June 9, 2013

30-Day Angel of Darkness Challenge Day 9: What are Your Thoughts on Kurtis Trent?

The month-long Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness challenge continues. Today we want to know what are your thoughts on Kurtis Trent?

If you're the type who likes to do a little research before responding, I encourage you to check out KTEB: The Kurtis Trent Estrogen Brigade, a wonderful fan site with information on the character, including planned features and special abilities that were left out of the final game. Food for thought.... ;)

Angel of Darkness cutscene

Once again I'd like to thank F- Yeah TRAOD! for sharing this challenge with the world.

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.

9 comments:

  1. I really liked Kurtis as a character--even more so when I think about what he was intended to be, as opposed to what he actually turned out to be. If it weren't for the atrocious controls and the cheesy cut scene where he gropes Lara, I think I'd have appreciated him a lot more.

    The idea of Lara having a fellow adventurer with whom she periodically crosses paths is a good one. Both are lone-wolf types, so I wouldn't expect it to be an ongoing thing, but sometimes you just need a hand defeating the forces of evil.

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  2. Kurtis was a nice addition to the game. He was mysterious, badass and an interesting character. But unfortunately, when it comes to other aspects like controls, weapons, abilities... he was a bit unbalanced... he ended up only having his pistol (since the Chirugai Blade was just an adornment on his belt), his good and promising abilities were left behind in the process, ending up with most of his useless abilities and he moves like an ice cream truck on butter...
    But besides that, it was a great idea, for Lara to have a partner in this adventure with whom she crosses paths. And who knows? Maybe if the story was continued, Kurtis would've probably been more than simply Lara's partner...

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  3. He was unfinished and unexplored. Either the developers would have fully built the character (as it was supposed) or they should have left it out. I think it was a great character to explore, but they didn't take full advantage of it

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  4. It's kind of ironic to me how so many fans thought of Kurtis and Lara as a item. My first impression of Kurtis was that he was either asexual or possibly gay. There's a robotic or alien quality about him - an expressionlessness - that made me think "this guy isn't human" right from the get go. Admittedly there wasn't too much to go on - a couple of cut scenes - and he hardly revealed himself whilst you were playing as him, but I'd love to know from the source, Murti Schofeld, how he saw Kurtis and whether there was supposed to be sexual tension or just tension between Kurtis and Lara. They remind me more of Luke and Leia than Leia and Han.

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  5. I really liked Kurtis in the game, despite him being so clunky. I could easily imagine him and Lara being an item, or at least coming close to that before parting ways... (or dying for real).

    I recently played the game from start to end, and found his parts of the game to be slow and full of potential. I don't get how he couldn't touch water... I mean... the poor guy had a nervous break down whenever I made him fall into it!

    I would have loved to have had him use his Chirugai Blade and his epic I-lift-doors and I-see-far-away in combat and not just in cutscenes. And rolling... he rolled like a sack of potatoes as compared to Lara's purple bouncy ball :D

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  6. I'm not one of Kurtis' biggest fans, but I can see why others liked him. His role reminded me a lot of Chase Carver's role from the Tomb Raider comics, and I was never big fan of him, either. I didn't like the odd groping scene or the played-up tension, and I never understood his powers, either. Maybe if he had been better developed, I might think differently.

    I could get used to the idea of Lara occasionally teaming up with someone, but I didn't want to play as him in the game. We'll just say I prefer to believe Kurtis dies at the end of the game.

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  7. I think we should see him again. I mean geez, they need to give someone other than Natla a chance to have multiple appearances. XD

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  8. When I first played this, there were pretty much no other dudes in games who I could have a crush on, and at the time Kurtis was definitely my type.

    SPOILER WARNING

    I was heartbroken after the Boaz fight.

    SPOILER OVER

    Now I'm older (and living in a post-Nathan Drake age), my feelings are more complex. Like many others have said, I wish he was more fleshed out, especially at the end. I certainly feel he would be a more interesting character if we knew more about him.

    I agree with Ostercy, above, about him and Lara being more like Luke and Leia than Han and Leia. They're too similar to have any real chemistry.

    I remember reading (in the manual, I think) that he "had a less subtle approach" to Lara, and was "more likely to go in all guns blazing". I remember thinking... What? That's what Lara does! She's not subtle at all!"

    They're incredibly similar, really, so they do feel more like siblings than lovers. They have a connection, but despite that awkward frisking sequence, it just doesn't seem sexual.

    To be honest, I think Amanda Evert is really the only character who I could ever envision as a believable romantic match for Lara.

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