Tomb Raider - Keeping an eye on Lara Croft

“Find though she be but little, she is fierce” – Shakespeare

Tomb Raider explores the intense and gritty origin story of Lara Croft and her ascent from a frightened young woman to a hardened survivor. Armed only with raw instincts and the ability to push beyond the limits of human endurance, Lara must fight to unravel the dark history of a forgotten island to escape its relentless hold.

On March 5th, 2013 Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix release a new installment of the Tomb Raider series, aptly named Tomb Raider, that will completely refresh and revitalize the series. This particular game will be a prologue, leading into future releases within the same universe and following the same storyline.

Words alone cannot express the excitement and anticipation I feel for this game. Lara Croft is a strong and intelligent female heroine; women want to be her and men want to be with her.


At the beginning of this story, we experience Lara embarking on her first job after graduating from a University. She shows fear in the face of danger, initially lacking confidence in her own abilities and judgment. Still, we can see the seeds of what Lara will eventually become. She possesses a powerful sense of moral courage. She is clever, resourceful and determined.

What intrigues me about this game is Lara’s vulnerability. She’s not the already perfect badass that everyone already recognizes her to be. She’s young, inexperienced and naïve the way most of us would be in her situation. She’s just beginning her journey and we are beginning it with her and as we identify with her experiences we are becoming tough and battle-hardened survivors along with her. Understanding her much more than ever before.

The original Tomb Raider game made its debut in 1996. Set in an early example of the 3D genre, the game presents a series of tombs and other locations through which the player must guide Lara. Using an over the shoulder third-person shooter mechanics, Lara must defeat dangerous creatures and humans while collecting objects and solving puzzles to gain access to the ultimate prize, a powerful artifact.

In previous games the storyline was usually driven by the quest for aforementioned powerful artifact, pitting Lara in a race against a sinister shadow league who want to obtain the relic for their own purposes. These artifacts usually possess mystical powers and may be of supernatural, or even alien, origin. Often in the series, the antagonist uses the artifact or pieces of it to create terrifying mystical monsters, creatures, and mutants which Lara must defeat throughout the journey.

The new Tomb Raider explores the intense and gritty origin story of Lara Croft and her ascent from a frightened and naive young woman, to a hardened survivor. Setting out on a voyage to make her mark on the world Lara's ship, the Endurance, is hit by a violent storm and split in two and she finds herself stranded on an isolated tropical island in the Dragon's Triangle. Lara has to find food and water to survive, fighting off the more dangerous animal inhabitants and trying to trace any other survivors. But a darker threat awaits as she is forced to face a group of malevolent mercenaries who seek to kill her and her companions.


As we draw nearer to the release of Tomb Raider I will keep you posted on any new news or details. When the game releases I will be doing a playthrough on my YouTube channel.

You can preorder Tomb Raider at the following stores.

Grainger Games
GameStop
Best Buy

The Tomb Raider website has confirmed that the game will be available on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox360. As of right now it looks like the stores are only offering PlayStation 3 and Xbox360, but that could change shortly so stay tuned!