golguin

How about people just stop being offended for others? The white knights who have come out because of this game are really pretty disgusting. I read the IGN review by Keza MacDonald and I feel that I've come to know a bit of what she's about by the things she talks about on podcasts. She seems pretty easy going and she loves Dark Souls so I trust her opinion on the game.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/02/25/tomb-raider-review-2

Going through the text of the review I picked some choice snippets to show what she thought.

"Over the course of the game we see this intelligent, resourceful young woman become something closer to the Lara Croft we know, fearless in the face of danger. It is a greatly successful origin story, a series reboot that feels both authentic and hugely exciting."

"...throughout this adventure you'll really feel for Lara – she is just not having a good time out there. It is a compelling reading of the character; we see Lara's vulnerability, but she is never disempowered, and never less than totally capable in extreme danger."

"Tomb Raider is well-written, sympathetic, exciting, beautiful and just incredibly well-made. The single-player rarely makes a mis-step, and though Lara's quick transformation into a hardened killer seems at odds with the narrative at first, the game quickly moves past it. It is a superb action game that brings a new emotional dimension to one of gaming's most enduring icons, and repositions her alongside Nathan Drake at the top of gaming's action-hero heirarchy."

You can comb through the review of the text and not find a single instance of the word "sexism" or "misogyny" or any of that kind of stuff. She openly spoke out (on the podcast) against the backlash the game got in the press as being overblown and lacking context as no one had actually played the game. She said people could criticize the game once they actually played it and it made zero sense to drum up controversy over an offhand comment made by a developer.

I suggest everyone chill out before going on some crusade at least until the game comes out.

I can't play anything on my iTouch since the site relaunched. I click the red and white arrow icon to pay and the screen just stays black.

I guess you wouldn't be part of the grand majority of people who praised The Last of Us for its depiction of violence at that E3 demo with the guy begging for his life and getting a shotgun to the face.

The reaction to the demo was overwhelmingly positive because of its depiction of violence and how different it was from the Uncharted style of action and violence.

I do remember the elephant brain and how they were critical of people in the audience at the show cheering for it. What I also remember is the praise heaped on the Last of Us demo because it was moving away from the Uncharted series of violence where you have a good and fun loving guy like Drake going on a massacre and no one calling him on that. The violence and killing in the Last of Us was made more impactful because those moments are suppose to be up to the player since you can stealth your way through that section. The Last of Us depiction of violence was praised as a step up from the Uncharted series.

We are in agreement that both instances are visceral and could have a place in reality. The question I'm posing is why that demo of The Last of Us received accolades from the media and got everyone hyped for the game while the stuff we saw with Lara has people condemning the violence. What is the difference and why didn't people react negatively to both examples if they are the same.

I really don't see. What kind of mental gymnastics does a person have to go through to applaud the killing in The Last of Us as being impactful and a great way to depict violence versus the stuff in the new Tomb Raider?

You know I don't remember people having such a strong reactions to a death scene or graphic depictions of violence in the various AAA titles that have come out. Is it because Lara is a girl?

I love that female reviewers are giving the game high marks and now dudes making comments aren't sure how to validate the perceived sexist found in the game.

That seems like a great deal. $30 a month for 100 minutes when you can get around having to use those minutes is really enticing. I'm looking at the plan now.