Karl Stewart of developer Crystal Dynamics says the way they'll inject Lady Croft with more than one dimension is to have her interact with others via a supporting cast of various quirks.
Lara Croft one-dimensional? There was certainly no lack of dimensional goings on in the chest area. Oh right... personality wise.
"One of the key learnings that we've had from Tomb Raiders in the past is that Lara's never really had a personality. She's kind of been a caricature of herself," Karl Stewart said. The new Tomb Raider game has Lara when she was an inexperienced globe trotter who ends up shipwrecked and fighting to survive the harsh environment.
Once again it's TV showing us the way: "When you look at examples of successful franchises - and namely you look at Lost as a great example - Lost thrust these seven, 10, 12 people, whatever it was, onto an island and they had to interact with each other, and as a result you got to know them more."
"You got their personalities." By having a large supporting cast "each one has their own trait, and Lara has to interact with them, and as a result she talks with them differently and you start to learn more about her. So it's a great way for us to show more about a character who up until now has always been one-dimensional."
Stewart admits the studio has put its "balls to the wall" in reimaging Lara Croft as a naive girl.
"We've tried to set the foundation for the future of our franchise by going in and telling a story in the first hour or two that helps ground it," he said. "I think, given how iconic Lara Croft is and how she's been around for 15 years, to re-imagine it, there's a lot of cynicism."
"To re-imagine it really well, you have to put your balls to the wall and take that chance of, you know, let's take the first 90 minutes and break her down, but then build her back up in a way where people will go, 'Now you've just set the foundation for who she is for the rest of her days.'"
Some juicy gameplay footage has aired at E3 this week. Tomb Raider releases on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC March 5th, 2013. Crystal Dynamics also launched Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light a while back, featuring co-op.
