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Cover-art for Tomb Raider, the first game in the long-running series.

Tomb Raider is a series of videogames conceived and initially developed by Derby-based Core Design. The star of the series is Lara Croft, a female archaeologist who dedicates her life to unearthing ancient artefacts. There have been eight Tomb Raider games released, as well as a number of spin-offs including two films produced by Paramount Pictures.

Origins

The game was developed at Core Design's Derby offices during an 18-month period that began in early 1995. The original Tomb Raider concept of a treasure hunter exploring vast 3D levels is credited to Toby Gard, who was also lead graphic artist on the project. Originally the main character was to be a man armed with a whip, but executive producer Jeremy Smith felt that the character shared far too much in common with Indiana Jones, and worried that it may attract litigation from LucasArts [1]. The character's sex was swapped and Laura Cruz was born. This name was later changed to Lara Croft because Core felt the original name sounded too American.

Lara Croft

From silicon chick to silicon chic: Lara lands on the cover of The Face.

Lara is very much a female fantasy figure, with long brunette hair, big brown eyes, full lips, famously large breasts and a tiny waist. In the July 1997 issue of The Face magazine, of which Lara dominated the cover, Miranda Sawyer wrote: "You rarely see her face. Occasionally the camera angle allows you a glimpse of her slanted brown eyes and luscious lips, but otherwise Lara's always out ahead, out of reach, like the perfect girl who passes in the street."

She’s athletic, being able to jump, somersault, back flip and shimmy along ledges. She packs twin pistols, ideal for defeating the various denizens of the underground caverns she explores. Her back-story reveals a privileged upper-class upbringing. She’s fluent in over a dozen languages and has in-depth knowledge of archaeology and history. She's single and lives in a sprawling mansion in Surrey.

In the original game Lara's mission was to find three pieces of an ancient talisman on a journey that takes her through Peru, Greece, Egypt and ultimately the lost island of Atlantis. Further adventures would see her seeking valuable treasures in various locations around the World.

Initial release

Lara explores an ancient tomb in a screen from the original game.

Published by Eidos Interactive, Tomb Raider was released on the PC, Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn in November 1996. The game was highly rated by the gaming press – the UK Official PlayStation Magazine awarded the title a perfect 10/10 score. Critics praised the game's thrilling mix of exploration, action and puzzle-solving. 3D games viewed from the third-person were not a new phenomenon, but Tomb Raider arguably offered gamers with more freedom than ever before. In combat Lara was able to flip around the screen and dispense bullets at the same time. While exploring she was able to scale objects by leaping from ledge to ledge and shimmying to the left or right. She could also swim through flooded tombs to find secrets and reach new areas.

Although the game was released on several formats (and was first glimpsed on a Sega Saturn development system), it sold very strongly on the emerging Sony PlayStation and is credited with driving sales of the console itself. The game topped the charts in both Europe and the US with sales of more than six million copies.

Series development

Following the immediate success of the first game, Core quickly began working on a sequel for PC and PlayStation (Sony signed a exclusivity deal with Eidos to prevent the sequel and subsequent games from appearing on competing consoles). Tomb Raider II was released exactly 12 months after the original and introduced several new features. Lara had new weapons and moves (she could now rock climb and perform a mid-air roll), but the most notable new addition was vehicles. She could speed along the canals of Venice in a motorboat and traverse Tibetan foothills in a snowmobile. The sequel also placed more emphasis on action, with many human foes to eliminate.

Angel of Darkness (2003), the last Tomb Raider game to be developed in Derby.

Tomb Raider III, Tomb Raider: The Last revelation and Tomb Raider Chronicles followed in 1998, 1999 and 2000 respectively. Each game introduced more moves, weapons and items for Lara to use. The graphic were tweaked with each release, although the core 3D engine was retained. The yearly release cycle was halted in 2001 when Core Design revealed that it was working on an all new Lara Croft adventure for PC and PlayStation 2. After several delays, Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness eventually appeared in June 2003. The game sold well but was mauled by critics and fans for appearing unfinished. Many bugs were apparent and there were significant plot holes, suggesting cuts were made to get the game out the door.

Following the poor reception of Angel of Darkness (which is turn was blamed by Paramount Pictures for the box-office failure of the second Tomb Raider movie, The Cradle of Life), publishers Eidos transferred development of the series to US developer Crystal Dynamics [2].

Lara later made a strong return to form in Tomb Raider Legend, released on multiple platforms in April 2006, and was last seen in Tomb Raider Anniversary. This updated and enhanced remake of the first game was developed to tie-in with the 10th anniversary of its original release, although it arrived slightly late in June 2007.

An as-yet-untitled ninth game is due to be released in 2008 and is expected to be a sequel to Tomb Raider Legend.

References:

[1] Tomb Raider: The Complete Low-down. Retro Gamer issue 20, David Crookes.

[2] Lara Croft yanked from Core's clutches. Eurogamer, 30 July 2003, Tom Bramwell.

County:  Derbyshire

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