Tomb Raider dev Crystal Dynamics addresses concerns over E3 footage

In light of Tomb Raider’s impressive showing during the Microsoft press conference at E3, the internet has been buzzing with complaints of an ‘attempted rape’ scene showing during the demonstration. Studio Head, Darrell Gallagher updated their official Tomb Raider blog with the following explanation in photo form.

This ‘attempted rape’ thing is ridiculous. Yes, any time there’s a scene with a man being aggressive alone with a woman, it’s the first thing everyone thinks about (mainly because movies have conditioned us to believe that men don’t commit violent acts against women without sex being involved) and it’s silly that people are freaking out over it.

I don’t remember people whining this much when Madison took a shower, only to be attacked by house intruders (wearing nothing but a tank-top and panties) or when she’s forced to strip at gunpoint later in the game. Those scenes are far more offensive than what Tomb Raider showed during E3.

Movies portray rape much stronger and much more forcefully than either of these examples. For example: Law Abiding Citizen and Derailed, both movies with extremely powerful (and stomach churning) full-on rape scenes, yet not near as much of a fit.

I guess the uproar should be expected in regards to Tomb Raider. Tomb Raider was one of the first games to have a rumored “nude” code, so sexually charged behavior shouldn’t exactly be surprising. Either way, when your game features a female protagonist, there are going to be situations that are going questionable. I really don’t think Crystal Dynamics should have had to explain anything, considering the full game isn’t even out and none of us have seen that scene play out in full.

Source : Crystal Dynamics Tomb Raider Blog