Unless you’ve been living in the mountains of Siberia for the past few weeks, you’ve likely seen the waves of gameplay footage and in-depth hands on preview coverage of Rise of the Tomb Raider, including our time with the game.



This morning, Xbox and Crystal Dynamics announced that the game is now available for digital pre-order in the Xbox Store with two great offers one featuring Rise of the Tomb Raider with an exclusive bonus downloadable content pack called the Remnant Resistance Pack, the other featuring Rise of the Tomb Raider, plus the Remnant Resistance Pack and the game’s Season Pass.



We recently had the chance to sit down with Rise of the Tomb Raider’s Creative Director Noah Hughes to follow up on what we know about the game thus far, and more importantly, talk about everything from the digital pre-order offers and new modes to their plans for post-launch content available with the Season Pass.



XW: We’ve heard a lot about the single player campaign in “Rise of the Tomb Raider,” but can you tell us a bit about any other modes you have planned for the base game?



NH: In Rise of the Tomb Raider, we have a variety of extra modes that will let you extend the single-player campaign. Score Attack lets you replay levels from the game with a new set of rules, as you race the clock to post the best time and earn medals. Chain together attacks, movements, and collectibles to keep your multiplier high. Next, we have Remnant Resistance, which is a mode that lets you replay Hub spaces with a new set of goals. You can craft your own missions by choosing the objectives, enemies, and more. Once you’ve mastered the mission, challenge your friends and the community to beat your high score. You can include the Expedition Cards you want featured, and others can use these Cards even if they don’t have them in their collection. Finally, you can replay the game in Chapter Replay, which will let you keep the skills and equipment that you acquired on your first play-through. When combined an estimated 30+ hours to gain 100% completion on the single-player story, and our four difficulty levels including the brutally challenging Survivor difficulty, we’re confident there’s enough replay value for all of our fans.



XW: There has been some discussion about multiplayer, and you clarified by saying that players will be able to extend their single-player campaign and compete with their friends. Can you elaborate?



NH: We’ve taken a new approach to competing against your friends in Rise of the Tomb Raider with the introduction of Expedition Cards. In addition to offering the ability to customize your experience in extra modes, they let you craft missions and challenge your friends to reach the top of the leaderboards.



XW: Tell us more about Expedition Cards and how they function in game.



NH: In Rise of the Tomb Raider, you’ll earn credits by completing challenges and exploring the world. These credits can be used to purchase Expedition Card packs. When used, Expedition Cards become modifiers in game modes outside of the single player campaign. Some Cards are humorous, such as Big Head Mode, while others can increase the challenge or give you special advantages. Expedition Cards can also be purchased with real-world currency.



There are two types of Expedition Cards: Foil and Common. A Foil Card will give Lara the strongest or strangest variations and can be used as many times as you wish. A Common Card is only used once, and you’ll need to earn more credits to buy it back.



Expedition Cards offer hundreds of ways to customize your Rise of the Tomb Raider experience. You can also set up challenges for your friends to see if they can beat your scores with the same card setup. We’ll have about 300 cards available at launch, and more will be added in the weeks that follow.



XW: Tell us about the Remnant Resistance Pack that will come with both of the digital pre-order offers from the Xbox Store.



NH: The Remnant Resistance Pack includes the all-new Remnant Outfit for Lara, which is a collection of animal skins and ancient Byzantine armor. The outfit gives Lara a chance to bandage without using her resources. In addition, the pack includes the Moon Shadow Handgun Skin as well as the rare “Bullet Resistance” foil card, which gives Lara extra resistance to gunfire.



XW: Today you announced a season pass available for the game, can you tell us a bit more about what it will include?



NH: Yes, there will be a season pass available for Rise of the Tomb Raider which includes a range of content that will extend your single player campaign. Three major releases will challenge you to survive the extreme conditions of Endurance Mode, explore a new tomb that houses an ancient terror in Baba Yaga: The Temple of the Witch, and combat waves of infected predators in Cold Darkness Awakened. In addition, a steady stream of outfits, weapons, and Expedition Cards beginning on Day 1 and continuing over four months will keep you customizing, expanding, and challenging your friends to new adventures. We’ll have more to share on all of the major releases coming via the Season Pass in the coming weeks and months, but fans are really going to enjoy it.



From the woman vs. wild survival elements to exploring awe-inspiring deadly tombs; the awesome guerilla combat mechanics to jaw-dropping visual fidelity, Rise of the Tomb Raider launches exclusively on Xbox this holiday – on November 10th to be exact – and we’re eagerly anticipating the chance to embark with Lara on this all new adventure.