Lara

God knows why, but I find myself nostalgic at the moment for the days when I used to commit myself wholeheartedly to the fantasy worlds of video gaming, when stalking dingy archaeological sites and alien bases armed with a shotgun, or wandering the eerily beautiful landscapes of Myst and Riven, seemed so involving. I still imagine myself a gamer, sometimes, but when it comes to actually sitting down and playing the fucking things, well, somehow there's always something more pressing.

I could adopt that jaded retro-gamer pose and whine on about the corporatization of the medium, how gameplay has lost out to gloss, how things were so much better way back when. Perhaps there'd be some truth in that, too.

But the fault, of course, lies not within our stars but in ourselves. High polygon counts are not incompatible with fun; I am.

The last game I played with any kind of conviction was Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness, which was the first of Lara's outings I failed to complete. It was a pretty poor game, but there was nevertheless much to enjoy for longtime afficionados, and I kept it up for awhile. Then, without any conscious decision being made, a few days passed without me switching the PS2 on. And a few more. And now the best part of a year has gone by.

I absolutely loved the first Tomb Raider game, and I think I bought all 5 console successors on their first day of release. I even bought the first four more than once, on different platforms, and even now I can imagine dedicating a week or two to replaying The Last Revelation for (I think) a fourth time. Each of those adventures had its faults, but also such moments of brilliance, images that could easily stay with me until I die: Venice; the inverted wreck of the Maria Doria; Aldwych Station; Area 51; Antarctica; the Desert Train. The graphics may have been unsophisticated by modern standards, but they were very clever and evocative, and the whole experience was wonderfully alive.

Christ, I feel old.

For whatever reason, I am rarely drawn to games these days. There are only so many monsters one can shoot, only so many dance steps one can replicate, only so many times one can open door with key. I'm not interested in being a Tom Clancy stormtrooper or another fucking sub-Mario platform beastie.

But. Sometimes wish I were. Sometimes I really do.
Posted by matt at October 1, 2004 12:48 AM