For now, it is time to wrap up my research on the cultural effects of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.
Throughout this entire case study I have learned many things that have much to do with my future career as a concept artist. Within a development team, things may not go according to plan during major game projects, as I have found in my studies about Tomb Raider. Using a range of different resources such as online articles, blogs, academic texts, interviews, reviews, media and imagery to find out why Tomb Raider franchise was considered to have had a “cultural effect” in the gaming industry and what caused Lara Croft to become so well known, I discovered facts that have improved my knowledge of the game industry, particularly game design studios and character design itself.
Why did I choose Tomb Raider? In particular, why did I choose to look specifically at Lara Croft? Well to start off, I grew up with the Tomb Raider series and I consider them to be part of my childhood and the reason why I became interested further in the gaming industry. At the time I also had a strong interest in archaeology, Lara Croft happened to be an archaeologist within the game, therefore I was more drawn to Tomb Raider not just by the heroine herself but the ancient environments where most of her adventures took place. Little did I know that there were many “problems” behind the creation of Tomb Raider, from the arguments revolving around feminism to the financial problems it caused for Eidos Interactive, due to the game being the main key to their success, which unfortunately has disappointed them as a company and fans alike.
For years I have never had a problem with how Lara Croft is portrayed in Tomb Raider, her enhanced features and character appeal didn’t faze me the slightest and it still doesn’t. While many feminists are in favour of Lara Croft being recognised as an international feminist “icon”, the other half are completely against the character due to her “sexualised” body, which clearly is aimed at male gamers, using her iconic presence as nothing more than a eroticized object of the male gaze. The argument can be proved valid as females have been known to be attracted the Lara Croft in the same way males are, so she remains both a much loved and disliked video game character without a sexual identity. Upon discovering these negative views towards Tomb Raider, my opinion on the matter hasn’t changed the slightest. These views didn’t change how Lara Croft is shown in our world, such as in advertising, film, animation, artwork, collectable items, fan-made videos etc. Tomb Raider got its popularity boost from the film featuring Angelina Jolie, which I personally think did the franchise justice and spread the goodness of what Lara Croft had to offer. Though I am disappointed Angelina Jolie will not be playing the role of Lara Croft any longer, it takes skill to portray her character with style and ease.
Throughout my research I found that the models who portray Lara Croft outside of her virtual environment through promotions and interviews also affect the way the character has changed dramatically over the past decade within the game with the power of enhanced technology. In Tomb Raider: Underworld, Lara Croft looks far more realistic than ever before and even acts more human, a simple slip from a ledge could kill her almost instantly unlike in past games. It seems as the more realistic and darker Lara Croft becomes, ratings decrease and fans are left disappointed, not all, but just enough to question how it could have possibly made them feel that way. Comparing her character from Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness to Tomb Raider: Underworld, Lara Croft is a different person, her darker “persona” takes over and her adventures turn into something more deep, meaningful and personal. Angel of Darkness brought down publisher Core Design, and Underworld brought down Crystal Dynamics, these two games connected in my mind and formed an unsolved puzzle. Something is clearly not satisfying the audience here, which has led Eidos to decide on whether to make Lara Croft “family friendly”, which is a definite no. The problem is that both games have similar problems due to bugs, glitches and faulty game mechanics in each title that just completely tears up the game itself. Now looking at it in more depth, darker Tomb Raider titles always, and I mean always seem to have more faults then the "normal" Tomb Raider titles. Perhaps there is just too much work being put into making these "darker" titles more advanced, completely backfiring and ruining the game in the process? A faulty game is not enjoyable nor is it something to be praised about. From experience in playing both of these “darker” Tomb Raider titles, Eidos need to worry more about the "quality" of their franchise and not the "quantity" of the money it earns, spending more time fixing problems that have been reappearing in Tomb Raider since the first game would be a great start.
