Keeping the Tomb Raider legend alive.
/CHAT #1: CHRIS CARPINETI OF RAIDERCAST
Today we’re clicking on the chat box, so to speak, as we start a new series of interview posts. These posts will likely be a little sporadic, but hopefully an interesting and informative addition. So, without further ado…
In this inaugural interview post, I speak to the man behind Raidercast, a Tomb Raider focused podcast which delves into the shadowy depths of Lara Croft’s world. In this post we find out how the podcast came to be and a little about Chris’ views on the franchise. Click play below to listen to Peter Connelly and Martin Iveson’s score for Angel of Darkness to accompany your reading, as highlighted by Chris later in the interview. Let us begin…
Could you introduce yourself for our readers? And could you give a little background on Raidercast and how it came about? When did you begin making videos on YouTube, and what drove you to eventually create a Tomb Raider focused podcast?
I’m Chris, I’m 35, Welsh, and live in London with my husband and dog. My full-time job is as a video editor and manager of a team of video-creatives for a science communication website, and in my spare time I’m the producer of Raidercast, the Tomb Raider and Lara Croft podcast!
Raidercast began back in 2020, during the long uncertain times at the start of the pandemic, when work was slow and I wanted to learn some new skills. I felt like I had the time to create a podcast, and having never put much effort into audio-editing in the past, I felt like this was the perfect time. And you know what? I almost created a Final Fantasy podcast instead. It was nearing the time of the FF7 Remake, and I figured I’d make a podcast where my husband played through the original for the first time and we discussed it, and then played the remake and compared it. “Under The Rotting Pizza” would’ve been its name - named after one of Uematsu’s iconic tracks in the original.
But, that didn’t happen. One day I was listening to ‘The Vault’ podcast, and they talk so passionately about the subjects they knew, and it occurred to me I should do just that. I’d been a big Tomb Raider fan since I was 9, and had the idea of using a podcast to ramble on about Lara’s adventures while developing some audio skills. So over the next few months I planned and researched and wrote and recorded, and eventually edited the first few episodes of “Bottomless Backpack” - the working title for Raidercast. I settled on Raidercast because it just sounded much better.
Once the audio was sorted, it felt wrong to release it without a video counterpart as well. I’d been editing videos - and Tomb Raider ones - since I was about 15 or 16, so this also gave me a chance to flex my editing skills on some pretty long videos. And that’s where it all began. Since then, it’s grown into something I’d like to think is quite community-lead, but from time to time I like to indulge in an episode of my own bizarre non-canon theories and lore exploration. People seem to enjoy it, at least!
What was your first exposure to the world of Lara Croft and that of Tomb Raider?
When I was 9, my brother’s friend brought his PlayStation over to our house to play. I’d never heard of one at the time, but by the time Tomb Raider 1 fired up, I was hooked for life. The music. The movements. The environment, the cutscenes! It blew me away, and gave a 9 year old a newfound love of ancient myths and legends!
What is it about the Tomb Raider series of games that you find so appealing? Is it Lara herself, the exploration? The history? Or is there something else?
It’s certainly a combination of things that make me love it. Lara’s character is always worth exploring, whether she’s bombastic and courageous, or silent and stern. She’s a power-trip, and always defies the odds. I think the move-set - particularly of the first few games - is something I firmly believe modern exploration games should even now aspire to. Lara can interact with everything. Every surface. No invisible walls. It truly grounds the player in Lara’s world because there’s no question of what she can or can’t do - you look around and explore, and you know how she’s going to act. You just had to risk leaps of faith, and it was a thrill!
The mythology and lore of some games kept me coming back for more as well, particularly TR1’s Atlantis, TR4’s Egyptian myths, and The Angel of Darkness’s twisted shadowy history. It’s all great stuff!
The games have a long history and some titles have been received better than others. What are some personal highlights of yours? And are there any aspects of the series you’re not so keen on?
Some personal highlights throughout the series have been TR1, 4, AOD, and also Underworld and Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Now I think about it, the darker entries have been the ones which really appealed to me and held me over the years. Lara making colossal mistakes, setting disastrous events in motion because of her own greed. I’m a big fan of Lara being cocky and overly confident, knowing she’s already won before even starting a fight.
