Tomb Raider Anniversary

Tomb Raider Anniversary: blog tasks

Language and Audience

Analyse the game cover for Tomb Raider Anniversary (above).

1) How does the cover communicate the genre of the game?

The weapons such as the gun suggests the action genre of the game. The colour theme is quite dusky but also golden and the background the protagonist is standing in suggests a quest; linking to the adventure genre. 

2) How does the pose and costume of the character appeal to primarily male audiences?

The protagonist is wearing revealing clothes which links to Mulvey's idea of the male gaze. The character is also postured in a way audience can see her figure which is a way to market her; attract male audiences to purchase the game. 

3) How might the cover be read as empowering for female gamers?

It could be seen as empowering as you don't see a female protagonists in video games often and this was a new introduction to females which could be seen as something that inspires women in real life. Moreover, the game is an action and adventure genre which people stereotypically do not tend to associate with women. 

Gameplay analysis

Watch the following gameplay clips again:

1) What does the gameplay for Tomb Raider Anniversary involve?

The gameplay offers a third person perspective of the game where you also get to control the moves the protagonist in the game makes.  

2) Write an analysis of the media language choices in the construction of the game: e.g. genre, narrative, mise-en-scene, camera shots etc.

Mise-en-scene; first of all looking at Lara Croft's costume it is very revealing and figure hugging and the purpose of this is to attract male audiences and make her look sexually appealing for their pleasures whilst playing the game. You can also see intertextuality in the game as there are similarities to other action and adventure theme media texts; an example would be Indiana Jones. 

3) Analyse the clips for audience pleasures, applying audience theory and considering media effects.

Action and enigma; mystery and fighting
Diversion; getting hooked into the game and feeling like you're in the game world yourself.

Representations

Read this NME feature on the evolution of the character of Lara Croft. Answer the following questions:

1) Note the statistics in the opening paragraph.

-Tomb Raider has sold over 58 million video game units worldwide
-Lara Croft has been on the cover of 1,100 magazine covers

2) How does the article describe the cultural change in society and the media since the early 00s?

The article is based on women's equality and how it has entirely changed over time. Women are now less objectified to please the male eye and there are more movements and campaigns designed to support women in recent years. 

3) How was the original 1996 Lara Croft received by audiences and critics?

Many females at the time were inspired due to the fact that Lara was the first female protagonist in a video game.

4) What did the 2013 re-launch do differently – and how successful was it?

In the 2013 relaunch, Lara Croft was given an entirely new look as she was shown to be more fitting of her environment and wore clothes that realistically suited her character and the tasks she had to handle rather than just looking sexually appealing. 

5) How is ‘woke Lara’ defined in the conclusion of the feature?

The woke Lara Croft is seen as lightness, intelligence, recklessness, courage, physical ability.

Now read this feature – Tomb Raider’s Lara Croft: feminist or femme fatale? 

1) Why is Lara Croft considered a “polarising figure among gamers”?

It was seen to be standard to use features a female would usually hold in order for video gamers to be able to understand if the character they're playing as is male or female.

2) How did the limitations of game construction in the 1990s help to establish the way female characters were animated?

Lara's appearance being heavily sexualised was due to a drawback from the early days of video game development as women were hard to distinguish from men on 32 bit consoles.

3) Why were Lara Croft’s physical attributes emphasised in the original games?

Her body features were made to sexually attract male gamers; male gaze. 

4) How does Anita Sarkeesian describe Lara Croft?

She says that Lara Croft promotes sexualisation and objectification of women. 

5) Why has Lara Croft’s appearance and characterisation changed over time?

Her characterisation has changed over the years as more women have become interested in videogames and they wanted to make it more relatable and less sexist for their audiences.

Industries

1) Why is Lara Croft such an iconic figure in the gaming industry?

She's an iconic figure because she's the first female protagonist in the videogame industry and has also become a large success by going into other media industries. 

2) What products and spin-offs have featured Lara Croft or the Tomb Raider brand?

There have been films created inspired by the game with Angelina Jolie playing the role of the protagonist. 

3) Why might Lara Croft be considered a postmodern icon?

She'd be considered as a postmodern character as she represents a strong female character and was the first to do so in the videogames industry. As a fictional character, she's even featured on magazine covers which shows how popular and influential she has been. 

4) Why is Tomb Raider Anniversary a 'case study in conglomerate ownership'?

Because Tomb Raider started off as a videogame and now has it's own movie and merchandise and so on...