Tomb Raider 12 has an almost perfect Lara Croft blueprint thanks to Netflix

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We haven’t had a new Tomb Raider AAA video game since Shadow came out all the way back in 2018. Despite the lack of a new adventure, fans have been treated to a lot of collaborations along with a trip down memory lane thanks to a fantastic remaster of the PS1 trilogy. Now fans have an anime series to binge watch thanks to Netflix. While this series isn’t the most remarkable, it does present a near-perfect Lara Croft blueprint to Crystal Dynamics for Tomb Raider 12.

There is a lot for Tomb Raider fans to anticipate. While the Netflix series starring Hayley Atwell has just come out, Crystal Dynamics has also announced Tomb Raider 4-6 Remastered. This bundle will come out on February 14th next year, and, in celebration of Lara Croft’s birthday, you will be able to return to Egypt with The Last Revelation, and you will also be able to relive Chronicles and Lara’s goth phase in Angel of Darkness.

Another trilogy remaster is fantastic news, but we are all awaiting a proper reveal for Tomb Raider 12. It is a unification of all three timelines, and Netflix almost achieved the perfect balance between the Survivor and Legend trilogies.

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Netflix’s Lara Croft is almost perfect balance between Survivor and Legend trilogies

Netflix’s Tomb Raider The Legend of Lara Croft has received middling reviews. It only has a 67% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics, and the average user score is even worse at a very poor 52%. Although disappointing, the less than stellar reception is understandable. The animation isn’t the greatest, the villain is just another rogue to be forgotten in the blink of an eye, and the story is completely forgettable. In addition to being forgettable, the story is painful as it offers nothing new from the Survivor trilogy. It repeats all the tired tropes including Lara mourning Jonah’s ‘death’ and having to repeatedly save him.

There were reports of a renewal for a second season, but it’s possible it might not happen thanks to the lacklustre reception. Hayley Atwell has said she would love to return for a second season, and one is certainly set-up, but nothing is guaranteed. While the tepid response from critics and viewers is a bad look for the series’ overall quality, there is a positive and that’s the portrayal of England’s leading lady: Lara Croft.


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The one thing Netflix did really well is portray a Lara Croft that is a good balance between the Survivor and Legend trilogies. Aching to Legend, and even the classic PS1 games, Lara is very witty. She finally has a flamboyant personality reminiscent of the older games, and she’s also very athletic as she shows off with flips, acrobatics, and handstands during combat. All of this was in the PS1 games, too, but it’s more reminiscent of the Legend trilogy as on her escapades Lara is constantly chattering to Zip thanks to a communication device firmly planted in her ear.

Netflix also ends the series with Lara finally embracing her classic dual pistols, and during all eight episodes Lara dons a better variety of outfits. This even includes dresses that showcase her femininity while also keeping aspects of her tomboy persona. Netflix’s Lara showcases her daredevil persona, too. Like the Classic and Legend timelines, in the Netflix series Lara is not afraid to perform stunts such as skydiving out of a plane at too low of an altitude and recklessly riding a motorcycle in pursuit of a train ala Tom Cruise.

Image credit: Crystal Dynamics/Netflix

Hayley Atwell also does a great job bridging the gap between all three timelines as her vocals are more reminiscent of Classic and Legend. Camilla Ludington purposefully had the vocals of a younger and more emotional Lara Croft, meanwhile, Hayley Atwell brings back a voice that is more eloquent, mature, and confident. She has the stereotypical English voice people think of for Tomb Raider, and that’s a good thing as Survivor Lara needed to mature.

As for the Survivor trilogy, Netflix did a good job evolving these characteristics, too. They kept her scrappiness in combat while also introducing a wider variety of fighting styles such as performing moves seen in wrestling. Netflix also updated Lara’s appearance by giving her a more toned and muscular physique. It’s a look that is sure to divide opinion, but the physique extends upon the more realistic look and feel of the Survivor trilogy. After all, with the feats of strength and athleticism Lara performs, it makes sense that her build is similar to a female crossfitter rather than a glamour model. It’s a good evolution of Lara’s design as it makes sense, it’s realistic, it’s common with many female athletes, and it’s not over-the-top and implausible such as Abby in The Last of Us Part 2. It also makes sense that Lara’s body is covered in cuts and bruises as she’s constantly fighting and tumbling rather than strutting down a catwalk.

Image credit: Crystal Dynamics/Netflix

The drawbacks to the Netflix series are obvious: the animation isn’t superb, the story repeats all the Survivor trilogy tropes, and none of the supporting characters are any good except for Zip. There’s also way too much crying. Whether in the past, or present, someone is crying, and it’s a crime that it’s almost always Lara as that was one of the biggest complaints amongst fans about the Survivor trilogy. However, if you take away the crying and remove the supporting cast of friends, the one thing the Netflix series does nearly perfect is portray a Lara Croft that is a fine balance between Survivor and Legend.

Tomb Raider 12

We do know a few details about Tomb Raider 12. It’s currently in-development at Crystal Dynamics, and it will be published by Amazon Games. It is a single-player adventure, it is being developed with Unreal Engine 5, and it will star a unified Lara Croft. This means the Classic, Legend, and Survivor trilogies are all canon, but the Survivor trilogy is the definitive origin, and the Netflix series is what happened before Tomb Raider 1996. We also know Lara Croft will don her unified outfit seen in her many crossovers such as Call of Duty and Magic The Gathering.

Although unconfirmed, there are ‘leaks’ that claim game is set in an open-world India where Lara will be able to freely ride around on her motorcycle and use her parachute. These same leaks have also claimed that she will race against a “society of raiders,” and that there will be new features such as recruiting allies and a non-lethal option for combat. These supposed leaks should be taken with a massive grain of salt, but it’s all we have to go off right now.

Whether these leaks turn out to be true or not, Crystal Dynamics should adopt and refine the Lara Croft blueprint used by Netflix. The anime series’ Lara Croft is almost the perfect combination of all three timelines thanks to her more realistic look and scrappiness combined with her flamboyance, wit, acrobatics, costume variety, and daredevil attitude. To get the best of all worlds, what Crystal Dynamics need to do is make Lara less emotional and remove some of the friends that are weighing her down like an anchor. Zip can stay as he was around in Underworld, but Jonah needs to die or retire, Camilla Roth never should’ve been invented by Netflix, and we do not need to see the return of Sam or anyone else from the Endurance Crew. Lara Croft is and always has been the star, and she needs to stop carrying burdens on her back as it’s stopping her from truly flourishing.  

About the Author

Callum Smith

Callum Smith is a freelance gaming writer for Videogamer. He covers news for PlayStation, Xbox, and PC, and he has over five years experience covering the video games industry.

Tomb Raider

  • Platform(s): Android, iOS, PC, PlayStation, PlayStation 3, SEGA Saturn, Xbox 360
  • Genre(s): Action
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