GARD ON RETRIBUTION
AND TOMB RAIDER
Copyright 2005 www.tombraiderchronicles.com
[ December 3rd 2005 ]
Toby
Gard - creator of Tomb
Raider star Lara
Croft - has spoken candidly to PLAY UK on
his reasoning behind leaving Core Design in 1997,
and subsequent return to his franchise in 2005
by assuming the role of lead designer on the character
he first sketched on a drawing board almost 10
years ago.
"I think
it's important that if you're going to make a
franchise, it has to evolve. I think that Core's
mandate when I was there was just 'we have to
pump out a Tomb Raider every year ' and that was
just not going to lead to the quality that is
necessary for improving a franchise. I didn't
see much point in pursuing that. We'd already
done it with the first one, so what are you going
to do?"
Tomb
Raider Legend faces stiff competition from
the likes of Prince Of Persia pushing the genre
forward, but Gard still believes in the power
behind the Tomb Raider Brand. "Tomb Raider is
pretty good because it's based on mystery, it's
based on discovering pretty amazing things.
"Lara
is a pretty cool character in terms of her personality.
That whole 'ice on the surface but fiery underneath'
thing is fascinating. It's more compelling to
me anyway, than the more totally fantasy Prince
Of Persia-ery stuff, because it's more of a real-world
thing, closer - in character at least - to what
we experience today.
Tomb
Raider Legend will simultaneously release on PS2,
XBOX 360 and PC in Spring 2006, and Gard won't
be drawn on what the future holds for him. "I
haven't really thought about it yet, but I would
definitely like to continue with old Lara - she's
got a big story arc to go down and I'd like to
be involved with taking her down that road.
"Bringing
the series away from Core Design has given the
series life and given me an interest in Tomb Raider
again." Gard concluded.
Retribution
at last, then.
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