Tomb Raider was 'losing relevance' before reboot

Tomb Raider global brand manager Karl Stewart discusses the character and plot motivations behind the gritty reboot of Lara Croft.

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The upcoming gritty Tomb Raider reboot was borne out of necessity, as the character had become less relevant to modern gamers, according to global brand manager Karl Stewart. In an interview with Rock Paper Shotgun, Stewart explained some of the thinking behind this more realistic (and injury-prone) take on Lara.

"We felt [Lara] was losing some relevance in the gaming world, that she was a little too hard and removed," said Stewart. "We wanted to make her more approachable and relatable. I think this was a perfect time for us to reimagine the franchise, taking Lara back to her roots. I think it's growing to be a great way for players to learn to reknow who Lara is, retell her story."

He said part of this was removing her usual skill set, so she wasn't "perfect." The modern gamer can relate more to a "complex hero." Part of the reboot, though, came from a storytelling standstill. "We'd taken her to a great place, to somewhere she had some closure," Stewart said. "There weren't really many more stories we could have told. So we feel like with this new place we have fertile ground and there's a lot of places we can go to."

On the gameplay front, Stewart also addressed the quicktime scenes -- which looked heavy during the game's E3 presentation. "What we're trying to do with quicktime events is make some parity between what you see, so we're trying to use the analog stick as much as possible," he said. "We're in tutorial-heavy areas, so across the whole game it'll feel a lot less."

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    July 18, 2011 12:07 PM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Tomb Raider was 'losing relevance'.

    Tomb Raider global brand manager Karl Stewart discusses the character and plot motivations behind the gritty reboot of Lara Croft.

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      July 18, 2011 12:15 PM

      Should've made Guardian of Light 2.

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        July 18, 2011 4:19 PM

        Didn't they say something akin to they aren't going to make a game like that again? :(

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          July 18, 2011 6:15 PM

          That's too bad, Guardian of Light was a real gem.

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        July 18, 2011 4:26 PM

        Yup. :(

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        July 18, 2011 4:26 PM

        Or fixed the first one. Can't even finish the game in co-op

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        July 18, 2011 6:32 PM

        That game was awesome.

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      July 18, 2011 3:31 PM

      "We'd taken her to a great place, to somewhere she had some closure," Stewart said. "There weren't really many more stories we could have told
      Sounds like the character is played out. Maybe they should try and create a new character? Nah, why bother when they can just "reboot" the ones they have.

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        July 18, 2011 6:05 PM

        they did make a new character. just one that happened to also be named Lara Croft

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          July 18, 2011 10:20 PM

          Ohhh I get it. It's like Luke Skywalker in A New Hope vs The Phantom Menace.

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      July 18, 2011 4:03 PM

      TIME TO PUT HER DOWN BOYS.

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      July 18, 2011 4:06 PM

      Doesn't seem like a particularly controversial statement to make.

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      July 18, 2011 4:06 PM

      Global brand manager.

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      July 18, 2011 4:16 PM

      Bah, Underworld was really good, it was the first game I really enjoyed in the series since the TR2

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      July 18, 2011 4:16 PM

      I said it before, and I'll say it again: Tomb Raider: Other M.

      I don't know if this is the way to rejuvenate a franchise, to retroactively reboot it while removing some of the defining characteristics of the character. Metroid: Other M wasn't a resounding success, and alienated some fans of the franchise, judging from reviews and commentary from last late August.

      It's a brand, and so I understand the tenacity to revitalize it, but as a gamer who never played the game, but watched the franchise evolve and wind down, it seems like a potential "last hurrah" kind of thing. Makes me fear for Devil May Cry: Other M DmC (uggghhh...another franchise I never got into, but... uuggghh...).

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        July 18, 2011 6:31 PM

        I'm not sure about that. Other M's problem wasn't that it tried to change the character or the franchise. I mean, yes, the mentality of the changes was all wrong, but it would've been terrible even if it hadn't been a Metroid game. Whereas so far this looks like a pretty well-considered modernisation of the brand.

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          July 19, 2011 4:12 AM

          Also people arn't nearly as protective about lara as a character as they are with samus. People arn't creaming themselves for an old fashioned style Tombraider game, in fact people weren't really paying attention at all. These changes have got peoples attention.

          Other M was really just a bizarre mis step that totally ignored what the gaming public were actually craving.

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      July 18, 2011 4:19 PM

      New version looks Ace, unless it plays like shit they have successfully re launched the brand.

      I agree with Marrbe, they should make Guardian of Light 2 as well and not underestimate the love for that game.

      Time will tell.

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      July 18, 2011 5:51 PM

      Quicktime Events are bullshit, and I don't much like the answer he gives about them.

      If we want to come up with a very customised experience, sometimes a quicktime event is a great way to do that.

      Wrong. Quicktime events are a great way to suddenly ruin immersion and remind you that you're sitting behind a screen pushing buttons. This is fucking stupid.

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        July 19, 2011 3:17 AM

        exactly, if it doesn't flow well enough for it to be done with the standard controls, put that shit in a cutscene or something.

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      July 18, 2011 9:29 PM

      Looking forward to this game, it looks like it plays like Uncharted but there's a better derriere to look at.

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        July 19, 2011 3:00 AM

        How sad for Tomb Raider that it is being compared to Uncharted and not the other way around.

        But then I suppose they should have gotten there first.

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          July 19, 2011 10:06 AM

          It's mainly the cinematic look to the running and such, I used to think Uncharted was Tomb Raider with a dude.

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        July 19, 2011 3:14 AM

        [deleted]

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      July 19, 2011 2:56 AM

      Another option was to stop making fucking Tomb Raider games for a good few years, and then bring it back when people start asking about a new one But no, of course not.

      Why let a game age with dignity and reward it with a much sought after return, when you can just run it into the ground instead?

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      July 19, 2011 4:02 AM

      Uncharted has stolen Tomb Raider's followers. They need to step it up, work on puzzles & game play. There are plenty of Third person shooters out there already.

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      July 19, 2011 4:04 AM

      [deleted]

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        July 19, 2011 4:09 AM

        Games are becoming more and more like interactive movies... if we wanted that we would have made Nightstalker the most successful game of all time.

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          July 19, 2011 5:06 AM

          It appears lots of people do actually want that, though. Lets nurture a deep, unrelenting contempt for these people.

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