I remember drawing this: It was around the release of Angel of Darkness and, from an outside perspective, I could see what was trying to accomplished with the presence of Kurtis Trent: Another playable character in Lara's universe - no doubt in an attempt to pull in some female gamers.
Perhaps it is fitting that the only Tomb Raider game I have is Angel of Darkness - because I'm really fascinated by the presence of Mr. Trent. After having some many Tomb Raider games based around this one character, Lara, we finally get to see an equivalent. We have another playable character moving in on Lara's turf of being an action hero(ine) and looking awesome whilst doing it. He even gets to do the impossible in having some sort of relationship with the seemingly untouchable Miss Croft.
But most of all, what fascinates me most about Trent is that the idea turned out be a huge failure: Aside from the fact that Angel of Darkness was a flop and the proposed trilogy never went ahead, the fact that Trent has inspired some contempt among Tomb Raider fans says a lot - not to mention the fact that the character has never been seen since. I do like the idea of introducing some new to the Tomb Raider formula and to have something of a mirror/partner/lover to Lara but it would seem that no one else would think so. What, did the idea of controlling someone in a Tomb Raider game who isn't Lara just simply unacceptable for her legions of fans? Oh well....
Having another playable character in a Tomb Raider game is like having another playable character in Halo other than Master Chief, or playing Mass Effect without Sheppard, or playing Zelda without Link!!! People be like WTF??? There is of course exceptions, such as Halo Reach which is set beforehand, and Lara Croft: Guardian of Light, which I have to say is one of the best co-op games in existence!!! :D
ReplyDelete