Very few gaming franchises have endured for as long as the Tomb Raider series. Since the release of the first Tomb Raider game in 1996, Lara Croft has become an iconic staple of both gaming and pop culture. With her daredevil nature and her willingness to go to the ends of the earth to find rare artifacts, it is hard to not fall in love with Lara. That is not the only reason gamers continually flood towards the Tomb Raider series. The games also provide adrenaline-raising action and unforgettable adventures by taking players to the most exotic locations.
The success of the Tomb Raider reboot trilogy demonstrates that Lara’s popularity in gaming is not going to wane any time soon. As expected, there have been rumors floating around that a new Tomb Raider game is in the works. If Square Enix does grace the world with a new Tomb Raider game, there are a few things that should be learned from the Tomb Raider reboot trilogy.
A New Tomb Raider Game Should Not Repeat Mistakes
Tomb Raider (2013) was a startlingly good beginning to the reboot of the series, which provides an in-depth introduction to Lara Croft’s story for newcomers, while bringing enough new elements for series veterans. The game was developed by Crystal Dynamics, and it was released on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 before being ported to PS4 and Xbox One in 2014.
The game begins with Lara as a young and naive explorer who is on the hunt for the kingdom of Yamatai. After a terrible storm, Lara finds herself stranded on the island just off the coast of Japan. Lara must quickly learn to sharpen her survival skills and be brutal against any foes she comes across, because the island is far from peaceful, and there are mysterious forces afoot.
Though the game is beautiful and tells an enthralling story, it does not get everything right. Most notably, the game features many QTEs which can be frustrating to complete. Although they do make certain events more intense, they can feel as though they take away agency from players and reduce key moments to timed button presses. While it would not be awful for a new Tomb Raider game to include QTEs, they should certainly be kept to a bare minimum.
By the time the third game in the Tomb Raider reboot trilogy rolled around, the series had overcome most of the mistakes made by previous titles. However, there is a new problem that's popped up. Shadow of the Tomb Raider’s hardest difficulty, titled Deadly Obsession, is badly balanced. Much of the difficulty does not come from the enemy encounters, but instead, from how distant save points are from each other. In a game like Shadow of the Tomb Raider, where a misaimed jump can have Lara falling to her doom, it can make certain sections of the game feel unfair instead of difficult. A new Tomb Raider game should ensure that all difficulty modes are well-balanced.
A New Tomb Raider Needs Its Most Successful Aspects
Since 2013, the Tomb Raider games have been getting increasingly more cinematic. By the third game, players are being treated to entire apocalyptic scenes with floods and the destruction of large buildings. Consequently, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is one of the most expensive games ever made. Future Tomb Raider games should not ease up on the cinematic elements, as they help to tell Lara’s epic story, and complement the action well. Part of the joy of playing Tomb Raider games comes from seeing the exotic locations that Lara travels to and taking in the beautiful scenery. Cutscenes provide further opportunities to see the epic settings that Lara will be exploring.
Just as cinematic elements gradually improved with each entry in the Tomb Raider reboot trilogy, so too did the stealth gameplay elements. By Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Lara can smear mud all over herself to blend in with walls and foliage. The mud also helps her avoid the heat-detecting goggles worn by members of Trinity who are out to kill Lara.
Stealth offers an alternative way to deal with enemy encounters. Instead of going in guns-blazing, players can take the slow and steady approach, carefully taking out enemies one by one while saving on ammunition. Not only should a new Tomb Raider game feature stealth elements, but it should also improve on the foundation laid down by previous games. Silenced guns, outfits that improve stealth, the ability to lay down hidden traps, and more should all be on the table.
A new Tomb Raider game has the potential to cement Lara's position as the queen of gaming. The Tomb Raider reboot trilogy experimented with plenty of gameplay elements. If the developers of a new Tomb Raider game can ascertain which elements worked and which did not, the next Tomb Raider could be the best in the long series.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider is available on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.