Tomb Raider (2013) Review | "Relatable" Lara Croft, Brutality, A Bow

Stealth Boom Boom | A Stealth Video Games Podcast

What do you do after you've already rebooted a series and have effectively gotten everything you can out of it? Well, you reboot it again and give it another go. We're going back to 2013 to take a look at the first entry in Lara Croft's third (?) series under the same name. We're talking Tomb Raider (2013)... to be specific... but obviously it's just called Tomb Raider. Yeah!

On this episode of Stealth Boom Boom, we talk about how Batman and James Bond inspired developer Crystal Dynamics to have another go at creating a new Tomb Raider series. We discuss the marketing hype behind this game, which was partly fronted by Shazam actor Zachary Levi... sadly. We also chat about the press coverage, which includes some discussion on the protagonist apparently being relatable now because she wears trousers, an "attempted rape" scene that dominated the narrative around this game, and the sexualisation of a female video game character.

In our review, you'll hear some chat on scripted stealth (and something about a quiet rollercoaster), context-sensitive animations (that some enjoyed and some hated), the bow and how it's the best weapon in the game, pretty needless hunting, how the action is really frantic, an assault rifle from Splatoon, being able to literally curve Lara around objects like a bullet in that film Wanted, climbing that involves you, dated concepts like QTEs and set-pieces, rubbish tombs (that some didn't mind), awful secondary characters, a shoddy plot, a failed attempt to humanise the lead character, the fetishistic punishment that Lara goes through, and DELICIOUS LUDONARRATIVE DISSONANCE.

Colm doesn't test the gaming knowledge of Adam and Josh in another edition of Who Am I? this week. We're gonna take a little break with Who Am I? for a bit. We may get back to it down the line. So, at the end of the episode, the lads give their final verdict on whether Tomb Raider is a Pass, a Play, or an Espionage Explosion.

For those that would like to play along at home, we'll be reviewing Metal Gear Solid on the next episode of Stealth Boom Boom.

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