It's not the first game I played but TR3 was actually the first game I bought when my parents got me my first PC. Tomb Raider is a big part of my gaming memory and today, as I was browsing through my Steam catalogue, I realized how lucky I am to have experienced the franchise not only in its triangle-polygon best, but also its glorious return to form.
Excellent games in their own right, the so-called "Origin" trilogy updated the TR formula in several meaningful ways:
– Clearly learning from Naughty Dog's Uncharted, the trilogy modernized and expanded the combat with a wider arsenal and larger maps that encourage multiple approaches. The fact that these games are able to offer multiplayer content (unnecessary but serviceable) says a lot about the vastly improved combat.
– More importantly, Lara Croft is given flesh and blood through a very well-crafted and finely-executed origin arc. Some may dislike the grittier and more grounded stories, but I think it's a necessary departure from the past. A lot has been said about Lara Croft being one of the first major female video game characters. The Origin trilogy is where she truly fulfills that potential.
Collectively, the Origin trilogy are imo the best and most successful reboot of a 1990s franchise. Not many of them survived this long to begin with, and for a time Tomb Raider looked destined for irrelevance. But these games yanked the franchise right out of limbo and re-established its premier status. Today, with two new games and a TV series in the pipeline, Tomb Raider is in very solid shape. Although, of course, with the way things go in the gaming industry, the future is far from certain.
xxx
Speaking of which, this post is also a shoutout to id Software, which is sadly decimated by Microsoft's job cuts. Doom, Eternal and The Dark Ages marked a triumphant leap into the future for one of gaming's truly pioneering franchises. What i said about Tomb Raider could easily have been said about Doom….if not for the likelihood that this franchise may not have a tomorrow 🙁
PS. Quite a few had mentioned Resident Evil. The franchise definitely has a very very bright future, but for the purpose of this post i didn't consider RE7 or RE2 remake a complete reboot.