Showcasing the Spectacular: 'The Tomb Raider Chronicles' And the 'Cinema Of Attractions' Tradition

'During its twenty-five year history, not only has the game industry adopted the action-adventure, horror, and science fiction genres as its own, it has introduced what can only be described as a "cinematic" sensibility to the depiction of computer generated environments... it has become increasingly difficult to untangle the aesthetics of game design from that of the cinema.' This article locates the video game 'The Tomb Raider Chronicles' within the tradtion of the cinematic 'spectacular genre' and analyses the emotional and aesthetic impact that ever-advancing special effects have on the computer games player.