The Bathtub

Just a kid with a predilection for Japanese developed games. Slowly coming to the realisation that I'll have to write proper reviews if I want to get into the industry and it saddens me. I write with passion at my side and a tendency to frown at objective writing. The games of today are meant to be enjoyed, which is wholly subjective, and to stretch towards objectivity limits the potential discussion of games. Watch this space for my eventual forays into zines and an official website unrolling.

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Tomb Raider: Underworld and Unexpected Emotional Resonance

The saddest moment of the gaming year in 2011 happened to me only recently. It didn’t happen because of any marvellous writing, fascinating character drama, or a touching love story. I wasn’t even invested in the game’s world to feel anything nearing an emotional response, I thought. It didn’t happen during a cutscene and it didn’t happen during gameplay. It happened at the very beginning of the game just after the title screen had popped up and I pressed “Start”.

Croft’s Estate is engulfed in a fiery explosion and burns to the ground at the beginning of Tomb Raider: Underworld. This moment, that happens in only a few seconds, has become one of the saddest moments I’ve ever experienced in a video game. All those afternoons in my youth, oh so long ago, where I spent hours traipsing through Lara’s garden and completing the obstacle course out the back. Running into her house and diving into the pool from on top of the diving board. Walking into her kitchen and locking the creepy butler away in the freezer while I continued my exploration of such an evocative place. All of it, gone. Completely destroyed outside of my control, utterly ruined before I had even begun the game proper.

Has there ever been a game before or since that has so thoroughly explored and maintained a consistent space? With so much effort and resources poured into writing strong characters and drama in video games, and failing dramatically at them so often, I feel that there’s an unimaginable amount of emotional resonance in taking the time to develop spaces in video games. By the time Tomb Raider: Underworld was released, the gaming world had gotten used to the idea of Lara’s home being a continuous, reoccurring element of the franchise. It had become a character as distinct and memorable as Lara herself and Crystal Dynamics decision to completely obliterate it at the very beginning of Underworld demonstrates a developer intensely aware of its legacy. I can’t help but admire such tenacity even if it completely broke my heart.

“Welcome back to my humble abode.” Lara, I miss it already.