A new game featuring an old classic has warned users of the potentially “harmful” impact of racial stereotyping in the game.
Tomb Raider Remastered has acknowledged there are parts of the game that are unacceptable in this day and age but has kept them in to stop the game staying too far from the original.
The game has a whole host of new and improved features, and as ever features British archaeologist Lara Croft going to different cultures, travelling around the world searching for lost artefacts and infiltrating dangerous tombs and ruins.
Tomb Raider one, two and three have been “remastered” for the re-release of the game but many things have not changed.
Refreshed versions of the original trilogy of Tomb Raider games were released on February 14 but these aren’t dramatic remakes. They still look like older games but have a higher polygon count and higher-resolution textures, which the hardware at the time wouldn’t have had a hope of handling. There’s also a new control method, which is handy as the original Lara would have felt too stilted and tricky for modern gamers accustomed to the feel of Assassin’s Creed titles and the most recent Lara Croft games.
What has remained is the stereotypical and racist depiction of a group of South American natives who dance, wield blowguns and are implied to be cannibals. However, rather than scrub the game clean of any implied racism or prejudice, developer Crystal Dynamics has opted to include a warning for players upon booting up the game that they may see things they do not agree with.
Developer Crystal Dynamics said it wanted to “keep the racist stereotypes in their original form” rather than remove them, as it hopes that doing so will help people "acknowledge its harmful impact" and that we can all "learn from it" going forward.
And the move has been applauded by some fans while others say they feel it is unnecessary.
What was even in the original games that provoked this message? Lara fighting t rexes with desert eagles in the modern day? Seems very edgy if you ask me
— Lord Oracle The Impaler 🗡️ 🩸 (@SpookiLord) February 13, 2024
Another agreed that the warning content may have not been necessary.
Even if the content isn't altered, the disclaimer feels like a poop cookies situation. If the poo is in the middle of the cookie, you can eat around the poo but the overall experience is still tainted.
— Punished YellowViolin (@zhengyingli) February 13, 2024
But some felt it was good to give the nod that this is not appropriate in this day and age without affecting everyone’s memories of the games.
Kudos to them for not removing content, as other devs *cough* Blizzard *cough* did when revisiting older games. But the wording in that statement is horrendous. I'm sure there would be a better way to say that, without also dunking on the game and virtue signaling their "purity".
— WhizzKid (@WhizzKid1988) February 14, 2024
Another joked:
I'm triggered by this trigger warning !
— ⭐Maora⭐ (@AggroQueenFay) February 13, 2024
