Crystal Dynamics’ Tomb Raider reboot trilogy never seems to get a fair shake. Its place in the general series’ perception likely wasn’t helped by the fact it ended on Shadow of the Tomb Raider, which is not only the weakest of the trio but one of the worst Tomb Raider titles full stop. It’s not awful, but Tomb Raider games have been consistently high quality, and Shadow dips below that bar far too often. While Rise of the Tomb Raider had shown the new formula at its best, Shadow came along and showed it at its worst.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider’s biggest issue was the way it highlighted the failings of the reboot formula. Where once Lara was a globetrotting heroine, now she stayed and explored a single locale throughout the entire adventure. This was a consequence of the series adopting modern game design; shorter levels were out, and big open worlds were in. While the reboot still partitions some parts of its maps off until you make further story progress - Shadow being the worst for this - it gives you a much larger area to explore. This also meant - again, Shadow being the worst for this - pacing was harder to maintain as the world broadened its horizons. You could venture deeper into the Peruvian jungle, but there was no sudden leap to Tokyo or Bolivia or Kazakhstan to breathe new life into the game. When it faltered, you had to keep cranking the ripcord on the generator until it started again, no matter how many tries it took.
When it worked though, the reboot formula was fantastic. Old Tomb Raider levels often guided you through a very specific pathway; they might have had more open areas, especially the likes of Legend and Underworld, but they were ultimately linear. The reboot had a much better mix of styles - there were some guided sections with jumps, stunts, and quicktime events, but also wider expanses for you to lose yourself in. With Rise, the peak of the reboot trilogy, these sections were large enough that you felt Lara had the freedom to go where you wanted her to, but small enough to avoid the empty, grindy feel of gaming’s worst open worlds. Shadow’s never felt empty, but it did make too many of its smaller scenarios into something mundane and overstretched, technically offering the freedom of Tomb Raider and Rise, but in a practical sense of constantly pushing you to go from A to B.
Three years on from Shadow, we also don’t really know what’s coming next. Square Enix has held a few events and celebrations for Tomb Raider’s 25th anniversary, but we’ve been told not to expect a new title just yet. It will - somehow - tie together the original era, the Legend era, and the reboot era, but exactly how is anybody’s guess. While all games feature ostensibly the same character who shares similar traits, the Lara Croft in them is rather different, especially comparing original era and Legend era to reboot era. They’re on a different chronology, have different experiences, fairly different personalities, and tackle their work with a very different ethos. If any game offers a way to unite them, it’s Rise.
Rise of the Tomb Raider has easily the best version of Lara in the reboot trilogy. Tomb Raider does the heavy lifting in establishing this new iteration, but she becomes very Last Girl by the end of it. Any points that Lara might have gained for laying the groundwork with Sam disappeared when Sam failed to return in the two sequels. Meanwhile, Shadow seemed determined to rehabilitate Lara’s reputation, neutering her and leading with niceness until it became syrupy and glib - especially odd because Lara’s backbone and realistic determination (rather than the cockiness of her early days) was a high point of her evolution in Rise.
However the series decides to tie together all these different versions of Lara, Rise has to be at the centre. Many of us are nostalgic for the original games, but there are players out there who have only played the most recent three, and these steps in Lara’s journey cannot be ignored. It’s unlikely that the old level design will return either, with the best mix being the open yet structured approaches of Legend and Rise, with the crafting, hunting, and scavenging found across the reboot. I could do without the huge bears this time around, but if we get Legend meets Rise, I’ll take it.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider seems to have tanked the reboot trilogy’s overall standing, and a lack of clarity on where the series goes next hasn’t helped. Tomb Raider can still grow from the reboot rather than abandoning it, but Rise of the Tomb Raider needs to be the blueprint.