There are very few video game franchises that have had the impact and longevity of Tomb Raider. Lara Croft has transcended the realm of video games and has become a pop culture icon, whose adventures span multiple mediums. Lara is an integral part of video game history, and it seems like she is here to stay.
In 2013, the series received a reboot that serves to tell Lara's story from the beginning. It explains how she becomes a seasoned tomb raider capable of taking on nefarious forces like Trinity. Within the trilogy, Lara undergoes a transformation when she is thrown into the deep end and forced to survive in the most treacherous of conditions. In Shadow of the Tomb Raider, however, a darker side of Lara emerges that forces players to reconsider some of her pursuits.
The Evolution of Lara Croft in the Tomb Raider Trilogy
Tomb Raider (2013) was developed by Crystal Dynamics. A young Lara, while on an expedition to locate the lost kingdom of Yamatai, finds herself stranded on an island just off Japan's coast. As she soon discovers, this is no ordinary island, and it is far from uninhabited. Both Lara and the players undergo a growth process as she picks up skills that make her a more competent survivor. She is forced to kill to survive, and she learns that she is capable of greatness.
While 2013's Tomb Raider may be an adrenaline-pumping experience, there is an excessive amount of handholding. This mostly occurs through the use of QTEs that seem to make interactions easier. This is improved with Rise of the Tomb Raider, where Lara ventures to Siberia to find the source of immortality. This proves to be a dangerous endeavor because Trinity is on her trail.
Unlike in 2013's Tomb Raider, Lara is a much more competent survivor who knows her way around a gun and can stand up bravely to Trinity. Combat opportunities and complex tombs are plentiful, and this gives many opportunities for Lara to demonstrate herself to be a skilled tomb raider willing to do whatever it takes to stop the forces of evil.
The Dark Side of Lara Croft in Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Shadow of the Tomb Raider, released in 2018, represents a significant deviation from the previous two games. Although the first two titles in the trilogy were developed by Crystal Dynamics, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is developed by Eidos-Montréal. The tone of the game also shifts drastically from its predecessors. It cranks up the horror elements to provide some genuinely terrifying tombs to explore.
Lara, as a survivor, is in her prime. Her stealth skills are vastly improved, and she is able to crouch in vegetation and cover herself in mud to avoid detection from her foes. She is capable of some brutal kills, and scenes such as her emerging from the flaming waters of the Porvenir Oil Fields to wage an all-out assault on Trinity illustrate Lara at her most ruthless. She knows what she is capable of, and she is not afraid to unleash it.
Lara's story also veers in a much darker direction, forcing players to ask some big questions regarding Lara's tomb raiding, and her treatment of the relics of other cultures. After Lara travels to South America to stop Trinity, she finds the Dagger of Chak Chel. However, upon retrieving it, she sets off a great apocalypse.
In the most poignant way, Lara is shown that the relics she finds are not mere objects of curiosity for outsiders to gawk at or collect. Rather, they are important works of art that have special meaning to the cultures they come from, and she may not always be aware of the full significance of the relics she comes across. In a game where players can run around historical sites destroying great works of heritage, Shadow of the Tomb Raider forces players to rethink the very notion of tomb raiding.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider provides some nice closure to the Tomb Raider reboot trilogy. After the series beautifully tracks Lara's growth, the final game in the trilogy illustrates how easy it is for power to be misused, and how the road to hell can be paved with good intentions. Far from being a Mary Sue, Lara is a character capable of making mistakes, and that helps to keep her grounded and relatable even when she is going on daredevil adventures around the world.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider is available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
