It's time for another round of Pick One! This week, to celebrate the recent announcement that Crystal Dynamics has plans for more Tomb Raider games, we're looking back at the history of the franchise on Xbox.
Not including spin-offs, there have been six Tomb Raider games released on Xbox, most recently culminating with Shadow of the Tomb Raider in 2018. Which game is your favourite? Remember, you can only pick one!
Let's take a look at what we're working with:
Tomb Raider: Legend (2006)
Follow Lara Croft down a path of discovery as she travels the globe to remote, exotic locales in search of one of history's greatest artifacts that unleashes unwelcome figures from Lara's mysterious past.
Tomb Raider: Anniversary (2007)
When Lara Croft is hired to retrieve a mythical object called the Scion, she begins a dangerous search across isolated and desolate worlds, places untouched for thousands of years.
Tomb Raider: Underworld (2008)
As fearless adventurer Lara Croft explore exotic locations around the world, each designed with an incredible attention to detail resulting in breathtaking high-definition visual fidelity that creates a truly believable world and delivers a new level of challenge and choice.
Tomb Raider (2013)
Armed only with raw instincts and the ability to push beyond the limits of human endurance, Lara must fight to unravel the dark history of a forgotten island to escape its relentless hold.
Rise of the Tomb Raider (2015)
Lara uncovers an ancient mystery that places her in the cross-hairs of a ruthless organization known as Trinity. As she races to find the secret before Trinity, the trail leads to a myth about the Lost City of Kitezh.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2018)
In Shadow of the Tomb Raider Definitive Edition experience the final chapter of Lara’s origin as she is forged into the Tomb Raider she is destined to be.
Let us know which of these Tomb Raider games is your favourite below.
Comments 16
1. Underworld
2. Legend
3. Rise
4. Anniversary
5. 2013 reboot
6. Shadow
I like all these games a lot, even Shadow which I think is a bit underrated. Looking forward to seeing where they go next as supposedly we'll finally be past Lara 'becoming the Tomb Raider.'
My favourite so far is the 2013 reboot because if I remember correctly it was the game that made the Bow a big think in games.
Not yet played Rise or Shadow yet but they’re on my list of games to play next
I absolutely love the reboot series, yet I still haven’t even touched the copy of Tomb Raider Trilogy I bought for PS3 like 7 years ago. A mistake? How have those games aged?
My favorite is Rise of the Tomb Raider. I loved the setting, and I just thought it was really well done.
I really liked Tomb Raider (2013) and Rise, especially how they're essentially 3D Metroidvanias. Not sure I could pick one over the other. I really should get around to playing Shadow.
My favourite is probably Rise of the Tomb Raider but voted for the first of the Trilogy because it was a breath of fresh air and just the change the Franchise desperately needed. The 2nd built upon that and pushed the bar higher but you expect that from a sequel. 2 got everything right with it and put right some of the things it got wrong. I loved Shadows too but I don't know if I over-expected because of 2 but I don't think it was as memorable overall - still got 100% [game] completion and the DLC in all 3.
Both 1 and 2 of the reboot trilogy could be my favourite on different days and/or different reasons and in the vote, I had to give it to the first because of the impact it had - It revitalised interest in the brand and also broke the stereotype it had become.
Overall, the Trilogy is my top 3 Tomb Raider games of all time - not just Xbox games. There have been many memorable TR games over the years and the Trilogy made me optimistic we will get more memorable TR games in the future too...
Rise of the Tomb Raider. While I don't think any of them are bad at all, that was one of my favorite games of the last generation, something I can't say about any of the others (being amongst my favorite of any generation). Tomb Raider was pretty good though. I was a bit disappointed by Shadow, but I would like to give it another shot at some point.
My memories of the 3 old games have vanished for the most part, but I do at least remember enjoying them. Definitely not on the same level as Tomb Raider and Rise though obviously.
Anniversary. Reimagines the OG with much better controls and isn't a knockoff Uncharted like the recent entries.
I'm hoping the last 3 get 60fps patches sometime soon!
Rise of the Tomb Raider for me.
Shadow of the tomb raider is a 2018 game.
@ROBALEXXX Of course it is. Thanks!
That’s a tricky one, Legend, Anniversary and 2013 are all firm favourites. I went with 2013 in the end but it was very close.
It's always going to be Classic Crofty over rebooted Lara for me, and I think the somewhat underrated Underworld strikes the right balance between the more linear, action focussed levels of Legend and the larger, more complex puzzle-solving of Anniversary, which was an excellent remake of the classic original itself. Plus, Keeley Hawes is the best actress to voice Lara yet.
As much as I enjoyed the reboot and Rise (yet to play Shadow), I always felt there was too big a focus on combat over puzzles and the survival mechanics bogged them down. Great games for sure, but not quite Tomb Raider for me.
On another note, Guardian Of Light and Temple Of Osiris are both worth a look.
@Broosh I see this comparison a lot, and as a fan of both franchises, I find it to be a disservice to both, as each provides a meaningfully different experience. The comparison is like saying that Metroid is a knockoff of Mario.
The TR reboot series is only like Uncharted at a very shallow level. If you look a little deeper, you’ll find that these 2 series are profoundly different. The newer TR games are actually much more similar to The Last of Us than they are to Uncharted.
Uncharted has no RPG elements, no crafting, no upgrades of any kind, and provides little to no incentive to explore, whereas in the TR games, upgrading equipment, crafting items, and filling out a skill tree are essential aspects of the game design. The TR reboot series is also much less linear than Uncharted and a lot closer to open world game design including loads of collectibles, hidden areas, and selectable side missions.
Give ‘em another shot, they’re all great games that are 100% worth playing.
Have good memories of the original on PlayStation back in the day, but recently went back and played Revelations (I think) on the Dreamcast and couldn't get past the horrible controls; were they always this bad? Only recently played the 2013 reboot and loved it. Picked up Rise in the recent sales for a few £s so looking forward to playing that sometime.
@everynowandben Appreciate the well thought out reply. I will admit I never liked Uncharted and The Last of Us took time to grow on me. So if these recent titles can hold a candle to TLoU, I can give them another shot eventually.
When it comes to the Tomb Raider series, I'm just saying I appreciate the mostly action-focused gameplay that hinged on a sort of campiness and couldn't find the narrative of the reboot that engaging. It was a reboot the series needed though, as we saw what happened with Tomb Raider Underworld (ugh 😔).
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