Videogame Nostalgia - Recapturing the Glory Days

I recently mentioned on social media that I was enjoying playing the videogame Tomb Raider Anniversary. Having played the original games long ago, I was experiencing the pleasant nostalgia of days gone by. My son Scott and I worked together to complete the games and we always loved the mix of puzzles and acrobatics that characterized the early games in the series.

It was a good bonding experience. I was good at exploring and finding hidden areas and artifacts, while Scott had the young, quick reflexes to time the near impossible jumps and runs that frustrated me. Together we had the skill sets to conquer the games and we completed them and declared ourselves Tomb Raider masters!

Skip to now, and without my trusty sidekick to handle the heavy lifting, I found the pleasant nostalgia being rapidly replaced by the desire to throw the controller across the room and utter unkind words about the game designers and their lineage. Bottom line – I did not enjoy the game! At all!

Just a quick aside about the game. Tomb Raider Anniversary is basically a remake of the original game with an improved game engine. The levels are somewhat expanded, the graphics are greatly enhanced, and our protagonist, Lara Croft has access to a number of skills and abilities that were not available in the original. (Primarily, grappling and wall running which look really cool until you realize that getting her to jump from the wall to the appropriate ledge or platform is occasionally impossible to manage.) About halfway through the game, I spent a week and untold hours trying to make one particular jump and finally gave up.

Despite the best advice from a number of online walkthroughs, she continued to jump forward instead of backward or left toward the platform leading to the exit. Even more frustrating was the fact that every time she missed the jump and fell to her death, I would be forced to go back to the last checkpoint which involved making several near impossible jumps just to reach the last one. And did I mention, all of this just to exit! Having accomplished all the goals and objectives of the level (and even finding all the artifacts), I was just trying to leave the stupid room!

Eventually, I cheated (used a savegame from the walkthrough), so that I could continue the game. (And for the record, I would never use a cheat in anything other than a single player game.) I’m not one of those gamers who brag incessantly about having beaten a particular game, but I do like to be able to finish a game and experience the entire story. My favorite games have always been RPGs (Role-playing games) with a strong story, which to me is very much like reading a good book. I can’t quit without knowing how the story ends! (By the way, how do people read books and not finish them?)

So, having completed Tomb Raider Anniversary, I’m ready to move on to the next one. Batman: Arkham Knight? Or Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor? Action or story? If you’ve played either, let me know your thoughts!