Shadow of the Tomb Raider hasn’t even been announced yet, but that hasn’t stopped us coming up with ways we think will make Lara’s next adventure her best yet.
Related: The history of Tomb Raider
Thanks to some not so savvy individual, who thinks it’s a good idea to work on secret unannounced game projects on public transport, we’re now fairly certain that the next instalment in the Tomb Raider series will be Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Not much else is known about the project, except that it’s rumoured to be the work of Deus Ex developer Eidos Montreal. We’re still awaiting any solid details for what may be the last entry in the well-received reboot series. An official announcement for the game could be a while off yet, so for now, let’s take a look at what we’d like to see in the Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
Fully explorable Croft Manor
For many players, exploring Croft Manor is one of the most memorable and beloved aspects of the original Tomb Raider games. Notably absent since the series’ fourth instalment, Crystal Dynamics brought it back for its PS2 era games. Recently, it was also included as additional content, as well as a surreal VR experience, in Rise of the Tomb Raider’s DLC offering, Blood Ties. While the story driven aspect was intriguing, Croft Manor has always been best utilised as a freely explorable training area in which to hone Lara’s skills and uncover secret areas. Here’s hoping Eidos Montreal include it in some form in Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Chances of an old butler and a walk in freezer are slim, be we can dream.
Further evolution of Lara’s character
The reboot had an excellent story, it was a dark, violent, and peril-filled coming of age tale in which Lara was tested to the very limits of human endurance and emerged a hardened heroine… or so it seemed. Then came the second game, Rise of the Tomb Raider, where Lara’s character evolution seemingly hit a brick wall. Far from the confident and capable young woman that audiences were expecting, Lara spent most of the time whining and steeped in self-pity at a situation she voluntarily put herself in. While the Lara of the 90’s was arguably unrealistically adept for any situation the developer needs to strike a balance between her past incarnation as an over accomplished adventurer and her present, hesitant explorer, self.
Better story with less focus on family
It’s unfortunate that, as well as putting the brakes on Lara’s personal development, Crystal Dynamics has seen fit to focus the overarching narrative on Lara’s family rather than Lara herself. Her motivations in the previous game all stem from a desire to restore her father’s honour. Lara’s reputation shouldn’t come from her relatives, but rather her own exploits. If there was less focus placed on Lara’s family and more on the name she’s carving for herself as an archaeologist and spirited adventurer, who travels the globe in search of all manner of bizarre and beguiling ancient artefacts, the story would be a lot more engrossing, and modern Lara a much more interesting individual in her own right.
Darker setting
The rebooted Tomb Raiders have an altogether more adult tone than anything the series has previously produced – Lara being forced to wade through a river of blood in the reboot bears testament to that. Now that the games have also gone up in age rating, for mature audiences only, they aren’t afraid to show blood, violence, and Lara frequently reduced to a bloody pulp to emphasise the dangerous nature of her exploits. Although filled with gore and violence the games are never actually unnerving or scary. The name Shadow of the Tomb Raider gives us hope that the setting may be darker than any of the series previous entries. It would be a refreshing take on the franchise to see Lara discover an artefact that unleashes some horrific and pant-wettingly scary supernatural adversaries.
More non-human enemies
Lara’s killed her fair share of wild animals in the past, but these days her murdering sprees are mostly reserved for those that walk on two legs. While human enemies are fine, it would be nice to see more of a variety to combat than simply a legion of men with guns. Exploring remote locations grants the opportunity for Lara to come into contact with all manner of exotic and dangerous creatures. Additionally, the supernatural aspect to the series allows the developer to be more creative with the kinds of creatures Lara comes up against. Enemies that require different tactics to defeat, trap or escape would add an intuitive approach to the standard method of shooting everything in the head until it falls down. Also, epic boss battles with ancient mythological creatures would be most welcome.
More tombs with tougher puzzles
The tombs in Rise of the Tomb Raider were excellent and we’d like to see them return on a bigger scale in Shadow of the Tomb Raider. As well as testing the player’s ability to solve physics and logic puzzles, the tombs should put the player’s reflexes and thumb dexterity to the test. Given that the series is called Tomb Raider and the challenge tombs were the strongest aspect of the latest game, it’s a shame Crystal Dynamics saw fit to make them optional extras. Shadow of the Tomb Raider should capitalise on the series’ best quality and have tombs the main focus, with perhaps the option to skip only the game’s most deviously difficult tombs.
No timed exclusivity
Lara has always been synonymous with PlayStation, arguably neither of them would have gotten as far without the other. The exclusivity deal that saw Rise of the Tomb Raider released on Xbox a whole year before PlayStation is still a sore point for many fans and was the nail in the coffin for many long-time supporters. Even the eventual launch of Rise of the Tomb Raider 20 Year Celebration, packed with DLC as well as bonus content and a commemorative art book, didn’t completely wash away the sour taste left by the long delay. Alienating half your market is never a good strategy and let’s hope that when Shadow of the Tomb Raider launches it’ll be available on all platforms at the same time.
What would you like to see in Shadow of the Tomb Raider? Share your opinions in the comments.