Rise of the Tomb Raider

In the Baba Yaga downloadable content, Lara investigates a disturbance in the Soviet mine. After fighting off a Trinity patrol, she finds a young girl, Nadia, hiding in a sawmill. Nadia confides in Lara about her search for her grandfather, Ivan. Ivan disappeared while trying to enter the Wicked Vale, a valley reportedly haunted by Baba Yaga, a witch in Slavic folklore. Ivan blames the witch for the death of his wife and wants to kill her. Lara is skeptical about Baba Yaga's existence but, since Nadia is injured, agrees to enter the Wicked Vale and find Ivan.

In the Vale, Lara is exposed to a rare pollen with potent hallucinogenic properties. After stumbling through a forest where she is tormented by visions of her father's suicide, she meets Baba Yaga and a pack of demonic wolves. Lara narrowly escapes with her life and finds herself in a small, Soviet-era outpost. She unearths evidence of a secret Soviet biological-weapons project which attempted to harness the pollen, which abruptly ended when the researchers—including Serafima, a biochemist imprisoned in a nearby gulag—succumbed to the hallucinations.

Lara deduces that Serafima weaponized the pollen, developed an antidote, and kept her research secret from the military. With Nadia's help, Lara synthesizes a necessary antidote from Serafima's recipe and returns to the Wicked Vale. Resisting the effects of the pollen, Lara finds the injured Ivan at the entrance to Baba Yaga's lair.

Unable to leave the Wicked Vale while Baba Yaga controls it, Lara battles the witch under the pollen's influence and destroys its source. Baba Yaga is revealed as Serafima, who was led to believe that her husband, Ivan, and daughter were dead and used the pollen to become Baba Yaga and torment her captors. With Ivan, Serafima, and Nadia reunited, Lara leaves the Wicked Vale.

In the Cold Darkness Awakened content, Lara enters a decommissioned Soviet weapons bunker, which has been breached by a Trinity patrol. Trinity has inadvertently released an unstable pathogen into the air, which causes the people it infects to regress to a zombie-like state. Men are particularly vulnerable since the virus stimulates testosterone and adrenalin production. The pathogen was created to create an army of unstoppable super-soldiers by a Soviet researcher, all of whose experiments failed. He died in the facility after accidentally releasing the pathogen, proud that he had created a weapon to defend his homeland. With Sofia and Nadia providing support from a helicopter, Lara tries to find the source of the pathogen before an enormous cloud is released into the atmosphere and contaminates the Remnant valley.

The women plan to channel the pathogen from three towers into the central tower, detonating it and burning off the toxin. Lara shuts down each tower, collecting equipment, rescuing female prisoners, and eliminating waves of the infected Trinity soldiers before entering the core tower. While fighting off the infected soldiers, she triggers a catastrophic explosion and jumps from the tower to Nadia and Sofia's helicopter. Nadia and Lara watch the explosion as they fly to safety. Although the resulting fire burns the remaining pathogen, documents found in the facility indicate that the release was no accident; Trinity reactivated the facility to acquire a sample of the pathogen, and an agent of Trinity escaped with it before the bunker was destroyed.

Blood Ties begins with Lara reading a note from her uncle, who says that since her mother disappeared, he is the rightful owner of the Croft estate. With trees working their way into the side of the house and the roof caving in, Lara's childhood home desperately needs repair. She finds her father's safe and searches the manor for its combination, hoping to find his will and thus prove her ownership. She finds artifacts from her past, and finally figures out the combination; however, the safe contains no proof of her ownership. Lara finds her mother's tomb under the main staircase, and with both her parents proven dead, their property passes to her, and she moves back in.

Lara's Nightmare is similar to Blood Ties, with Lara's uncle unwilling to give her the manor. She fights off hordes of zombies and skulls before finding the master key. Lara kills a large skull in the main hallway, ending her nightmare.

One of the game's intentions was to craft a more "personal" experience for players, and the team wanted to explore the journey in which Lara becomes the tomb raider. She becomes determined to uncover more myths, and convinces the world that they are real at the end of the 2013 reboot; this became her major driving force in the sequel.[22][18] Although Lara must still struggle to survive, she is more confident and competent. The team tried to find a balance, making Lara more experienced and competent but vulnerable in crisis and appealing to players.[23] They hoped that in the story, players could see Lara's character progression.[24] To indicate her hunger for knowledge, the team adjusted the collectibles; players would learn new languages including Greek, Mongolian and Russian, unlocking new content and upgrades.[17] The new crafting system reflects Lara's resourcefulness, and her ability to use the environment against her enemies highlights her intelligence.[25]

Rhianna Pratchett found Rise of the Tomb Raider more difficult to write than the 2013 reboot, figuring out Lara's initial mental state and character introduction. Its cast was significantly smaller than the reboot, so more screen time could be given to each character.[26] To help establish the game's tone and visuals, Crystal Dynamics developed a "rippomatic" (a collection of movie scenes). Films included Rambo: First Blood Part II, which inspired the team about the game's stealth mechanic; Terminator 2: Judgment Day, whose protagonist (Sarah Connor) and Lara Croft are "burdened with a truth that no one believes". The Edge and The Grey inspired game scenes in which Lara fought bears and wolves. Hanna and The Descent inspired the game's bows, arrows and pickaxe, and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem and The Day After Tomorrow helped the team conceive the game's tundra setting.[27]

