*SPOILERS* the history of the Tomb Raider games

[Hyorinmaru]

I'm gonna be doing these for every game series I enjoy playing. Everything is the same as the other 2.

Tomb Raider
Tomb Raider II
Tomb Raider III
Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation
Tomb Raider Chronicles
Tomb Raider (Game Boy Color)
Tomb Raider: Curse of the Sword
Tomb Raider: The Phrophecy
Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness
Tomb Raider: Legend
Tomb Raider: Anniversary
Tomb Raider: Underworld

Tomb Raider

Release Date: Nov 15, 1996​

Platforms: Playstation, Sega Saturn, MS-DOS, Macintosh, Windows Mobile & N-Gage​

Storyline: The game starts with a prologue in New Mexico a nucleartest causes an earthquake that ecposes an ancient deviceburied in the desert. The device turns on and reveals a frozen lifeform. Fast forward to the present day.​

Lara Croft returns from an expedition in the Himilayas and is contacted by a man named Larson who works for Jacqueline Natla owner of Natla technologies. At Natla's request Lara goes in search of a mysterious artifact called the Scion from the lost tomb of Qualopec in Peru.​

After sh finds it Larson almost kills her and takes the artifact. Lara then triesd to find out why Natla Double crossed her. Lara breaks into her office to find out more about the atifact where she finds out there is more than 1 piece of the Scion and the second piece is located beneath the St. Francis Monastery in Greece.​

Natla sends Pierre Dupont to find the second piece but Lara kills him inside the tomb of Tichocan and takes it. In the tomb Lara finds out that Tichocan was on of the 3 rulers of Atlantis and at some point a calamtiy struck sending Atlantis into the ocean and scattering the civilization all over the world. Qualopec ruled in South America, Tichocan ruled in Greece and a third ruler thrived in Egypt.​

Lara then travelss to the Valley of the Kings in Egypt where she quickly finds the third scion and kills Larson. When she leaves the tomb Natla and her henchmen are waiting for her. They nearly kill her and take the 3 artifacts. Lara escapes and follows them to a remote island where the minig operations of Natla Technologies have partially exposed the Great Pyramid of Atlantis.​

After making her way through the mine Lara reaches the center chamber where the 3 Scion pieces are fused together as a source of power. In a flashback it is revealed that Natla is the thirs ruler of Atlantis and she betrayed her co-rulers by abusing the power of the Scion Amulet for Genetic Experimentation. As punishment she was locked in a stasis cell by Qualopec & Tichocan and buried beneath the ground. Doing this causes the cataclism that destroyed Atlantis. Centuries later Natla was awoken when a nuclear test exposed the cell she was in.​

Having regained her power Natla attempts to take over the world with an army of genetic mutants. Lara destorys her and the Scion savign the world.​

My thoughts: Having not played the game in over a decade I can't go ito to much detail here. I would however love to find this game and an original Playstation somwhere so I can play this game for hours & hours and finally beat it. Tomb Raider is my secod favorite game franchise after Resident Evil​

 

[Hyorinmaru]

Tomb Raider II

Release Date: Nov 1997​

Platforms: Windows 95, Macintosh & Playstation​

Stroryline: The Story of Tomb Raider II revolves around the mythic Dagger of Xian reputed to have the ability to turn the bearer into a dragon by plunging it into his own heart. A flahsback in the begining of the game reveals that the last battle in which the Dagger was used by an emporer of China to control his army,ended in defeat when the warrior monks of Tibet were able to remove the dagger from the emoprer's heart and taking tha daggter back ot its hding place under the Great Wall.​

The game starts in present time near the Great Wall where Lara is investigating the truth behind the legend of the Dagger. She finds the entrance to where the Dagger is kept although the door is locked and the key is missing. Soon after she is attacked by an Italian who says he works for a man named Marco Bartoli.

Lara soon learns that Bartoli is a Venetian mob leader who founded a cult obssesed with the ancient lore of the Dagger. She travels to Venice and goes through his hideout and then follows Bartoli on board his airplane which is headed for an oil rig in the Adriatic Sea.

