Remasters and remakes of beloved old games and franchises are a frequent occurrence in the modern video game business. enabling gamers to experience classic games for the first time or fans to relive some of their all-time favorite games. While some remakes go to great lengths and entirely reimagine the game with new material, narrative, and other elements, remasters often have improved visuals and gameplay.
The original Tomb Raider trilogy is the most recent classic game to be remastered. One of the first games to really put a female character front and center was the original Tomb Raider, which came out in 1996. Numerous films, comic books, and video games were produced as a result of these early games’ popularity. On the other hand, there is a lot of internet debate about the latest Tomb Raider remaster. Read on as we analyze the reasons for the internet outrage against the Tomb Raider remake and what people are saying about it. From the first days of Core Design’s innovations to Crystal Dynamics’ current domination, Tomb Raider’s development has been a rollercoaster of developer changes and technology breakthroughs.
Explanation of the Tomb Raider Remaster Dispute
Remastering old-school classic video games has become rather frequent, with developers often having to decide if the original material still accurately depicts the environment they play in. The Mass Effect Legendary Edition serves as an illustration of this. The creators of Mass Effect 2 decided to modify several shots from cutscenes that concentrated on sexualizing specific characters, like Miranda, in addition to updating the gameplay and graphics. A similar dispute has surrounded the Tomb Raider remaster, which was made available on February 14, 2024.
For the Tomb Raider remake, developers Crystal Dynamics have chosen to include a disclaimer at the outset that says the following, rather than eliminating any potentially dangerous content:
“The games in this collection contain offensive depictions of people and cultures rooted in racial and ethnic prejudice. These stereotypes are deeply harmful, inexcusable, and do not align with our values at Crystal Dynamics.
“Rather than removing this content, we have chosen to present it here in its original form, unaltered, in the hopes that we may acknowledge its harmful impact and learn from it.”
Fan reaction to the Tomb Raider remastered backlash
Social media has been overrun by fans arguing over and over whether Crystal Dynamic made the proper choice in leaving all of the stuff in the game rather than deleting it.
“Deeply harmful and inexcusable which is why we are remastering them and reselling them to you,” a gamer criticized the developers.
Another added, “While I prefer this over censoring the games, it is striking that any remaster of a media that is more than 10-15 years old always has to carry this warning.”
Others criticized the developers for admitting that certain aspects of the game are dangerous yet including them in the remaster anyway. It’s ironic that although Crystal Dynamics has denounced the Classic Tomb Raider remasters for allegedly featuring “racist stereotypes” of cannibals, in their reboot trilogy, you murder the father of a local girl who wants to sacrifice her in a savage ceremony.
