Although it kind of waned in the middle, theTomb Raiderfranchise has pretty much been a staple of the gaming world since it first hit screens back in the mid 1990s. The first installment gave the world Lara Croft,one of the most popular video game characters in history, who’s adventures have entertained millions of fans for years. The 2013 reboot helped bring the franchise back into the fore, with Croft now being depicted more realistically, and the story being co-written by Terry Pratchett’s daughter, Rhianna Pratchett. However, some people may not realize that this iteration was originally going to have a different vibe to it.
To celebrateTomb Raiderturning 25, the YouTube channel has been uploading a series of videos, which show early development work, behind the scenes content, and cut aspects from some of the games. One notable video shows the 2013 reboot in its early stages, in which Lara is seen wandering around a dark cavern with just a lit torch. While this is similar to the actual opening fans got, it quickly turns into something more akin to a horror when Lara encounters beastly creatures not from this world.
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Partway through the seven-minute clip, it cuts to a demonstration of the game, in which Lara is seen in a texture-less zone, where she can be seen fighting and killing something that was probablyinspired by the likes ofSilent Hill. There is also another moment in which the action heroine is seen riding horseback through a valley as she’s being chased by a large and creepy-looking beast, which could almost be something fromShadow of the Colossusrather than a standardTomb Raidergame. The video description on the YouTube channel even says that in this early “exploratory” stage, the reboot was heading down a more survival horror path.
It was only later in development that the team decided thatTomb Raider2013 should be an origin storyinstead, and the rest is history. It would have been interesting to see how a horror-inspiredTomb Raidergame would have gone down. Given that the original, as well as the 2007Anniversaryremake, featured a Tyrannosaurs Rex as an in-game enemy, it’s not beyond the developer’s remit to make take the series in a more unusual direction.
With thenextTomb Raidergame being hinted at recently, it seems as though Lara’s adventures are far from over. Whether the studio will eventually make a horror game in the series remains to be seen, but no doubt fans would be curious as to how the reboot would have turned out had it stuck to the original plan.
A newTomb Raidergame is rumored to be in development by Crystal Dynamics.
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