Yesterday we began a month-long challenge to celebrate the 10th anniversary of
Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness. Today's challenge question is
what's your opinion about AOD Lara? (Her appeareance, attitude, etc.)? Please post a comment below. Or, if you prefer, you can answer on
Facebook or post the challenge on your own page or blog. If you do that, I hope you'll send me a link.
All credit for the 30-Day Angel of Darkness Challenge goes to the fabulous Tumblr blog
F- Yeah TRAOD!
If you've come late to this challenge, feel free to answer any of the questions that interest you. There's no time limit. And if you'd like to participate in past challenges, you're welcome to do that too. Check out the
September 2011 and
September 2012 challenges in the archives.
Well, in this case, I loved everything about Lara. I loved her outfits. Every single one of them. They're all well designed. I also loved the way the players could manipulate Lara's attitudes during some conversations. The players could be polite to others or whether they could be rude. Too bad that, there weren't too many consequences when Lara was rude. The real consequences were present on Lara's first conversation with Bouchard. I remember that, if her first choice of words was to be rude, she would get shot.
ReplyDeleteHer weapons arsenal? Well, I liked the guns that were present in the game, but I completely hated the fact that there were no dual pistols in the game. Only through cheating. But there are many items that were removed from the game. Some of them were very curious items...
Unfortunately, playing AoD is like playing only half of the game. There are many great things that were removed from the game. So many great stuff that got left behind from the game, and I blame Eidos for that.
Well, AoD Lara was definitely a new experience. I liked the fact that there was less wit and much more seriousness to the whole story. It also achieved something that I find very good: the combination of more action oriented levels that were intense and fast-paced, due to the fact that she needed to solve the mystery behind the murder, and some more classical ones, with the Lara we've always known. In terms of outfits, I found them rather refreshing and appealing, not that I dislike the classic one, but a bit of change is always welcome! Finally, the fact that you could modulate the conversations was also a very nice touch that could achieve its fully glory if it had been a bit more extended and refined. Still, a great add to the game!
ReplyDeleteI think the AOD Lara model's proportions are a little odd—super long legs, super skinny waist—and her breasts look even more fake than usual, almost like a Barbie doll. I also think she looks awkward when standing still with that wide stance, which makes sense when firing a gun, but not when having a conversation or just standing idle. I do, however, love the design of her face. It's stylized, rather than realistic, but looks great and fits her more serious mood and attitude. And I can't say enough about the writing and Jonell Eliott's voice work in this game. So many great, quotable lines.
ReplyDeleteAs I mentioned in my Day 1 comment, I love Lara's attitude. It seemed like a natural extension to the cool and slightly sarcastic Lara of the past. Would love to see more of anti-hero Lara someday, though I doubt that's gonna happen.
"I feel stronger now..."
DeleteFirstly, AoD Lara is my favourite design for Miss Croft. The opening cutscene (that introduces the issue and the chase with the awesome music) shows the potential of how fluid she could have looked throughout the entire game. I also like that she didn't look terribly human; which would have taken away from the classic gaming feel.
ReplyDeleteJonell Eliott is my favourite voice actress for Lara. Her voice held the perfect sweet pitch, but it could turn cruel on a dime, which gave Lara a great layout of emotion. Lara's dark attitude blended perfectly with the theme of the sixth game: accused of murdering her mentor and old friend then chased all over Paris and Prague for something she never did, ALL THE WHILE trying to solve something Von Croy never completed - added a sense of frustration to her character. I liked that her answers during interaction sequences could be either gentle or nasty. The "Shot by Bouchard" scene is a good example of that.
Lara's outfits actually encouraged me to buy a denim jacket and find a pair of camoflauge shorts (which I still have, after 7 years). I really liked her opening outfit, but the black top and shorts suited the edgier version of Miss Croft.
In-game, when standing still, Lara would sway back and forth. I adopted this movement without noticing - this game made a big impact in my childhood!
Now to the movements of Lara. OMG I hated them. She jerked around and flopped like a fish when she died, unlike the *splat!* when she hit the floor. A friend and I spent an afternoon seeing how she would land on the ground - sorry Lara xD
I would have loved Core AND Eidos to concentrate harder on the game and make it as beautiful as it could have been. The opening and final scenes were spectacular for graphics, movement & fluidness, sound and music.
