The team at Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix have worked hard to reboot the Tomb Raider franchise and to present Lara Croft in a new light, beyond what the character was in the past. In the past the character was a kickass wonderchick with huge breasts and oozing with sex appeal. It sold a lot of copies of the earlier games, but as time moved on the series began to wane a bit and interest dropped. The reboot of the series was looking to take a more mature, worldly look at the female lead protagonist of Lara Croft and have her come across as more than a pair of boobs with some guns.
This isn’t to say that Lara Croft had no value in earlier games, because she did, but as time wore on it became apparent that the character was intended to be eye candy to help move along a plot in a game and nothing more. Last week’s launch of Tomb Raider saw Crystal Dynamics put it all on the line with their new and improved Lara Croft, with critics already fawning over the series reboot and calling it a return to form.
The reboot of the series has even caught the eye of some of the mainstream media, with Forbes running this piece on how Lara Croft has evolved, even with fears of the character being a bane to women everywhere. The piece talks about how the developers have actually gone out of their way to empower the Lara Croft character after years of her being a “barbie with guns.” There were some real serious fears early on when there was talk of a possible rape scene in the game, with Lara being a victim, but those fears proved to be unfounded with the release of the game.
What seems to be a big selling point for the game, still, though, is that Lara Croft is a woman and no matter what, women have a long way to go in the boys’ club that is gaming. Male fans will still be picking up the game because it features an attractive female lead character who even if she isn’t busting out of her clothing anymore, she is still not exactly dressed for battle like you’d imagine a male character would be in a game like this. You really do have to tip your hat at Crystal Dynamics, though, as they have worked hard to reform Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider series to make it something much more serious and realistic.
It will take more games and more time, though, before we can see any real change in attitude towards women in games. Lara Croft is not a damsel in distress and we’ve moved beyond the days of porn companies making Tomb Raider knock-offs, hopefully, but without a doubt there is still some 13-year old boy who will pick this game up because of something he read online about a possible nipple slip or will use the camera to zoom in on certain places. Tomb Raider proves that we’ve come a long way, but still have a ways to go before women will be seen as equals in games.
Dressed for battle? I guess she forgot to change her outfit on the way to the shipwreck. Btw have you played Uncharted? He doesn’t have a battle outfit either.
Most male game characters are sexualized, too. How many scrawny, short, or fat male game heros are there? I don’t mean cartoons like Mario, but realistic male characters. Most are very attractive. It’s entertainment, and that sets a general standard for protagonist beauty that is rarely drifted from in any medium. Sex sells in all mediums. That’s just a — neither negative nor positive — fact of human nature.
God of War, Legend of Kain, Raziel(soul reaver), Bio Shock. ?
So you consider Kratos muscles Average?
lots of em do, now i aint approvin of miss dyke’s feminism here but theres plenty of avg lookin or avg designed men in games, most the time there dont need to be cause we aint lookin to play some pipsqueak child but be that ragin bull that we all aspire for
i just wish they had better facial hair, i could show em a thing or two thats for dang sure
dumbest article ever!!! all you said was “there is a pretty woman on the cover, so that means that men will buy it for that reason”
thats idiotic and you wrote this either for hits or cause you have the brain of a worm.
“Male fans will still be picking up the game because it features an attractive female lead character who even if she isn’t busting out of her clothing anymore, she is still not exactly dressed for battle like you’d imagine a male character would be in a game like this.”
As a male fan I picked this up because the gameplay looked awesome and it appeared to have a solid story. Congratulations, you have made a sexist statement and have done far more to further the cause of sexism than the original big breasted Lara ever did. If the only reason I would pick up a game like this would be boobs then I never would have played the Uncharted series.
This reads like something written by an elementary school kid trying to get her/his homework done.
Whats wrong with a pair of boobs with some guns?