Ready for the Tomb Raider to make a return? If you own an Xbox One then you’re in luck, because Rise of the Tomb Raider will launch exclusively on the X1 and Xbox 360 for a year until it launches on the PS4 in late 2016. Microsoft Windows users can play it in early 2016, as this upcoming action-adventure game is getting published by Microsoft Studios and Square Enix.

Gameplay

Like all the previous Tomb Raider titles, this one is a third-person action-adventure game where you will play as Lara Croft. It’s not going to be an easy adventure, but it never really is, is it? When you play as Lara Croft you’re going to be traveling through various environments, where you will fight off enemies, complete puzzle platforming sections and progress through the story with the help of improvised weapons and gadgets. From what we know about Rise of the Tomb Raider, it will have a lot of the same elements that were in the 2013 title.

Rise of the Tomb Raider will feature a crafting system, giving players the ability to create gadgets and weapons with the materials they’ve scavenged throughout the game. There are more interesting, and realistic aspects to this game regarding the weather system. Both humans and animals will react to the weather, and there is a day and night cycle like that of many adventure games. If the weather gets cold and Lara Croft needs a thicker winter coat, then she must hunt a wolf at a specific time of day and during the right weather condition to get that thicker coat.

Combat in Rise of the Tomb Raider has more options for stealth attacks than the previous 2013 title, and Lara Croft can confuse her enemies by hiding behind bushes or in the trees to avoid combat. If you’re reading this, you may get reminded of Assassin’s Creed as she can also travel across roof tops to avoid enemies.

Her bow and arrow from the 2013 Tomb Raider is making a return, which gives her the ability to take down enemies silently. In this game, she will be able to create different bows by getting materials from specific animals. Lara Croft will also be equipped with her pistol, hunting knife and climbing axe. However, she doesn’t always need a weapon and she can take down enemies with melee or sneak attacks when necessary.

Plot: Picking up where Tomb Raider Left Off…

To understand the story it is highly recommended that you go buy the 2013 Tomb Raider, as this game picks up where that one left off. Lara Croft experienced some supernatural stuff on Yamatai and its all getting covered up by the organization called Trinity. Because of what she saw, it’s easy to think she’s gone insane, so Lara is on a mission to find out the truth and prove she isn’t insane.

In Rise of the Tomb Raider, Lara Croft is not alone on her mission to uncover the secrets of the world. She finds herself in Siberia with Jonah Maiava searching for an ancient city called Kitezh, which was built by the Grand Prince of Vladimir in the 13^th century. Lara Croft thinks the truth behind immortality can be found somewhere in the ancient city.

But there’s a problem. Lara Croft is basically racing to find out the truth before Trinity does, and Trinity is a well funded organization that’s also interested in finding out the same secrets. Besides the people in Trinity that she must survive against, Lara is also faced with surviving the environment and animals of the wild.

Rise of the Tomb Raider will be very similar to the the 2013 release, with the obvious change of climate as she’s now in Siberia looking for the secret to immortality. In a previewed demo by the developer, we got to see Lara Croft on her own searching for supplies after an avalanche. She is able to upgrade her bow to something more useful thanks to the upgraded crafting system, which is much more involved in this game.

Shortly after, Trinity soldiers show up, but Lara already knew they were coming so she climbed up a tree and used a poison-tipped arrow to take them out. It’s a very interesting aspect to the game, because the wilderness can be used as a weapon and the poison tips came from nearby mushrooms. We’re not sure if the poison kills or knocks out the enemy, but it certainly looks effective.

Lara Croft gets around quickly by leaping from branch to branch like monkey, and this makes it easy for her to take down enemies. In the previewed demo we see her drop down into the enemy camp and take out guards like a pro! For instance, she shoots fires an arrow to distract a guard and then shoots another in the back immediately after. You would think it’s the guards that she needs to worry about but no, it’s that giant bear she just disturbed while she was taking out all the guards.

During the preview, the developer playing let Lara Croft get mauled by the bear just so we can see how gruesome this game can be, and its very gory if that’s what you’re into!

Conclusion

Rise of the Tomb Raider is not going to disappoint any fans of the franchise, regardless of what reasons you’ve liked the previous games. The puzzle element is there, the survival element is there, the stealthy combat, the weapon system, and even the gory animations. There is no reason why you won’t like Rise of the Tomb Raider! Unless, you’re upset about the graphics, as it’s not quite up to par with Uncharted, but the only people who will complain about that are the spec freaks that only judge a game by its graphics.

In 2013 they released Tomb Raider, in 2015 we get Rise of the Tomb Raider, and at Gamescom 2015, Square Enix accidently leaked information that a third game is in the works, so Lara’s story will continue even after this game!