September 8, 2012
30-Day Tomb Raider Challenge Day 8: Which Version of Lara Do You Prefer?
Today's challenge question comes from Jason, who asks, "Which do you prefer: Core Lara, Crystal Lara or survivor Lara?" I would add that you're welcome to be even more specific if you like, since I know some are fans of Angel of Darkness Lara, Legend Lara, etc. I'm also curious to know why you like or dislike certain iterations of the character.
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I must admit I have a soft spot for Core Design Lara. I guess it's because I played the games in order and I imprinted on classic Lara like a baby bird imprints on its mother. To me, she'll always be the "real" Lara.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I like every version of the character in some way. Crystal's Lara moves beautifully, and Keeley Hawes did a great job voicing her. She even managed to give some of the preposterous lines in Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light an edge of irony that made them fun, if not believable.
As for the new Lara, I don't feel I know her well enough judge just yet. When the latest reboot was announced, I wasn't wild about the idea. But I'm trying to remain open-minded about this new Lara. I can imagine how the girl we've seen so far might evolve into the badass Lara we fans know and love--after all, she did it once before when she was 21 and her plane crashed in the Himalayas. I'm looking forward to seeing how things unfold this time. Still, I'll be glad when she's out of her "training wheels" phase and (hopefully) grown into the slightly jaded, globe-trotting adventurer I adore.
THE MOST SEXY LARA EVER....is in the black evening dress in TR Legend......
ReplyDeleteI think I agree with you almost totally Stella, with regards to the new Lara and also with preferring the original Core Lara. Purely because TR1 was the first Tomb Raider I played, and that made such an impact on me. She will always have those round rose sunglasses in my mind! And dual pistols etc.
ReplyDeleteStella im leaving the comms ...i see this stuff u put them on Fb....and its not hard to leave a comment from time to time
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Stella. Core Lara has a special place in my heart, even with all her outrageousness and sometimes tacky lines. She just embodied something strong that I grew up with. Crystal's Lara has been gorgeous and a has shown us more of the human side of Lara, which has also been nice. I'm excited to see how the new Lara grows!
ReplyDeleteThere is a consensus version of Lara Croft (very well rounded in her characterization, with a strong back story) present in the Core Design games, the novels, the films, the cartoons and to some extent in Underworld. She is stoic, laconic, classy, posh, English and ruthless (even in the younger versions of the character). I never thought I'd see the day when this wasn't set in stone; this is the Lara Croft we all know, both in the world outside the Tomb Raider fanship and within the fanship itself. I never thought a tiny clique of embittered Core Design- (and, apparently, Brit-) haters would ever get away with attempting to change that, stripping our hero of her title, her nationality and even her personality. Laconic British Lara is the Lara I like; up until recently I've been referring to her as "classic" Lara, but perhaps a better term is "the real Lara Croft". If you want to defend her against the philistines, then stand up for her.
ReplyDeleteCore Design's Lara. That's THE Lara I know. Amen.
ReplyDeleteI like the old Core Design Lara best. She had a badass attitude - just an adventurer who loves to search for ancient artifacts. And she has the best haircut, a nice waist-length braid. :P
ReplyDeleteThe original Lara, with her strong attitude and love for adventure, will always be the "real" Lara Croft for me. I hope they will at least partly keep that side of her alive in the new reboot, and not radically change her in an attempt to modernize the character.
I love the Lara from the first games. I think that's because she's the first Lara I knew and the one I grew up with. I'm ok with ara in Legend and Underworld, but for some reason I kind of dislike the Lara in Anniversary. I don't really know why. I'm nor crazy about the ne Lara, but as you also said, it's too soon to judge. Still, there's something I miss in the latest Laras; the braid.
ReplyDeleteThink I like the crystal dynamics lara just
ReplyDeletesimply because she's an upgrade but still
prefer the core games. There's just something
about the feel of those games that make them
stand apart for me.
Classic Lara was an icon, she was my childhood heroine. CD started changing everything that was iconic about her and the newest reboot version is no Lara for me. Tomb Raider games needed a lot of innovation but Lara's character did not.
