A Tale of Two Booties: Tomb Raider Finally Grows Up and Lara Croft Treated Like a Lady

I'm not ashamed to admit it. A younger version of me really enjoyed the early Tomb Raider games. And not just the gameplay. We're talking the 1990s version of digital eye candy.

It may not look like much by today's standards but running around with Lara Croft's bottom constantly bouncing in my face and all curvy as hell (well, to the degree you could call an exceedingly pixelated tush curvy) made exploring, shooting, and solving puzzles quite enjoyable back when I was a young adult.

And don't even get me started on that move she did when she pulled herself up on a ledge with her feet pointed skyward, flipping her legs out one at a time like a dancer to balance herself on a ledge. Wowsa!

One of the challenges of third-person shooters is that you’re always looking at the main character’s backside. Game artists naturally want the view to remain interesting, particularly if you’re going to be forced to study it for 10 hours or more. Often this means capes, or in the case of a certain lady pirate game on the original Xbox, the option to remove most of your character’s clothing (which was amusing for about 10 minutes but still didn't get me to complete the game). And on the PC, there’s usually nothing stopping you from importing a fully nude character model, handcrafted by an intrepid fan of the female form with too much time on his or her hands.

Lara Croft's anime-style appearance, skimpy costumes, and overly sexualized action moves naturally have made her a target for lustful looks, even as Tomb Raider games have steadily improved over the years.

But that was then, and Lara today is better on all fronts.

The new 2013 Tomb Raider "reboot" portrays Lara Croft in a much more mature manner - and I don’t mean TV-MA. Despite all of the prerelease outcry about a rape scene (that was ultimately cut) and early trailers full of screams that sounded perhaps a bit too much like the audio track from an adult movie, the game comes off as gritty and real.

Lara is a three-dimensional character, and not just in the digital models of her realistically proportioned body. She has cares and needs in the game, and she fulfills the hero role to rescue those who are trapped or captured and can't escape on their own.

The net result is that I’m no longer aroused by Ms. Croft. But I’ve enjoyed her company so much more.

I don't know whether it's the much more realistic graphics, the careful lighting and camera movements that reduce the focus on Lara’s derriere, the dirt and scratches that cover Lara almost from the start, or - what I suspect is the biggest factor - the connection we make with her through the deeper story and characterization. But this is the first Tomb Raider game where I didn't find myself at least occasionally checking out Lara's, er, assets.

And it's absolutely NOT that Lara's no longer a stick person. I've never been attracted to the Madison Avenue ideal of the anorexic twig lady. But I've come to respect who Lara is, so I no longer see her purely as a sex object. At most I'd like to hang out and have a beer with Lara, and I wouldn't even try to hit on her. (Hey, I am a happily married man!)

In life, I have the upmost respect for women and - unlike many of the men I see around me - I don't fear strong women. I've been married to GrrlGotGame for 22 years next month, and I've had many female bosses - some of whom were truly excellent to work for. That doesn't mean I can't enjoy a little escapist fantasy in my gaming, though in this case I had much more fun while NOT ogling the pretty protagonist.

But if Tomb Raider 2013 proves anything, it's that exploiting your characters as sex objects is wholly unnecessary if you take the care and time to craft a good story, develop characterization beyond gender stereotypes, and place the focus on gameplay - not squarely on your protagonist's butt.