NEWS
by Mark Barley
Crystal Dynamics: No Attempted Rape Scene In 'Tomb Raider'
Darrell Gallagher, head of developer Crystal Dynamics, has confirmed that there is no "attempted" rape scene in the upcoming reboot, Tomb Raider.
During an interview with Kotaku at E3 last week, Crystal Dynamics Executive Producer Ron Rosenberg described a scene in the game where Lara Croft gets captured and her captors "try to rape her". Rosenberg then described the feel behind the scene as Lara Croft evolving as a woman and a fighter in-game as she becomes a "cornered animal".
Here's the scene in question from the game:
Gallagher, in an attempt to quell speculation of this "attempted rape" issued a statement on the Tomb Raider forums;
“We had a great E3 with Tomb Raider and received a fantastic public and press response, with the game picking up numerous game of the show awards based on the new direction taken with the franchise. Unfortunately we were not clear in a recent E3 press interview and things have been misunderstood. Before this gets out of hand, let me explain,” he wrote.
“In making this Tomb Raider origins story our aim was to take Lara Croft on an exploration of what makes her the character she embodies in late Tomb Raider games. One of the character defining moments for Lara in the game, which has incorrectly been referred to as an ‘attempted rape’ scene is the content we showed at this year’s E3 and which over a million people have now seen in our recent trailer entitled ‘Crossroads’.
“This is where Lara is forced to kill another human for the first time. In this particular section, while there is a threatening undertone in the sequence and surrounding drama, it never goes any further than the scenes that we have already shown publicly. Sexual assault of any kind of categorically not a theme that we cover in this game.”
Gallagher apologized for Crystal Dynamics depicting the scene in the wrong connotation and stated that the team "would be more careful with what is said in the future". “In making this Tomb Raider origins story our aim was to take Lara Croft on an exploration of what makes her the character she embodies in late Tomb Raider games. One of the character defining moments for Lara in the game, which has incorrectly been referred to as an ‘attempted rape’ scene is the content we showed at this year’s E3 and which over a million people have now seen in our recent trailer entitled ‘Crossroads’.
“This is where Lara is forced to kill another human for the first time. In this particular section, while there is a threatening undertone in the sequence and surrounding drama, it never goes any further than the scenes that we have already shown publicly. Sexual assault of any kind of categorically not a theme that we cover in this game.”
Tomb Raider is out next year for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
Via VG247