‘Rise of the Tomb Raider’ story and setting details revealed

2013’s excellent “Tomb Raider” reboot might have been fun for us players, but for lead character Lara Croft, it was one long train of experiences so punishing it was a miracle she survived the whole ordeal with her mind intact.

 

Well, maybe not completely intact. As hinted at in the previously released teaser for the title’s sequel, Ms. Croft has become something of a psychological train wreck thanks to the island of Yamatai ’s horrors. According to Gamespot, “Rise of the Tomb Raider” is set a year after that doomed expedition, and will put players in Lara’s shoes as she pursues her new obsession: the peculiar yet seductive notion of immortality as whispered about by ancient myths.

 

Because you don’t encounter an immortal being on Yamatai and remain unchanged. Now Lara is looking for answers, and she believes they can be found in the mythical city of Kitezhm somewhere in Siberia .

 

“People think she’s crazier than she is,” said Noah Hughes, the franchise’s creative director.

 

“If you came back (from Yamatai) and started talking about an immortal being and a secret sun-worshipping cult, that’s a tough pill to swallow. So Lara feels like an outsider in the real world. Her next expedition is a way of dealing with the trauma she’s been through, but it’s also a way of finding peace by chasing any shred of evidence that what she saw was real.”

 

 

The frozen wastelands of Siberia

 

If the first “Tomb Raider” was hot, moist, and sticky, “Rise of the Tomb Raider” will deposit Lara in the snow-covered Russian wilderness, where she will challenge the very worst that nature can throw at her. That of course means the ravenous wildlife, as well as avalanches and snowstorms. Sorry, hopeful pervs; with sub-zero temperatures, it looks like those impossibly tiny shorts won’t be squeezing Lara’s posterior like in the original games – although developer Crystal Dynamics does point out that she will also visit other locales, such as deep-sea caverns, thick forests, and scorching deserts.

 

An interesting side note: Naughty Dog’s seminal “Uncharted” series (a.k.a. “Tomb Raider’s” chief competition) went a similar route. The first game in the franchise was set on a single island. This was followed by a sequel that had Nathan Drake traveling the world, before fighting his way through the snow-covered mountains of Tibet.

 

Lara will have more than bears, gun-toting bad guys, and freezing winds to contend with, however. As mentioned earlier, Lara’s damaged psyche will be keenly evident in this new adventure.

 

“Lara’s learned a lot from the last game, but she doesn’t have unflinching confidence,” explained Hughes. “She can’t face unlimited opponents unscathed. She’s in a life-and-death situation, so we want to capture a certain amount of humanity by showing that Lara is continually challenged as a character. It’s important for us to capture those moments where she is uncertain about her identity, her direction, or her ability to come out alive.”

 

Enhanced crafting

 

Crafting returns in a big way in “Rise of the Tomb Raider,” with more items to collect, and exciting new survival gear to create. Making the best upgrades will require patience and skill, however.

 

“You might have a particular upgrade that requires an alpha wolf hide, but wolves only come out at certain times of the day,” said Hughes, also hinting at an in-game day-night cycle, which the previous title did not have.

 

'Metroidvania'

 

“Rise of the Tomb Raider” will feature a game world abundant with areas to explore, environmental puzzles to solve, and action-adventure segments – a design structure commonly known among video game aficionados as “Metroidvania.”

 

“We love that game structure, I think the most important thing to us is really to live up to that promise of tomb-raiding, and make sure that – as much as this is a game about traversal, exploration and combat – it’s also very much about tombs and puzzle solving,” said Hughes.

 

“Rise of the Tomb Raider” will be available for Xbox One and Xbox 360 in the holiday season of 2015, with a possible release on other consoles much later. — TJD, GMA News