While I’m on the subject of favorite video games of yesteryear.. let’s talk about Lara for a moment. There are two or three games that for me just define gaming - that justify a thirty-five-year-old spending hours of quality time with what amounts to a child’s toy. Half Life. Grand Theft Auto. Tomb Raider.

Most of all, Tomb Raider.

I thoroughly, completely, utterly dug Tomb Raider: Legend. I still do. Crystal Dynamics managed to pull the charming Ms. Croft back from the precipice, got her into rehab and cleaned her act up. And it was long past time.

After I got about halfway through Legend, I did something I’d never done before: I wrote a fan email to the company. I never got a response (didn’t expect to), but I just felt the compulsive need to say a few words. This is what I wrote to Eidos and Crystal Dynamics, almost a year ago:

To whom it may concern,

As I’ve never written a fan letter for a video game before, I’m not quite sure who best to address this to, but PR seemed like a good start. Please pass this along to whomever you deem appropriate.

I’m a Tomb Raider fan. Have been since the first one, even through the confusing times of Chronicles and the painful times of Angel. Being a Tomb Raider fan is a bit like the relationship with the great girl who subsequently went crazy and took you along for the ride; you remember the early days, how great they were, and even though that seems so long ago now, you can’t let go of the hope that one day things will return to that ideal state. Even when she goes through her “personality of paper” phase (Tomb Raider 3), or her “I need to find myself” phase (Chronicles), or even when she’s drunk and screaming outside of your apartment at 3am about how she’s going to kill herself if DAMMIT you don’t apologize for her latest emo paranoid delusion (Angel of Darkness).

As a fan, you put up with it. You buy the games, because as much as it might hurt at times, you do love the girl. And you just can’t let go of the idea that one day she’ll get her act together again, and that things will be the way they once were. The way you know they can be.

Buying Legend was a real leap of faith for me. I hadn’t really enjoyed a trip into the tombs since Last Revelation in ‘99.. but again, I couldn’t quite let go. So I took a deep breath, drove to Best Buy, prepared to blow another $50 on a game I’d hate, and gave it another go. I brought it home, booted it up, checked it out.

And was simply blown away.

THIS is the girl I fell in love with - sexy, sober, sane, and together. It’s been so long, but I knew she was still there somewhere. I’m currently at the end of Kazakhstan, still waiting for the game to turn bad, still being pleasantly disappointed as it just keeps getting better and better. It’s the good old days, all over again.

Legend isn’t perfect, but it’s damned close. The sound is beautiful, the gameplay is smooth, the visuals are terrific, even the writing is good. You’ve finally tamed that damned camera (eliminating the sudden fixed perspective in tight spots). The controls are intuitive for a change. And Lara is actually RAIDING TOMBS, which she seemed to forget how to do back when she was going through her moody Goth phase last time. A few tweaks to that beauty engine and some larger levels, and you’ve got Game Of The Year potential in Tomb Raider 8.

So thank you, Eidos and Crystal Dynamics. Thank you for restoring and validating my faith in the Tomb Raider game series. You’ve reminded me once again why it’s so hard to let go of the girl I love.

Keep up the great work. I’m looking forward to early reserving TR8.

My best,

Rob

Now I dunno if you’ve heard - or even care - but Eidos has a kickass planned Tomb Raider 8, due out in May. They’ve remade the 1996 original, using an enhanced TRL engine, to be called “Tomb Raider: Anniversary“. Natla. The Lost Valley. The Cistern. Even the T-Rex!

Man, I am so camping for this one. Just the idea of the original game updated to Legend quality has got me going. Lara’s had a rough decade, but at least she cleans up well.. and will now likely continue stringing me along easily into my forties.

Posted by Rob on Thursday, March 8th, 2007 at 12:22 pm.