. Ditto xenomorph/tyranid/zerg/flood bio-horror parasite aliens. Give me enemies with personality, please.
  - Matthew
    
    Have you played Amnesia: The Dark Descent? The monsters don't exactly have "personality" but they're infinitely more terror-inducing than the lurching zombie horde of RE4.
    - H3Knuckles
      
      Not yet, but I'll check it out, thanks.
    - So Lonely
      
      The funny thing is that the beginning scene reminded me of Amnesia so much that I almost couldn't watch the rest of the video… Then she lights herself on fire and I couldn't look away (except when I closed my eyes from laughing too hard).
  - Croc
    
    You want Aliens with Personality? How about a wilderness survival game where you're adventuring buddy only speaks in metaphor deriving from his people's ancient mythology? How about we add a giant semi-transparent behemoth with a taste for human blood to the mix?
    
    We'll call it "When the Walls Fell."
Elbasunu

Are we playing "Gritty Reboot"? I love this game!

Super Monkey Ball.

D:
Dave

Looks really cool, except for her terrible dialogue.

“Gotta get out of this!”

“Need to find a way out!”

“Gotta climb this ladder!”

“Gotta raid this tomb!”
- So Lonely
  
  "I HAET TOMBZ D:"
D, just D

I'm still waiting on another Legacy of Kain game.
KevL

Pac Man: The Bulimia Years
- Croc
  
  In Soviet Pacmanistan, Ghosts pop out of you!
Scrotumancer

I know Lara is supposed to be covered in dirt, but at about 1:12 all I see is man-hair.
- Croc
  
  What has been seen cannot be unseen.
  
  I wonder if this is the first inklings of the much dreaded Tomb Raider-Twilight crossover?
Norn

I want a gritty reboot of the Reboot game.
snazzycool

I think you can tell how gritty a reboot is by the number of bows featured in the game.

Disney Princess will never be the same…
JJJ

Waiting for the gritty reboots of Commander Keen, Leisure Suit Larry, and Monkey Island.
- tropital
  
  A gritty reboot of Leisure Suit Larry? What would he do?
  Enter a spiral of despair when he finally realizes that he spends his whole life trying to appease his nymphomania and that he has lost every person that ever meant something to him because of it, resulting in a crippling heroin addiction and a subsequent death by an overdose?
  - o0o
    
    and that's the 'good' ending.
  - Larry N. Martin
    
    Sure, why not? But I'm sure he can find a few bimbos and/or crack whores to take the spiral plunge with him!
- apLundell
  
  I'd pay good money for ANY new Commander Keen game, gritty or not.
  - JJJ
    
    So would I, but since it was id software that made it (DOOM, QUAKE), you know it would be a FPS
  - JJJ
    
    By the way, I'm pretty sure you can get the old ones off Steam
keinsignal

Does this mean the world is finally ready for my gritty Kirby prequel story? It's an unflinching, pull-no-punches look at his formative years, and how he turned his crippling eating disorder into a source of personal strength…

OK actually It's basically just the screenplay to "Precious" with all the names changed, but still. GOTY material, no question.
Voice of Reason

This Lara Croft SUCKS. Here is why:
She used to be an adventurer, an active woman who chose her faith and used her skill. She was independent, strong, and smart.
In this game she is a victim, desperate, fighting against bad men and waiting for the good men to save her. She is the classical female victim/survivor from horror movies.
- ruhroh
  
  Also, she's not wearing those short-shorts.
- macsnafu
  
  Also, she says, "I hate tombs!" That's not the Laura Croft I know!
- Jor-El
  
  While it isn't like Lara Croft was ever some sort of "Female role model", I agree, she isn't depicted as much more than a "final girl" in that trailer. And not in a badass way like Cassie Hack from Hack/Slash, but in a crying, victimized way like final girls from every horror film ever.
- Devin Parker
  
  "From the creative minds who brought you 'Other M'…"
macsnafu

I second Commander Keen. But what's really long overdue for a gritty reboot is Chip's Challenge!
- drakey
  
  Omigodyes. Just. Just… yes. Yes.
Joe

I don't really get it. Tomb Raider is just about Lara Croft shooting things, raiding tombs, and having big boobs. It's why people bought it originally, and I'm sure they'll still buy it if they still use the same formula. I don't think there was any pressing demand for a gritty reboot.

