Tomb Raider's storyline went M to match maturing gameplay

Tomb Raider's storyline is darker and more mature than previous games offered because Crystal Dynamics wants it to match the reboot's evolved gameplay, global brand manager Karl Stewart has explained.

Speaking to IncGamers, Stewart said Crystal Dynamics approached the project from a gameplay-first perspective.

"We knew we wanted to change a few of the core pillars of the game around. Instead of full-on puzzles, we wanted to introduce this idea of Lara being smart and resourceful. Instead of simple ledge jumping we wanted it to be more about dynamically traversing the environment," he said.

"As a result of that we thought that, if we can do all this stuff around the gameplay, should we not also bring a stronger narrative than we’ve had before? Something deeper. You hear a lot of people talk about it from many different games, but we really want to immerse players more than they have been before."

Stewart said survival gaming just doesn't work in a T-rated world.

"You can’t, for example, back off and cut away at the point when Lara goes through with her first ever kill – you’re just not going to achieve the emotional depth that we want," he said.

"Without going into the M-rated space for the sake of it and dropping the F-bomb countless times, we wanted to use the mature space to really tell a human story; we want the goose-bump moments and the moments that will make you cry."

Tomb Raider is due on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in early 2013.