The Lara Croft Redesign

[Alandoril]

The redesign is nothing but an improvement. Much more relatable as a character and she actually looks human.

 

[Hollock]

She desperately needed a redesign. Her old look wasn't classic, it was stale. And her outfit is way more reminiscent of original tomb raider than underworlds costume.

 

[PeterDawson]

I like the new look, she actually looks remotely human now. Really this should of been done ages ago.

 

[Battenbergcake]

Lol Sheva?

I mean c'mon their nearly exact.

 

[Macgyvercas]

I think the game looks interest, and this is coming from someone who has played and beaten all the Tomb Raider games multiple times. The only thing I'm slightly miffed about is the lack of twin pistols. I mean, come on, those are her trademark! I know it fits the story not to have them, so I'll just have to go along with that. Maybe she'll get them in a cutscene at the end...

 

[HellbirdIV]

Boobs are too small. There, I said it D:

Looks kinda like Zoey from L4D, to be honest. So I dunno.

 

[DaMullet]

Hmm, I never played much Lara Croft to be honest, but... to me this look like Lara Croft who took a few punches to the face - I don't quite get what the 'zomg! redesign!' thing is about.

Aside from the busted lips/nose/forehead... what exactly is so different from the 'old' Lara Croft? Is the fact that she's anatomically correct and not wearing short-shorts that big of a deal?

If you put all the different Lara's in a line, this new design would the one that doesn't look anything like the others.

She has no ass.

She has no chest.

She barely has any hips.

If it weren't for the lips, you'd have a hard time telling it was a woman and not just a very lean man.

She has no self-confidence. She doesn't look determined or prepared or in charge of anything, much less being a hot, smart, ass-kicker. She looks like she's just ready to go back and cry in her dorm room over a cup of express-o , not like she's ready to goo retrieve the most valuable treasures the world has ever known.

Hell, though we obviously don't have the game yet, I'd put this up there with the level of character destruction that went on in Metroid: Other M.

At least Samus still looked like a woman.

I mean, what kind of message are the giving to women? In order to be a hero you need to look like/be a guy?

Hey, while we're on this track let's do some other 'realistic' improvements to some characters.

Take the shades off of Duke Nukem, because no one where shades in dark areas
Cut Dante's hair and dye it black because guys don't want old grey hair!
Have Mario suffer a concussion every time he hits a block

Ugh....

Seriously... if I wanted realism I would GO OUT SIDE!! Plenty of 'realism' there!

 

[Vrex360]

I like this look, it's tough and strong and she looks notably female and feminine without being exaggerated. I think it's good, much more mature I think.
That said, I think Extra Credits have a point, Lara has been gaming's biggest sex symbol for so long, it seems kind of strange to try to change her looks now at such a late stage. But still, in this instance, I definetly prefer 'New Lara' to 'Lara Classic' as these things go.

That said, I've never actually played any Tomb Raider games, so my opinion on this whole matter could be invalid anyway, who knows.

 

[Helios_(DEL)]

So many of you may know my opinion on the new Lara Croft "design". Which for those still unaware, goes a little something like this......

While re-reading my Tomb Raider issue of Game Informer today, I a though occured to me. My mother loves Tomb Raider - she has beaten every single one multiple times, except for the ones on the 360 (because I own the only 360 in the house). She still plays some of the older ones on PC to this day. And I wondered what she, a long time Tomb Raider and Lara Croft fan would think of the design.

So I took my magazine and showed her the cover with the mug-shot of Lara on it (which has no Tomb Raider related give-aways on it) and asked her what she thought of it, and who she thought it was.

She didn't know. I then turned and flipped to the full-body shot in the magazine, taking care to cover her name and the paragraph title. I asked again. She still didn't know. Then I showed her the the title of the article, and that is was Lara Croft she had been looking at.
man it looks like a more realistic take of lara and a downsize in boobage it looks fine
Her first response was "That doesn't look anything like Lara Croft at all. It looks like a completely different character from a completely different game."

Her next response was "Why does she look like that?" to which I gave the gave the answer of the game is supposed to be a sort of re-start for the series, and that they wanted to make her look more "grounded" and "realistic".

"But she isn't supposed to be "realistic". She is supposed to be a fearless, beautiful treasure hunter who goes anywhere and does pretty much anything. This Lara looks like a random, average college student who looks like she'd shit herself at the sight of a large dog, much less having to fight a pack of wolves moments into her first adventure. If they're trying to "fix" the series, why would they mess with the part that really never had anything "wrong" with it?"

I shrugged; I don't have an answer to that. Of course the point was driven even further home when after I shrugged she added "And I'm not going to lie; from that mugshot, if it wasn't for the lips, you wouldn't be able to tell if that was a man or a woman. Lara always had way more feminine features than that."