ReplyDeletedefinitely old lara. she is amazing for a character only made from about 200 polygons. classic lara will always have a place in my heart.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Stella and Ostercy. I can't think of Tomb Raider without thinking of the Core ("classic) Lara Croft. As a dorky teenager at the time the first game came out, she was pretty much the confident and adventurous woman I aspired to be so she became something of a role model for me. She oozed charisma and she shared my love for archaeology, despite her obvious disregard for archaeological ethics and standards. Lara was one of the very few strong female video game characters at that time and I spent countless hours playing those games so I can't look back on my teenage years without thinking of her.
ReplyDeleteLegend/Underworld Lara also had her moments but I felt that that Crystal Dynamics had altered her back story too much. It's obvious that they were basing their Lara on the Lara of the TR films rather than on classic Lara (perhaps they wanted to dissociate themselves from the flop that was Angel of Darkness). I didn't like the fact that this Lara seemed to be more interested in following in her father's footsteps and searching for her lost mother rather than becoming an explorer and treasure hunter in spite of her parents' wishes. Lara was no longer the rebel I remembered.
As for "reboot Lara", well, I can't really make any firm judgements until the new game comes out next year but I can safely say that this Lara is by far my least favourite. Perhaps I will change my mind once I've played the game but she doesn't seem to be anything like the Lara of my youth. She comes across as a little weak and unsure of herself (not to mention the fact she "hates tombs"?!) It's clear that I'm biased and therefore may not be the best person to judge this new Lara on her own merit...but, for me, this new Lara is a mere shadow of the character I know and love.
I know that classic Lara is amazing but I think you should give the reboot Lara some thought. You say she seems "weak" and "unsure". Well she's SUPPOSED to seem that way. Hopefully crystal sticks to their word and can fully show her transformation into what we know as classic Lara.
DeleteCrystal Lara, no doubt.
ReplyDeleteCORE FOREVER!
ReplyDeleteUgh! I guess I'm in the minority, but I like Underworld Lara. Her facial expressions are good and you can see the dirt on her face and shoulders. My two cents.
ReplyDeleteI like Core's Lara, and as Stella said, for me it will always be the real one. I like her face when she shoots, those angry teeth. :D However, I think Lara had the best look in Legend, that one I really like. Maybe because it was first "nowadays" Lara, but however, I really liked her in Legend. There are several reasons: she doesn't have a ponytale, but braid, she has wonderful movements and outfits. I really liked her there.
ReplyDeleteCore Design's Lara will forever be known as the "true" Lara for me, but I have to give an applause for the upgraded Lara in TR: Anniversary. They recreated her so precisely and it was so easy for me to connect those two versions.
ReplyDeleteI learned to love the Core Lara. It´s impossible to replaced her.
ReplyDeleteAlthough, like most others here, I love the original, my favourite has to be TR Legend.
ReplyDeleteA bit like my string of cars - I remember the first one with enormous affection, but there's no way I'd go back to new tyres every 6,000 miles, screen misting up at the hint of cold, push or jump starts.
Everything improves or stagnates - same with game iterations. I don't think the reboot will be 'Tomb Raider'. It will be a different game which has inherited the name, but that won't stop me playing it, or if it's good enough, loving it.
I sometimes hop from one Lara to the other as I like them all. Right now I would say that if they hadn't rebooted the franchise I would say the Anniversary Lara. Mainly because Keeley Hawes voice acting is amazing.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that I much prefer the classics Lara as they never rebooted her, the story tied in perfectly and she seemed more like the Lara we know. What I like about Crystal's Lara though as that they gave her a bit more of emotion which was missing from the classics. Like when she kills Larson and her face changes from "I'm so badass" to "Oh my god, what have I done?". The new Lara is great to but my vote goes to classic Lara with Crystal's personality. The perfect Lara
Core Lara. The original Lara Croft 4 ever.
