Written by: Samantha Birk
With the imminent arrival of Shadow of the Tomb Raider right around the corner, we thought why not have a look at the series so far and what to expect from SOTTR.
Whether you are a die-hard Lara fan, a casual fan or have only just picked up the Reboot series, everyone at some point in their lives has come across this hardcore, tomb raiding chick in a blue tank top and short shorts. Love her, hate her, it seems like she is here to stay.
Before Shadow had a release date we were told that this will be the end of her “origin” story… which, if you are like me, sends the brain into overdrive with, what could be next?? Will we have more games?? What about Jonah?? If we do, will they be like the originals??? And WHEN WILL WE GET DUEL PISTOLS???
The reboot series has shown Lara as a young adult becoming the tomb raider from the 90’s that we knew and loved. Leaks showed that in this game we might be diving more into her childhood, which could be a lot of fun as it was in Tomb Raider: Last Revelations, once you could get past Werner Von Croy, her annoying “mentor”. He reminded me of the butler, we used to lock up in the fridge! So, there’s that. We know that we will have difficulty settings for everything… gameplay, puzzles, traversal, enemies etc… The traversal side excites me, because I remember jumping (and dying) at anything and everything just to find a ledge I could use to progress. So, there is that too… if you ask me, I don’t think the Devs are going to stop anytime soon.
If, like me, you went flying off balconies with fake Desert Eagle pistols pretending to find Tutankhamen’s tomb and killing weird imaginary mummy things…. No? Just me? Alright, well, if you are a Tomb Raider fan then you must have been excited about the reboot. We were getting fresh new Lara, new adventures with new technology. yes please!
In the first reboot, simply titled Tomb Raider, Lara and a crew were stranded on Yamatai, a fictional lost island in the Dragon’s Triangle off the coast of Japan. Lara believes Himiko, the ruler of Yamatai had powers to control the weather, according to Japanese legend which is keeping them on this island. There is not much known about the Sun Queen and Yamatai’s history, so… enter our little explorer to find out the secrets of this island and the legend surrounding it.
Armed with her trusted bow and arrow, Lara must must investigate the mystery of the island of Yamatai and its ruler which possess the power to control the weather in Tomb Raider. Source: Microsoft Store/online
And as if trying to solve thousand of years old stories, enter our general bad guy… Mathias. Who, without giving anything away, does something that causes something, which leads to something. No, he is a lunatic that thinks he can bring Himiko back into power. Throughout the game you encounter his men, native Solarii which serve Himiko, animals, etc..
This was the first time in the Tomb Raider game series that we have had gone from explorer to being a survivor. From killing animals for food and using them to craft ammo bags and quivers, amongst many many other things, like arrows and different kinds of bullets.
This theme got carried through to Rise of the Tomb Raider, but this time you could craft a bit more things and, on the run, too. Before she would kind of just stand there and craft. If you are being shot at, standing and crafting was the absolute worst. But now, in the face of death, you can craft as you frantically jump, roll or try to run away from the imminent end. Like poison arrows, while stuck in a circle with a monstrous bear… fun I know right?
Although, in my opinion, Rise was way better, this story had a deeper storyline which sets the premise for Shadow. You get introduced to Trinity… the organization which form the crux of this game, who Lara needs to stop. Although they were heavily influential in this game, they will have a big part to play in the new game too.
So, in Rise, Trinity are trying to beat Lara to pretty much everything after they find Lara’s dad’s journal – which featured Yamatai in it. Only this time it is not some crazy island dwelling spirit ruining things, it is now what people call the “Divine Source” it was an artifact believed to bestow immortality, plot twist let me tell you!
The challenges and puzzles increase in difficulty as our archaeologist must discover the secrets of the Trinity Organisation in Rise of the Tomb Raider. Source: Microsoft Store/online
This game was packed with Tombs, finding and crafting things, outfit changes, optional challenges (which honestly, you kind of had to do) and just a general longer and better game. The puzzles took a bit longer to figure out, the animals and people were that much harder to kill and the skills you could upgrade Lara to were pretty dandy. In this game you see the love Lara has for helping people and finding the truth as well as keeping it out of the wrong hands.
In Rise we go to a few destinations, unlike the other game and being stuck on an island, you find yourself in the same area once or twice, but this game is far less restrictive, where I think Shadow is going to excel. Lara goes from tomb to tomb, snowy mountain peaks to the woods, jungle type place and into the desert. This game was action packed everywhere you went. I am not going on about this game because if you played it, you know how awesome it was…. If you haven’t… play it!
I don’t know about you, but I am bursting at the seams for this game. The possibility of heading towards a feel of the older games has me enthralled. So, grab your arrows and quiver, your dual desert eagles or ice axes and pre order this game so you can experience the magic with me and Jannie when we do a live review of the game on XBPSA’s Facebook this Sunday at 11am.
