What Can Gamers Expect From Recently Leaked Shadow of the Tomb Raider?
There has not yet been an official announcement from developers Crystal Dynamics, but gamers were recently treated to some conceptual art pertaining to the next installment of the Tomb Raider franchise reboot, Shadow of the Tomb Raider. The publishing company Square Enix will have probably wanted to keep this information under wraps for a bit longer, but thanks to creative agency TakeOff, details have been leaked ahead of schedule. This latest round of leaks follows a covert game fanatic secretly snapping a developer’s laptop on a subway in Montreal last year.
The news that there will be a third instalment of the immensely popular modern version of Lara Croft will come as music to the ears of gamers who enjoy a detailed adventure game with a gripping storyline. Tomb Raider and Rise of the Tomb Raider both obtained excellent reviews and earned scores of 9.1/10 and 9.3/10 respectively from IGN. The games were, in fact, so well-received that a number of Lara Croft offshoots and Tomb Raider-inspired games have cropped up recently following the release of the two games.
One of those games was the mobile app, Lara Croft Go, which is an entertaining and complex turn-based puzzle adventure. The game is rated 4.8/5 stars on the Google Play Store, and was described by one user as his “top mobile purchase ever.” There have even been Tomb Raider slot machines, and other slots which are following in the adventure theme. Take Crystal Mystery for instance, a bitcoin slot game which features ancient pyramids, South American jungles, and Aztec warriors. It can be played at the first licensed bitcoin casino, Bitcasino. In addition to all these related games, there will also be a new Tomb Raider film released next year, starring Alicia Vikander from Ex-Machina.
So what will gamers be hoping to see in Shadow of the Tomb Raider? Although the other games featured excellent gameplay, action sequences and compelling storylines, they have been criticised for having fairly bland and monotonous enemies who are fairly easy to overcome once you have learnt a few of their patterns. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End really set the bar high and surpassed Tomb Raider with its detailed and complex characters. Crystal Dynamics will surely seek to emulate the Naughty Dog game in some respects such as these. Another aspect in which the Nathan Drake epic was superior to its female counterpart was that there was a good balance between high-octane action scenes, story building, and exploring. The last two Tomb Raiders seemed to quickly cut from one intense action scene to the next, with little time for respite. Players want to take a breather sometimes and enjoy exploring the detailed and visually stunning surroundings.
One final point that the developers might want to consider including in the third Tomb Raider game is Lara Croft’s house. This was an awesome addition to the original games, and players could really mess about and enjoy doing stupid things as a bit of a break from the main story. It would also add a really cool nostalgic element that a lot of the older gamers would appreciate.