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Rise of the Tomb Raider Preview for Xbox One

Rise of the Tomb Raider Preview for Xbox One

Lara’s Journey Continues

At this year’s E3, specifically at the Microsoft Press Conference, we were given the chance to see the first ever trailer for the brand new Rise of the Tomb Raider , the next entry in the rebooted Tomb Raider series. Unfortunately, the trailer didn’t have too much to show us. It didn’t feature any actual gameplay, just pre-rendered cutscenes that walked us through the story, and while we were able to ask a few questions about the game, basically everyone was being incredibly tight lipped about it. We gathered up all the info we could about the game for you here, and decided to partake in some speculation of our own. Here’s what we think of the game reveal.

First of all, let’s analyze the trailer’s tone. It’s far, far darker than the original Tomb Raider , and that trailer basically had an attempted rape scene. It features Lara Croft, talking to her therapist about trauma. She sits on a couch, hood covering her face, arms curled around her as her foot nervously taps. Her therapist talks about how they are making progress, slowly getting to the root of her emotional scarring from the trauma she experienced in the first Tomb Raider game. He talks about flashbacks, Lara’s closed off emotional state, and how she has shut herself off from the outside world. He talks about how trauma is like a mental trap, and how people get “stuck, like a ship frozen in ice” alluding to how trauma can keep people in the events that traumatized them.

Then, the trailer goes about showing us how this is really the case with Lara Croft. She is having a hard time re-integrating with the normal outside world. She is seen running from bears, jumping off cliffs, and generally beating herself up to all hell. There is even a scene in the trailer where she silently stalks a soldier armed with a gun with nothing but a bow and arrow. At the end of the trailer the therapist says, “there is another kind of person. Do you know what happens to them” and Lara answers, “we become who we are meant to be” as the camera shifts around to show her entering a massive cave with ruins of what appear to be a lost civilization strewn about.

Obviously, this game is once again showing how Lara changed from a normal girl into the hard-ass tomb raiding protagonist we know and love. It’s painting her to be somewhat of a damaged Batman style figure, someone who needs to continue what she is doing, needs to find danger, in order to feel comfortable.

Rise of the Tomb Raider Screenshot

A few plot details were leaked. Lara has now become obsessed with what she saw in the first Tomb Raider . She also knows far too much and is threatened by a shadowy organization who is intent on killing her for the knowledge she holds. She will be pushed to uncover the secrets of a city, lost through time, and will come into her own as the Tomb Raider.

Rise of the Tomb Raider Screenshot

As for mechanics, there wasn’t a whole lot that can be said. Lara will still have her bow, of course, and survival will still be a main theme. The trailer would have you believe that verticality, including scaling walls and jumping ravines will also be main theme in the game. In addition, stealth style gameplay also seems to be making a return, as the trailer shows Lara sneaking up on enemies and assassinating them with a bow and arrow.

Rise of the Tomb Raider Screenshot

Currently, Rise of the Tomb raider is slated to come out during the holiday season in 2015, so we still have quite a long time to wait. Heck, we will probably hear more about the game at next year’s E3 than we did at this year’s E3. We do know that it is slated to come out for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC, and lately rumors have been flying around about a PS3 and Xbox 360 release too, though to be honest, the release date is still years away and plans can still change. We will bring you more information about Rise of the Tomb Raider as it becomes available.

Game Features:

  • All new adventure.
  • Takes place after Tomb Raider.
  • Discover more about Lara.

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