When Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis was revealed, there was a wave of excitement for the game, but there was also pushback as well. A vocal group of fans weren’t too happy with the portrayal of Lara Croft herself, taking issue with the character’s visual overhaul. It’s definitely true that this version of Lara looks different from previous iterations, but that’s always been the case with Tomb Raider revivals and reboots.
In a chat with GameSpot, Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis Game Director Raul Siqueira and Experience Director Jeff Adams spoke about the backlash, saying that they weren’t aiming to stake a claim on either side of the culture war with their approach to Lara’s look.
“We try not to view it from either of those angles. We’re not trying to make one camp happy and the other camp miserable. We don’t think of it that way. We’re just like, ‘Hey, this is Lara. This is who she is and this is the icon that we’ve come to know. How do we bring her into the most fully focused version that she’s ever been presented in?’ She’s Lara. She is the icon for a reason. So we just want to do justice to her.”
“The confidence, the wittiness … the personality that she has is so important for us [and we’re] making sure that we are doing that right.
