Video Games: “Shadow of the Tomb Raider”

New installment is the third and final in the origin story.

Amanda Hinshaw
Staff Writer

Fall looks to be promising for video gamers everywhere.  Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the third installment of the Tomb Raider franchise, is set to be released on Sept. 12 on Xbox and Playstation 4.

Many video gamers may already know Lara Croft as an older woman who can come across as cold, bureaucratic and sarcastic. The reboot of Tomb Raider has essentially gone back to her origin story, before she became the ruthless, gun-wielding archaeologist that we all know.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is the third and final installment to Lara Croft’s origin story and in this video game, players will begin to see a very dark side of her. 

Video gamers will see in this series that Croft has gone from a naïve, young woman, to a rugged explorer where she is not afraid to endure grueling combat. Croft, while at the height of her capabilities, shows that she is still immature and makes rash decisions without thinking things through.

WARNING:  This review may contain some spoilers.

Croft, along with her best friend, Jonah, is on her way to Mexico when the plane that they are riding goes down in the middle of the jungle.  Croft tries to land the plane, but to no avail.

The plane in now in the middle of the jungle and Croft has to find her way back to Jonah.  She manages to have a radio on her, so she is at least able to communicate with Jonah, so they aren’t completely cut-off from one another. 

Croft is on her way back to Jonah when she encounters Trinity, a paramilitary organization and she soon discovers Dr. Pedro Dominguez is leading Trinity to find an ancient dagger that is supposed to be the key to start “The Cleansing”.

Croft knows her late father, Richard Croft, had mentioned Dominguez in his research notes more than a few times.  Richard Croft was an archaeologist before he was murdered and Croft believes Trinity was behind it. 

Croft eventually finds the dagger in an ancient tomb and as soon as she takes it, she accidentally starts a Mayan apocalypse and she now has to race to stop Dominguez and Trinity at all costs from destroying humanity as they know it.

Players will find that Eidos-Montreal and Crystal Dynamics, who have collaborated throughout the Tomb Raider series reboot, has created a much bigger HUB than what was previously seen in the last two installments. 

Players are now able to choose their own level of difficulty and they are able to shut off hints that Croft would have normally given, in order to keep the game rolling.

Players will also be excited to find out that the stealth factor has increased significantly from the last two games, where the players would have had to stay out of sight or else they would have been found and a shootout would ensue. 

Players are now able to use mud as camouflage and they are able to use that to blend in with the lush environment of the jungle. Players should be on the look-out for Shadow of the Tomb Raider as it hits shelves this fall.

Feature photo courtesy of Flickr.