Tomb Raider Writer “Working Backwards” in Creating the New Lara Croft

Crystal Dynamic's upcoming Tomb Raider game due next year won't just introduce a whole new story for gamers but will even introduce a "new" Lara Croft. 

Gone are the days when Lara speaks with a sultry British accent full of innuendos, while wearing the most provocative outfit she can get away with in-game. Now, Lara Croft is a younger, tougher, and some cases, a more "mature" version of her former self.

One of the key people to thank for this transformation is Rhianna Pratchett, cinematic writer on the upcoming Tomb Raider reboot.

Pratchett notes that there's a disconnect with the way a character is presented, and how they act during gameplay moments. She mentions that she's solving this in the upcoming reboot by "working backwards."

It's a fairly standard idea in other entertainment mediums, but in games there's often a strange disconnect with the way a character is presented in cutscenes (heroic, quippy, everyone's pal) and the way they act during the gameplay, i.e. mowing down enemies like there's no tomorrow…So how do you solve the problem? Work backwards

Based on her example, Nathan Drake from Sony's Uncharted franchise springs to mind. He's your everyday, charming guy in cutscenes, but once in the game, you're killing off more people than serial killer. 

Pratchett adds that from a narrative perspective, she wanted to make sure that gameplay mechanics "fed back" into Lara's character make-up. So that there's not much of a disconnect between the character and their actions.

I agree with her on this and based on what we've seen from the game so far, Pratchett's on the right track. Let's just hope the actual game delivers on more than the story, no?

Tomb Raider is set for release in March 5, 2013 for the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3. If you want to see the pre-order bonuses and the game's Collector's Edition, click here.

Source: Gamasutra