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There hasn’t been a new Tomb Raider video game since 2018. Lara has ventured into the world of numerous other video game properties in big collaborations, and this year we were treated to the excellent remastered trilogy of the PS1 classics. However, there hasn’t been a new video game adventure starring England’s leading lady since Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Lara’s final battle against Trinity remains the latest installment in the iconic franchise, and it’s worth appreciating this underrated treasure now that it has just turned six years old and is the story leading into the upcoming Netflix series.
While we haven’t been treated to a new AAA adventure, it’s important to note that one currently is cooking at Crystal Dynamics. It is a unification of all the mainline Tomb Raider games with the Survivor trilogy established as the canon origin, and it will take place after Underworld. Lara will don a unified outfit seen in Call of Duty, Fall Guys, Magic The Gathering, and other crossovers, and supposed leaks suggest it is an open-world romp in India, but the validity of these leaks are fragile at best as of writing.
The entire fandom is obviously anticipating news and a grand reveal of Tomb Raider 12, with many hoping for at least a teaser at this year’s Game Awards. While TR12 is kept under wraps with Crystal Dynamics waiting to pull the curtain aside, fans have the Netflix anime series right around the corner, and it takes place directly after the underrated gem of the Survivor trilogy, Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
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Shadow of the Tomb Raider is an underrated treasure
The Tomb Raider Survivor trilogy is mostly well regarded. However, whenever people speak about the best installment, it’s always either Tomb Raider 2013 or Rise of the Tomb Raider. Critically speaking, Rise is regarded as the best of the three as it boasts an 88 on Metacritic with Tomb Raider 2013 falling behind at 86, and Shadow at a measly 75.
In addition to critical reception, Shadow of the Tomb Raider was considered a disappointment regarding sales by Square Enix. It sold 4.12 million units four months into its release, but this was considered a “weak start,” and it ultimately contributed to Square selling the IP to Embracer.
While the critical reception wasn’t as high as TR 2013 or Rise, and its performance was considered “weak” by Square Enix, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is actually a fantastic game, and it is criminally underrated as many aspects make it secretly the best of the Survivor trilogy.
Shadow Of The Tomb Raider six years later
Shadow of the Tomb Raider has turned six years old. It originally came out on September 12th, 2018, so now is a good time to reflect on its underrated brilliance, especially with its relevance to the upcoming Netflix series.
The best aspect of the game is how it feels the most like a classic Tomb Raider romp in modern times. It has excellent exploration and immersion, and it is packed with optional tombs to explore at your whim. Some of these tombs, including the ones needed to progress through the story, contain easily the most creative, smart, and challenging puzzles of the Survivor trilogy.
Tomb Raider 2013 and Rise arguably had too much combat aching to Uncharted, whereas Shadow is more exploration combined with environmental and tomb puzzle solving. The platforming is again the best of the Survivor trilogy, and Shadow also has the best and most intense swimming sections of arguably any Tomb Raider experience. The underwater sections all look beautiful, yet they unforgettably capture the claustrophobic terror of squeezing through tight crevices, while also throwing in deadly piranhas just to make dipping a toe into water even more daunting.
Not only does it have the best exploration, puzzles, underwater sections, and feels the most like a Tomb Raider game, it also has the best stealth by a country mile. Perhaps the excellent stealth isn’t surprising seeing as the game is attributed to Eidos Montreal of Deus Ex Human Revolution fame, with Crystal Dynamics regarded as collaborators. You can choose to just shoot your way through enemies with the assortment of weapons available, but stealth feels way more exhilarating.
In Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Lara feels like a hunter aching to the Predator. She can hide in bushes waiting to stab an enemy’s skull with her trusted pickaxe, she can give herself a free mud bath to hide from Trinity soldiers, and she can leap from tree to tree like a performing monkey to strike enemies from out of nowhere. It is a lot of fun, and it puts an emphasis more on quick and clever stealth rather than shoot first, think never.
Even though there is a major onus stealth, Shadow still has epic set pieces comparable to doomsday scenarios in the Uncharted franchise. There’s a particular set piece late into the game where the world beneath Lara is just completely falling apart, descending into the depths of hell, and it’s an absolute marvel both visually and for what the developers were able to achieve because of all the required components.
The gameplay is perfect, the exploration is exceptional, and, even though it came out in 2018 on last-gen consoles, it still looks remarkably beautiful. When it comes to the disappointing, it’s sadly another case where the story is so-so, and the characterization of Lara Croft pales compared to Classic and Legend.
However, even though the story is mid, the characterization is at least better compared to Rise. Jonah is actually given a personality other than being Lara’s lapdog, running to her every time she wails “Jonah!”. There are some really well-acted and powerful scenes where Jonah gets a backbone and, for the first time, sits Lara down. As for Miss Croft, she’s still not the slick and bombastic action hero fans are desperate to come back, but Camilla Ludington put in an exceptional performance, and there are great iconic moments such as Lara menacingly rising against a backdrop of pure carnage.
“I only play for sport”
While Shadow of the Tomb Raider is celebrating its sixth anniversary, its relevance right now mostly stems from its events leading into the Netflix Tomb Raider series set to debut on October 10th. This takes place right after Shadow, and it sees Hayley Atwell become the Tomb Raider in place of Camilla.
The Netflix series is said to show the transition of Survivor Lara into Classic, but it remains to be seen as that has been promised and never delivered throughout the entirety of the Survivor trilogy. Assuming it is actually the case and Survivor Lara finally grows up, then Shadow of the Tomb Raider was an excellent swan song for the video games.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
- Platform(s): Linux, macOS, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
- Genre(s): Action, Adventure