It really is hard to believe that Tomb Raider was released 25 years ago. Initially on the Sega Saturn, it soon made its way to the PC and Sony's PlayStation, where it set up shop for years to come. This timely tome (tomb? Sorry!) by Daryl Baxter details the creation of the first two games as told by those who were there, a high quality oral history of the challenges and successes faced by the original team behind Tomb Raider.
Physically, this is another cracking release from Pen & Sword, and adds nicely to their growing range of videogames-themed publications (I reviewed two of these, the NES and SNES Encyclopedia's by Chris Scullion here). With a list price of £25.00, I have no complaints about what you actually get to hold in your hands.
Baxter takes a chronological view, beginning with the early days of CORE Design and the initial idea/pitch that led to Tomb Raider. From these early days grew a multimedia figure, one that eschewed the traditional male-centric idea of an action character, and one that also gelled nicely with the "Cool Britannia" era of the mid-90's, something the author uses to anchor the tale.
Each step of the story is told in the words of the original team members and their voices shine through with each anecdote. From these, several things become very clear: 1) there was an immense amount of pressure and crunch involved, 2) these were passionate people who did suffer during that process and 3) the 1990's were a very different place compared to today. I mean, smoking indoors for a start!
Where this book excels is providing multiple accounts of the same event, such as the departure of Toby Gard and the change in processes between the first and second game. With regards to the former, whilst there is some concern as to the money he lost out on, I couldn't help but think that, at the end of the day, if your mental health is suffering then maybe it is time to leave. It's all fine and well having (or be seen to have) a great work ethic, but self-care is, ultimately, key, and it made quite painful reading about how the achievement of getting the first two TR games out was seen as enough to counter the effect that the months preceding each title's launch had on several of the team. As noted in my review of "Back into the Storm", that suits some people very well but not all, and I speak as someone who has burned themselves out in a previous job role. It is a credit to the author that this subject is covered even handedly, without judgement, and letting the reader make their own mind up.
There are many, many screenshots included of both titles and they look brilliant. I'm not sure what post-processing was done to get them to look that good (if any), but they compliment to text beautifully. This continues to some of the original design documents that were kindly provided. The balance of text and art is about right, and it's a nice change to see slightly larger than usual text in such a book. It certainly made it easier to read for my poor eyes, I can tell you.
What we have here is a detailed and very personal look at how a relatively unknown development studio transitioned from a 16-bit game factory to a developer that redefined action titles in the 1990's. They launched a character/brand/IP (I hate those two last terms, but you know what I mean) that not only led to nearly 20 games but also three (soon to be four) films and merch spinoffs galore. By hearing the story in their own words, you not only gain an understanding as to how the games were created, but also how games development changed through that pivotal period of videogames history. The Making of Tomb Raider is a brilliant celebration of the creation of this series and is another fine addition to my videogames library. It should be one for yours too.
You can buy The Making of Tomb Raider directly from Pen & Sword here or order it from the usual online and physical book shops.
No comments:
Post a Comment