Square Enix shows off Tomb Raider survival horror prototype made prior to 2013 reboot • Eurogamer.net
As element of its 25th anniversary celebrations for Tomb Raider, Sq. Enix has unveiled footage and details of Tomb Raider: Ascension, an early survival-horror-like prototype produced by Crystal Dynamics as it explored methods to reimagine the series – with a variety of elements of the undertaking in the long run producing their way into the developer’s 2013 reboot.
“Right after narrowing in on the concept of a survival story on a remote island,” describes Square Enix more than on YouTube, “[Crystal Dynamics] started creating what was internally called Tomb Raider: Ascension.” The undertaking is reported to have “felt closer to a horror match than a Tomb Raider title” at just one point, though this aspect would eventually fade into the qualifications as the studio opted to target in on survival aspects.
Square’s Ascension showcase normally takes the form of 3 films, the first consisting of thought artwork, and the second exhibiting a shockingly substantial chunk of in-activity footage, in which Lara scrambles by means of a claustrophobic flooded cave, prowls (and eventually rides horseback) around a wide, foggy forest wilderness, and extra.
Tomb Raider (2013) Improvement – Ascension Early Footage.
You can find a definite sinister fantasy edge to proceedings as Lara encounters numerous unsettling, otherworldly creatures, but there are definitely early hints of survival way too, with Lara noticed brandishing her crossbow, and applying hearth to maintain back again enemies and distinct a path forward.
A third online video, in the meantime, offers a appear at some early types for Ascension’s box artwork, as properly as an “early exploratory” voice over, aiming to seize “the tone for the tricky journey in advance”, and introducing the form of angsty, introspective get on Lara Croft that would go on to determine Crystal Dynamics’ po-faced reboot.
Tomb Raider (2013) Progress – Ascension Branding.
“You consider you know me,” states Lara in the movie, “imagine you’ve got witnessed me in advance of. The Brit princess abundant lady with a fairly encounter shiny guns and a aptitude for gymnastics. I assume you have acquired me blended up with somebody else. I’m not best, I’m not bulletproof I struggle, I bleed, I get cold, I get dropped, I have doubts, I know suffering, I know anxiety. Just one working day, I will develop into a legend, a warrior, a hero, a raider. But initial, I will be a survivor. However assume you know me? Consider once more.”
All in all, it’s a fascinating glimpse at a match that in no way was, and it can be tricky not to wonder what may well have been if Crystal Dynamics experienced opted to lean into Ascension’s atmospheric horror factors fairly then pursuing the dour, miserabilist survival angle that in the end shaped the heart of its eventual reboot. Nevertheless, with the reboot trilogy now full, anything at all could be in Lara’s upcoming, so this is hoping Square is ready to expose a lot more Tomb Raider before long.
