Toby Gard off again with Lara, Crystal Dynamics

Laser Eyes not included?

Different glasses would make a big difference, but yeah. Creeper to the max.

Different face would make a big difference, but yeah. Creeper to the max.

fixed.

he looks like a Ninja Turtle.... a really pale one

He's just Smeagol in his happier, hobbiter days.

Yeah, when I look at him I just think "Linkin Park fan"


By the way, what is my avatar showing up as?

a guy who looks like that would definitely be the kind to make his games protagonist a huge chested femme fatale

Lol, ok, it's actually Jack Black at the VMA's cosplaying as the guy from Brutal Legend with Kanye west's face.

Her money?

Gameplay is more like it. Tomb Raider's strength is absolutely NOT the character or the story. In fact, both of those are quite flimsy. Huge-titted, narrow-waisted chick with guns is so cliche and overused it hurts now.

What the next Tomb Raider really needs is a huge focus on level design. Having studied a lot of what Crystal Dynamics did with Underworld, the repeating themes seem to be Underworld's focus on 1) Tech, getting Lara onto the 360/PS3, which also leads into 2) Art.

They wanted Underworld to look gorgeous and use the technology to do so. Lindstrom even admitted in his post mortem that pursuing having Underworld looking so good became a big pitfall in itself, because there just wasn't enough time with all of the complications that arose during development.

I have hope that the next Tomb Raider game could be really great! Crystal now understands the tech and knows the engine better, their artists are used to making HD assets to be used in the engine, and hopefully it all comes together in the next title with a major push for level design.

Because what a game looks like does not dictate fun, but rather how it plays. And play comes through exploration and puzzle solving, both of which fall under the design umbrella.

I don't think Gard leaving is the end of the world for Lara, as long as Crystal can do a major push for incredible level and puzzle design, the next Tomb Raider should have no trouble sailing past Underworld in terms of "quality".

But it used to be, thanks to Toby Gard's original design, from which the series has strayed farther and farther as the series has continued.

My only point is that Gard seems to be the only person on their team who doesn't want to exploit the character design, who's trying to make her more than just a pretty face to put on the cover. Actually that's why he originally left the company, he didn't agree with Lara being oversexualized.

But thanks for missing my point and going off on a tangent about level design.