They worked on improving the story's pacing, which Horton thought as important as the story itself. Several features with gameplay potential but not fitting its context, such as vehicles and an early scene in which Lara battled enemies in a jeep, were cut.[17] The team listened to player feedback about the original game and made gameplay adjustments, such as reducing the number of quick time events, expanding the hunting system, and increasing the significance of traversing and stealth.[25] Cinematic moments and action scenes were retained in the sequel.[22] The theme of survival remained the story's core, with the team modifying gameplay accordingly; the expanded crafting system required players to use the environments more.[24] Crystal Dynamics however avoided making it a survival game; the team felt that it would discourage player exploration.[28] Like its predecessor, Rise of the Tomb Raider has a structure similar to metroidvania; the team wanted players to feel that Siberia is a living, dynamic world, and the game not merely a long sequence of events.[24] According to design director Michael Brinker, the team decided to make the game less "grindy" than other titles; players would not be forced to complete any optional content. The skill-upgrades system was overhauled to include more player options.[22]

After the developers listened to player feedback, the game emphasized tomb-raiding more than its predecessors.[29] According to Hughes, the team analyzed some of the older Tomb Raider titles and distilled their best features while incorporating the reboot's physics-based puzzles. They intended to add more ancient tombs, making players feel like real discoverers and inspiring awe. The tombs were made larger than the reboot, and water puzzles (featured in older Tomb Raider games) were included. The puzzles were often interconnected, with the team adopting a nested-puzzle approach.[12] Optional tombs were made more meaningful, giving players unique skills and items rather than just experience points.[17] The difficulty of each tomb slowly increases as players progress.[30]

The Library of Celsus in Ephesus inspired the Flooded Archive, one of the game's tombs.

The game world was designed to reflect Lara's distorted mental state, and the team introduced the concept of "ominous beauty" to achieve this. The color scheme was vibrant, reflecting the game's large scale. The team was inspired by other video games and fine art, including Russian realists.[17] They traveled to Yosemite National Park and several locations in Turkey, including Cappadocia, Istanbul and Ephesus, researching Byzantine culture and Greek architecture to design Syria and Kitezh.[31] The team took six months to create the game's snow technology (such as snow tracks and avalanches), which helped increase player immersion in the game. To add variety to its landscape, the team introduced the Oasis (with a dramatically-different look from Siberia).[23]

Bobby Tahouri's primary goal in composing the game's music was to support its narrative. Tahouri spoke to Crystal Dynamics in 2012 and contracted to write the score in late 2013, delighted to have more composition time than previous projects. He listened to the earlier games' soundtracks to "immerse [himself] in the Tomb Raider world". The soundtrack was recorded in Nashville by a 52-piece string-and-brass orchestra, including cello, woodwinds, dulcimer and a handpan developed by Saraz Musical Instruments. The Siberian music features an instrument similar to a gusli and low-pitched male singing. Dynamic Percussion System middleware creates music as the game is played.[32] Crystal Dynamics signed Karen O and guitarist David Pajo to produce the game's theme song, "I Shall Rise".[33]

The game features a Dolby Atmos soundtrack.[34]

Camilla Luddington voiced Lara and provided motion capture at a Los Angeles studio over a two-year period. According to the actress, one of the greatest challenges in voicing Lara was having to "yell over wind and snow".[35] Luddington trained for the role, with experts teaching her how to hold the weapons.[36] The team wanted to ensure that Lara's first game for the eighth generation of video game consoles looked good. Spraying Mova fluorescent paint on Luddington's face, they obtained 7,000 points of reference.[37] The team had difficulty developing Lara from motion capture, finding Luddington's footage too realistic, and tried to give the young Lara "subtle" facial expressions. They focused on Lara's physical details in cutscenes, where her muscles tensed as she climbed or her skin became blotchy from the cold. The studio used pose-based deformers to sculpt Lara's "exact shape" as she moved. The team also used wrinkle maps, allowing more natural, realistic movement for the character.[25]

Rise of the Tomb Raider was powered by the Foundation in-house game engine.[38] The team used global illumination and physics-based rendering to create light and shadows.[5] They used a Horizon WYSIWYG editor, editing text and graphics in a form closely resembling the finished product. The team adopted a "kit-bashing technique", quickly assembling a level with modules and rebuilding it until they were satisfied. To improve the game's graphical fidelity, the team partnered with Nixxes Software (which ported the Xbox 360 version).[22]

Rise of the Tomb Raider received "generally positive reviews" according to review aggregator Metacritic.

