With the recent news of Crystal Dynamics layoffs, we think it's a good time to remind fans that the devs did a tremendous job with their Tomb Raider Survivor Trilogy. All three games hold a special place in our hearts, even if they all have flaws. Still, the story resonated with people, as this trilogy even got an anime sequel on Netflix.
Now that a new era of Tomb Raider is coming, it’s fair to say that the game has big shoes to fill. Every game in this trilogy is tremendous in one way or another, and playing all three in a row is binge gaming at its finest.
All three games play pretty similarly, which makes this trilogy bingeable. Each game also offers unique environments, with the newer installments adding one or two new gameplay mechanics to spice things up. As someone who played all three games on Valve’s Steam Deck, I found this trilogy fun to play.
The first game in Crystal Dynamics’ Tomb Raider Survivor Trilogy, simply called Tomb Raider, was a fine introduction into this then-new era of Lara Croft. While the gameplay was clearly inspired by Sony’s Uncharted series, which itself was inspired by Lara’s early adventures, it could make everything work. Mixing up over-the-shoulder gunplay with crafting and minor exploration was a fun combination that had this series off to a fine start.
Croft’s first adventure in this new series is probably the weakest in the trilogy, only because the other two expand on the formula. It’s the ugliest game in this trilogy because it was on PS3 and Xbox 360, but as a standalone experience, the third-person shooter looks fine. Story-wise, there’s nothing groundbreaking here, and that trend will continue for this whole trilogy, unfortunately.
Rise of the Tomb Raider significantly improved the visuals, giving us the best-looking Lara Croft model ever. The gameplay also had some significant changes, adding more climbing and other traversal options that made exploring a lot of fun. Many fans see this entry as the best one, and we can’t blame them, as it’s a massive improvement over its predecessor.
Although the story isn’t great, it’s probably the best of this trilogy. It has personal stakes for Lara, and there are some interesting revelations. Unfortunately, most of the game’s areas are snowy mountains, and that can make for some repetitive imagery. That doesn’t make playing Rise an issue, but fans might grow tired of seeing snow everywhere.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the final game in this Survival Trilogy, is a mixed bag but still a great game. This game has some great environments and more intense gameplay than its predecessors. However, halfway through the game, Lara is stuck wearing culturally appropriate gear that can’t be switched for different outfits, and players are stuck in it for hours. New Game Plus finally allowed players to change this, but it was too late for some.
Plot-wise, this is probably the weakest in Crystal Dynamics’s Survival Trilogy since it doesn’t feel like a grand finale. Maybe it wasn’t meant to be the final game, but Shadow lacks that personal connection to Lara that Rise had. At least the gameplay was still a ton of fun.
All three games are worth playing back-to-back, with most being a manageable 10 or so hours long. Fans can extend that quite a bit with all the optional Tombs they can check out. Rise also had some interesting story DLC that players can check out, while Shadow mostly had some optional Tombs.
Each Tomb Raider Survival Trilogy game is readily available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, and PC. Let’s hope they also get a Switch 2 re-release.