Crystal Dynamics says it was important to make Lara "real" in new Tomb Raider

Crystal Dynamics' creative director Noah Hughes has said it was important for the team to make Lara Croft "real" while giving her a bit of a revamp.

Speaking in an interview with Spong, Hughes said in order to turn Lara into the "heroine she will become," she had to go through a few ordeals first.

"We felt that it was very important to make her real, and forge her into the heroine that she’ll become," he said. "Both of those really required her to go through an intense ordeal, to transition from the young and naive archaeologist and become the Tomb Raider. You have to assume that there’s some trials and tribulations over the course of that.

"So, we started with that, and ultimately the boundary was ‘what delivers on those needs, of making her feel a human and forging her into a hero without being gratuitous. So that’s where the line is: come at it from the goal space and stop at gratuitous."

The rest of the interview with Hughes will be made available later in the week, but you can check out this bit through the link.

Tomb Raider is due for release on PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2012.