Probably the best thing to do,Setz. lol. I also feel sorry for the word "pornographic". Everyone always uses it in a negative connotation. lol. I dunno, I like porn sometimes. (Waits for waves of anti-sex feminists to descend upon me and loose their arrows!)
It's been nice knowing you,guy!
Heave! Ho! Heave! Ho! Damn it, I'm too fat! Go on without me! I'll make the noble sacrifice to create a gap with my muffin top!
Glad replacing the hard drive was pulled off without a itch,Pete. I also think this information will save other gamers from a lot of heartache and grief. lol.
Ha ha ha! It's getting tight in here!
Reading these comments it feels as if some gamers are trying to be too "politically correct" when it comes to a franchise that's always had guns and some level of confrontation.
Asking for more platforming is a reasonable request because that was part of the series from the beginning. However, asking for Tombraider to have "less violence" goes against the very fundamentals the series was based upon.
Crystal Dynamics is already trying to make Lara more humanistic but at the same time taking away her guns and combat capability might as well be metaphorically neutering her.
There are plenty of games out there that have exploration & puzzle solving minus the intense shoot outs. (Or with the option to avoid them all together) However, Tombraider was never supposed to be Monkey Island, Dishonored, or Mirror's Edge.
I think this is a problem with gamers. Aka, we "demand" each game include specific traits which we see as progress then years down the line we complain how every game is the same though in truth we shaped those fads to begin with.
Tombraider is probably getting more flak than usual because many of us are sick and tired of shooters presently. However, I'm still supportive of shooter gameplay that is done genuinely well. (So long as the game in question gives me a few other other things to do besides killing things)
I'm not saying this new TR game is perfect but it has gotten me sincerely interested in Lara Croft again. That's something many previous TR games were not able to do.
It's a difficult balance to make a character "believable" yet "epic". For me a fully capable Croft going on yet another globe trotting adventure wouldn't have been that interesting,Cas. I've gotten that so many times already.
I personally like the angle of a somewhat naive yet capable enough young archealogist getting in over her head when something unexpected happens.
As for Lara turning into a "killer" she doesn't exactly have a choice. The people she's dealing with are unscrupulous. Sure, maybe she could have made more tranquilizer compounds from the surrounding plant life but in the end you're still shooting other living beings with something.
Though Crystal Dynamics can evolve Lara and even change things up to a point they also cannot fully do away with the franchise's original premise. Aka, Lara always killed dangerous wild animals and "the bad guys".
I'm not saying a game needs violence to be good but I am saying people shouldn't expect a Tomb-Raider game to be the title that completely reinvents the wheel by morphing into something it is not. (Perhaps an original ip should do that because the audience will not have built up expectations one way or another)
Certainly someone could make a Tombraider game that's entirely about solving puzzles & exploration ala Monkey Island minus the gun fights but would it truly seem authentic? Does taking away Lara's guns and combat ability really make her more "civilized" somehow?
Now, if you want to argue Tombraider should have included more platforming and less shooting that is actually a reasonable argument from a traditional fan's perspective.
Heroes/Heroines by their very nature usually lack a certain credence of grounded realism. Aka, they go above and beyond the average person.
I simply think in a game it's pretty difficult to include those "in-between" moments. Yes, Lara Croft would probably be shaky and psychologically unstable "longer" after killing her first attacker but how can you stretch that out without making the game too long or without making Lara useless for most of the game? (Not good for an action adventure title)
Maybe they should have had Lara be a "bad-ass" from the very start but isn't that just falling back on the tired & shallow "bombshell gun-slinging super-woman trope" Lara embodied way back during the ps1 days? How can there be progress if the same stuff just keeps getting recycled?
Maybe this game didn't check all the boxes when it came to "gradually" developing Lara as a person but gosh guys, isn't it good she's just a smidgen more human? I'll take this Croft over yesterday's Croft any day of the week. (I'm not comparing the actual games, just the two portrayals of the character)
I praise underrated games and appreciate them but I'm not "above" appreciating mainstream games. Don't see why having a hand in each of those cookie jars is a problem. People can't be categorized so easily,Chris. A fact which I'm sure you are keen on.
For the record, I enjoyed Bully and San Andreas. However, I couldn't get as much into other Rock Star games. I realized I was given only a thin illusion of choice and realism. Gamers in such worlds are always cast as a larger than life hero,outlaw, or villain. Yes, "real drug dealers" and "real undercover cops" exist but most of us don't live those exciting lifestyles so it's still a type of escapism & power fantasy.
I also wouldn't call Mallrats or Juno the same. Those films usually revolve around average smoes who only brush with true danger briefly if at all. Besides, I don't recall a game casting us as a pregnant teenaged girl who has to deal with her consequences. Could such a premise even work? It's possible.
However, at least for me games need some sort of motivational factor. Aka, giving me a reason to get of my ass and investigate something that's not entirely normal. Certainly a developer could make "Real Life The Game" but as innovative as that might be I don't think I could personally enjoy it. (Unless it was presented in a really special way)
Then again, I love Terraria which when stripped of its' combat and sparkly items is pretty much just a building,gathering, and mining sim. I imagine many gamers see it as such and wonder why guys like me "dig" that sort of thing.
Admittedly I'm a big man-child when it comes to sci fi, horror, and fantasy! For me it really is the sugar to help the medicine go down! However, I have enjoyed movies like Chasing Amy,Juno, and Mall-Rats. While they are drenched in juvenile pop culture dribble they are also very "real" too. Just a bunch of people shooting the spit and going through life's mundane misadventures!
I also read a good coming of age book but for the life of me I can't remember the author. It was kind of like "Stand By Me" by Stephen King but I thought it was better.
PS: I got it! Boy's Life by Robert McCammon. I loved that book!
Valkyrie profile was just one of those games. Aka, it was one of a kind! Man, it had some beautiful sprite work. Even today it looks beautiful. (Despite the jaggies!)
