The announcement and reveal for the next Lara Croft adventure came at E3 2014, but since then the future of Rise Of The Tomb Raider has become surrounded by speculation and an element of controversy following the recent new that it would be an Xbox exclusive at GamesCom in Cologne this week (13th-17th August 2014). However, it has since become evident that the exclusivity of the release is time bound and while the full details haven’t yet been released about how long exactly it will be, the reality is that it will eventually surface on other platforms.
The result has been a lot of ambiguous press coverage about the release of the game, with anger on the Sony fanboy side of the fence considering the PlayStation ties of the Tomb Raider series, and a certain amount of jaded cynicism about the timed exclusivity of the title. If we’re honest, we’d probably prefer it if exclusive titles were new creations like Titanfall and Ryse: Son Of Rome, rather than scrapping over the details of existing game series, but then Sony probably started the latest war thanks to their bids to give PlayStation gamers first access to the Beta version of Destiny at E3.
Release
Rise Of The Tomb Raider has been confirmed for a release date in “holiday 2015”, which is a little ambiguous in itself. Either the guys at Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics are keeping their option open for all of next summer and winter, or, as is more likely, it’ll be hitting the shops for Christmas 2015. This means that it will probably be coming out at the end of November next year.
As the exclusivity arrangement implies, the launch title will only be available on Xbox, which means it’ll definitely be on the ONE and quite possibly on the 360 too. The only caveat that we’d add to that is the potential exit strategy from Microsoft from 360 game releases and whether or not it will extend to summer 2015. There’s also no word on what other platforms the game will be released on after the exclusivity period, so you’ll need to watch this space for more info later on down the line.
Storyline
The game takes place shortly after the events of Tomb Raider and the dark realities of Yamatai, as Lara faces up to the hidden and mysterious truths that she’s uncovered about the world at large and her need to take on the role of the Tomb Raider. With a plot that spans the globe, taking Lara from one beautiful, hostile and dangerous environment to the next, she must draw on her recently acquired survival skills and a new set of friends in her bid to expose yet more pieces of the puzzle.
Again, there’s more details of the full storyline for the game still to come, but from the look of the trailer below there’s going to be a significant sub plot that deals with Lara’s struggle to come to terms with it all. Having taken her first life in the opening game of the new series, before going on to butcher her way through the horrors of the island at the centre of the Dragon’s Triangle, she’s already had a lot to face, but it looks like the intensity of the action adventure is only going to get even more fierce in Rise Of The Tomb Raider.
Gameplay
The game will take a significant cue from the first game in the new series in terms of gameplay, featuring similar 3rd person action adventure features in terms of general movement, survival mechanics, battle dynamics and weaponry, only this time around Lara will be much less inexperienced when you start out. This means that new abilities that you learn will be in addition everything that Lara picked up in the first game, including her climbing and zip line skills, bad ass bow and arrow firing and other weapons proficiency.
However, as the game is set in a variety of locations throughout the world, there’s going to be even more variety in terms of environmental interaction. Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics have also confirmed that some of the more traditional tomb raiding missions will become a part of the equation to add to the dark survival action adventure that is the new incarnation of Tomb Raider.
Graphics
While the graphics look good in the trailer below and in the previews at E3 & GamesCom, the truth is that they don’t blow our mind in the same way as other Xbox exclusives like Titanfall and Ryse: Son Of Rome have done. However, along with the announcement about the initial deal, the developers have also made a lot about using Microsoft support to make the game something special, so we’re expecting things to get more and more impressive the closer we get to holiday 2014.
One area that we still think games struggle to get right is facial rendering and animation and that’s sort of the case here too, in parts, despite the obvious best intentions. However, where the game comes into its own is when things get a little bit tense or fast paced and its here that the graphics work the best, which is no bad thing in all fairness. You’ve only got to take one look at the scenes in the trailer where Lara is either bouncing down a jagged cliff or taking aim on an enemy to see where the visuals are going to impress the most.
First impressions
It feels like an easy one to call to be honest. This is going to be a tough game not to live, building off a long heritage a great new gameplay style. We’ll be keen for the graphics quality to be dialed up a few notches before the release date as it needs to show a bit more progression from Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, but all in all this will be a great game to play.
That said, the exclusivity announcement has probably done more harm than good for the series and we fully expect more clarification on the deal in the not too distant future as the game’s creators attempt to minimise the fan fallout.
