Lara returns to form with a new focus on challenge tombs

2013’s reincarnation of Tomb Raider took us on a story of survival. We followed the iconic Lara Croft as a kid fresh out of college and watched the horrific situation she found herself in transform her from someone just hoping to live through the night and into the adventurer we’ve all known. The game was a great success, both in terms of commercial measurements and for what the team at Crystal Dynamics set out to accomplish. However, to tell that origin tale in a smooth and believable way, one classic element ended up watered down- complex puzzle tombs.

This time around, however, we already know who Lara is, and more importantly, she does as well. She’ll be actively seeking out the tombs, rather than stumbling upon them as a way to escape enemies in pursuit. Senior Designer, Jeff Wajcs stated, “besides just having more tombs in general, we have a new philosophy for critical path tombs.  Every critical path tomb throws one ‘big problem’ at Lara.  She needs to solve a series of puzzles in order to chip away at the ‘big problem,’ bit by bit. We also refer to these as ‘nested puzzles.’” This matryoshka doll approach also gives a return to Challenge Tombs which have an added hand in advancing the storyline and feeding Lara’s obsession with the past, “One of the biggest improvements to the Challenge Tombs has been in the story department…Each Challenge Tomb has a history for the player to discover, both in the documents left there but also in the environment itself.  Each tomb feeds into the broader mystery that Lara is trying to figure out. The environments are certainly much more exciting as a result.”

While there will still be a heavy focus on Survival Instinct and Combat Challenges, the return of puzzle tombs will help advance the lore that this new story is trying to tell, as well as providing rewards and often new skills upon completion. Keep in mind, though, we aren’t going to be looking at the clunky wall switches or pressure plates of the past, either. The technology available today has given the developers a new reliance on physics to get the job done, “Water is one of my favorite things to use for puzzles, and you’ll see a lot of new next gen materials and FX on display.  Lara will need to use the different physics of water to solve a wide variety of puzzles.  There are changing water levels, water currents, water used as weight, water powering machines – there’s a lot.”

All of this will tie into the source lore that drives the plot by providing information and artifacts directly related to the overall story. Utilizing new features such as Survival Instinct will also help propel you through the obstacles in ways that only Lady Croft could achieve.

Lara heads back into the tombs November 10th of this year.