It’s not that I don’t enjoy the less-dark entries, but aspects within them have often not appealed to me. The more arcade-lite combat from Legend with it’s eyesore combat targets. The focus on 2D wall-strafing from Anniversary. The RPG crafting elements from recent titles. Some things just don’t fit my personal preference. I know some enjoy it, but it’s not for me.
As well as the games, there have been movies, books, comics… (Lucozade) adverts. Do you have a particular favourite of these? And back to the games, if you were to pick a standout title, which one would you choose?
Absolutely the first Angelina Jolie movie! What a ride that was. Sure, it has elements that have plagued the series ever since (notably the dreaded inclusion of Lara’s focus on family drama), but AJ’s performance, and the overall plot about the Triangle of Light was so fun. It went for it with globe-trotting, and I really think it’s one of the good ones in terms of a video-game-movie adaptation.
When it comes to the standout title for the games, I can never split up Tomb Raider 1 and Tomb Raider 4. I love them dearly, they’ll always be top TR titles for me!
Lara has traversed the globe, over and underground. What have been your favourite locations to explore as Lara, and have you ever done a bit of Croft-esque exploring yourself in the real world?
Favourite locations for me have been Egypt, Peru, and Mexico. Though give me a jungle-strewn temple complex and I’ll be happy wherever it takes place! Of all the games I really think Underworld’s Mexico has to be one of my favourites. A gigantic rainforest temple in the middle of a tropical storm, a huge myth-based puzzle spanning multiple areas, motorbike navigation, and an awesome underground puzzle chamber very reminiscent of earlier Tomb Raider titles - what more could we want?
I’ve been fortunate enough to have travelled to a fair few places around the world, and to match Lara, I think I’ve been to London, Paris, New York, Ireland, Scotland, Greece, Venice, Rome, Japan, and after playing TR4, became so obsessed with Egypt, and bugged my parents so much that they saved up for a couple of years and took me there on holiday!
I don’t think Lara has been the inspiration for how much I love to travel, but I think I always keep her in mind when I’m in these places. How couldn’t I?
The games have changed rather dramatically over the years, and there are very distinct versions of Lara, which iteration are you drawn to most? The hard-edged cold-blooded 90s version? Or the more vulnerable and realistic depiction in the latter games?
The shoot-first and ask questions later Lara has always been my girl! I never bought the ‘ice queen’ narrative spun by the press. Lara’s calculating and quiet, but never emotionless. There’s a lot a person can hide behind a smirk and snide remark. Of course, she rarely expressed those feelings, but it doesn’t take a therapist to expand upon the nuance if you understood her character.
The more vulnerable depiction has her moments for sure, but I’ve noticed I’m much more drawn to her when she’s really demonstrating her active, aggressive strength, rather than her (frankly remarkable) ability to survive and persist.
Lara, no matter what iteration, has proved to be an inspirational character – a strong and independent female lead in what would usually have been considered a male role. Depictions of her have also stirred up controversy in the past with the way she has been sexualised in adverts and the like. What do you make of her as both an inspirational and sometimes controversial character?
I think that Lara is a character big enough to contain multitudes. That she can be both inspirational and controversial. She can be fierce, and strong, and stoic, and confident. She can be downright nasty and cruel. She can be friendly and kind, and fight for what’s right, and then be selfish, single-minded and greedy in another game.
And in a similar way, she can be plain, or pretty, she can be defeated and torn from battle, but she can also be stylish and sexy. There are so many facets to her character that no one thing is any more true than another. Many see the way she was conveyed in marketing as reductive and too far from the way she’s portrayed ingame (which is true, she very rarely dials up the flirtation in-game), and others take confidence and self assertion from those sexy ads. Personally, I tread the line between these viewpoints; as someone who was never physically attracted to Lara in that way, I always thought her flirtatious marketing made her look cool. It was always a dangerous flirtation - she could kill you as soon as smile at you. However, it felt a little out of touch with the games, and a bit like false advertising, considering you could probably count her flirty moments from the games themselves on one hand. At the end of the day, Lara is how you perceive her. That was a big benefit of her classic self. Her silence allowed you to project onto her however you saw fit.
