As the time and console tech has progressed, Tomb Raider games have become more open featuring activities and side quests. However, Shadow Of The Tomb Raider side quests are included for the sake of content but these side quests have something to add to Lara’s story.
Speaking with PlayStation magazine, narrative director Jason Dozois explained how Shadow Of The Tomb Raider side quests will add and change Lara Croft’s journey to stop the Mayan apocalypse.
Jason noted that unlike previous entries in the franchise, the world of Shadow Of The Tomb Raider is alive and people will give Lara quests as interacting with other characters is an important part for Lara to become a Tomb Raider.
“What is missing from Lara is people. She’s been so isolated for so long, and part of becoming the tomb raider, to us, what that means, is not just the archaeology of getting the object or getting the relic but it’s something more like modern archaeology, which is culture and language and history and people. So that’s alive, it’s not just going to a dead place
He added that for Lara to interact with other characters the world if filled with hubs which are a semi-open world full of life where people will give Lara quests to complete.
However, he added that these Shadow Of The Tomb Raider side quests aren’t just included in the game for the sake of cramming in content but these “really help change the feel of her story”.
Not only that, level design director Arne Oehme noted that in previous Tomb Raider games there weren’t any hubs but in Shadow Of The Tomb Raider each hub has a special merchant who has items that are perfect for different tasks and makes backtracking important for the players.
Each hub’s merchant has a different specialty for that region… which means a bit more re-traversal because you think ‘Oh, they had a good thing for that’, ‘They had a good thing for this.
Speaking of the game, Shadow Of The Tomb Raider will be available for Xbox Game Pass at launch.
Furthermore, the game also features independent difficulty settings for combat, exploration, and puzzles. Meaning players can change the difficulty of each setting without having to mess with the others.
Shadow Of The Tomb Raider is an action-adventure game in development at Eidos Montreal and is scheduled to launch on September 14, 2018, for PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