Its just one example, but I think it makes the point pretty clearly; when someone who loves the games and has played pretty much on releases ever since they came out cannot recognize the main character on sight, but rather has to be told and shown who it is, you've gone too far. For all intents on purposes, it might as well be a different character.

And they don't even have the same out that the new Devil May Cry Dante does, in that the "new" Dante will wind up looking more like the "old" Dante by the end of the new game, since its supposed to explain how he wound up like that.

Unless Lara gets some serious plastic surgery, "new" ain't looking like "old" ever again.

 

[Firia]

Of course the point was driven even further home when after I shrugged she added "And I'm not going to lie; from that mugshot, if it wasn't for the lips, you wouldn't be able to tell if that was a man or a woman. Lara always had way more feminine features than that."

Its just one example, but I think it makes the point pretty clearly; when someone who loves the games and has played pretty much on releases ever since they came out cannot recognize the main character on sight, but rather has to be told and shown who it is, you've gone too far. For all intents on purposes, it might as well be a different character.


Unless Lara gets some serious plastic surgery, "new" ain't looking like "old" ever again.

I think looks are exactly why the redesign are going the way they are. The company knows the way Lara has been marketed, and how that marketing has effected the industry and women in and around that industry. They're going for an over haul of that image, and the first look we have is her physical features.

New Lara is not Old Lara. I support what the folks out at... Eideos I think it is, I support what they're trying to do. Even though Lara is supposed to be a brazen fearless woman that stands up to hidden dangers, past marketing has also turned her into a sex idol. This is a step away from that, and I can support that.

I'm a tomboy lesbian, and this new Lara is actually a character ~I~ feel excited about. I played Tomb Raider 1 and 2 on the ps1, and I was thrilled with the initial strong woman. But then her boobs kept getting bigger, and her sex getting louder (in a manner of speaking). Now, someone at Eideos noticed that, and realized that despite all intentions, she isn't those positive things. Just a play idol of the sex-side of gaming now.

I'm not going to berate the new features of the redesigned Lara. Honestly, if I knew a girl with that body, and fierce will she seems to have about her, I'd worship the lady. Old Lara? Never.

 

[DaMullet]

Lol Sheva?

I mean c'mon their nearly exact.

Yeah, they are exactly the same.... This is so stupid... I'm so angry right now.

Last time I checked, people don't come in cookie cutter configurations. Forcing this ideal, AGAIN, makes me sick. If you want to make a female lead who is """"REALISTIC"""" then that woman should be the average, which is 5'3" and 164lbs and wears a size 14. (-ish) I would LOVE to see a game make that character!

 

[The_ModeRazor]

The idea to give her more reasonable clothes and a slightly more plausible physique actually seems like a good one to me.
But... why did they change her face? I don't get it. They should correct that one, and I'm happy as shit.

 

[mr_pants66]

i really do like this redesign, for the first time in years i have wanted to play a Lara croft game. The new Lara is better than the old one in every way, i think more video game females should look more real like this.

 

[Stabby Joe]

Is she at least still British?

 

[northeast rower]

I thought she looked fairly good. Like, oddly sexy for concept art...

 

[GrizzlerBorno]

I think whoever is making this game....should release a proper photo already! I'm sure a lot of people will warm up to the re-design if Lara could stop bleeding like a muddy mofo for just one second. Bleeding does not make you "more gritty".

 

[Moeez]

I asked my sister, and she got it right away. My mom was as flabbergasted as yours, though.

So, it seems for the mainstream non-gaming crowd, she doesn't look much like the typical Lara Croft image. But among gamers, you can notice a brunette with longish hair, boots, brown trousers, holsters, and sporting weapons would be Lara Croft.

 

[RelexCryo]

snip...

Never said it was more realistic. I am pointing out that the current design is not realistic either. The design looks more childlike than strong. How is that empowering?

Who the hell is saying anything about empowering?! Why are you fixating on this?

Though, in response; if you really see her body as "childlike", there is something deeply fucking wrong with you, and by all means, yes, the new Lara certainly would seem more "empowering" for women than the silicon filled, collagen injected, half-naked Lara of past.

You want a realistic design? Give her the body of the strength trainer she supposedly was/is. Give her strong, toned, muscles. Giant looking boobs would also inevitably go with this body, simply because that is realiistic.

She doesn't need to be strong. For fuck's sake, look at some female athletes (not body builders).

Spoiler

Lolo Jones

Nastia Liukin

Amanda Beard

Mia Hamm

All incredibly athletic and physically capable women, all of which match up pretty well with the new Lara. To give her more muscle mass would make her impractical for endurance and agility.

Eh, I thought about it, and I decided you are probably right- assuming they want to fundamentally change the gameplay to pure acrobatic parkour, her new design is probably better.