As more sequels are released, these problems just get worse as shown in Underworld. From the look of how things are being handled, Eidos are showing obvious lack of care in the technical department, leaving future Tomb Raider titles in the future to suffer from the same fate. Instead of them laying off studio workers when Tomb Raider happens to fail financially, perhaps they should spend more time helping their employees who work on the game, possibly setting them more tasks to solve the many faults Tomb Raider has, as it’s quite clear they are going unnoticed. Simply firing workers at Crystal Dynamics doesn’t improve the income Eidos receive at all as they were already buried under serious finance issues, though were luckily bought out by Square Enix, which I believe is a wise and well thought out plan made. To make matters worse, the original creator of Lara Croft, Toby Gard, left Tomb Raider for good.
This was an unexpected find, as I never imagined him leaving his one greatest creation behind in the hands of someone else. Without Toby Gard, I feel Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is merely an empty shell, the soul and heart of her character and the game has now gone. From this case study, my understanding of how the game industry works has left me set in a negative shadow and more informed about the game I have loved since a young age. As years go by, the Tomb Raider franchise loses its spirit, although the games are still entertaining, Eidos Interactive have not paid attention to what is happening to it and still remains that way. Instead they focus on creating new decisions on how to change Lara Croft even though she has already lost half her original spice of character and life. The more her character is altered, the less of the video game heroine she became is left of her. Her cultural status will soon be lost in the depths of time at this rate. Although she is still recognisable, her popularity has decreased dramatically since the release and downfall of Tomb Raider: Underworld. Now that Eidos are paired up with Square Enix, Lara Croft’s future looks positive and good things are bound to become of her if she is given the care and love she needs, just as her creator did all those years ago.
In conclusion, this case study has been highly insightful. I have learnt far more about Tomb Raider then I expected and I have gained both positive and negative views about the franchise and how it has made an impact in the world, not only within the gaming industry but outside of it. I feel my resources were informal enough to help me understand what I took on to study within my contextual studies unit. The Internet can be very helpful, not only have articles made me understand more about Tomb Raider, but watching videos and even comic books based on Lara Croft has helped me a long way. From now I will still continue to love the Tomb Raider franchise and admire Lara Croft for years to come, as she is a part of who I am and why video games play a huge role in my life.
Throughout this entire case study I have learned many things that have much to do with my future career as a concept artist. Within a development team, things may not go according to plan during major game projects, as I have found in my studies about Tomb Raider. Using a range of different resources such as online articles, blogs, academic texts, interviews, reviews, media and imagery to find out why Tomb Raider franchise was considered to have had a “cultural effect” in the gaming industry and what caused Lara Croft to become so well known, I discovered facts that have improved my knowledge of the game industry, particularly game design studios and character design itself.
Why did I choose Tomb Raider? In particular, why did I choose to look specifically at Lara Croft? Well to start off, I grew up with the Tomb Raider series and I consider them to be part of my childhood and the reason why I became interested further in the gaming industry. At the time I also had a strong interest in archaeology, Lara Croft happened to be an archaeologist within the game, therefore I was more drawn to Tomb Raider not just by the heroine herself but the ancient environments where most of her adventures took place. Little did I know that there were many “problems” behind the creation of Tomb Raider, from the arguments revolving around feminism to the financial problems it caused for Eidos Interactive, due to the game being the main key to their success, which unfortunately has disappointed them as a company and fans alike.
For years I have never had a problem with how Lara Croft is portrayed in Tomb Raider, her enhanced features and character appeal didn’t faze me the slightest and it still doesn’t. While many feminists are in favour of Lara Croft being recognised as an international feminist “icon”, the other half are completely against the character due to her “sexualised” body, which clearly is aimed at male gamers, using her iconic presence as nothing more than a eroticized object of the male gaze. The argument can be proved valid as females have been known to be attracted the Lara Croft in the same way males are, so she remains both a much loved and disliked video game character without a sexual identity. Upon discovering these negative views towards Tomb Raider, my opinion on the matter hasn’t changed the slightest. These views didn’t change how Lara Croft is shown in our world, such as in advertising, film, animation, artwork, collectable items, fan-made videos etc. Tomb Raider got its popularity boost from the film featuring Angelina Jolie, which I personally think did the franchise justice and spread the goodness of what Lara Croft had to offer. Though I am disappointed Angelina Jolie will not be playing the role of Lara Croft any longer, it takes skill to portray her character with style and ease.
