Square Enix has released a new trailer for the new Tomb Raider game, and it's super cringeworthy. The video is made up of short clips of in-game action, with a narration told in multiple voices. Except it's as if each speaker is talking from Lara's point of view. “When I washed up on the island,” a woman starts. “My life as I knew it was over,” a man continues. And so on, with a very carefully selected range of genders and races.
Of course, normally I would be rejoicing at the inclusion of female gamers and gamers of races other than white (or at least actors chosen to pretend to be gamers), but something about this is a bit off. And it's not just that the Scottish guy seems to be taking it a little too seriously, either.
The point here is quite obviously to demonstrate that this is a game for both men and women, and not only that but that men and women can both play while associating themselves with Lara, playing as her. For context, remember that executive producer Ron Rosenberg reportedly told Kotaku that “When people play Lara, they don't really project themselves into the character. They're more like 'I want to protect her'.”
Given the response to that little PR slip, it's no wonder Square Enix is trying to push this idea of identifying with Lara. But we don't see this kind of trailer with other games, and in the end it just feels incredibly forced.
