The first Tomb Raider was released in 1996, but times have changed since then and the developers are now making their mea culpa.
Tomb Raider is one of the most well-known video game licenses and for good reason, the first opus was a real revolution in its time. Recently, a remaster of Lara Croft's first three adventures, called Tomb Raider I-III Remastered, was released to bring them up to date. The story of the adventurer begins in 1996, it was another era and the developers are well aware of that, and for new versions of their flagship titles, they issue a warning.
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A necessary recontextualization
The remasters of the first three Tomb Raider by Crystal Dynamics and Aspyr are officially released on February 14, 2024. When you launch the game, a message is displayed:
The games in this collection contain insulting descriptions of people and cultures, which stem from racial and ethnic prejudices. These stereotypes are deeply unhealthy, inexcusable and in no way correspond to the values advocated by Crystal Dynamics.
Rather than removing them, we have chosen to present them here in their original form, as is, with the aim of recognizing their harmful impact and drawing the necessary lessons from it.
Morals between the 90s and today have changed, but Crystal Dynamics has still decided to keep the games as is and therefore not to remove content that they consider offensive. A way not to disappoint early fans, and to, as the developers themselves say, “present it in its original form, in the hope that we can recognize its harmful impact and learn from it “. A sort of testimony to representations which are no longer relevant at all. The passages deemed problematic were not given, but for players, we can cite the first level of the South Pacific zone in the third opus released in 1998, where we find a cannibal tribe who shoots poisoned darts with blowguns.
Divided opinions
On the various forums and social networks, players are divided. For some, there is no reason to be alarmed, since fans only see two really problematic passages among others: the one in the third opus mentioned above and the representation of Inuit warrior monks at Tibbets in the second. Others think it's a good idea, that you should be aware of it when you play Tomb Raider for the first time today. And finally, some think that with this message, Crystal Dynamics rejects its games and withdraws from all responsibilities. In any case, it is not unheard of for this kind of warning to appear at the start of a new release of slightly dated titles, since it was the same for the Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1.