Now, if you’re a regular player of the Tomb Raider series you’ll be no stranger to the high-res, pre-rendered animation sequences known as FMVs (Full Motion Videos). For those of you joining the series after the Angel of Darkness, allow us to enlighten you. These FMV sequences would piece together the game’s story, generally aiding Lara’s transition from continent to continent. Way back when, these FMVs were an integral part of your Tomb Raider gaming experience opening up new levels of realism that the in-game graphics at the time were not remotely capable of.

The advancement of technology has seen a steady increase of realism within the game’s graphics. A few billion extra polygons, some anti-aliasing and a selection of ultra high quality textures (ok, so that’s not as technical as it all is, but you get the idea.) and the blocky terrains of previous Tomb Raider titles cease to exist. Unfortunately, along with this, the full motion videos were also destined for the recycle bin, conveniently being replaced by cheap ‘Cinematics’ that do exactly the same job, but aren’t as awe inspiring.

It has long been the case within most fan communities that these FMVs should make a return to the series. However, with every argument for full motion videos, there is an argument against. Today’s technology allows developers to create much more realistic environments and fluid animations in-game. The argument is that with these technological achievements and high-end graphics, FMVs have become irrelevant. They are incredibly time consuming to make and cost a considerable amount of cash, but is that really a reason to compromise the series any more than it already has been? Do the in-game graphics really cut it when it comes to video sequences? We don’t think so.

Players have requested the return of FMVs for quite some time now. It was even suggested that the commemorative title ‘Tomb Raider Anniversary’ would feature a full motion video to close the adventure. Unfortunately this never came to be, but we were treated to a single FMV for this game, although it didn’t appear in the game itself. Those of you who remember the first advert for the game will no doubt remember how impressive it was to see Lara in an action-packed FMV once again.

Perhaps today’s gamers are more mature and don’t regard part of the fun of the game to be, working your way through challenging levels and being rewarded with amazing FMV sequences. Perhaps our expectations and sense of satisfaction has matured with the games… While its completely understandable that FMVs can’t be created in the numbers they once were, a full motion video in between each level may come as too much of a good thing and would certainly be impractical given the ability to choose Lara’s outfits, what’s to stop a middle-ground being reached with opening and closing FMVs?

While the likes of Final Fantasy, BioShock and Assassin’s Creed steam ahead with incredible full motion videos, Tomb Raider seems to be catching it’s breath on the sidelines. As usual we'd love to hear your views! Share them with other Tomb Raider fans on our community forums today!