At the site Lara learns that the cult is carying out a excavation on a ship called the Maria Doria which once belonged to Marco's father Gianni Bartoli. Then Lara learns from an imprisoned Tibetan Monk, Borther Chan, That the ship carries an ancient Tibetan artifact called the Seraph which is the key to locating the Talion , the atifact that opens the door to the Dagger of Xian. They even went so far as to sink the Maria Doria.

Before he can reveal more Brother Chan is killed by Bartoli. Lara dives to the wreck and successfully retreaves the Seraph and makes her way to Tibet where ,with the heklp of the Tibetan Warrior monks, she is able to retrieve the Talion from it's resting place.

She goes to China and opens the door where the Dagger is kept. Before she is able to retrieve the Dagger she falls into the catacombs beneath the Great Wall. Meanwhile Bartoli plunges the Dagger into his heart thereby turning into a Dragon. In a final showdown Lara is able to temporarily render the sragon unconcious and pulling the Dagger from Bartoli's heart. At the end of the game the rest of Bartoli's men invade Lara's mansion.

My thoughts: I don't think I've ever played this one but odds are I'd enjoy it very much.​

 

[Dexter]

The fact that I've never once played a Tomb Raider game probably makes me a bad gamer. I think they just marketed these games poorly. Everyone that's really played them seems to enjoy them, but the marketing just came across as "chick with big boobs shoots things". That just... doesn't really sell video games.

Angelina Jolie was hot in the movie though.

 

[Spunky]

Dexter makes a point with the marketing, But anyone that picked the game up because of that, Probably didn't realise what they had in their hands, One of the finest action adventure games to grace the PlayStation era.

As much as I loved to try I couldn't play these games without smashing controllers, Because when the first two came out on the market, I was around 8-12 years old, And at that age your mind can be very one dimentional gaming wise. If i couldn't find a way through a puzzle in 30 minutes i'd go ape shit. That's why my uncle played them, And I watched, Because he could adapt his approach to the puzzles and climbing. Don't have that problem now, But damn I fucked up a load of controllers playing these games.

The stories to the games are usually good, And immersive.

FYI, The next Tomb Raider is set to be an action/horror game, Where you are stuck on a island with all sorts of creatures. It was announced on a website, And within hours it was ripped down by Eidos's lawyers, Which is a STRONG indication that it is true.

 

[Hyorinmaru]

Tomb Raider III

Release Date: Nov 21, 1998

Platforms: Mac, PC & Playstation

Storyline: Millions of years ago a meteor strikes Antartica. In the present day a corporation called RX Tech excavates the site and finds out that the meteor has unsualual properties.

When the actual game play starts, Lara is searching for the artifact in the ruins of an ancient Indian temple once inhabited by the Infada tribe. She encounters a researcher working for RX Tech who appears to be insane. After parting ways, the researcher beats Lara to the Infada Stone, gaining supernatural powers. After killing him and taking the artifact, Lara is approached by Dr. Willard, the head of RX Tech, who explains the origins of the Infada Stone.

Thousands of years ago, Polynesians came across the meteor crater and found that it had incredible power. Using rock from the meteor, they crafted four stones, one of which is the Infada Stone. They then fled Antarctica, but a group of sailors travelling with Charles Darwin came to Antarctica and discovered the artifacts. The four stones were then distributed across the globe. Dr. Willard has been able to track the artifacts by using the diary of one of the sailors. Lara agrees to help find the other three stones.

On an island in the South Pacific, Lara fights cannibals and encounters a wounded soldier who tells her of a god who lives in the hills of the island. Lara pursues the god and learns from one of the cannibals that one of Darwin's sailors brought one of the artifacts to the island from Antarctica. Lara then infiltrates the god's temple and faces him, who has immense power granted by the meteor artifact called the Ora Dagger.

In Nevada, Lara infiltrates Area 51, where she finds Element 115, one of the four artifacts, in an alien spacecraft guarded by the government. In London, Lara searches for the Eye of Isis, now in the possession of Sophia Leigh, the head of a cosmetics corporation. Lara learns that the corporation has performed experiments on humans in order to achieve immortality and eternal youth for Leigh's personal gain.​

The deformed subjects of Leigh's failed experiments, presumed dead by the corporation, assist Lara in exchange for a bottle of embalming fluid from the Natural History Museum. When Lara finally faces Leigh, she tells her that her human subjects are still alive. Enraged, Leigh attempts to kill her using the powers of the artefict, but Lara defeats her.