Throughout my research I found that the models who portray Lara Croft outside of her virtual environment through promotions and interviews also affect the way the character has changed dramatically over the past decade within the game with the power of enhanced technology. In Tomb Raider: Underworld, Lara Croft looks far more realistic than ever before and even acts more human, a simple slip from a ledge could kill her almost instantly unlike in past games. It seems as the more realistic and darker Lara Croft becomes, ratings decrease and fans are left disappointed, not all, but just enough to question how it could have possibly made them feel that way. Comparing her character from Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness to Tomb Raider: Underworld, Lara Croft is a different person, her darker “persona” takes over and her adventures turn into something more deep, meaningful and personal. Angel of Darkness brought down publisher Core Design, and Underworld brought down Crystal Dynamics, these two games connected in my mind and formed an unsolved puzzle. Something is clearly not satisfying the audience here, which has led Eidos to decide on whether to make Lara Croft “family friendly”, which is a definite no. The problem is that both games have similar problems due to bugs, glitches and faulty game mechanics in each title that just completely tears up the game itself. Now looking at it in more depth, darker Tomb Raider titles always, and I mean always seem to have more faults then the "normal" Tomb Raider titles. Perhaps there is just too much work being put into making these "darker" titles more advanced, completely backfiring and ruining the game in the process? A faulty game is not enjoyable nor is it something to be praised about. From experience in playing both of these “darker” Tomb Raider titles, Eidos need to worry more about the "quality" of their franchise and not the "quantity" of the money it earns, spending more time fixing problems that have been reappearing in Tomb Raider since the first game would be a great start.
As more sequels are released, these problems just get worse as shown in Underworld. From the look of how things are being handled, Eidos are showing obvious lack of care in the technical department, leaving future Tomb Raider titles in the future to suffer from the same fate. Instead of them laying off studio workers when Tomb Raider happens to fail financially, perhaps they should spend more time helping their employees who work on the game, possibly setting them more tasks to solve the many faults Tomb Raider has, as it’s quite clear they are going unnoticed. Simply firing workers at Crystal Dynamics doesn’t improve the income Eidos receive at all as they were already buried under serious finance issues, though were luckily bought out by Square Enix, which I believe is a wise and well thought out plan made. To make matters worse, the original creator of Lara Croft, Toby Gard, left Tomb Raider for good.
This was an unexpected find, as I never imagined him leaving his one greatest creation behind in the hands of someone else. Without Toby Gard, I feel Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is merely an empty shell, the soul and heart of her character and the game has now gone. From this case study, my understanding of how the game industry works has left me set in a negative shadow and more informed about the game I have loved since a young age. As years go by, the Tomb Raider franchise loses its spirit, although the games are still entertaining, Eidos Interactive have not paid attention to what is happening to it and still remains that way. Instead they focus on creating new decisions on how to change Lara Croft even though she has already lost half her original spice of character and life. The more her character is altered, the less of the video game heroine she became is left of her. Her cultural status will soon be lost in the depths of time at this rate. Although she is still recognisable, her popularity has decreased dramatically since the release and downfall of Tomb Raider: Underworld. Now that Eidos are paired up with Square Enix, Lara Croft’s future looks positive and good things are bound to become of her if she is given the care and love she needs, just as her creator did all those years ago.
In conclusion, this case study has been highly insightful. I have learnt far more about Tomb Raider then I expected and I have gained both positive and negative views about the franchise and how it has made an impact in the world, not only within the gaming industry but outside of it. I feel my resources were informal enough to help me understand what I took on to study within my contextual studies unit. The Internet can be very helpful, not only have articles made me understand more about Tomb Raider, but watching videos and even comic books based on Lara Croft has helped me a long way. From now I will still continue to love the Tomb Raider franchise and admire Lara Croft for years to come, as she is a part of who I am and why video games play a huge role in my life.
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