Tomb Raider: What should come next?
With the first details of the next Tomb Raider game surfacing at the beginning of what is the 25th anniversary of the franchise, what can we expect to see from Lara Croft following the hugely successful reboot trilogy?
It wasn’t so long ago that the Tomb Raider name was in danger of falling into the void along with other greats such as Prince of Persia, Ratchet and Clank and Crash Bandicoot.
An initial four-year run saw as many games released on the original PlayStation to critical acclaim which quickly lifted Lara Croft to something of an icon during the late 90s. The Tomb Raider franchise sold millions of copies worldwide before the turn of the century, becoming one of the biggest names in the industry.
But a disappointing step onto the PS2 threatened to doom the series on the spot. That initial popularity was quickly confined to history, and the name of Tomb Raider was in danger of becoming an ancient relic.
The initial PS2 reboot went some way to at least keep the franchise alive for diehard fans, but it never quite matched the mainstream, era-defining success of the original games. In relative terms, the 2000s were the dark age for the Tomb Raider series.
The franchise, and its main character, was in desperate need of a refresh, and we got just that in 2013 when Crystal Dynamics launched its reboot on the PS3.
Refreshed, reimagined, reloaded
Another decade arrived with the promise of yet another reboot as Square Enix acquired the property in 2009. What we got was one of the best games of the PS3 era. The first of three new games that would focus on the origins of Lara Croft.
It was grizzly, it was visceral, and it was believable. A Tomb Raider game had never presented anything so dark, at times it was outright disturbing. But aside from a fresh style and fresh tone, perhaps the most exciting part of all was just how god damned fun it was to play.
During a time when open worlds were fresh into fashion, the Tomb Raider reboot brought an interesting balance of corridor-led gameplay mixed with open-ended exploration. It amounted to a well-paced and intrigue-filled experience that offered the chance for the player to decide on the experience they wanted. No 30-minute horseback commutes here.
As far as we’re concerned, this style remains the best example of gameplay on current-gen consoles. While the presentation of characters and environments lost its enthusiasm over the course of the trilogy, there’s no other game we’ve played on PS3 or PS4 that was so enjoyable to play through from start to finish. No chores, no errands — unless you choose to run them.
Even a combination as strong as this one got stale eventually, and by the time Shadow of the Tomb Raider launched in 2018 it felt like a refresh was needed. Not so much in the gameplay itself, but we found ourselves taking much less time to listen to each of Lara’s voiceovers as she told us about countless artefacts or read notes from historical characters.
The enthusiasm of the voice actors and writers seemed to diminish over the course of the trilogy, and you just get a sense that a new beginning would re-discover that authenticity of the first game. There were some memorable moments, not least Lara’s frenzied murder spree at the oil refinery, but the spark had gone.
A chance to develop further
So, what’s next for Tomb Raider? Well, 2021 marks the 25th anniversary of the original game and Square Enix is promising announcements on the future of the series throughout the year.
Details of the next game have already surfaced, with plans in place to unify the reboot trilogy with the original series from the 90s.
Therefore, it would be reasonable to expect to see a more mature Lara Croft, one more like what we saw in the original games, although we did see her as a much more accomplished adventurer by the end of Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
That said, we can’t imagine the tank top and shorts will make a return in this next iteration. Square Enix has done well to reinvent Lara as a believable survivor, all of that characterisation would be lost if she returned to more of a caricature style.
But will this new game follow the same path as the reboot games in terms of gameplay and style? Or will we see a new direction to help freshen things up and rekindle the enthusiasm of developers and players alike?
We’re hoping for a bit of both. The semi-open world style must remain. Please don’t let this be another series lost to the ever-growing number of commute-em-ups.
But there needs to be more variety packed into the world itself. It’s no longer good enough for the environment to appear interesting. It needs to offer much more in terms of interaction and traversal, but also a wider array of options for a more varied gameplay experience.
We’d love to be able to take greater control of Lara and her situation, using our own ingenuity to tackle challenges in our own way instead of following the path set out by the scenario writers.
Variety seems to be the order of the day here. We’d love to see Lara travel a little more widely in her next adventure. Two of the three reboot games were set exclusively in deep jungle, perhaps a more urban environment would offer new gameplay opportunities — surely Venice is on the cards?
Most importantly of all though, Lara’s pistols simply must be implemented into this next game. If nothing else changes, the chance to dual wield those iconic pistols will more than satisfy our demands — throw in some Uzis too please.
Beyond that, we’ll be intrigued to see what the makers can come up with. What’s important is that Lara Croft has regained her status as one of the icons of gaming, the fact she has a future at all is a victory in many ways.
Visit lets-get-gaming.com for more great content!