Wait, is there ever a pressing demand for a gritty reboot of anything?
- So Lonely
  
  Duh, haven't you heard of Commander Keen? It NEEDS that reboot.
Kintrex

How about a game where Lara gets breast cancer? Imagine the drama of a vulnerable Lara Croft, still persisting in her worldy adventures despite her illness. We guarantee the gaming world would be shocked, stunned and moved at the efforts to make Lara's character more meaningful.
- H3Knuckles
  
  Ah, yes, a Navgtr reference. So nice to see a fellow retsupurae fan here.
  
  For those of you who haven't seen it, I heartily recommend going to youtube, looking up retsupurae's channel, and watching the "Gaming in the Clinton years" playlist. It's a flat-out ridiculous series of quasi-game review videos that were done by this clueless nut-job back in the day.
@Scarab83

Looks good to me.
apLundell

I like how they felt the need to reboot it.
It wasn't enough that she had a traumatic torture/rape experience as a result of being an adventurer. No, that would actually make sense and form a story arc that wasn't shocking enough.
She has to start off with a traumatic torture/rape experience that somehow turns her into an adventurer. (So it was really a good thing, long term.)

All that said, it might still be good. Love a good psychological thriller. The trailer is probably edited in a ridiculous way.
- So Lonely
  
  Most of it looks like RE5 style OMG GOTTA GO FAST TO ESCAPE THIS _________ (insert BOULDER, PARASITE MONSTER, etc.) and PRESS X TO NOT DIE sequences, so I can't really have any hope for this being good.
Steve B.

Haha, wow, when I first read this comic strip, I thought, "Heh, I bet Kris is just overreacting to a little bit of gritty drama being added to the series, that is a popular thing for the kids to whine about these days." (Note: Kris is the same age as me.)

Then, I watched the trailer, and instantly witnessed several scenes of graphic torture and then an attempted rape scene that seems to play out via quick-time events. Jesus.

Press TRIANGLE to not get raped.

Stay classy, Square-Enix.
- Jor-El
  
  Aw shit, I hit Circle. FML.
- H3Knuckles
  
  I honestly couldn't watch the whole thing. I never liked the Tomb Raider series, and thought the attempts to pretend she was some sort of liberated female role model were bullshit, but good Christ, I can't help but wonder at the kind of person who thought that trailer would be appealing to anyone, let alone the people who do. It's pretty much what I'd guess a snuff flick trailer would be like.
  - Anthony
    
    I actually liked it. I get that you're seeing a lot of footage that is actually spread over quite a bit of game play. I also like the adaptation of the 'rich, coddled, privileged' through what is really a demanding trial that brings out her own inner character, forces her to face who she is and what she is capable of.
Hate it

Pretty sure Donkey Kong Country needs a cult worshiping King K. Rool needs to happen. Just imagine how needlessly edgy and violent watching a Krusher or a Klaptrap torturing Dixie Kong would be?
Graveyard Duck

To make matters worse, that deer was actually the first Carmine sibling.
Patrick

I was going to come up with grittier, edgier Sonic pitch, but between Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic '06, I think Sega already beat me to it.
@steve_cosmo

I thought it said "tomb raider like robot" and I wondered all day what a tomb raider like robot was and why a game would need one.
D, just D

Come to think of it, after actually watching the thing, I think what bothers me is that she goes through all kinds of crap and she still acts startled every time. I'd think after like the 8th or 9th near death experience I'd be beyond the scared stage and more into the just being pissed off and wanting to burn down the damn jungle stage. I hope we see some progression on her part, and not just this scared person who goes the whole game with the same disbelief, like she can't believe all the bad luck she's having.

the tomb raider reboot

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