2018 is the year we will see the launch of the upcoming Tomb Raider possibly titled ‘Shadow Of The Tomb Raider’ for PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. The game is one of the most anticipated games of 2018 and here we will discuss everything that you should know.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider will follow the story of Lara Croft following her run-in with Trinity in Rise of The Tomb Raider as there are still may question that Lara must find answers to as ‘Ana’ died in front of her while trying to tell her more about ‘Trinity’ at the end of the game.
Shadow Of The Tomb Raider – Everything We Know So Far
Rise of the Tomb Raider launched back in 2015 as a timed Xbox exclusive and in 2016 was launched for PC and PlayStation 4. Since then, publisher Square Enix and developer Crystal Dynamics have been very quiet about the sequel to Rise of The Tomb Raider.
However, during that time some rumors and leaks made their way on the internet suggesting Shadow of the Tomb Raider in development until recently when Square Enix officially confirmed its existence.
Reveal And Release Date
UPDATE: Square Enix has officially revealed the game with a teaser trailer and the game’s full reveal will be coming on April 27, 2018.
As for the release date, Square Enix has confirmed that Shadow Of The Tomb Raider will release on September 14, 2018, for PC and consoles and will not be a timed exclusive to any console.
Square Enix has confirmed that Shadow of the Tomb Raider is in development and will be revealed this year during a major event so that the gap between the reveal and release would be minimal.
Also, there was a rumor last year that the game will launch in early 2018 and given that Square Enix has not yet announced the game, we can expect the game to launch in the second half of 2018.
Square Enix has officially revealed the game with a teaser trailer and the game’s full reveal will be coming on April 27, 2018.
Given that the game will be revealed during a major event this year, we can expect the game to be revealed at E3 2018 which would mean that the game will launch in fall 2018.
Title
UPDATE: Square Enix has officially confirmed the game’s title to be Shadow Of the Tomb Raider.
Square Enix has not revealed the title of the upcoming Tomb Raider, however, there are a number of clues indicating that the upcoming game will be titled “Shadow Of The Tomb Raider”.
The first clue comes from a dev working on a game who was in a public transport. The developer was dumb enough to open up his work on a public transport train. According to Redditor Tripleh280, who was riding Montreal subway and he spotted a dev working on a presentation for the next Tomb Raider game, of which he took a screenshot.
However, the Redditor could not take a good look of the presentation on the game as it was quite blurry from where he stood.
The second indication comes from a Tweet posted by Square Enix. In the Tweet, the company acknowledged that the next Tomb Raider is in development and what is interesting is that while the studio didn’t reveal the title but, if you put together the first letter of each sentence (not line) then it spells out “Shadow” hinting that the game’s title will be Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
Leaked Concept Art
Back in June 2017, a concept art for Shadow Of The Tomb Raider leaked online. While the leaked concept art doesn’t reveal much about the game but does give us a hint about the game’s feature like unique weapons like a machete and a spear. Also, the artwork is not specific enough to indicate where the game will be set.Check out the artwork below.
AS you see in the leaked concept art, Lara might be using a machete as a melee weapon in the upcoming title along with ropes to pull things down or climb like we saw in Lara Croft Tomb Raider.
Platforms
UPDATE: Square Enix has confirmed that the game will launch for PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 and won’t be a timed exclusive like Rise Of The Tomb Raider.
Given that Square Enix has not announced the game yet, which platforms that game will launch for is unknown given how Rise Of the Tomb Raider was an Xbox timed exclusive and launched for PC in early 2016 and then was launched for PlayStation 4.
Our Best guess is that the game will be out for PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 whether it will follow the launch pattern of the last game, remains to be seen.
However, we do hope the PC version of the upcoming game will be optimized as Rise Of The Tomb Raider gave a hard to many PCs to run the game at 60 FPS as the game featured some very impressive visual techniques that some graphics card weren’t prepared for them.
Story
The game will pick up after the events the Rise of The Tomb Raider as Lara Croft saw ‘Ana’ dying in front of her as she was about the spill the beans about the secret organization ‘Trinity’.
Also, “Survivor’s Crusade” comic miniseries also rolled out last year to bridge the gap between the upcoming game and Rise of the Tomb Raider. The comic revolves around Lara investigating her father’s untimely death. The comic might be set right after Rise Of The Tomb Raider as Lara learned that her father was possibly killed at the end of it.
“Lara Croft has unfinished business. After facing Trinity in Siberia, she’s driven to unravel the mystery behind her father’s death. After pushing her training to the limit and following clues that lead to more questions than answers, Lara is prepared to put everything on the line to uncover the truth.”
Crafting System
The crafting system hasn’t exactly been a major part of rebooted Tomb Raider titles but upon examining the latest artwork it seems that Lara Croft will be doing some crafting in the upcoming game.
The artwork in question shows a number of interesting things. First, it shows Lara on top of a tree branch which hints that this Rise of the Tomb Raider mechanic is going to have a more refined and deeper role in the upcoming game. Moreover, there is a DIY machete in her hand that in an indication of a deeper crafting system in Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
The machete in the artwork has a sticker on it and is also not the sharpest piece of metal which clearly indicates that Lara has crafted the machete from scraps which might indicate that the game will feature a deep crafting system.
Weapons
While the game hasn’t been fully revealed so there is a lot that is yet to be announced. However, Square Enix has rolled out new artwork hinting that Dual-Wielding will return to the franchise. Since dual-wielding is a major part of becoming the Lara Croft we would be excited to see it return to the rebooted Tomb Raider trilogy.
The Last time we saw Lara Croft dual-wield her pistols were at the very end of 2013’s Lara Croft Tomb Raider.
That is everything we know so far about the upcoming Shadow Of The Tomb Raider. Did we miss anything that you think should be here? What would you like to see in the upcoming game?Let us know in the comments.
