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on Tomb Raider (Off-Topic)

by stabbim @, Des Moines, IA, USA, Tuesday, January 30, 2018, 09:12 (2249 days ago) @ MacAddictXIV

Tomb Raider 2013 is just wonderful. I haven't played the sequel yet - I have it, but I've been saving it for after I finish some other things.

But that first game. The story, particularly the development of Lara's character, is extremely well done. You go on a journey with her as she believably transitions from being as overwhelmed and frightened as anyone would be, to finding the grit to pull through where almost anyone else would have fallen. It's done well through the acting in cutscenes, but it's also done through the physicality of moving around and combat. Through some magic combination of animation/mo-cap and sound, every leap, every roll, every time she catches a ledge, you can feel Lara giving it that last bit of desperate effort. Same thing in combat. Lara's never the biggest one in the fight, so every attack has to be done with total savage conviction - but she's never enjoying it. Every time she throws dirt in someone's face or slams an ice pick home, there's a tangible brutality to it that's a little unsettling, even from the detachment of my couch.

It actually reminds me a little bit of God of War in the way it communicates emotion through motion and sound. Maybe an odd comparison to make, I guess.


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