The community that has come together around the Tomb Raider games has grown, both in age and numbers in the many years since the first title was released, in no small part by the efforts and passions of creators and fans such as yourself. How has the community impacted your life, both as a creator and a fan?
The Tomb Raider community is wonderful! It feels so good to be part of such a massively creative fandom, and I’m honoured to be counted as one of them. We have writers, musicians, digital artists, filmmakers, editors, animators, traditional artists, level-builders, models, cosplayers, photographers - a whole wealth of creative wonder. Every day is something new, and in that regard I honestly don’t think I can ever say I’ve been bored of it. Tomb Raider transcends its playable games and movies and books - it is its fandom, and we’re more than happy to carry it on the long waits between games.
Without it, Raidercast wouldn’t be the success it’s become. Without it, I might not even have tried to learn new creative skills which I’ve folded Tomb Raider into. Writing, editing, podcasting; it’s all tied together, and tied to the community. I love to have community members come on the podcast and talk about their favourite games, or discuss a specific Raidery topic, because it adds more voices and perspectives. Because yes, we’re all part of the same gaming community, but boy do we have different views and opinions, and it’s great to hear them all.
If you could be involved in the creation of the next game in the series, what direction would you take the story? Would you continue from Angel of Darkness? Revive the Legends storyline, or pick up from the latest games? Or would you perhaps create a kind of hybrid? And how would you depict Lara? She’s been brought to life by a variety of talented voice artists who have each given the character very different qualities. Would you have a previous actress reprise their role, or would you give her a new voice?
This is the big question! I’m currently fascinated by the idea of the ‘unification’, which will inevitably create a brand new timeline of events with previous parts of Lara’s other timelines all stitched together in some way. I don’t envy whose job it is to do that, considering no matter what they pick, it will likely anger someone.
Personally, if it were up to me, AOD would be the most recent entry, chronologically, so I’d pick up from there with the writer’s initial game plan in mind. Discover Kurtis, explore Kriegler, Antarctica, Cappadocia, and go to war against Karel. After that, a brand new adventure which I haven’t really thought of, but you can bet it would contain at least one jungle-temple, a sneaky high-stakes stealth modern area, perhaps something deep beneath the waves, and dinosaurs. They’d have to come back for sure. The role would first be offered to Jonell or Shelley from TR4 / TR1 respectively, but if they didn’t fancy it, I’d pour all the money in the world into getting Hayley Atwell (Agent Carter / Lara from the upcoming Netflix animated TR series) to reprise her role in-game.
The music of Tomb Raider is massively influential and perhaps just as memorable as any other aspect of the game. Do you have a particular soundtrack or piece of music from the games that you like the most?
The music has always been grand! I have so many pieces on my playlists, but nothing has bested The Angel of Darkness for me. Peter Connelly and Martin Iveson’s score is perfect. Throughout, the occasional TR theme is scattered with military vibes, epic drums, rousing melodies, twisted strings, and a whole heap of growing tension. It fits the game so well, and its theme is bold, beautiful, and bittersweet.
If you were to recommend a Tomb Raider game to a new player, which would you pick for them and why?
While Legend is the easiest … I’d still say Tomb Raider 1. There’s just more to it! More to explore, more levels, more puzzles, more risk, more reward. It’s really not that difficult to master the controls, and it’s so worth it just to experience the origins of the series. TR1 is the measuring stick against which all subsequent titles have been held up against, and there’s a reason for that.
Other than Tomb Raider, what genres of games do you typically gel with most? Do you gravitate more to the action/puzzle adventure, or do you prefer to play games that are further removed from Tomb Raider when not creating content?
I’m so glad you asked that, as I rarely get a chance to talk outside the Tomb Raider box with Raidercast.
