PC Gamer: Every Version of Lara, Ranked by Lara-ness

[hanselthecaretaker]

Tomb Raider: Every version of Lara Croft, ranked by Lara-ness

Lara Croft is one of the most iconic gaming heroes of all time, with a career spanning three decades. But which is the one true Lara?

www.pcgamer.com

In the words of B-Cell, Hello my friends, let’s discuss.

My vote easily goes for her TR: Anniversary incarnation, which I feel is classic Lara honed to the T in Croft. Smart, well-rendered, and sexy, with just the right amount of classy sass.

 

[BrawlMan]

I vote for the anniversary version too. Just a heads up, I was never that big a fan of tomb raider. I played the original trilogy back in the PS1 days, and I play the anniversary version at a friends. other than that I was never into the series or the character that much. With the reboot done, I hope they can bring it back to classic Lara cuz she is more interesting then reboot Lara. Either that or a crossover with Wonder Woman.

 

[Chimpzy]

Any Lara whose chest beefers contain more than a dozen polygons is not my Lara.

 

[Worgen]

This is the best version.

Oh, or this.

 

[Adam Jensen]

Tomb Raider: Every version of Lara Croft, ranked by Lara-ness

Lara Croft is one of the most iconic gaming heroes of all time, with a career spanning three decades. But which is the one true Lara?

www.pcgamer.com

In the words of B-Cell, let’s discuss.

My vote easily goes for her TR: Anniversary incarnation, which I feel is classic Lara honed to the T in Croft. Smart, well-rendered, and sexy, with just the right amount of classy sass.

Legend, Anniversary and Underworld is basically one Lara. I like her the best. She's fun. Yeah, sometimes she does things that are borderline sociopathic, but she's not really a sociopath. She's an archetype of an action hero that sadly almost doesn't exist anymore.

Do your best to never get involved with someone like that in real life, though. I had the (mis)fortune of being involved once with a highly educated and intelligent adrenaline junky who I met at the gym. So much fun at first, but it's just not sustainable. Stay away.

 

[CriticalGaming]

I like Reboot lara the best because she feels the most like a real person. Even if she has incredible "Dumbitch" moments. Ya'll can not like the reboots all you want and the 3rd definitely falls apart, but i still liked them and had more fun with those games than any other tomb raiders ever before. So she gets my vote and itll probably be the only vote for her lol.

 

[happyninja42]

I like Reboot lara the best because she feels the most like a real person. Even if she has incredible "Dumbitch" moments. Ya'll can not like the reboots all you want and the 3rd definitely falls apart, but i still liked them and had more fun with those games than any other tomb raiders ever before. So she gets my vote and itll probably be the only vote for her lol.

I have no problem with Reboot Croft's design, and in fact I prefer it. I just didn't like the writing and structure of the story they put her in, at least in the first game. Can't speak on 2&3, never played them, as Reboot 1 annoyed me too much to want to pay for more of the same.

 

[CriticalGaming]

I have no problem with Reboot Croft's design, and in fact I prefer it. I just didn't like the writing and structure of the story they put her in, at least in the first game. Can't speak on 2&3, never played them, as Reboot 1 annoyed me too much to want to pay for more of the same.

Honestly I think she peaks in two, but everything falls apart in 3. Two is the best of the series debatably.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I like Reboot lara the best because she feels the most like a real person. Even if she has incredible "Dumbitch" moments. Ya'll can not like the reboots all you want and the 3rd definitely falls apart, but i still liked them and had more fun with those games than any other tomb raiders ever before. So she gets my vote and itll probably be the only vote for her lol.

The games themselves are fine (haven't played 3), but I hate their version of Lara.

 

[happyninja42]

Honestly I think she peaks in two, but everything falls apart in 3. Two is the best of the series debatably.

Yeah, I remember seeing a trailer for....the one with Shadow in the title? I think that was the second one? Anyway, she's in a doctor's office, showing clear signs of PTSD, while they flash cut to scenes from the game, and her ordeal. I liked the vibe that implied for the game? But, I just didn't feel too inspired to pay money for a sequel to a game I only marginally enjoyed. Like, very few games make me genuinely angry due to the game design/writing/etc, but the TR reboot was one of them. I mean, the number of people who sacrificial died so that Lara could be motivated to go on, got so silly, that even one of the other characters in the GAME remarked on it. And I'm like, ok game, you're lampshading your own tropes...that's not smart writing, that's just pointing out bad writing. Please do better? No? Ok then I guess I'll just....be annoyed.

 

[happyninja42]

The games themselves are fine (haven't played 3), but I hate their version of Lara.

What about her don't you like? The actual physical design, or the personality/motivations they gave her?

 

[CriticalGaming]

Yeah, I remember seeing a trailer for....the one with Shadow in the title? I think that was the second one? Anyway, she's in a doctor's office, showing clear signs of PTSD, while they flash cut to scenes from the game, and her ordeal. I liked the vibe that implied for the game? But, I just didn't feel too inspired to pay money for a sequel to a game I only marginally enjoyed. Like, very few games make me genuinely angry due to the game design/writing/etc, but the TR reboot was one of them. I mean, the number of people who sacrificial died so that Lara could be motivated to go on, got so silly, that even one of the other characters in the GAME remarked on it. And I'm like, ok game, you're lampshading your own tropes...that's not smart writing, that's just pointing out bad writing. Please do better? No? Ok then I guess I'll just....be annoyed.

To be fair, you can get all three games for like 25 bucks these days. Steam regularly sells the second game (rise of the tomb raider) for like $4. So it's not a big deal to give it a chance. But then again, if you already aren't digging the first reboot, you probably aren't going to dig the rest of them, which is fair.

 

[Hawki]

I can't really comment - the list is pretty bizzare, in that it lists individual games, rather than individual Laras.

