Tomb Raider 3: GAME OVER



It was a cold day as I walked down the street on my way home I was so psyched as I just got a great deal from my local cash converters, a second hand copy of TOMB RAIDER 3, I had been looking for it for a while and when I say I while I mean 2 years.

I was beside myself with joy that I got a copy of this great piece of gaming history, as a walked into my home in the North of England I saw my dear mother preparing our evening meal, she inquired as to how work had went today to which I replied “the usual” she just smiled and nodded to me as I headed upstairs to test drive my new game that held so many childhood memories.

I walked into my room it was in an uproar as we had been decorating the weekend before pots of used paint sat in the corner of the room and my TV and slim-line ps2 were set up so I could watch movies and play games. I turned on my TV and popped open the console tray and removed the game I had been playing beforehand Shadow of Memories.

I opened the tomb raider box to be greeted by the nostalgic sight of Lara’s face on the onyx shaded disk; I clicked it free of its box and placed inside the disk tray closing it hitting the power switch on the front of the console. The loading screen filled me with the same feeling I had as a kid however I noticed one difference the loading bar was as red as blood I shook off my suspicions as the options menu appeared, as with all the classic Tomb Raiders barring revelations and chronicles it gave me the following to pick from, Lara’s home, start game, controls and screen options.

Knowing I was a little rusty with the controls I choose to pick Lara’s home again as the loading bar streamed across the screen it was a strange shade of blood red, it opened to the bedroom and the usual greeting Lara would give to players.

It was at that disappointing moment that my mother called me for dinner so begrudgingly I paused the game and set my controller down upon the mattress of my room and headed down for dinner, by now dad was in from work and asked me how my day had been going so far, I told him I finally found the game I had wanted for years with a smile.

After dinner I headed back up to my room with my dad he wanted to see the game I had bought so we walked into my room and to my shock the game was unpaused and Lara was in the kitchen.

It was strange as I was still in the starting position of Lara’s home when I left to go for my dinner I picked up the controller and checked the controls of Lara everything seemed fine to me other than the fact that I was in the kitchen.

I decided to play around for a bit and get used to the controls again, when I felt comfortable that I had picked up on the controls again I headed to the opening gate to leave for the main game.

“Now it’s time for our third adventure” Lara said as the loading bar streamed in the same blood red color.

I shook it off again as the settings on this television aren’t quite right anyway, so I started a new save beginning with the first jungle level.

When I got down the hill I noticed something different with the way things were turning out, the monkey that usually shows up to steal the health pack didn’t appear this time it somewhat disturbed me I can tell you that, something inside me was urging me to turn off my console and never play it again yet I thought to myself “No way I spent years looking for this game” and I kept on playing unaware of the dark situation about to befall me.

Levels had gone by and I was finally in the last part of the jungle section it filled me with glee as I was coming to the end of at least 10 % of the game, I went to take Lara down the pathway to the next part of the game but she wouldn’t move I began to think that my controller was bust so I checked the connection of my controller to my console.

Everything was fine to me so I tried to get Lara to move to which I got the words “No!” from her in a robotic style type voice I thought how could this be?, I was about to turn off the console to reset it back to the load up screen so I could continue as I went to touch the button Lara turned round and looked directly at me.

“How about I control you for a while” Lara said in a grimacing voice as my arms began to move of their own accord, I panicked as I couldn’t seem to get control of my own body I was swept up with dread as she made me jump up and down and dance like a ballerina.

I felt so hopeless and trapped by the animated character that was Lara Croft she grinned at me looking at the window; I was frightened when she made me step out onto the balcony it was not long before I felt the cool hair fly by me as I fell from the window.

My bones crunched on the patio floor I felt a wet liquid drip from my chest in a deep crimson shade I realised at this point it was my own blood and at that moment a sense of dread over come me with that the last thing I remember seeing was a hyper realistic Lara grinning at me as my vision faded to black her monotone laugh my last lullaby.

It’s been 3 month since that day, my parents moved from that house to escape the memory of my death, the locals always tell the tale of how I must have been struggling with my mental state and how I must have jumped from the window in state of depression, the neighborhood kids were still in shock from seeing my body on their way to school.

I even got my own page in the local paper want to know what they entitled the article.

“Game Over: A girl's obsession became her downfall".

Written by AlchemillaOrexsis