OPINION – When a video game of a saga is announced, everyone begins to ask questions. Will it look like the previous ones? Is it a break? It seems that there will be a change of study to the front and that always raises certain questions. What would we like to change in Shadow of the Tomb Raider?

There is no doubt that the new adventure of Lara Croft has been one of the worst-kept secrets in the recent history of video games. Date, name, platforms … practically everything that has been announced now of Shadow of the Tomb Raider was already known from yesterday, but that has not been an impediment for the fans to have shown with thunder their enthusiasm with this release that is drawn in the horizon, and that aims to close the trilogy of survival: that is the story of the protagonist’s youth before becoming the monstrous legend of the adventures that are now.

Square Enix ensures that its new blockbuster will go on sale on September 14, which will appear on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, and that on April 27 we will have more news about how its development goes … presumably with a first gameplay content that will accompany to the teaser that you can see in this article and that has been used by the Japanese company to announce the release date of Shadow of the Tomb Raider. That time is poison for the most fan, who wants to know the details of what he can enjoy so soon. But it gives us a perfect margin to imagine, to tell you our wishes and concerns and for all of us to dream together about what a Shadow of the Tomb Raider could be like to put an end five years later to the epic of the young Lara Croft that we started in 2013 with the restart of Tomb Raider.

So, Lara Croft closes her trilogy of origins and promises to do it in a big way. So it is time for us to tell you how we would like this adventure game for PC, PS4, and XOne to be. Dreaming is free!

A Closure at Height

The stories of the 2013 Tomb Raider and Rise of the Tomb Raider will not win the script award of the year, but they were not bad … not bad at all. We are even for the task of overlooking certain licenses that took both releases at the time of justifying presences of supernatural elements that seem nonnegotiable in the franchise. Discovering the beginnings of Lara Croft for the first adventure was a fantastic possibility for that game, and with it we discovered a side that until now we did not know about the heroine.

Vulnerable, weak and just beginning to forge what would end up being a legend. Something similar we can say of the continuation. We will avoid spoilers, but I was exploring some very interesting elements of the story of the protagonist and their relationships, weaving a more three-dimensional Lara Croft. What do we want from Shadow of the Tomb Raider? In the first place, taking the narrative part a step further, offering an argument that is finally memorable and that offers us an outcome that matches the brand, its protagonist and everything we hope for in this regard.

Take out the Mayans

We have explored so many mythologies in the Tomb Raider games that we have already lost count, but one of the ones we wanted to recover the most was the backdrop of the Mayans. Yes, we have already visited the Mayan culture on several occasions in previous games, but it seems that never in a way as spectacular and promising as what seems to be glimpsed in the brief teaser of Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

After flirting with almost any type of belief imaginable in previous episodes, it seems that we will return to the Yucatan Peninsula where we have experienced some of the best moments of the IP. The subject seems ideal when it comes to having a powerful adventure, an attractive background, an incredible scenario (those pyramids make us mouth water) and a part related to the mystical that can bring enormous possibilities.

More Tombs!

Tomb Raider means, literally, grave digger. It is something that seems silly, but that should be remembered because not all deliveries of the series have been focused on that subject. However, we are not purists. What, for example, leaves us with an extraordinary taste in the mouth regarding the last two games of the Tomb Raider saga. Why? The story went on the one hand, but the elements of the open world that gave us room for maneuver allowed us to entertain ourselves with many things along the way … The most attractive? The tombs, of course.

There we found small puzzles that, at times, were a challenge. Moreover, it seemed very intelligent to us that they presented themselves as something optional. That means that if you wanted to spend some time with a somewhat more brainy challenge, you could try to solve their puzzles, but if what you wanted was the pure and hard action you could ignore it and focus on the main story. In this sense, for Shadow of the Tomb Raider, we want more of the same … However, much more!

Improve Some elements of the Combat

One of the few aspects that have been criticized in the first two episodes of “the trilogy of survival” was that of hand-to-hand combat. While the issue of coverage and handling of firearms worked well, the near range was a bit short regarding interest. Moreover, is that the shootings were spectacular clashes that took many advantages of the scenarios thanks to the enormous agility of the protagonist, and stealth more or less complied without stridency with what was promised.

However, when I played an exchange of punches, the thing was a bit short. Little variety of options to solve the action and artificial intelligence that defended itself as it could from a distance, but to which the seams were seen terribly when we were so close to it. There is room to improve here!

Do not miss Crystal Dynamics!

One of the most important doubts that continue flying over Shadow of the Tomb Raider is the fact that it is not developed by Crystal Dynamics. We have so little information about the game that is still unknown, but everything seems to indicate that this study will not be responsible for its production. It should be remembered that after the failure of Core Design with Angel of Darkness, Crystal Dynamics relaunched the franchise with several notable deliveries such as Tomb Raider: Underworld. However, what made them transcend was the new beginning for Lara Croft the Tomb Raider of 2013 with which they opened this trilogy focused on the adventures of the young heroine.

Supported by a powerful graphic engine, with very clear ideas in the plot and with a very clear playable route plan that opened the levels of freedom that we had enjoyed until now in the series, they offered us two amazing deliveries. What happens now? That this British company is completely dedicated to a Marvel license as succulent as it is that will allow them to develop their own video game of The Avengers. This leaves the new game of the Tomb Raider franchise in the complicated situation of staying in the hands of another studio that should end a saga that did not start. We speak, of course, of EIDOS Montreal, which in recent times has left a good taste with Deus Ex: Human Revolution, although it did not satisfy everyone with its sequel Mankind Divided, nor with the irregular 2014 Thief. Our wish? Do not remember Crystal Dynamics!

-BadSector-

What you should know

• Shadow of the Tomb Raider closes the trilogy of origins of Lara Croft
• It is released on PC, PS4 and Xbox One on September 14, 2018
• On April 27 there will be news and will be shown to the public
• Apparently developed by EIDOS Montreal
• It opens in the same year in which the new movie arrives
• This time there will be no type of platform exclusivity