At last, in possession of the 4 artifacts, Lara goes to Antarctica to meet Dr. Willard. She discovers that the power from the meteor is causing genetic mutations, turning many RX Tech employees into vicious monsters. When she meets Dr. Willard and voices her opposition to his operation, Willard betrays her, stealing the artefacts and disappearing into the excavation site.

After fighting more mutants and navigating the ruins of the ancient city built atop the meteor crater, Lara faces Dr. Willard, who has now used the power of the four artifacts to activate the even greater power of the meteor, to greatly speed up the evolutionary processes of the human body and thereby create terrifying and all-powerful mutants. Lara deactivates the meteor, kills the mutated Willard and escapes by helicopter.

My thoughts: I've never layed this game but like all the others I plan on playing it at some point.

Discussion question: Why do you think they didn't continue the story after what happened at the end of Tomb Raider II?​

 

[Hyorinmaru]

Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation

Release Date: Nov 22, 1999

Platforms: Playstation, Dreamcast, Mac & Microsoft Windows

Storyline: The story begins with Lara's teenaged tomb-raiding origins, accompanied by her former mentor Werner Von Croy. They travel to the temple ofAngkor Wat, Cambodia in order to find the mystical Iris. However, the trip is cut short by an accident where Lara is forced to abandon her companion in order to save her own life.

In present day Egypt Lara uncovers an ancient tomb where Set, the Egyptian God of deserts, storms, darkness and chaos, was once imprisoned. She accidently releases him and finds herself in a deadly race against time to restore the God to his resting place before he destroys the world.

Unfortunately, her old mentor becomes Lara's rival as he is possessed by Set himself and he makes things a lot more difficult. Lara travels across Egypt to collect the pieces of Horus's armor in order to defeat Set. They are found in Pharos, Temple of Isis, Temple of Poseidon and Cleopatra's Palaces. She combines them, with the Amulet of Horus, in the Temple of Horus to finally defeat her enemy.

However before Horus can be summoned, Set arrives and destroys the armor, knocking the amulet into the water. Lara quickly recovers it and exits the Temple sealing the entrance shut with the amulet. She must leave it in place to keep Set imprisoned for eternity. As she reaches the exit of the temple, injured and exhausted, she is confronted by Von Croy. Fearful that he may still be possessed she is reluctant to hold onto his hands and so falls into the darkness beneath the collapsing temple which is the end of the game.

My thoughts: So many of these games I've never played . Like the others I will find this one and play it, more than likely enjoying myself.​

 

[Hyorinmaru]

Tomb Raider Chronicles

Release Date: Nov 24, 2000

Platforms: Playstation, PC & Dreamcast

Storyline: The game takes place a few days after The Last Revelation. Lara is still missing and presumed dead. A memorial service held at her house brings 3 of Lara's old friends back together ( Winston, Charles Kane and Father Patrick Dunstan). While it is rainig outside they talk about a few of Lara's earlier adventures such as her hunt for the Philosopher's Stone in Rome, a deep sea dive off the coast of Russia searching the Spear of Destiny, a brush with Hell spawn in Ireland, and a foray into a high-tech office complex to retrieve the Iris artifact. WHile this is going on, hundreds of miles away, Werner Von Croy coordiantes the dig looking for answers to Lara's whereaouts underneath the Egyptian dester

My thoughts: Not much I can say about his. It wasn't recived well be critics and apperently some of the puzzles were damn near impossible to solve​

 

[Lee]

The fact that I've never once played a Tomb Raider game probably makes me a bad gamer. I think they just marketed these games poorly. Everyone that's really played them seems to enjoy them, but the marketing just came across as "chick with big boobs shoots things". That just... doesn't really sell video games.

Angelina Jolie was hot in the movie though.

I agree there, very poorly marketed games. TR1 was done well, but as it went on and her boobs got bigger it just kind of missed the point. I liked the last game (Underworld) as it brought back a lot of the initial elemets, making her tits back to normal size and making it about the game, rather than the character.