Tomb Raider and Uncharted
William Britton-Olson
Com/170
August 20, 2012
Karen Mitchell

Comparing and Contrasting Tomb Raider and Uncharted

Tomb Raider and Uncharted are two video games that are identical yet vastly different in terms of developer’s concepts, story lines, and characters. Tomb Raider was originally designed 11 years before Uncharted, and while Tomb Raider is its own creation the developers gained their inspiration from both the Atari game Pit-Fall and the Indiana Jones movies. Tomb Raider introduced the world to a whole new idea of treasure hunting and Archeology being so closely related that they are almost one and the same, just on different sides of the law most of the time. Uncharted, while it is its own concept, did follow in the footsteps of Tomb Raider regarding the type of game, but the stories are vastly different.
Some of the more commonly known similarities between Tomb Raider and Uncharted are in terms of the design and development. Both games were originally designed for the Sony PlayStation as an exclusive PlayStation only game, but with the growing popularity and the opportunity for cross plat forming, both developers Eidos and Naughty Dog have expanded the fan-base by making these games available on the PC as well as the PlayStation. Other similarities are that these two games are in a classification of Action-Adventure/Puzzle Game both games have a wide range of hidden treasures that have to be found in order to progress through the game or to unlock bonus material within the game, such as a different outfit for the main character or a new weapon for use in the game.
With all of the similarities that these games have there are just as many if not more differences. Tomb Raider was developed by Eidos, and the main character is a female named Laura Croft. Uncharted was developed by Naughty Dog, and the main character is a male named Nathan Drake. When Tomb Raider was first released, it was given an ESRB rating of teen for possessing animated violence, animated blood, and almost all of the enemies are wild animals. When Uncharted was released, it also was given the ESRB rating of teen but it possesses blood, language, mild suggestive themes, use of tobacco, and violence. All of the enemies are people and there are no animals in this game. Another difference that these games have is that they play very differently with Tomb Raider the character’s movement can vary from walking, running, climbing, and even shooting depending on what buttons were pushed on the controller. With Uncharted the character’s movement is more fixed depending on where the players are in the storyline or the environment. One of the other major differences between the two games is the A.I. or Artificial Intelligence, when fighting an enemy the games learn how to predict the movements and choices of whoever is playing, and because there is a very big difference between a Bengal Tiger and a hired mercenary the A.I. has to be developed accordingly.
Some of the other similarities of both games are in the storylines. In both games there is always some kind of artifact or legend that starts the main character off on their quest. In Tomb Raider it was the fabled Scion and the Lost City of Atlantis, and in Uncharted it was the notebook of Sir Frances Drake and the fabled treasure of EL Dorado. Although the basic premise is similar the differences are also present; in Tomb Raider the story takes the player all over the world in search for the main goal, and although the main character goes to an exotic location somewhere in the world the Uncharted game play and story is fixed on the one location. In both games there is the hero vs. villain concept that makes both games that much more exciting, although in Tomb Raider the villain is not made clear until the last three levels of the game, and much of the story is about the quest for the next treasure. Uncharted introduces the Villain right away and makes them a crucial part of the story. Another of the similarities in both games is the amount of danger present not only from the enemies but also the environment and surrounding area, like traps, high cliff hangs, decaying floors/hand holds, and in some cases dealing with all of these dangers at the same time.
One of the things that both game designers shared was the idea of having a hero who loved adventure, and was not afraid to risk his or her life for the ultimate treasure. But as with any shared idea there has to be differences like Tomb Raider’s Laura Croft is not just female, but is also a rich woman who is a historian and an archeologist from England, while Uncharted’s Nathan Drake is not just male, but is also an American descendant of Sir Frances Drake, and he is knowledgeable of historical artifacts and history. Nathan is more of a glory seeking treasure hunter or an undesirable hired hand rather than an educated adventurer.
Earlier the similarities and differences of danger were pointed out, but each developer made sure to make the solution to their scenario vastly different, not just in the final outcome, but also in how to overcome the problem. In Tomb Raider most of the puzzle solutions are either set up as mini-games, or trying to figure out a way around the surrounding environment. In Uncharted there are no mini-games just puzzles, and most of the solutions can be figured out from the journal that Nathan Drake keeps with him.
Another difference that is also easily noticed is the types of weapons used in each game, for instance in Tomb Raider the weapons vary from duel 9mm pistols, shotgun, 44 magnum, and even a spear gun for underwater swimming. In Uncharted there is more of a variety of weapons to use like tranquilizer dart gun, .45 Defender semi-automatic pistol, AK-47 Assault rifle, FAL Assault rifle, Mossberg 12 gauge shotgun, RPG, Dragunov sniper rifle, and those are just a few of them
Both games are very similar in nature but the content of each is vastly different, while Tomb Raider has relied mostly on the adventure, and puzzles to intrigue those who play it Uncharted has relied on the action, and adventure. To the non-gamer, just looking at the covers of each someone could think that they are identical and give either game a chance. For those video gamers who enjoy either Action/Adventure games or Puzzle games he or she could give both a fair chance and try them on their own merits.