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| How come it's mostly males who play Tomb Raider? |
| What's The Project Eden Demo Like? |
| Rick Dangerous |
This is a question that's been asked by many a person and you may be surprised at the reason. The first thing anyone usually says is; "well look at her, it's obvious!". This isn't actually the case as none of us blokes would endure an entire series or at least play for more than an hour if we were simply attracted to her shape. The answer actually lies within the male brain and not the male reproductive organ.
Most people are unaware of this but we actually have completely different brains and bodies to the opposite gender of ourselves. We both have talents and weak points which explains why certain genders dominate certain jobs (like women being kindergarten teachers and men being airline pilots).
The Female Brain
A woman's brain is smaller than a man's but on average women are 3% more intelligent. Women have a strong link between their two brains (we'll call each side of the brain a singular brain for now, left and right). This allows women the advantage of great multi-tasking abilities in comparison to men, allowing for much better conversational abilities and many more talents in terms of language and art etc.One of the largest areas in woman's brain is the language centre, making girls much better in English class than their male counter parts. At around the age of three, a girl has a vocabulary two to three times larger than a boy of the same age. This explains why males like myself can't string a sentence together to save our lives and women become writers, journalists, secretaries etc.
The Male Brain
A male's brain is larger but we tend to be less intelligent than women. Our link between our left and right brain is quite weak compared to our women counterparts. This explains why we can only concentrate on things one at a time like needing the television set turned down when we are on the phone.One of our largest areas in the brain is centre for three dimensional spatial ability. This is an area that simply doesn't wish to rest, which is why we make things like 3D computer games. Men have a large ability for navigation, plotting, imagining things in three dimensions and reading maps. You'll usually find that boys are better at mathematics in school in contrast to girls being better at English.
Right, got that, so what's it got to do with Tomb Raider?
Tomb Raider has been made by males, for males. This isn't intentional, it's just that most people are unaware that the opposite gender's brain works differently. In many puzzles in the games, you need to be able to turn the room around in your head and figure out where to go next. These are puzzles that the male brain absolutely craves but is daunting for a woman's brain (it's like trying to get a man to be sensitive to a woman's feelings, quite hard indeed!).What can women do about this? Use the compass! In some of the games it has been included and it's absolutely invaluable in some areas, so always remember that it's there. Men generally don't need it but it will come in great use in underwater sections and certain puzzles.
In summing up, it's not because men are trying to shut out women from 3D gaming but that most women simply aren't interested in 3D gaming due to there not being a large need or craving for it. This makes most women bored within a short time of playing them.
In order to be equal here so that I won't be labelled sexist, I'll give an example with men. How many men do you know that are interested in character development in Jane Austin novels, or take an active interest in shows like Oprah to promote self-esteem or bonding with their partner?
Just about none at all? This simply reinforces that we are very different to one another and it does pay to know this.
anarchist tomato
Well, I fired it up, not expecting too much from it but was silenced 2 minutes into it. This is good stuff! Although you only get one objective to do in the demo, it's really classy. This is well thought out, instantly accessible gameplay that will appeal to a loving niche market and perhaps even the masses (given the success of the original Tomb Raider).
The basic idea is that you have four team members (I dunno about the full game, maybe it's got more), each with their own strengths and weaknesses. The puzzles within the game are tailored around all of these characters, forcing you to utilise everyone, not just a singular, strong member (like you'll find yourself doing in games like Hidden and Dangerous, or Rogue Spear etc.).
The ideas around the characters are relatively standard, but well thought out at the same time. There's the general; "This guy's a robot, so fumes can't hurt him. This guy's a mechanic, she's a hacker and he's good at weaponry" spiel, but this certainly doesn't prove to be a bad thing.
Well, time for the boquets and brickbats (let's start at the bad points first, eh?).
The default controls are a bit like playing an RPG from the mid 90s, so they need changing. The control
system in general is a little off-putting. The mouseplay that we've all become accustomed to in Half-Life, Quake 3 etc.
is not what's in this. This has a more "point and click" style interface for objects and changing people etc,
although movement remains with the keyboard. The actual keyboard/mouse movement is a little hard to get used to as well, but
you'll get the grips of it within a few minutes.
Although the puzzle solving is certainly high quality, the combat experienced within the demo was a bit average to say the least (certainly not for your "h4rdk0r3" Quake 3 addict). This may improve in the full version though, so I can't knock it too heavily. Either way, this looks set to be a puzzler at heart, so don't expect any adrenaline thrills.
Now for the good. Hmmm... where to start? The whole game looks decidedly nice, with a few of the options I mention in the "What We'd Like to See in Tomb Raider" article (which is still in the opinions section, if you wan't to have a goosey). There's options for Trilinear Filtering for graphics, and hardware acceleration has finally been utilised for the sound department (about chuffing time, too!). Thankfully, the invert mouse option is included for all of us who aren't like you normal mouse freaks!
As for gameplay, I was simply joyous playing this. The puzzle provided was just the right amount of difficulty and has kept me wanting more. Some of the elements involved in hacking and repairing things are based on timing skill and although this isn't necessarily very realistic, it certainly is a more fun option that what's usually encountered within reality (everyone loves things like skill testers!). Plus, the amount of tension that this would create later on the game (I imagine), would certainly make this a much much welcomed gameplay aspect.
As for the puzzle solving itself, I was greatly entertained by the way that everything's choreographed in the puzzle and I had a wry little smile throughout the whole demo. I'm sure that you lot will love it, so have a gander!
Demo Score: 8/10
anarchist tomato
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