Who is Lara Croft? You might want to find the answer to that question out soon because the next installment of the Tomb Raider series will be here before you know it. The next title is “Shadow of the Tomb Raider” and it will pick up from the rebooted storyline. If you have not played any of the reboots as of yet, what have you been doing with your time? Saying that the series is absolutely amazing just does not give it enough credit. The rebooted Tomb Raider series has been published by Square Enix and has been worked on by a gambit of developers such as Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal, Feral Interactive, United Front Games, and Nixxes Software BV. The initial game of any of the reboot was released in 2013 and the new game is scheduled to be released on September 14th, 2018 and I am beyond excited about it. The reboot takes you back to before Lara has become the “Tomb Raider” we all know and love. It dives into her tragic backstory and lets you experience the events that create the character. The first game Lara explored a lost island called Yamatai. The second game takes place a year after the first one as Lara goes on a quest to find the lost city of Kitezh. She has to explore regions of the Middle East and Russia on her journey. The games provide an interesting and fun combination of historical fiction and fantasy.

The game will continue to follow the life of the Tomb Raider, Lara Croft, as she explores ancient ruins in South America. She is an archaeologist and always out looking for some new treasure that has some sort of bad voodoo crap attached to it. Expect to have many armies, and animals, out to keep you from reaching your goal. I am sure shooting monkeys with a bow and arrow is going to be a real thing and why shouldn’t it be? Who is laughing at who now, monkey?

Gameplay

This game follows a traditional third-person perspective. It plays similarly to any of the Uncharted games but it also adds an RPG element. As Lara explores a region and kills enemies or uncovers artifacts, she will gain experience points. Those points can then be applied to a wide assortment of abilities for the character.

Also, as you fight new enemies or loot treasure, you can find many components that can be used to upgrade your own equipment or craft devices that will help you fight monkeys…or other enemies. A hint of Metroid is also included in these games. Throughout Lara’s adventure, she will unlock new abilities for her bow or different equipment in general that grant her new abilities. Newly acquiring any of these abilities will allow you access content in previously visited areas that may unlock new challenges and goodies. Not to be a total jerk but I am sure they also added in a view more absolutely brutal ways for Lara to perish.

Didn’t anyone else just shout “Oh damn” when she would get impaled by a stick in the first two games? No, just me?

Graphics:

Based on the videos I have seen of gameplay, and the fact that two other games have already been released for the new rebooted series, this game looks incredible. Do you remember the old Lara Croft that we used to play as in the 90s? Do you remember how many polygons she was made up of? That was high tech back in the day, I’m not lying! Aside from Lara getting a huge makeover, the environment itself is just breathtaking. There are moments in the previous installments where I had to just stop and admire how incredible everything looks. The game just looks very smooth and they did an amazing job with everything character they have created.

Mechanics

As I mentioned previously, the series has played a lot like Uncharted but with a few extra elements. For example, since Lara uses a bow you can play as a very stealthy character. The skill tree has a few different options to support the way that you want to play you can make your Lara as unique as you like. The screen will become more black and white as Lara continues to take damage which is very similar. There are difficulty settings so you can provide yourself with as much of a challenge as you see fit. The previous games in the series did not have multiple endings based on how you play the game and I highly doubt that this game will have it as well. However, there are many optional areas to explore and puzzles to complete. Aside from the main story, there is plenty to do in the game.

The map for each area is generally massive and each individual area has objectives. Most of these objectives are completely optional but doing some of them will make Lara even more powerful.

Throughout the maps, there are hidden tombs that provide the player with a bit more exploration and puzzles to solve. Aside from just puzzle solving, if you can complete an optional tomb there is usually an additional skill associated with that temple that you can only unlock upon completion. Totally worth it!

Conclusion

I can’t tell you how this game is going to be but if it is anything like the previous two games, it is going to be amazing. If you like third person shooters, adventure games, solving puzzles, or even shooting arrows at monkeys, this is the game for you. I am sure the graphics are going to be incredible so I can continue my unhealthy infatuation for Lara Croft. Overall, it is going to be amazing…just trust me, ok? Go pre-order it!

Thank you for reading my article. Any feedback is extremely appreciated, please feel free to leave your comments below. Happy gaming.