I wanted so much to like Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix’s Lara Croft reboot, ironically named Tomb Raider, when it shipped way back in 2013. Having been a pretty huge Tomb Raider fan since the 90s, it was a tad disappointing to have an Uncharted clone with a female protagonist, as opposed to an actual Tomb Raider reboot. You know, with tombs. Fear not though folks, “Optional Tomb Raider” is no more. Instead, we actually have a title that might be worthy of carrying the Tomb Raider name.
Granted, the Microsoft press conference didn’t really do a lot to allay the fears of fans who wanted a more Tomb Raidery experience, and neither did the opening of the behind-closed doors presentation, but things slowly picked up as the demo went on.
Fans of the whole Nathan Drake-like adventure scenes will be happy to hear they’re included in the sequel, as is the whole resource management, RPG-esque crafting and looting. There are even stealth sections as well, with new additions like poison arrows for taking out small groups, Lara’s ability to climb and drop from trees, Lara can of course swim, make molotovs and more.
Outside of the edge-of-your-seat action sequences, there’s still plenty of other stuff to do, as Crystal Dynamics welcomes back the hub areas from the 2013 reboot. The wide-expansive areas will allow players to seek out mission givers, carry out secondary missions, attempt to crack the mysteries of secret challenge tombs, explore various crypts, search for documents and relics, and should you wish, you can hunt, gather and use those rewards to upgrade Lara and her equipment.
Let’s be honest though, we’re here to talk about tombs. Motherfucking tombs, baby!
The demo included various tombs and crypts, of varying size and design, with each having their own distinctive look and feel. Whether it’s the ice caverns of Siberia, in which you'll find large ships eerily embedded in the ice walls, or the rather more epic and sprawling ancient ruins that exist in the Sacred Oasis in the Syrian desert, it’s that feeling of familiarity of old, combined with the new next-gen visuals that truly make them stand out as the game’s main character, more so than Lara herself.
The majority of the behind-closed-doors demo took place in Syria, at the aforementioned Sacred Oasis, as Lara searches for the tomb of the immortal prophet. Following the recording of her late and dear father, Lara follows instructions, while crawling through some claustrophobia-inducing tunnels.
It’s at this point Lara discovers a monolith, inscribed with ancient text. Crystal Dynamics has really put an emphasis on secrets in Rise of the Tomb Raider, and things like the aforementioned text can actually be read by Lara had she uncovered bureaus and documents along the way. That kind of stuff can open up pathways, secret areas and more, but without the prerequisite knowledge, Lara won’t be able to read it and gain access to that – one of the many ways that Rise of the Tomb Raider will place an emphasis on exploration.
At this point though, Lara doesn’t have the sufficient knowledge to translate the monolith, meaning instead she had to press on, using her climbing axe to reveal a small opening in the wall. What lay on the other side of that gap was an epic sight, an ancient temple, undisturbed for centuries, no doubt, with overgrowing greenery dominating the eyeline. Lara’s job was simple: get to the temple and look for the tomb of the immortal prophet.
After shimmying her way across edges, climbing up vines, and making carefully calculated jumps, Lara finds herself in one of those trademark “get to the other chuffin’ end of this platforming section before ya become toast, ya numpty” situations, and in classic Lara fashion, she makes her ways towards the tomb, leaving her only safe way out of there completely and utterly devastated.
Crystal Dynamics has seemingly placed an emphasis on atmosphere and tension, doing whatever it can to make you, the player, feel slightly vulnerable and out of your comfort zone. As you enter the temple, for instance, and brush the cobwebs off Lara’s face, the flare you were once holding will extinguish, eventually coming on at the most inopportune time – and that’s when Lara was surrounded by skeletons, scorpions and spiders. Rise of the Tomb Raider is all about danger and exploration, and this tomb had it all.
You can also expect puzzles galore in Rise of the Tomb Raider; and during the short demo we got to see Lara manipulate a room by filling it with water, while also freeing a raft, so that she could reach a previously inaccessible ledge – an early puzzle in the game, one that is used to introduce various mechanics to the player. These kind of puzzles, both explorative and physics-based will ramp up as you continue through the game, we’re told. So much so, that Crystal Dynamics often nests puzzles in Rise of the Tomb Raider, meaning you’ll have to solve puzzles to solve other puzzles. In other words, the final goal of one puzzle might be solved by solving a number of other puzzles. Goody! Bring on the puzzles!
Thought that sounded interesting? Well, the series of tombs that preceded this area were actually only the beginning, and as the demo closed, we were treated to a snapshot of an enormous tomb in which you're required to make your way to the top. Classic Tomb Raider, and exactly the kind of stuff we were itching to see reintroduced in the sequel.
Quite how the rest of the game will play out remains to be seen, but at this stage it’s encouraging to see some actual tomb gameplay. Sure, this might not be an indication as to how the rest of the game will play, mainly because Crystal Dynamics showed off tombs and puzzles when they originally showed off the 2013 reboot, but colour me optimistic for Rise of the Tomb Raider. I have faith.
Rise of the Tomb Raider is scheduled for a November 10th launch on Xbox One and Xbox 360.
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