Every Tomb Raider Game RANKED

Anyone who’s played this black sheep won’t be surprised to find it at the bottom of the list. The game suffered from a very rough development period. Original series developer Core Design had split into two teams: the experienced worked on 2000’s “Chronicles” while a new team worked on “Angel.” A lack of leadership and struggles for developing on the then-new PS2 led to scrapped work and severe delays. And publisher Eidos Interactive didn’t help by then forcing the game to release alongside the latest movie to double-dip on marketing. Because of this, the game launched with multiple bugs and without certain locations and story elements. A trilogy and spin-off were planned. But despite strong sales and a unique plot, the poor reception ensured those would never happen.

“Chronicles” didn’t have quite as many issues behind the scenes as “Angel of Darkness,” but it’s still one of the weaker entries and the worst-selling of the franchise. Core Design was forced by Eidos to continue the series after having seemingly killed Lara off in the previous game. This bred a lack of passion, which is apparent in the final product. The plot follows three of Lara’s allies telling post-memorial stories to honor her. It’s an interesting concept, but with nothing to tie the three together it didn’t exactly get players invested. The series had also begun to show its age with barely any new mechanics outside of a grappling hook. This is especially the case considering the PS2 was already out by release.

Set primarily in Egypt, “The Last Revelation” follows Lara after she accidentally frees the Egyptian God Set who has apocalyptic plans for Earth. The setting was well implemented and exploring Egypt’s temples was a blast. The developers implemented subtle changes to Lara’s movement mechanics, such as rope-swinging across gaps, as well as a bit of non-linearity to its level designs to keep things fresh. However, it’s still easy to see the game’s cracks. Core Design had grown tired of its yearly output and struggled to come up with new directions for the character. Which is why the team secretly decided to kill Lara off. But we all now know how that turned out.

With the critical failure of “Angel of Darkness,” Eidos gave the keys to the “Tomb Raider” kingdom to Crystal Dynamics. The studio produced a trilogy before feeling the need to reboot Lara a second time, the finale being “Underworld.” And unless you played the Wii or PS2 versions, “Underworld” was a pretty solid outing. With its own brand new engine and a plot that revolved around Norse underworlds, the game’s environments looked better than ever. Exploring and puzzle-solving, while sometimes hindered by wonky camera angles, was still top notch. Although the new melee combat system was hit or miss, gunplay made facing hordes of enemies incredibly fun as Lara could now fire at two separate targets.

Core’s third entry is, by far, the most difficult game in the series. The team used an upgraded version of the engine from the first two games, which allowed for stronger graphics and more detailed environments. This played into one of the features that made it more difficult: open areas filled with lots of hazards that can kill you in seconds. But it replicated how deadly Lara’s adventures to dangerous locales would really be. And the game’s puzzles were just as great as they always were. Also, by this point Core hadn’t run out of ideas. A stamina bar with a sprint feature was groundbreaking at the time. Which is probably why we ran straight into all of the game’s traps.

Crystal Dynamics’ first entry in the series was a terrific revitalization of the character. While it’s naturally more linear and not as graphically impressive as “Underworld,” it was an absolute joy to play. The globe-trotting plot features locations like Tokyo and the Himalayas, which looked spectacular at the time. Lara controlled beautifully in and out of combat, with the addition of slow motion aerial attacks feeling extremely satisfying when fighting groups of enemies. Her characterization was also particularly strong as the plot revolving around her mother felt more personal than anything that came before. Part of what made “Legend” so impressive was “Angel of Darkness’” failure. This was the game that we had wanted from the sixth generation of consoles. And it didn’t disappoint.

The original “Tomb Raider” is a bonafide classic. But to us, the best version is Crystal Dynamics’ 2007 remake. The environments and puzzles, enticing and exciting in the 1996 original, are wonderfully upgraded to the new series engine. Everything is much more beautifully detailed. However, the team didn’t just give it a new coat of paint and freshen up the gameplay. The game’s narrative was also reworked to fit within the continuity begun by 2006’s “Legend.” Original co-creator Toby Gard came on to expand what he started as stories in games were becoming much more important. With big budget remakes being all the rage these days, it’s cool to see how “Tomb Raider” accomplished it over a decade ago.

It may have started stronger than it ended, but Crystal Dynamics’ second reboot trilogy still went out with a bang. Continuing from the second game, “Shadow” saw Lara accidentally cause a Mayan apocalypse while attempting to stop the villainous organization, Trinity. Although the villain was a bit lackluster, the game featured tremendous set pieces. The tsunami sequence that ravages Cozumel, for example, helped highlight the consequences of Lara’s actions. And while the gameplay could be a bit “been there, done that,” small additions like the long-awaited return of the grappling hook made traversal a bit more varied.

Core Design would eventually tire of yearly “Tomb Raider” releases. But for the first sequel, it brought its A game. Gameplay changes, while small in hindsight, were big enough then to make all the difference. Lara could now climb and perform a mid-air, direction-altering roll, both of which made traversing the game’s treacherous traps more manageable. But the real star was its gunplay. The unlockable arsenal nearly doubled with new weapons turning every encounter into a high-stakes firefight. Maybe it didn’t seem that original when compared to the groundbreaking first game. But when the game is this fun, does it really matter?

The series had already been rebooted once, but this was the most daring thing to come from the franchise in a very long time. It added many gameplay elements from newer action-adventure games, such as unlockable skills and the ability to craft upgrades. But what was most impressive is how Crystal Dynamics put players in the role of survivor in a variety of ways. Following a shipwreck, Lara had to desperately cling to hope while navigating a deadly island filled with cultists, wolves, and traps, each of which could lead to brutal death scenes. Lara’s characterization took her from frightened novice to strong-willed huntress, and was phenomenally captured by Camilla Luddington’s performance. Everything about this game painted a bright future for the series.

2013’s reboot was a great refresh for the series, but “Rise” perfected everything it attempted. Set a year later, it followed Lara as she dug into her father’s research about the long lost city of Kitezh. The snow-draped Siberia was wonderfully recreated by the team, packed with hazardous terrain and bountiful secrets. In fact, the team focused more heavily on tombs and puzzle-solving than its predecessor, which made exploring much more worthwhile. Furthermore, while combat didn’t change too much, more stealth mechanics that utilized Lara’s surroundings gave more variety to dealing with enemies. More weapons, more upgrades, and more unlockable skills just enhanced how you dealt with foes. Add on a duo of despicable villains, and “Rise” more than did justice to Lara Croft.