A while back, there was some huge controversy over the then-upcoming Tomb Raider reboot, a game, which looked like it was going to go with a pretty misogynistic take on the famous video game heroine. I wrote a post about it, titled “The Rape of Lara Croft,” in which I attacked the game’s executive producer, Ron Rosenberg, for comments he made.
Rosenberg’s comments still read as pretty stupid, but it looks like it’s just an example of very poor phrasing. Because I did have the opportunity to play Tomb Raider. It was actually about a year ago, but I haven’t mentioned anything about it because I just kind of forgot about it. Then I recently saw something about the sequel to the game, the upcoming Rise of the Tomb Raider (which will be Xbox exclusive, at least at first, a pretty stupid decision IMO), and it reminded me that this was still a post I wanted to write.
So I have played Tomb Raider and far beyond what many of us feared it would be, it was actually a wonderful game. This is an inexperienced Lara, but it’s far from the “you’ll want to protect her” characterization Rosenberg gave her. Lara may be inexperienced in this game, but she’s tough and determined. It’s a great reinvention of the character and a whole lot of fun to play. In fact, this is very similar to what I’d hope a Myth Hunter game would look like. There’s even a DLC outfit called “Aviatrix,” that puts Lara in the look of a 1930s pulp adventurer!
Sometimes, we make snap judgments before we’ve got all the facts. And sometimes that means we get things wrong. I and others who spoke out against the Tomb Raider game were wrong and I apologize for my mistake. Yes, Rosenberg’s comments were pretty bizarre in light of the game, but that doesn’t make me any less wrong.
This is one time when I’m actually very happy to be proven wrong. Because I had a lot of fun playing this game and if the sequel ever comes to the PS4 (which I will likely purchase for the upcoming Batman: Arkham Knight), then I will happily pick that up as well. This is how a Tomb Raider game should be made and I’m very grateful that we got a very exciting reinvention of the character.