I wrote a question piece a little while ago asking where the place of violence was in video games in response to the few critics that jumped on Their Little Ponies and said that “Hey, BioShock Infinite didn’t even need to be violent!”. More often than not, these same critics had previously shouted praise at Tomb Raider and the love they felt for her because she was ‘vulnerable’ and ‘just trying her best’. Read More »
There have been a fair few articles popping up recently criticizing the violence in BioShock Infinite, claiming it was too excessive, or alienated you from Booker, or whether or not it had a place in the game to begin with. While I can find a few articles accusing Tomb Raider of slightly similar sins, there don’t seem to be any that go into the amount of depth that journalists have taken to with Infinite. Read More »
Lara Croft hates tombs. I know this because she tells me, point blank, in the opening hours of Crystal Dynamics’ fantastic Tomb Raider reboot. Who can blame her, really? I can sympathize with Lara – I don’t really like tombs either, and I really don’t like the tombs in Tomb Raider. Read More »
In many ways, Drake excels where Croft retreats; he’s charming, well-paced and surrounded by a solid cast of supporting characters. But he’s also guilty of failings of his own in areas where Lara strips down and flaunts her impressive assets. To celebrate this, here’s 5 ways the recently rebooted Tomb Raider is better than Uncharted 3. Read More »
Hooray – it’s Episode 19 of The Dusty Cartridge Podcast! For our latest romp, we’re finally joined by the Australian gaming industry’s favourite party crasher, Alex Raso. With a full podcast crew, we discuss our thoughts on Dead Space 3, Tomb Raider, SimCity launch issues and WAY too much talk about the finer processes of reviewing games! Read More »
For the longest time, I was unsure how I felt about Tomb Raider. Here was a game so clearly trying to mirror the execution of an Uncharted game, yet failing to succeed in the task. Then, as I delved deeper and deeper, it became strikingly apparent that Crystal Dynamics wasn’t attempting to walk in Naughty Dog’s shadows so much as cast a brand new one. But is that even possible? Read More »
With just over a week to go, Tomb Raider’s release is drawing ever nearer. The reboot for Miss Croft has certainly garnered its share of attention and rightly so – looking like one of 2013’s premier action titles. While you patiently wait to get your grubby little hands on the game, though, check out our sit-down conversation with Brian Horton: Senior Art Director at Crystal Dynamics. Read More »
Ever since video games stopped using 8-bit spaceships and started using human characters, the portrayal of women has been pretty poor. Most female game characters fall into two patriarchal categories and although there have been notable exceptions along the long road, they’re few and far between. Despite the technical advancements and the maturity of the industry, mainstream games continue to churn out under-developed female characters that fall easily into these oppressive roles. Read More »