Other than Lara’s adventures, I’m a big Final Fantasy fan - notably all things to do with 7 and 9 in particular. Not long ago I finished FF16 and that blew me away! I absolutely love the Assassin’s Creed series which I struggle to determine a favourite, but Black Flag is up there as I love pirate stories. The Uncharted games are also brilliant in that way, particularly Uncharted 4, which I think is possibly the best pirate story out there. Other recent favourites have been the ‘Star Wars: Jedi’ series, which might be the best Star Wars we’ve had in recent times outside of Disney’s incredible Andor series.
Outside of gaming, podcasting, and making videos, what drives you? Do you have other creative outputs, or do you pour everything into your public facing work?
I’d say I pour most time into public-facing projects, however in my downtime I love to write. At least, I love to think I write, but mostly it’s struggling to find time to do so, and when I have time, struggle to put the ideas down on paper.
Time spent with my husband, or friends, or traveling (or a combination of these!) is also a great part of my life as it allows me time to recharge. Especially in times when I feel burnout marching towards me after particularly long projects both in and outside work.
With Tomb Raider being such a big part of your life, you must have many influences from those involved in the series - is there anyone who has worked on Tomb Raider whose work you’d like to highlight?
Jenni Milward’s Tomb Raider writing has always been a massive source of inspiration to me - she recently released her long-awaited Angel of Darkness sequel novel titled ‘Path of the Black Alchemist’ which I highly recommend checking out.
Dean Kopri produces unimaginably wonderful music both Tomb Raider and otherwise, who I hope to see as lead composer for a Tomb Raider title one day, because yes, he’s that good.
Murti Schofield - the writer for The Angel of Darkness - has a fascinating mind for all things dark and mysterious. Speaking to him is a always a joy and I always come away feeling inspired. Go check out his website and lose yourself among the hundreds of game development documents he’s kindly shared!
…and lastly, do you have anything or anyone else you find yourself inspired by that you’d recommend our readers check out?
There are many things but I’d be here forever, so I’ll try and keep this as short as possible.
In terms of podcasts I wouldn’t be where I am today without The Vault gaming podcast by Vic and Jase - full of wonderful humour and nostalgic lookbacks at various games and series.
More recently I’m absolutely enamoured with Claire Waller’s Museum of the Missing mystery horror podcast, which thrills me every week and I will shout about from the rooftops until everyone listens to it.
A couple of years ago I listened to a BBC podcast called The Lovecraft Investigations - three series covering a modern retelling of three HP Lovecraft cosmic horror stories in the style of a true-crime podcast. Gripping doesn’t begin to cover it, it’s so so well made and has so many themes I think are perfect for Tomb Raider.
Of course, a little self-promotion, I’d also recommend checking out The Astroholic Explains podcast - one I make with my husband about astronomy, astrophysics, space, filled with all manner of cosmic conundrums.
I love to read, and I’ve set myself the task of reading all of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple books this year, although I’m starting to doubt I’ll complete that before January, given that I’m also interspersing these crime classics with other books - primarily fantasy novels. I enjoy them very much, and I’m sure in some way they’re going to inspire whatever I end up writing, too.
Finally another massive inspiration for me has always been, and always will be, JRR Tolkien. I love the books, I love the films, and yes, I loved Rings of Power too. Middle Earth has always been my second home, and it’s still the adventure benchmark in my life. It was thanks to Peter Jackson’s trilogy that I realised my passion for making videos - and if I hadn’t realised that then I wouldn’t have started to experiment and bring that passion to life with Tomb Raider clips, and if I hadn’t done that, well, I might not be sat here doing this interview today.
A huge thank you to Chris for taking time out to be a part of this new interview series. I hope you enjoyed the read as much as I did. You can find Chris on Twitter (and the Raidercast twitter), Instagram, and of course, on the Raidercast website as well as Chris’ Raidercast YouTube channel and The Astroholic websites.
Also, thanks to Raiding the Globe for being an incredible source of all things Tomb Raider. All the artwork is sourced from there.
If you enjoyed this and would like to see more /CHAT posts, please do consider subscribing and sharing - also, if you have any suggestions for people you’d like to hear from, do drop me a line at info[at]typedbytom[dot]com. And while I’ve got you, why not check out some previous posts below.
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