Tomb Raider

[Jonathan]

Tomb Raider, styled as Lara Croft: Tomb Raider between 2001 and 2007, is a media franchise that originated with an action-adventure video game series created by British gaming company Core Design. Formerly owned by Eidos Interactive, then by Square Enix after their acquisition of Eidos in 2009, the franchise focuses on an English archaeologist-adventurer Lara Croft, who travels around the world searching for lost artefacts and infiltrating dangerous tombs and ruins. Croft was created by a team at Core Design that included Toby Gard. The gameplay generally focuses around action-adventure exploration of environments, solving puzzles, navigating hostile environments filled with traps, and fighting numerous enemies.

Development on the original Tomb Raider game began in 1993. Its success prompted Core Design to develop a new game annually for the next four years, which put a strain on staff. The sixth game, The Angel of Darkness, faced difficulties during development and was considered a failure at release. This prompted Eidos to switch development duties to Crystal Dynamics, which has been the series' primary developer since then. Other developers have contributed either to spin-off titles within the series or ports of mainline titles.

A large selection of additional media has grown up around the video game series, most notably a film adaptation in 2001 which featured Angelina Jolie as Croft. Tomb Raider games have sold over 58 million copies worldwide, becoming one of the best-selling video game franchises. The series has generally met with critical acclaim, with the series being noted as one of the pioneers of the action-adventure genre. Lara Croft herself has become one of the most recognisable video game protagonists in existence, winning numerous accolades and earning places on the Walk of Game and Guinness World Records. Alongside being praised for pioneering female characters in video games, she has also been the subject of controversy due to her sex appeal being used for marketing.




The first six Tomb Raider games were developed by Core Design, a British video game development company owned by Eidos Interactive. After the sixth game in the series released to a lukewarm reception in 2003, development was transferred to North American studio Crystal Dynamics, who have handled the main series since then.[1] Since 2001, other developers have contributed either to ports of mainline games or with the development of spin-off titles.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Games Edit
Timeline of release years
1996 Tomb Raider
1997 Tomb Raider II
1998 Tomb Raider III
1999 The Last Revelation
2000 Tomb Raider
Chronicles
2001 Curse of the Sword
2002 The Prophecy
2003 The Angel of Darkness
2004
2005
2006 Legend
2007 Anniversary
2008 Underworld
2009
2010 Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
2011
2012
2013 Tomb Raider
2014 Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris
2015 Lara Croft: Relic Run
Lara Croft Go
Rise of the Tomb Raider
The first entry in the series Tomb Raider was released in 1996 for personal computers (PC), and PlayStation and Sega Saturn consoles.[7][8] The Saturn and PlayStation versions were released in Japan in 1997.[9][10] The second game, Tomb Raider II, launched in 1997, again for PC and PlayStation. A month before release, Eidos finalized a deal with Sony Computer Entertainment to keep the console version of Tomb Raider II and future games exclusive to PlayStation until the year 2000.[7][8] The PlayStation version was released in Japan in 1998.[11] Tomb Raider III launched in 1998.[8] As with Tomb Raider II, the PlayStation version released in Japan the following year.[12] The fourth consecutive title in the series, Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, released in 1999. In 2000, with the end of the PlayStation exclusivity deal, the game also released on the Dreamcast.[7][13] In Japan, both console versions released the following year.[14][15] Tomb Raider Chronicles released in 2000 on the same platforms as The Last Revelation, with the PlayStation version's Japanese release as before coming the following year.[7][13][16]

After a three-year gap, Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness released on PC and PlayStation 2 (PS2) in 2003. The PS2 version released in Japan that same year.[13][17] The next entry, Tomb Raider Legend, was released worldwide in 2006 for PC, PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation Portable (PSP), GameCube, Game Boy Advance (GBA) and Nintendo DS.[6][18][19] The 360, PS2 and PSP versions were released in Japan in that year.[20] A year later, a remake of the first game titled Tomb Raider: Anniversary was released worldwide in 2007 for PC, PS2, PSP, Xbox, Xbox 360, and the Wii.[21] The next entry, Tomb Raider: Underworld, released in 2008 on PC, PlayStation 3 (PS3), PS2, Xbox 360, Wii and DS.[22][23][24] The PS3, PS2, Xbox 360 and Wii were released in Japan in 2009.[25][26][27][28]

In 2011 PS3 gets The Tomb Raider Trilogy which has Anniversary and Legend remastered for HD resolution (720p) along with the PS3 version of Underworld, the single Blu-ray also includes avatars for PS Home, a Theme Pack, new Trophies, Developers Diary videos for the three games and trailers for Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light .

