Square Enix is continuing the critically acclaimed Tomb Raider series with the upcoming installment, Rise of the Tomb Raider for Xbox One/360, intended for release November 10th, 2015. The official gameplay footage from Microsoft’s E3 conference is still viewable on YouTube, but that’s old news. Revealed recently, however, was the intention to release the game for Steam and Windows 10 in early 2016. Unfortunately, PS3/4 owners will need to wait until holiday season 2016.
While planned temporary exclusivity is better than permanent exclusivity, many PlayStation owners are still giving PC players a few envious looks. With Windows 10 on its way into households, PC players are given not only the early release, but with options. Windows 10 will feature a system very similar to the app marketplace currently in use on Windows 8 and will act as an alternative to Steam as a method of acquiring the game.
The series has deep roots and features Lara Croft (not Laura!), one of gaming’s first classic female protagonists, first debuting in 1996. The franchise consists of more than ten games, though many fall below the bar set by the pivotal installments of the series and has a tendency to have a great release followed by gradually lesser ones until it gets a pseudo-reboot. The most recent of the sorta-reboots, of which this franchise has seen many, was the now beloved 2013 Tomb Raider, not to be confused with the original 1996 Tomb Raider of the identical title. It’s from the end of that game that the new one begins.
The games are known for puzzle-solving and exploration as you peruse the dusty hallways of ancient ruins belonging to interesting, long-lost, semi-fictional societies, only to be broken up by heart-pounding, head-throbbing, over the top crazy action sequences in the style of Indiana Jones. If any of that sounds even remotely interesting, the games are worth a try.
Again, expect to see Rise of the Tomb Raider released November 10th, 2015 for Xbox One/360, early 2016 for Steam and Windows 10, and the 2016 holiday season for PlayStation 3/4.