Jacqueline Natla is quite obviously the villain in
Tomb Raider: Anniversary. In the 1996 original, the only initial clues to her evil nature resided in a somewhat condescending tone of voice and a far too serious haircut. The opening moments of the
Crystal Dynamics remake, however, show a more conniving woman with flowing blond hair, almost alien facial features and suspiciously long fingers. Still a bit of a condescending hag, though.
"My company has recently turned its focus on the study of ancient artifacts, and I am lead to believe that with the right incentive, you are just the woman to find them for me," she says, addressing one of gaming's most iconic characters,
Lara Croft. "I'm afraid you've been mistaken," comes the decorous reply. "I only play for sport." Ah, but Natla's done her research. "Which is precisely why I've come to you Miss Croft. This is a game you've played before..."
Though trusting the words of a noticeably vile video game character is generally not advised, they're true in this case.
Tomb Raider: Anniversary is indeed a game you've played before, at least if you had the good sense to play
Tomb Raider at some point in your fulfilling life (replace "fulfilling" with "miserable" if you haven't). The reworked puzzles, contemporized controls and modern presentation may set
Anniversary apart from the groundbreaking effort by
Core Design, but beneath those layers lies the same game with the same ideals. Either
Tomb Raider was nearly eleven years ahead of its time, or the games we play just haven't changed all that much.