A reboot of the series, titled Tomb Raider, was released worldwide in 2013 for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.[29][30] Its sequel, Rise of the Tomb Raider, released in 2015 on Xbox 360 and Xbox One.[31][32] The game was part of a timed exclusivity deal with Microsoft.[33] Versions for the PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows were released in 2016.[34] Rumors indicate that Shadow of the Tomb Raider will be the title for the third game in the reboot trilogy, but there has not yet been official confirmation.[35]

[Jonathan]

Spin-offs Edit
The first spin-off title in the series was a game for the Game Boy Color (GBC) titled Tomb Raider, developed by Core Design and released in 2000.[5][36] Its sequel, Tomb Raider: Curse of the Sword, was released in 2001 for the GBC.[5][37] In 2002, a new game for the GBA called Tomb Raider: The Prophecy, was developed by Ubisoft Milan and published by Ubisoft.[5][38] In 2003, four Tomb Raider titles for mobile phones were released.[39] A platform-puzzler for mobile devices, Lara Croft Go, was released in 2015.[40]

Beginning in 2010, a separate subseries titled Lara Croft was in development, offering experiences separate from the development of the main series and existing in its own continuity.[41][42] The first game in this subseries, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, released in 2010 as a downloadable title for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.[41] The next game in the series, Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, released for both retail and download in 2014 for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.[43] Another entry for mobile devices, an endless runner platformer titled Lara Croft: Relic Run was released in 2015.[42]

Cancelled games Edit
The Angel of Darkness was originally the first game in a trilogy, with its sequel titled The Lost Dominion. While The Lost Dominion was undergoing preliminary development, the negative reception of The Angel of Darkness caused the entire trilogy to be scrapped.[7][44] With Eidos' approval, Core Design began development of an updated edition of the first game for the PSP called Tomb Raider: The Anniversary Edition in late 2005, with a projected release date of Christmas 2006. Development continued while Core Design staff were working on the platformer Free Running. When Core Design was sold to Rebellion Developments, Eidos requested the project’s cancellation. It was suggested by staff that Eidos did not want to let outside developers handle the franchise.[45][46]

Lara Croft is the main protagonist and playable character of the series: she is a woman who travels the world in search of forgotten artefacts and locations, frequently connected to supernatural powers.[49][50][51] While her biography has changed throughout the series, her shared traits are her origins as the only daughter and heir of the aristocratic Croft family.[49][52][53] She is portrayed as intelligent, athletic, elegant, fluent in multiple languages, and determined to fulfil her own goals at any cost. She has brown eyes and brown hair worn in a Braid or ponytail. The character's classic outfit consists of a turquoise tank top, light brown shorts, calf-high boots, and tall white socks. Recurring accessories include fingerless gloves, a backpack, a utility belt with holsters on either side, and twin pistols. Later games have multiple new outfits for her.[48][54][55][56]

Lara Croft has been voiced and portrayed by many actresses in games: Shelley Blond, Judith Gibbens, Jonell Elliot, Keeley Hawes, and Camilla Luddington. In other media, Croft was voiced by Minnie Driver in the animated series and portrayed by Angelina Jolie in films. Multiple models and body doubles have also portrayed Croft in promotional material up until the reboot in 2013. Eight different real-life models have also portrayed her at promotional events.[57][58]


Continuity Edit
The circumstances of her first adventures, along with the drive behind her adventures, differ depending on the continuity. In the original and Legends continuities, she is on a plane that crashes in the Himalayas: her journey back to civilisation against the odds help begin her journey towards her adult life as an adventuress and treasure hunter.[49][52] In the original continuity, after her ordeal in the Himalayas, she left behind her privileged life and made a living writing about her exploits as an adventurer, mercenary, and cat burglar.[59][60] In The Last Revelation, Lara was caught in a collapsing pyramid at the game's end, leaving her fate unknown: this was because the staff, exhausted from four years of non-stop development, wanted to move on from the character.[57] Chronicles was told through a series of flashbacks at a wake for Lara, while The Angel of Darkness was set an unspecified time after The Last Revelation, with Lara revealed to have survived. The circumstances of her survival were originally part of the game, but were cut due to time constraints.[57][61]

In the Legends continuity, her mother Amelia was also involved in the crash, and she is partially driven by the need to discover the truth behind her mother's disappearance and vindicate her father's theories about Amelia's disappearance.[62] This obsession with the truth is also present in Anniversary, and ends up bringing the world to the brink of destruction during the events of Underworld.[63][64] Her father is referred to as Lord Henshingly Croft in the original games and Lord Richard Croft in the Legends continuity.[49][52] The Lara Croft subseries take place within this continuity, featuring on smaller side stories that don't contribute to the plot of the main trilogy of the timeline.

In the 2013 reboot continuity, Lara's mother vanished at an early age, and her father became obsessed with finding the secrets of immortality, eventually resulting in an apparent suicide. Lara distanced herself from her father's memory, believing like many others that his obsession had caused him to go mad. After studying at university, Lara gets an opportunity to work on an archaeology program, in the search for the mythic kingdom of Yamatai. The voyage to find the kingdom results in a shipwreck on an island, which is later discovered to be Yamatai, however the island is also home to savage bandits, who were victims of previous wrecks. Lara's attempts to find a way off the island lead her to discover that the island itself is stopping them from leaving, which she discovered is linked to the still living soul of the Sun Queen, Himiko. Lara must find a way to banish the spirit of the sun queen in order to get home. However, she must survive long enough to do it. The aftermath of the events of the game causes Lara to see that her father was right, and that she had needlessly distanced herself from him. She decides to finish his work, and uncover the mysteries of the world.