Lara Croft bundles up for these Rise of the Tomb Raider images

By Will Fulton February 21, 2015

Crystal Dynamics has shared a batch of images from Rise of the Tomb Raider, the upcoming sequel to the studio’s extremely successful 2013 reboot of the action-puzzle-platforming series.

Set to arrive exclusively on Xbox 360 and Xbox One in late 2015, Rise of the Tomb Raider continues the story of a young Lara Croft as she becomes one of the greatest adventurers in the world. This time around the action is set in the frigid, northern wastes of Siberia, as Lara Croft and Jonah Maiava discover an ancient city built by the Grand Prince of Vladimir in the 13th century.

Recommended Videos

Improvements include updated crafting and a greater focus on environmental simulation, with dynamic weather and a day-night cycle that affects both humans and animals. Lara can now swim, opening up new modes of exploration. The game also features a greater emphasis on puzzles than the previous entry, hearkening back to the series’ more puzzle-centric origins.

Snow plays a prominent role, forcing Lara to cut trenches and allowing her to track animals by the prints they leave before new snow covers them over. One of the screens indicates that Lara won’t be bundled up for the entire game, showing a cliffside temple, reminiscent of Petra.

Rise of the Tomb Raider comes to Xbox consoles as a timed exclusive for holiday 2015, with other platforms to follow at a later, unspecified date.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Will Fulton is a New York-based writer and theater-maker. In 2011 he co-founded mythic theater company AntiMatter Collective…

Gaming

A new Tomb Raider game is in development on Unreal Engine 5

Shadow of the Tomb Raider Review

Crystal Dynamics confirmed that it is working on a new Tomb Raider game that will use Unreal Engine 5, a game engine now available to all developers.
At the end of Epic Games' The State of Unreal 2022 presentation, which marked the wide release of Unreal Engine 5 to all developers, Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider franchise general manager Dallas Dickinson confirmed the new project. No gameplay or in-engine development footage was shown, but Dickinson voiced his enthusiasm for using Unreal Engine 5 to create the project.
"This new engine translates into next-level storytelling in gameplay experiences, and that's why we are thrilled to announce today that we have just started development of our next Tomb Raider game, powered by Unreal Engine 5," he said. "Our goal is to push the envelope of fidelity and to deliver the high-quality cinematic action-adventure experience that fans deserve from both Crystal Dynamics and the Tomb Raider franchise."
https://twitter.com/tombraider/status/1511368712279904258
There are no new story or gameplay details. However, Crystal Dynamics has previously voiced its intention to connect the most recent trilogy and the classic titles with new Tomb Raider media. Outside of Tomb Raider, Crystal Dynamics is currently working on post-launch support for Marvel's Avengers and is assisting The Initiative in developing the next Perfect Dark game, which also uses Unreal Engine 5. Eidos Montreal, not Crystal Dynamics, actually developed Shadow of the Tomb Raider, so this marks the studio's return to the series.
The new Tomb Raider is one of several brand-new games that will use Unreal Engine 5, as many studios like Crystal Dynamics and The Witcher's CD Projekt Red have committed to using the game engine for their next titles. The new engine features notable improvements over Unreal Engine 4, namely its Lumen global illumination system and Nanite technology, allowing for increased geometric detail and fidelity.
It sounds like this new Tomb Raider is early in development, so it will likely be a while before we hear more about it. Hopefully, it's an awesome showcase of Unreal Engine 5's power when it launches, presumably only on current-gen platforms.

Gaming

Tomb Raider, Life is Strange will headline Square Enix’s first digital showcase

Shadow of the Tomb Raider Review

Square Enix will hold its first digital showcase event, called Square Enix Presents, on March 18. The presentation will reveal a new Life is Strange game, as well as news on the Tomb Raider franchise.

The digital show will broadcast on Square Enix's Twitch and YouTube channels at 10 a.m. PT on Thursday, March 18, and run for 40-minutes. Square Enix calls this the "first show" in a series that will continue throughout the year.

Gaming

Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Maneater, and more are January’s free PS Plus games

Shadow of the Tomb Raider Review

Sony has revealed its next batch of free games for PS Plus subscribers. The January's freebies include Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Greedfall, as well as Maneater for PlayStation 5 users.

Both PS4 and PS5 owners will be able to add Shadow of the Tomb Raider to their library starting Tuesday, January 5. The action-adventure game is the third installment of the recent Tomb Raider series reboot. It features excellent bow combat, robust exploration, and tons of puzzles for Lara Croft to solve.