Shadow of the Tomb raider reveal

Held at the Welsh chapel in London, I was fortunate enough to be invited to the reveal trailer of 'Shadow of the Tomb Raider'. The final instalment of Square Enix's 2013 reboot of the series.

The key skills within the upcoming game are to become “Traversal...Lara has more underwater levels. Previously she had the equipment to guide her but now Lara is on her own. It will be up to the players to guide her safely. They're to reward Lara by sourcing air pockets before its too late”.

The Tombs will be the toughest yet, not only to solve but to source them on the map. Danger lurks within every opportunity and if you don’t have the correct skills unlocked or weapons you will not succeed. There are further opportunities to develop Lara such as new crafting materials sourced from the environment, and a change of outfits to blend in.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider solely places Lara within the depth of the jungle, and she must stop the Mayan apocalypse.

[Spoiler alert]

Our gameplay demo lasted around 45 minutes, which participated in the opening of the game. We were introduced to Lara and Jonah in Mexico hunting down the leader of Trinity.

Taking place on Día de Muertos (Day of the day), the duo must devise a plan to source Trinity's next move and stop them for good. Players have the opportunity to interact with the mourning families, which has Lara reflect upon those she has lost since her travels.

I fell in love with the location as it reminded me of Pixar's 'Coco' (Disney, 2016). It was so colourful and full of life, you felt a connection to the characters and knew danger was approaching. This opening was a perfect contrast to the upcoming location which suffocated you into the darkness.

Lara must go incognito, obtaining a sugar skull mask stalking Trinity and gathering vital information. But there was one minor annoyance for me in this section. As you openly walk up to the locals Lara can interact with certain people with an icon above their head. The characters spoke in Spanish, however, when she communicated back she spoke in English! She is meant to be undercover, it disappointed me because I saw Lara as educated and cultured.

Going solo Jonah creates a distraction while she jumps a gate and snoops around a forbidden access area. Jumping the gate you are immersed in a thick claustrophobic jungle. I was really drawn into the game because you now had the freedom to explore. Searching every crate standing, and picking every exotic plant to aid Lara. She must use her natural surroundings to conduct health packs instead of auto-heal.

A new element is Lara's ability to scale cliffs and gently lower herself in a time of need. It was confusing at times to know when it was safe to descend a cliff. She can also swing back and forth on walls.

During this gameplay, we had one puzzle which I found quite easy to solve. Lara still has her survival instinct however it does not always highlight movable objects, which some may find challenging. It was the case of searching the area and pinpointing movable objects with the chalked white line (an indication it can be moved).

Once the puzzle was completed Lara must reach a higher ground within a time limit. Scaling up the cliff I saw a large open area to my right. So naturally, I took a leap of faith and jumped dying multiple times.

It turns out I was meant to scale further to then shimmy and finally jump. But the camera yet again lets me down because it didn't foreshadow the upper level. The camera can feel very claustrophobic zooming upon Lara's every move instead highlighting areas to investigate and suggest your next move.

Reaching the platform we are presented with a cutscene to which Lara becomes hesitant to remove an emerald ancient dagger. Much like Tomb Raider the last revelation (Core Designs, 1999) it descends the world into chaos. Lara's naivety is to stop it getting into the wrong hands.

Lara resurfaces and finds Trinity and is told of her fate, to which a tsunami destroys this once picturesque city. Not long after we are introduced to the new swimming mechanics after being swept away.

Lara becomes entrapped by the tides and its a race to source air in a limited time. Sheer devastation and guilt overwhelm you as you see the bodies of the villager's limbless bodies surface in the water.

As you climb to higher ground you see a young child grasping for his life on a window panel crying for his mother to rescue him. Lara naively wants to be the hero and tries to rescue him, but its too late and you must face the consequence and see him plummet to his death.

Running into Jonah Lara speaks of her findings and how she will put an end to it all. But he seeks the compassion of others and wants to aid those in danger. Lara is faced with the harsh reality “It's not always about you!”

I slowly placed my controller down and was shown further gameplay to the opening menu. I had this overwhelming guilt that perhaps there was a possibility I could have rescued the child. Overall an impactful gameplay there are minor setbacks that can easily be fixed such as the gameplay textures when it rained. The reality is it’s a demo so nothing is set in stone.

Lara's tone of voice, determination and grit is a massive change within the franchise. Previously she was an immature lady scared of her environments.

Now she has the physic, brawl and brains to conquer her darkest enemies. She is stronger from her past experiences but always reflects upon her knowledge to be better than before.

From strength to strength this game has allowed players to bloom this innocent troubled girl into a confident strong-willed woman determined to follow her destiny and seek out the truth.