The game's graphics were praised by critics. Kimberly Wallace of Game Informer called them "stunning" and praised Crystal Dynamics for creating detailed environments for players to explore, although she noted several frame rate issues. Spencer Campbell of Electronic Gaming Monthly agreed, describing the areas as "gorgeous" and noting that every location in the game looked unique.[68] Justin Towell of GamesRadar praised the game's presentation and appreciated its animation, noting that it was a AAA production. Steven Hansen of Destructoid called it one of the best-looking games on the market, although he considered some of the lighting unrealistic.[67]

Wallace praised the story for several memorable moments, although she thought it was predictable except for the ending scene. She liked the writers' decision to explore the relationship between Lara and her father and with Trinity, which she found interesting.[69] Campbell criticized the story for being simple and formulaic; it "took too many cues" from Raiders of the Lost Ark, and its characters were undeveloped and forgettable.[68] Mike Mahardy of GameSpot wrote that the story was emotional and the characters grounded and believable; its mysticism "makes sense within the world they occupy", and he called the story tragic but uplifting.[71] Towell praised the story for several surprising moments and was largely impressed by the voice acting, but was disappointed that the story was so similar to the 2013 reboot.[72] Peter Paras of Game Revolution singled out Luddington's performance as Lara, saying that she imbues the character with a sense of wonderment and determination.[70] Lucy O'Brien of IGN called Lara an "endearing" character driven by "complex ambitions", and described the game's villains as "strong".[73]

Wallace found Rise of the Tomb Raider's combat entertaining overall, and enjoyed the stealth section. She liked the upgrade trees (which accommodate different styles of play), but found later combat sections repetitious.[69] Campbell called the stealth section satisfyingly challenging, and enjoyed the range of player choices. He noted the combat's more-strategic nature, due to its larger arsenal.[68] Mahardy called the combat "superb", praising the game for giving players the freedom to experiment with gameplay mechanics. He found the resource-gathering tedious, but the crafting system well-executed.[71] Towell liked the game's combat and stealth, comparing it to Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and noting that Lara often felt like a "cold-blooded killer" due to the abundance of combat. He felt that there were too many items to collect.[72] O'Brien found some combat sections uninspired, but the new crafting abilities made them more enjoyable. She called the stealth component enjoyable but redundant.[73] Although Hansen liked the addition of stealth, he said that Rise did not address the problems with the 2013 reboot (in which Lara was too violent, causing narrative dissonance).[67]

Wallace praised the game's abundant side content, finding it intriguing enough to lure her away from the main story. She liked the Metroidvania world design, and the large hubs encouraged her to explore. Wallace enjoyed the expanded tombs and the puzzles, which were deeper and more intricate than those in the previous game.[69] Campbell praised its hunting mechanic, which enhanced the game world. He wrote that the narrative shortcomings were balanced by gameplay complexity, particularly the optional tomb puzzles.[68] Mahardy praised the open hubs' "waterfall structure", where every player action may unlock new possibilities;[71] however, Towell found the hubs filled with aimless, unappealing content.[72] O'Brien called the challenge tombs the game's highlight (paying homage to the older Tomb Raider games), despite its shortage of puzzles.[73] Hansen found much of the content "open world busywork", which he compared to the Assassin's Creed game series.[67] Paras wrote that the expedition mode was a "real treat",[70] but Oli Welsh of Eurogamer criticized it, saying that there was no reason for the mode to exist other than to please YouTubers and generate revenue from microtransactions.[14]

Wallace called Rise of the Tomb Raider "better in every way" than the 2013 reboot, and said that the game had high replayability.[69] Campbell was disappointed by the story, but considered the game an overall improvement on its predecessor.[68] Towell called the game a "safe sequel" which took few risks, but had a successful formula;[72] O'Brien agreed that it succeeded in refining its predecessor's formula.[73] Hansen found much of the game's content bloated; although it was an improvement, he criticized it for not fixing many of the original's shortcomings.[67] According to Paras, the Tomb Raider franchise surpassed gaming classics such as Resident Evil 4 and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves after 20 years with Rise of the Tomb Raider.[70]

Some gaming journalists were concerned about Rise of the Tomb Raider's sales, since it was released on the same day as Fallout 4 (a highly anticipated game from Bethesda Game Studios, which also had Microsoft as its marketing partner). However, Microsoft believed that the games would not compete with one another.[74] It was the fourth-bestselling game in the UK and Ireland in its week of release, debuting at number four in the UK retail software sales chart (behind Fallout 4, Call of Duty: Black Ops III and FIFA 16).[75] The game however did not sell well enough in the month after its release to appear on the NPD Group chart.[76] According to Square Enix, its initial commercial performance was "solid";[77] game director Brian Horton and Microsoft executive Aaron Greenberg said that Microsoft Studios and Square Enix were satisfied with the game's sales.[78] Digitally, the Windows version sold three times better than the Xbox One version in the first month of release.[79] The game had sold over one million copies by the end of 2015,[80] and nearly seven million copies by November 2017.[81]

In honor of the 25th anniversary of Tomb Raider, Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics celebrated each game and spin-off of the franchise with community features, nostalgia, and unseen contents throughout 2021. On its dedicated month, it was revealed that Rise of the Tomb Raider had sold 11.8 million in November 2021.[82]