Tomb Raider: Anniversary, First Impressions! Demiboy vs. Backlog, Game #3
This week I'm playing Tomb Raider: Anniversary! Each week, I select a game at random from the 228 entries in my backlog* and play only that game over the course of the week, writing about whatever comes to mind each play session. Visit my Steemit blog for more!
I managed to miss the Tomb Raider series in its original heyday. The Final Fantasy franchise was more my bag, back then. I think my younger brother played some of the games, but I don't remember even observing over his shoulder the way I did countless other titles. It wasn't until the 2013 reboot, then, that I got to be Lara Croft--but when I did, I loved it. So I wonder, how will the older games hold up?
Anniversary is a remake of the very first Tomb Raider game, about which I knew only these things, going in:
- Lara Croft is the poster girl of sexually objectified video game protagonists, with inhuman Barbie proportions and impractical clothing choices.
- You fall and die a lot.
- You fight dinosaurs using a pair of pistols with unlimited ammunition.
Dear readers, I have not yet been disappointed.
The very first scene in which you control Lara, she's wearing her signature hot pants and tank top on a snowy mountain peak. I have on multiple occasions busted up laughing after failing a jump; you'd think a plunge to one's death would be horrific, but with the so-so ragdoll physics and the lack of any blood whatsoever, it's more like dropping an action figure down the stairs than seeing a human being die. And within an hour and a half of play, you've moved up from fighting bats and wolves to skirmishing with velociraptors and shooting a gorram T. rex in the face.
Poor Sue. If only we knew how to communicate with one another, I could have bartered for that stupid cog I needed instead of shooting her in the head 800 times.
The gameplay is nothing spectacular, but it's familiar. If you've played a Prince of Persia, or Assassin's Creed, or the like, you know the drill: scope the room out looking for telltale brick ledges, grab on, and shimmy and hop around until you find a path into a new area. I have enough comfort with this genre that I quickly got the hang of it despite oddments like the tutorials using exclusively keyboard instructions (I use an Xbox 360 gamepad where possible; no PC master race purist I!). The camera's a little overenthusiastic in orienting to your every move, but hey, can't let the kiddos miss out on a moment of the bizarre geometry in Lara's glutes, right?
Seriously, what is even going on here
There's not much story yet, but I admit my curiosity was piqued by the very opening cinematic. It showed a rendering of the Los Alamos atomic bomb test, which apparently broke open a crystal formation, releasing some sort of demon..? The supernatural elements in these games (beyond mere fantasticality like dinosaurs hiding in Peru) always take me by surprise--there was some kind of magical cult in the endgame of the 2013 Tomb Raider, which prompted some puzzlement at the time. I suppose I should think of Lara Croft as the video game lady version of Indiana Jones, and remember that the Indy movies were not just about shooting Nazis, but also Biblical artifacts melting people's faces.
Will I make it far enough to find out what that demon's deal is? We shall see! Estimated clear time per HowLongToBeat is 13-15 hours. Last week I only managed 8.3 hours; will TR: Anniversary prompt some binge play or earn an extension beyond week's end? Stay tuned (you and I both)!
* Yes, I took one step forward (retiring Starpoint Gemini 2) and two back, this past week. Grim Fandango Remastered and Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag were available in free giveaways--how was I to say no to free?