With a new Tomb Raider game officially in the works, we have a few “wishlist” items we’d love to see changed from the previous trilogy.
The team behind Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics) recently announced a new title in the franchise is on the way. Even better, it will be using the new Unreal Engine 5 which has blown people away already. The new game was revealed at the State of Unreal event hosted by Epic Games, and the director of the franchise noted the game will be a cinematic experience that pushes the boundaries on fidelity. The last game, Shadow of The Tomb Raider, was released in 2018. No release timeline has been revealed for the new game.
While I’m sure the game will be stunning visually, there are a few tweaks to the previous games that I’d love to see. Don’t get me wrong! I’ve enjoyed every minute of the rebooted franchise and I can’t wait for the new one. There are just some things I’d love to see added to the franchise as it moves to the next phase.
So what do we want?
Dual Pistols
It’s as iconic as the franchise itself, Lara holding dual pistols and doing acrobatic moves as she guns her way to safety. The reboot of the franchise toned things down quite a bit to be more “realistic” and took away a lot of the more arcad-ish mechanics. This is explained away in the story as she’s just starting out, and normally thrown into a rather rough situation, but let’s get her to be a badass again. Give her the dual pistols and let her kick ass!
Tone Down The RPG Elements
While the first game in the reboot did a stunning job of really making Lara relatable and down to Earth, we didn’t need to repeat the situation again over two more games. With these three prequels under the belt, Lara is very experienced in surviving what comes at her. She should be good at adapting and learning from the environment, and these aspects of starting from nothing are no longer necessary.
There is no real reason she should be thrown into a world with nothing, while slowly have to build up skills and weapons from scratch again. While some RPG elements are welcome, it’d be nice to go back to series’ the roots and give Lara tools to survive even the slightest encounters from the outset.
Hell, give her some Dying Light 2 style parkour action to boot. Lara is supposed to have somewhat of an arrogant attitude due to her ability to survive any situation, so it’s time for her to “level up.”
Going Back To The Roots
Which brings me here, and basically spins back around to the dual pistols. Go back to what made Tomb Raider great to begin with Tomb Raider was about platforming, puzzles, and pure, full scale, action. Why not include some side-quest tombs that focus specifically on platforming?
You know what else would be cool? More vehicle scenes! Lara was a badass on a motorcycle at one point and so far the reboot franchise hasn’t done anything in terms of vehicle combat.
Bigger Scope In The World, Timeline
One thing that kind of bugs me about the rebooted franchise is how each of the stories essentially takes place in basically one area. The games never really go outside of this area with the exception of a few missions. This is mostly due to the open world aspect of the game and how you need to be within the area to get anywhere.
Instead I would like actual levels for Tomb Raider again where she travels around the world and explores all kinds of locations instead. This would allow for a level style replay (instead of playing the entire game again) with locations that dynamically change depending on when Lara visits them. For example, imagine heading to a snow capped mountain, followed by a desert scene, and then heading back to a village that is now in a hurricane condition.
More Supernatural
One last thing I wish for…is simply more outside the box danger for Lara on her adventures. She has done a lot to save the world in previous games, including doing things to save everyone from herself. These adventures led to some really great enemies along the way.
One of the most iconic moments for me was way back on PS1 when tigers were roaming around the tombs you explored, and could pounce out of any crevice at any time. Lara also fought some strange ghostly enemies before as well, and even dinosaurs! While the rebooted franchise has dabbled in a few of the supernatural elements, they don’t fully embrace them either. Instead they straddle a line with realism.
Overall these are just a few wishes I have for the upcoming Tomb Raider. I’m sure I’ll enjoy it regardless, as I have the previous three titles already, and the Unreal Engine is going to make the game look absolutely jaw dropping. I’m excited to see if any of these features make a return to the franchise in the new game.