I mean, here's the wiki Lara list:

Lara Croft (Original Timeline)

For Lara Croft in other continuities, see Lara Croft disambiguation page Ah, she was never one for diplomacy, Lara. But she certainly knew how to paint the town Red.Charles Kane Lara Croft is an English archaeologist and Tomb Raider. After surviving a plane crash at the age of 21, Lara becomes...

tombraider.fandom.com

Lara Croft (Legend Timeline)

For Lara Croft in other continuities, see Lara Croft disambiguation page Lara Croft, 11th Countess of Abbingdon[3], is an English archaeologist, explorer, and the protagonist of Crystal Dynamics' first reboot timeline (Legend Timeline) of Tomb Raider video games. Unlike her original series...

tombraider.fandom.com

Lara Croft (Survivor Timeline)

For the different incarnations of Lara Croft, featured in other continuities, see the Lara Croft disambiguation page Lara Croft is an English archaeologist and the protagonist of Crystal Dynamics' second reboot timeline. Unlike other timelines, Lara is in the formative years of her career...

tombraider.fandom.com

Lara Croft (Comic Timeline)

For Lara Croft in other continuities, see Lara Croft disambiguation page Lara Croft is an English archaeologist and tomb raider, appearing in the comic series created by Top Cow Productions and published by Image Comics. The Medusa Mask (Issues 1-4) The Merlin Stone (Issues 5-6) The Eye of...

tombraider.fandom.com

Lara Croft (Journeys Timeline)

For Lara Croft in other continuities, see Lara Croft disambiguation page Lara Croft, English Archaeologist and Tomb Raider, as she appeared in the standalone, Journeys series of comics by Top Cow. In 1989, Lara surprises her mentor Myles and arrives to him in a sealed box, but they are soon...

tombraider.fandom.com

Lara Croft (Animated Timeline)

For Lara Croft in other continuities, see Lara Croft disambiguation page Lara Croft in an English Archaeologist and Tomb Raider. This page documents her iteration in the RE\Visioned animated series. Lara attended Croft Academy, a school that was run by her family. While there she took the Dagger...

tombraider.fandom.com

Lara Croft (2001 Movie Timeline)

For Lara Croft in other continuities, see Lara Croft disambiguation page "Everything lost is meant to be found" - Lara Croft Lady Lara Croft is the daughter of the late Richard Croft and Lady Croft, the Earl and Countess of Abbington. Lara Croft is a British aristocrat, millionaire and tomb...

tombraider.fandom.com

Lara Croft (2018 Movie Timeline)

For Lara Croft in other continuities, see Lara Croft disambiguation page. Lara Croft is the main protagonist of the 2018 reboot of the Tomb Raider film series, portrayed by Swedish actress Alicia Vikander. Lara trains in a gym, where she has quite a serious fight with another member. Lara loses...

tombraider.fandom.com

And of those, I can only really say that Vikander>Jolie.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I can definitely say I dislike reboot Lara the most, but I can't say I like any of the other Lara's that much either. I don't think Lara Croft has ever had an incarnation that moved beyond sexy player avatar in the classic games, and reboot Lara was just generic female hero character. After the third (classic) game it seems nobody really knew what direction to take this character in, and the reboot games likewise didn't.

Actually I think I like that one cross-over Lara Croft the best, where she's together with Wonder Woman, but that's more just Stjepan Sejic's charming artstyle more than anything else.

 

[happyninja42]

To be fair, you can get all three games for like 25 bucks these days. Steam regularly sells the second game (rise of the tomb raider) for like $4. So it's not a big deal to give it a chance. But then again, if you already aren't digging the first reboot, you probably aren't going to dig the rest of them, which is fair.

I wanted to like it. I was never a huge TR fan back in the day, so I didn't have any sacred cow attachment to her old version. And I freely admit I'm a huge sucker for stories of people going up against adversity, and finding inner strength to become more than what they were. That's like catnip for me. But I still have to enjoy the overall story structure and writing, and that's where the reboot lost me. I might pick them up on a mega sale or something, but I'm not really in a rush for it. I've got 300 games in my steam library, half of which I haven't played and just bought for another day. No need to put another one on the digital shelf if I don't have to. xD

 

[Trunkage]

In the words of B-Cell, let's discuss

You didn't call me friend like B-Cell. I'm not discussing anything

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

You didn't call me friend like B-Cell. I'm not discussing anything

Astute observation! OP fixed.

 

[Trunkage]

Astute observation! OP fixed.

Thanks, now I can discuss...

I dont care. The difference between Jolie and Vikander shows the difference between old and new TR. Both are valid and have their place. I stayed with new TR longer than old if that counts?

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

What about her don't you like? The actual physical design, or the personality/motivations they gave her?

Everything about the character annoys me. The pant-pant delivery from the voice actress, the tediously constant worrying and complaining, the Messiah Complex that apparently drives everything she HAS to do, the generic design that makes her look like every other female game protagonist. It's not that I liked the original Lara very much to begin with but 1) I had no reason to dislike her either and 2) she was distinctive to at least look like she had a personality. Chiefly, she didn't get in the way of my entertainment. New Lara just mopes through everything and it feels so antithetical to how I feel playing these games that it irritates me and takes me out. Like Max "Woe Is Me" Payne in Max Does Brazil.

 

[Ezekiel]

Anniversary.

I hated the new Lara Laura too. I'd kill for a classic Tomb Raider with that old sense of peaceful isolation and tight puzzle platforming improved by the advancements and polish of the last twenty years of gaming. I'd prefer almost no talking or cutscenes, much like Lara Croft GO. A stylized sort of fantasy reality with maybe one third the budget of Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

I hope SOME kind of change is in order after Shadow's underperformance.