It will - somehow - tie together the original era, the Legend era, and the reboot era, but exactly how is anybody’s guess. Square Enix has held a few events and celebrations for Tomb Raider’s 25th anniversary, but we’ve been told not to expect a new title just yet. Three years on from Shadow, we also don’t really know what’s coming next. Shadow’s never felt empty, but it did make too many of its smaller scenarios into something mundane and overstretched, technically offering the freedom of Tomb Raider and Rise, but in a practical sense of constantly pushing you to go from A to B. With Rise, the peak of the reboot trilogy, these sections were large enough that you felt Lara had the freedom to go where you wanted her to, but small enough to avoid the empty, grindy feel of gaming’s worst open worlds. The reboot had a much better mix of styles - there were some guided sections with jumps, stunts, and quicktime events, but also wider expanses for you to lose yourself in. Old Tomb Raider levels often guided you through a very specific pathway they might have had more open areas, especially the likes of Legend and Underworld, but they were ultimately linear. Related: Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Is Still One Of The Best Video Game Movies At 20When it worked though, the reboot formula was fantastic.
When it faltered, you had to keep cranking the ripcord on the generator until it started again, no matter how many tries it took. You could venture deeper into the Peruvian jungle, but there was no sudden leap to Tokyo or Bolivia or Kazakhstan to breathe new life into the game. This also meant - again, Shadow being the worst for this - pacing was harder to maintain as the world broadened its horizons. While the reboot still partitions some parts of its maps off until you make further story progress - Shadow being the worst for this - it gives you a much larger area to explore.
This was a consequence of the series adopting modern game design shorter levels were out, and big open worlds were in. Where once Lara was a globetrotting heroine, now she stayed and explored a single locale throughout the entire adventure. Shadow of the Tomb Raider’s biggest issue was the way it highlighted the failings of the reboot formula. While Rise of the Tomb Raider had shown the new formula at its best, Shadow came along and showed it at its worst. It’s not awful, but Tomb Raider games have been consistently high quality, and Shadow dips below that bar far too often.
Its place in the general series’ perception likely wasn’t helped by the fact it ended on Shadow of the Tomb Raider, which is not only the weakest of the trio but one of the worst Tomb Raider titles full stop. Crystal Dynamics’ Tomb Raider reboot trilogy never seems to get a fair shake.