E3 2011: Recipe for Rebooting Tomb Raider

Lara Croft has never been much more than a giant pair of boobs that pushes boulders and shoots endangered animals. While her Tomb Raider series is one of the longest-running and most popular franchises in gaming, it was time for a change after nine similar outings. I've seen where developer Crystal Dynamics is taking this iconic character, and I feel as excited about Tomb Raider now as I was when I played Lara's first adventure 15 years ago.

This origin story tells the tale of how Lara Croft developed her tomb raiding skills. Turns out it wasn't by choice -- she was shipwrecked on a hostile island off the coast of Japan at the age of 21, left to fend for herself against the elements and unfriendly natives. Tomb Raider begins with Lara waking up after the wreck to find herself strung upside down in a dank cave. By rocking the analog stick of your controller back and forth you can get her swinging into a lit flame that will burn the rope and set her free. It is immediately apparent that this isn't the Tomb Raider we've become (perhaps too) familiar with over the years.

So what steps is Crystal Dynamics taking to reinvent Tomb Raider?

Add Some Survival Horror: Lara is fighting for her survival on an inhospitable island. She's not the icy, composed heroine we've controlled in the past -- this is a young woman scared out of her mind. You feel her every grunt, strain, and gasp. When she is in tight quarters, the camera zooms in right behind her shoulder to make you feel more claustrophobic. You are going to feel uneasy, unsure of what might be waiting around the next corner or sneaking up behind you.

Much like Resident Evil 4 or Dead Space, Lara can be killed in a variety of gruesome, scripted ways. During a battle with a wolf that has her pinned down, if you don't fight it off, the beast will chomp her jugular and snap her neck.

Give Lara a Heart: That wolf I mentioned? Lara feels bad if she ends up killing it. "Sorry, it was me or you," she apologized after stabbing the canine to death. This is pretty different than the old Lara that would mercilessly unload several clips into tigers, panthers, and T-rexes (that are presumably only defending their territory) while doing cartwheels around the room.

Lara has never looked or sounded better than she does here. Her voice and facial animations are terrific, creating a character you instantly sympathize with and want to help. There are no health meters or weapon icons on screen most of the time, making for a very cinematic experience.

Sprinkle Some RPG Elements: Tomb Raider will use a base camp system as Lara's home base or hub world. Here she can upgrade and build new gear, as well as purchase new survival skills (although I'm not yet sure what she'll use for currency). From her base camp, she can revisit previous levels to look for items and reach areas previously inaccessible, much like Metroidvania games.

Note that Tomb Raider is not an open-world game. Lara can only fast travel backwards, not forwards.

Throw In Some Lost: Lara is shipwrecked on a strange island and needs to get to a radio tower to broadcast a distress signal. Causing her trouble are some seriously nasty natives. Sound familiar?

Add a Little Assassin's Creed: Lara can scramble up walls and dart over rooftops with moves that remind me a lot of Ezio. She also has an ability like Assassin's Creed's "eagle vision" that highlights important objects in the environment.

Give Lara Organic Puzzles that Make Sense: Don't expect her to be pushing boulders three times her size or dragging a ton of solid rock around to flip a switch. Tomb Raider's puzzles should make more sense, be more realistic. Examples I've seen so far include fire, water, cloth, and weight. Lara can light torches to help her see in the dark, but they'll be extinguished if you get them wet. She can set a long piece of cloth on fire that eventually eats its way to out-of-reach explosives. Boxes can be set aflame and then sent floating downstream toward explosives that might open up a new path.

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With last year's Lara Croft & the Guardian of Light and now this new Tomb Raider, Crystal Dynamics is doing an impressive job making Lara Croft relevant again. Of the many great E3 2011 games I've seen so far, Tomb Raider is my favorite.

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