While Call of Duty Zombies has long been an obsession of mine, before I ever set foot in Nacht Der Untoten, there was Tomb Raider. Some of my earliest memories are of playing the series on my Uncle’s PC, accidentally jumping Lara Croft to her death or locking Winston the Butler in the freezer because he’d get in the way. I was Tomb Raider daft, wearing down his Ctrl and Alt keys to the stage that he had to buy a new keyboard. I spent hours hunting for secrets in each version of Croft Manor, and was blissfully unaware that Angel of Darkness was considered an absolute disaster of a game. I loved it, at least until the Brother Obscura boss fight, which I never could beat. (I feel much better now, knowing that it’s regarded as one of the worst boss fights ever, though I wish I’d known about the crouching method back then!)
By the time of the Legend / Anniversary / Underworld era, Call of Duty had its hooks in me, but my journey with Lara wasn’t over. 2013 marked the beginning of the Survivor Trilogy—a grittier series featuring a young Lara Croft. These games were a clear departure from the original Core Design titles, trading platforming for bombastic set-pieces and swapping out the dual pistols for a bow and arrow. Despite the changes, I played the hell out of all three. To me, they felt like a solid modernisation of Tomb Raider, perhaps because I was an Xbox player until late in the PS4 generation and had never experienced Uncharted.
At the time, I didn’t realise how divisive these games were within the Tomb Raider community, but I can understand why. Even as someone who thoroughly enjoyed the trilogy, I hoped Lara would grow into the iconic Tomb Raider we were all familiar with by the end of it. Unfortunately, that never happened. The trilogy explored some interesting aspects of Lara’s psyche, like her survivor’s guilt and trauma, but it spent so much time in Lara’s head that it didn’t fit with the older games, where she would always “shoot first, ask questions later”. Ultimately, the Survivor trilogy feels like a prequel rather than the definitive origin story of Lara Croft. It’s as if several chapters are missing between Shadow of the Tomb Raider and the original game.
And then, nothing. Crystal Dynamics found itself at an impasse following the Survivor trilogy’s conclusion. Where does Lara go next? Does Square Enix even care about the franchise anymore? The Japanese publisher repeatedly expressed frustration with the performance of its Tomb Raider games. The first in the trilogy sold 3.6 million copies within the first couple of months. Despite arriving five years after the last mainline Tomb Raider game—into a market where Uncharted was the hot prospect in tomb raiding—those sales numbers left Square Enix “disappointed”.
Disappointment was a common theme with Square Enix. Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the conclusion of the trilogy, sold 4.12 million copies in its first quarter. “A weak start”, according to President Yosuke Matsuda. After that, it’s no surprise that the publisher eventually sold off its Western studios and a host of IPs (including Crystal Dynamics and Tomb Raider) to Embracer Group in 2022. The reason for this sale? To save costs and have funds to invest in blockchain technology. I wonder how that’s going…
The difference between the Tomb Raider franchise under Embracer Group compared to Square Enix is night and day. It’s like the series has burst into life again after years of inactivity. I’m sure things were happening behind the scenes at Square, but it clearly had little desire to make Lara Croft a priority. Embracer has its own problems, however. It has “embraced” so many companies that it has become unsustainable: studio closures, cancelled projects, drastic layoffs (including multiple waves at Crystal Dynamics), the list goes on.
Make no mistake, the conglomerate has severely damaged an already toiling video game industry. Yet its handling of the Tomb Raider series (so far) is one of its few success stories. Since Embracer acquired the series, fans have enjoyed remastered versions of the first six Tomb Raider games. Just being able to play these games again on modern hardware is huge, and the bonuses (like restored content, photo mode, and additional costumes) gave veteran fans a reason to return. These collections were a statement of intent: Tomb Raider is about the past as much as it is the future.
And now, following a reveal at 2025’s The Game Awards, two new titles are scheduled for 2026 and 2027: Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis (a reimagining of Tomb Raider 1, ala the Resident Evil remakes), and Tomb Raider: Catalyst, a new step forward for the franchise with a slightly more mature Lara Croft tackling what seems to be an open-world adventure.
While I’ll admit another remake of the original Tomb Raider sounds redundant at first, it’s a clever bit of business. It serves both as a celebration for longtime fans and an introduction for new players. The originals will always have a place in my heart, but they aren’t exactly welcoming to those unfamiliar with tank controls or manual grabbing. If someone puts in the time, they can adapt to handling Lara, but a flashy new remake is far more approachable to the average player.
Speaking of Lara, the internet’s reaction to her new look has been as overblown as you’d expect. I’ve seen hand-wringing over her good looks, weirdos claiming “she looks like a man” – your guess is as good as mine – and everything in between. I’d say that means the redesign was a success! Her new design feels like an excellent amalgamation of the various iterations of Croft, and Alix Wilton Regan is a perfect fit for a Lara Croft who is more assertive than her younger self. She’s also a fan of the series, which is always nice to see.
Unifying Lara Croft’s design was likely no easy feat, but it’s still the least difficult task facing Crystal Dynamics. The real challenge is combining the stories of three very different Lara Crofts: the Classic Lara, the LAU Lara, and the Survivor Lara. It’s an impossible task to keep every fan happy. Lara Croft means something different to every player, and with Tomb Raider celebrating its 30th anniversary, there are countless generations of fans with their favourite (and least favourite) games.
Bits and pieces have come out about the series’ timeline. Catalyst is confirmed to take place several years after Underworld, but there are still massive questions about how it will all work. From the reveal trailers, I’m hoping Crystal Dynamics leans into the “tall tales” angle. Lara Croft is so legendary that hundreds of stories about her have been passed down across the world: some exaggerations, some truths, some just plain false. This approach would be a clever way to wave away inconsistencies and ensure no one is offended by any changes to the lore.
Adjustments in new games (or remakes like Legacy of Atlantis) may upset those who cherish the classic version of Lara, but her adventures will always exist. If you want to treat the remakes as tall tales and the classic games as a more accurate portrayal of Lara’s story, you can! I imagine Catalyst and any future games will move the story forward, with references to the past kept to a minimum, or at least not morphing Lara’s story beyond recognition. Honestly, I’m just looking forward to not hearing about Trinity every two minutes!
While we’ll need to wait and see how Legacy of Atlantis and Catalyst turn out, it’s exciting to finally have new Tomb Raider games on the horizon after so long. The future feels bright; at last, the Survivor becomes the Legend. With her acrobatics, cocky assuredness, British charm, and – of course – dual pistols, Lara Croft is back. The Tomb Raider is back. I feel stronger now.