ReplyDeleteThe original because I play Tomb Raider games since I was a little kid and I remember the first Tomb Raider game my dad brought home. It was Chronicles. Since then, I became very excited with every Tomb Raider game made by Core and I still do. I got almost every game. Crystal's games are still good, but never as good as the original Tomb Raider games...
"I don't think the reboot will be 'Tomb Raider'. It will be a different game which has inherited the name, but that won't stop me playing it, or if it's good enough, loving it." --That's a great way of putting it, birchyboy.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'm too passive of a fan, but I think people are too judgmental of this reboot. I know Core Lara was definitely badass but did she just hop out of the womb waving dual pistols and turning somersaults? No. She had to grow, learn, and adapt and I at least thank Crystal for trying to delve into that knowing. Hopefully they don't let us down. Either way, the intent behind the reboot is very well thought out.
DeleteI started with TR 3 when it came out, I then backed up and bought all the others before that , I own all but the newest one because Im an old fashonPC player I cant find it yet...But I have seen the trailers and I can tell you this. I love every single Lara, every one has been a joy and a challange to play, I love every personality including Angelina Jolie.
ReplyDeleteClassic Lara. She was just so different from the newer characters.
ReplyDeleteI like both Core and Crystals versions of Lara. Of course Core Lara will forever be my favourite. When I think of Lara I always think back to TR1 with her dual pistols and her pyramid boobs of doom :p (Seriously she could have stabbed and killed the T-Rex with those things) I'm interested in the new Lara but I'm far from convinced. I really don't like the way she sounds at the moment as well.
ReplyDeleteOriginal, Duh.
ReplyDeleteIf only talking about the looks, then my favorite Lara is the one from Angel of Darkness. Somehow, she is just the most attractive version for me. :) In contrast, I don't like her Anniversary design that much. If talking about her voice, I like her voice best in TR3, Last Revelation, Chronicles, and Angel of Darkness. Unfortunately, I don't recall the name of the voice actress. Character-wise, I think I liked her best in Last Revelation. I think she was the least jaded in that game. In contrast, I really don't like her character in situations where she expresses enjoyment and carelessness when killing people. That's just absolutely not heroic and that is the main reason why, although Tomb Raider is one of my all-time favorite game series, I don't necessarily count Lara Croft as one of my favorite video game characters. For example, the final cinematic in TR3, were she kills that helicopter guy for no reason; or er attitude in TR Chronicles when she lets this one guy fall down the cliff near the end of the third level; or some of her cynical comments in TR Legend about the human enemies that die; or the final sequence in TR Anniversary, where she looks at her hands after having done her first human kills and smiles. These are just some example moments in which I can't like her character that much. But I can never totally dislike her either, because she's the Tomb Raider, and I love Tomb Raider games. ;)
ReplyDeleteThe Crystal Lara was great, but the Core Lara brings back a lot of memories of when I first started playing (and fell in love with) the Tomb Raider games.
ReplyDeleteOh, sorry, I just realized, the voice-actress whos voice I like was not it TR3. :P
ReplyDeleteThe Core Lara is the Lara I grew up playing, the CD Lara is the Lara that brought back the series...my Lara is generally a mix of both of them because the backstory is never really explored much in the classics (exceptions being Ankgor Wat, Race for the Iris and the Black Isle levels in TR5). I usually count what's in the games as true Lara and what's in the manuals or wherever the rest comes from as being simply overwritten by the new editions. As for the new TR game, as long as it doesn't contradict the other ones directly then I'll live with it but I wasn't happy when I found out.
ReplyDeleteI like all versions of all Lara but I think my favourite at the moment would be Guardian of Light Lara. I love her outfit in that one. I can't comment on reboot Lara, yet.
ReplyDeleteof course core lara
ReplyDeleteI've only ever played the Crystal games, so my favorite Lara is Crystals, because I played with her first. As for the new Lara, she's okay, but I hope she gets her British accent back and fixes her pierced ear. Other than that, I like reboot Lara, and look forward to seeing her in Rise of the Tomb Raider.
ReplyDelete-GrtGreekBear