Lara Croft's new rival
by Alan Rose 
{ Mar 6th 2006 at 1:00PM }
We have seen the
enemy in Tomb Raider: Legend, and she is... anorexic! Actually, her name is Amanda Evert, and proportional
similarities aside, she's the intellectual and moral opposite of Lara Croft (kind of like Magneto and Prof. X). It seems Ms. Evert wants to uncover the secrets of a universal mystical belief system inherent in the world's religions, so that everyone can benefit from its teachings. But as we learned in the movies, Lara's not so keen on allowing powerful artifacts or knowledge of this kind to potentially fall into the wrong hands.
Instead of using Barbie for inspiration, I wonder if Crystal Dynamics ever considered modeling actual female athletes like Natalie Coughlin, or even spokesbabe Karima Adebibe. At least go halfsies if you're aiming for next gen realism. It doesn't really look like Miss weak-in-the-knees here is built for tomb raiding. But then again, neither is Lara. These game designers should tune out from G4 and watch a little OLN every once in a while. I happen to know quite a few women who like to play Tomb Raider-style games, but I would imagine even the male demographic must be getting a little tired of the cartoonish aesthetic.
And if you're not, Amanda will be unlockable upon completion of Legend. It would be nice if there were some hidden missions or alternate plots as an additional bonus.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
william @ Mar 6th 2006 1:09PM
hear hear!
Fuzz @ Mar 6th 2006 1:17PM
Ally McBeal Called. She wants her body back.
Scott @ Mar 6th 2006 1:19PM
She's bad because she's covered in tatoos and wears hip-huggers. Oh yeah...she's baaaaad.
Otterpop @ Mar 6th 2006 1:26PM
Someone give that girl a sandwich!
Bluntzman @ Mar 6th 2006 1:33PM
I started wondering who would be able to play her in a movie, a white haired Sandra Bernhard came to mind.
Yikes.
BTW, Hudson Hawk is an awesome movie.
zero2dash @ Mar 6th 2006 1:36PM
"And if you're not, Amanda will be unlockable upon completion of Legend. It would be nice if there were some hidden missions or alternate plots as an additional bonus."
How about an unlockable game that doesn't suck?
Tomb Raider is sooooooo 1990's.
If this game sells better than the last several, I'll be surprised. I got sick of Tomb Raider after giving up on the first one near the end of the game when I realized "this game isn't that good".
Die Lara Croft...die.
leo @ Mar 6th 2006 1:57PM
doesn't that kind of tatto means that she's........ umm.... bangable??
I can't wait for her and lara girl on girl action if you know what I mean...
Kye @ Mar 6th 2006 2:13PM
Just looking at her waist made me woozy.
Then I saw her legs and literally felt nautious.
*he takes another moment to calm his stomach before continuing*...
Being stick thin isn't the definition of being sexy. When will game developers realise this?
What are the meetings like? -
~~~wavy imagination lines~~~
(first guy) "Hey guys we like need a new female lead character, she's gotta be really sexy"
(second guy) "I know! we'll make her so thin she couldn't possibly live for long in the real world" (third guy) "Yeah and like we'll totally give her bigger breasts than ever before!"
(first guy) "You guys are like so smart and in touch with the real world even though you haven't seen the light of day since `89!"
*And so a bunch of nerds who have never seen a real naked human female in the flesh satisfy their needs the only way they know how*
I like sexy women in games. But you have to draw the line somewhere. C'mon now, Chun Li (and just about every other female fighter out there) having size 36 XXX breasts is bad enough, but now this.
What next? Having characters sticking their fingers down their throats half-way through the game in order to keep their weight down? Reduced-fat health packs?
If I were to see this girl in public I'd vomit all over my Tims before I spoke to her. This has got to stop!
*He bangs fist on table and pretends it didn't hurt*
Spamalot @ Mar 6th 2006 2:19PM
I'm getting sick just looking at this emaciated girl.
If she tried to jump or do any sort of acrobatics, she would break both her knees like toothpicks. What were they thinking?
--
Spamalot
www.squatsquat.com
boneyard @ Mar 6th 2006 2:36PM
give Otterpop a star on me please :)
HiroProtagonistak @ Mar 6th 2006 2:43PM
Ya make her a real woman some saggy boobs, stretch marks, four kids by four different dads, a belly button ring, and a sexy Tramp Stamp (a lower back tattoo).
I like my reality very imitation, with lots of silicone enhanced body augmentations.
Franklin @ Mar 6th 2006 3:14PM
I'd hit it.
Jau_Peacecraft @ Mar 6th 2006 5:24PM
what frankie said. She's one of my few tastes... :D
epobirs @ Mar 6th 2006 5:28PM
That layout goes far beyond the tramp stamp and into major psychosis. If you woke up next to her on top of your arm you'd cut it off rather than wake her. If she hadn't cut it off and eaten it already.
If we wanted realistic character models we'd stick to sports games. Lara is as outlandish as ever. Her look has just been updated to reflect the greater aesthetic quality the newer platforms allow. A realtime character model now has ten time more polygons just for the facial surface planes than the entire Lara model int he original Saturn game. When the breasts are no longer defined as four-poly cones they don't have to be so huge to suggest a buxom figure.
Amanda would hardly be the first villainess to have bizarre features. Such has been comic book staples for decades before video games acquired enough detail to do the same. It makes a bad guy more interesting when there are aspects that suggest something is really wrong with this person. Perhaps they aren't even human. A great satire of this is Dr. Girlfriend in the 'Venture Bros.' Looks like a young Jackie Kennedy but has a voice like a cigar smoking man. No explanation of this is ever offered and it makes the character that much more intriguing.
HotShotX @ Mar 6th 2006 8:30PM
You think a red flag would've went up with the devs when someone said "Uh, hey guys, I can see her ribs."
~HotShotX
Mr. Samuel @ Mar 6th 2006 9:48PM
This could be the first time that a bad guy dies of malnutrition before the protagonist can get to him/her.
Her knees creep me out.
random_hugs_all_around @ Mar 6th 2006 10:04PM
Of, course she's evil. If I hadn'd eaten in weeks I'd be evil too.
drcolossus @ Mar 6th 2006 11:17PM
Don't know what you all got against slender babes! I think she looks hot!
Bender @ Mar 7th 2006 1:15AM
This is ridiculous. The author of this post is saying that this girl, and lara, are not built for 'tomb raiding'?
It's a game where you jump inhuman distances, shoot mythical beasts with no recoil from the gun, and unlock fictional relics that do supernatural things and grant super powers.
What character would be realistically 'built' to do that?
Just because a girl is skinny doesn't mean she's helpless!
PSP Games @ Mar 7th 2006 8:43AM
Looks like a good rival buy hey come on nothing ever will touch Lara, if i was animated then i would marry Lara Croft.
PSP Games @ Mar 7th 2006 8:45AM
Looks like a good rival buy hey come on nothing ever will touch Lara, if i was animated then i would marry Lara Croft.
JS @ Mar 7th 2006 10:30AM
LAME! (use cartman AWESOM-O 3000 voice for added emphasis)
IF they can point out a girl that looks like that then I might buy the game, otherwise ill stick to old skool NES games, emulator style.
Merus @ Mar 7th 2006 1:55PM
Maybe she's supposed to be anorexic. Now that I think about it, an anorexic bad guy/girl would be a really cool change of pace.
Then again, that would make Lara a bastion of being beautiful on the inside, which sounds ridiculous. Lara having a personality, even at the 1980's kids cartoons standard. Ha!