I did not like how she held the gun close to her head. Straight out (like how cops hold a gun & and flashlight) or at her side would have been more appealing. I really hated that I could see a white bra under her black shirt (whilst in the Storm Drains I believe) and the moments we got to see inside her head. Ugh...the terror!
Overall, I loved the game, the theme and Lara as how she was. If they remade & continued with the next 2, I would hope Lara looked the same as in the first & last cutscenes. AoD Lara is a winner for me!
Lara had more attitude in this game which I kind of liked. TR4, TR5 and AOD Laras seem to have gotten more of an attitude than the previous Laras, makes a change from her posh way of speaking.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of her look I think it is a pretty good one. If she had less makeup and a black top to fit the whole of her body she would look really cool. I would also want the backpack back but a darker colour. The green one doesn't suit her I don't think.
I'd say she has my second favorite look of Lara, my favorite being the Anniversary look :)
Well, you can never wear to much eye-liner can you? I thought AoD Lara was a good compromise between the stylised look of the earlier games and a more CGI look (without straying too far into the ghastly "Uncanny Valley" "realistic" version of the "Lara" of 2013 with her dead "Asiastic" eyes). AoD Lara looked quite solid physically and her clothes, although possibly a bit young for her (2003-1970 = 33), weren't ridiculous. Best of all she looked as if she had the attitude of someone who might be an anti-hero; it wasn't entirely clear to me throughout the game that she hadn't shot Von Croy. Moody hot mess.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI despise this version of Lara. Gone is the thrill of the adventure and instead there is this horrible, dislikeable person. The problem is bad writing, because a change of character traits could be explained by traumatic events post Last Revelation and that would have been interesting to explore, but the writers did nothing with any of that. It actually felt more like they had retconned parts of Laras history to suit their own story and their own story was garbage. There was so much potential to enrich Lara as a character and it all fell flat.
ReplyDeleteAs for appearance, double denim is awful, even on her. She changed her cloths between load screens and manages to put her shades on while unconscious. I do like the darker cloths, though. The light blue vest and khaki shorts look was getting a bit old.
AOD Lara is my favourite of them all for a variety of reasons.
ReplyDeleteFollowing on from Stella's point, I (weirdly) liked that Lara had long legs, it made her look nice and tall (obviously) and I really like playing as tall characters. The voice actress is hands down the best in the TR series because she really knew how to trigger emotion with the audience and made us really believe the storyline and Lara's emotions and therefore allowing us to connect. Lara's costumes were amazing and I especially liked the denim on denim and I really don't see what's wrong with it. The graphics are poor compared to 2013 Lara but AOD still looks the best due to her bold features and her hair which has a life of its own and sometimes tries to strangle her (as it does). I liked the way Lara moved also, I didn't really mind that she looked like she was about to be shot if she moved an inch while standing on the spot or when she tried to make a triangular shape when she jumps (...???). Finally, Lara's attitude was the best, I really liked that she was this badass wanted heroine (talking about heroine, I thought she was on drugs when I first played...im weird) because it was something really new and it really showed personality which we didn't see in the other games because Lara was never paid enough to actually speak in the cut scenes. AOD Lara is the best and will always be the best IMO, the new Lara aint got nutin on her!
i really liked her in this game and my favorite thing she says is if i had a coconut for every time i heard that :P
ReplyDelete..I have no comment,Stella took all the words from my mouth...
ReplyDeleteThe fact that Jonell Elliott was still doing the voice meant that I didn't feel to alienated from AoD Lara as opposed to TLR and Chronicles Lara. To me, she still felt like much the same person, at least at first.
ReplyDeleteAs for her appearence, I was going through a rebellious teenage phase at the time (my favourite film was The Craft), so I actually liked her darker clothes and lanky figure. This wouldn't be the case if I'd picked the game up as an adult.
As the game wore on, of course, it became apparent that this was "angry" Lara. This would have been ok if the context had been there to back it up, but as we all know, development hurdles meant that the story (and indeed the game as a whole) was only ever half-finished, so what could have been defiance - or at least a legitimate mental health issue - on the part of our heroine only ever looked like irrational stroppiness, at least at the beginning of the game. Things picked up as the game wore on, of course. Once Lara's gols became clear, so her attitude began to fit her motivations.
Still, the character will never quite feel whole since the story will always have pieces missing.
I didn't really like her voice, but her personality was okay. I didn't really like her look, but I liked the first costume (the only one I saw). It was fun to see Lara in jeans.
ReplyDelete-GrtGreekBear