Even non-gamers are aware of the massive cultural impact that 1996’s Tomb Raider had on media. Not only did Eidos Interactive’s iconic release revolutionize adventure narratives in gaming, updating the simple thrills of titles like Pitfall into a truly immersive interactive experience, but it also gifted us with one of pop culture’s most recognizable characters through Lara Croft, a badass gaming mascot who is still holding her own against gun-toting super-soldiers and Italian plumbers in the year of our lord 2022.
Though the series has come a long way since the 90s, breaking boundaries with over a dozen mainline sequels, reboots and even a handful of cinematic adaptations (none of which were masterpieces but are still entertaining for a myriad of different reasons), there’s one aspect of the original game that rarely gets the attention it deserves despite being a crucial part of Tomb Raider’s overwhelming success.
Naturally, I’m referring to the game’s surprising amount of horror elements. While Tomb Raider is by no means a definitive example of survival-horror, the game has an undeniable affinity for scary imagery and takes advantage of genre tropes to make the experience more memorable. And even a quarter century after the release of this early 3D classic, I think its polygonal scares are effective enough to still be worth talking about.
Right off the bat, Tomb Raider‘s presentation and central gameplay loop is very reminiscent of early survival-horror titles. The premise alone is chilling enough, with players accompanying a solitary protagonist who finds herself in isolated caverns and catacombs, beset by death on all sides and forced to rely only on her wits and clunky tank-like combat controls to survive. Hell, from the introductory wolf attack to the gory death-traps that await novice players unfamiliar with the peculiar control scheme, the only thing keeping this from turning into an outright horror game is Lara’s nonchalant demeanor and her willingness to embark on terrifying adventures in order to explore.
Not exactly a Summer Vacation.
While the aforementioned tank-like movement may not necessarily have been an artistic choice on the developer’s part (after all, these were the early days of three-dimensional gaming, so it’s not like there were that many options), there’s no denying that the added difficulty makes these death-defying jumps and enemy ambushes all the more terrifying. In fact, a simple glance at the game’s modernized sequels and reboots is enough to realize that many of the original title’s thrills are no longer as effective now that Lara is capable of more naturalistic movement and combat thanks to easier platforming and traditional third-person shooter controls.
Some creative level design also contributed to a certain feeling of helplessness that permeates the experience. The perilous areas of Tomb Raider may have been designed in grid-like patterns in order to facilitate three-dimensional navigation, but these geometric labyrinths still contain plenty of unexpected deaths lurking around every corner. Fans of the title are sure to remember the game’s many surprise impalements and borderline unfair trap placement, and that’s not even mentioning the often-grueling combat.
While most enemy encounters consist of awkwardly mowing down endangered animals in claustrophobic environments, panic-shooting a rabid bear as you use stiff controls to narrowly avoid its deadly claws is honestly way more thrilling than it initially sounds. I dare you not to mumble “oh shit” to yourself the first time that you stumble onto a giant T-Rex and realize that you’re woefully unequipped to deal with this prehistoric threat. If you think about it, the only thing keeping Tomb Raider from embracing full-on survival horror combat is the unlimited ammo and lack of melee weapons, though the game still makes clever use of classic inventory management and scarce health packs.
Shooting up dinosaurs like a 1930s Willis O’Brien movie is admittedly more fun than terrifying, but there’s no denying the monster movie influences that makes these moments so entertaining in the first place. The game really takes a scary turn when it begins to introduce supernatural threats like fleshy Atlanteans and undead centaurs into the mix. Sure, the primitive graphics leave a lot to the imagination, but I think that’s precisely why these eerie monster designs are so effective, letting players fill in the gruesome gaps in their own heads.
Would this really be scarier in HD?
The horror aesthetics don’t stop with the grisly creatures, as Tomb Raider’s titular grave-robbing has Lara venture into spooky locations brought to life by the clever use of minimalist polygons and expertly mixed ambience tracks. While Nathan McCree’s memorable soundtrack is used sparingly, it helps to convey an appropriate sense of fear and awe.
Additionally, the final areas of the game feature a series of nightmarish designs that would have been right at home in a Silent Hill spin-off. The hellish imagery present in the Atlantean levels borders on H.P. Lovecraft, bringing to mind the archeological terror of stories like The Shadow Out of Time or even At the Mountains of Madness. Some of the game’s fleshy textures and other scary elements were actually toned down for the 2006 remake Tomb Raider Anniversary, which streamlined gameplay but is otherwise a relatively faithful recreation of the original experience.
While future Tomb Raider games would still lean into the horror aspects of Lara’s globe-trotting adventures, I firmly believe that none of them quite managed to balance the fun/scare ratio as well as the first game. The way I see it, the sequels made Lara too much of a badass for players to really fear for her well-being, and the recent reboot trilogy made the supernatural horror elements trivial due to the streamlined gameplay (despite making an effort to actually humanize our protagonist). This also extends to the movie adaptations, which have always focused on Raiders-of-the-Lost-Ark-inspired romps and CGI-infused spectacle despite the first game feeling more in line with the scary thrills of The Temple of Doom.
However, with Square Enix supposedly moving forward with a new take on the franchise (which is rumored to feature an older and more experienced Lara) and a new movie in the works now that MGM has lost the license to the IP, I think there’s a chance that a future title might bring back some of the original game’s spooky magic. After all, having the Lady Croft overcome historical horrors makes her action-packed take on archeology all the more entertaining – not to mention badass.
The post Grave Robbing and Grisly Creatures: The Horror Elements of 1996’s ‘Tomb Raider’ Video Game appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.