Overview
Rise of the Tomb Raider is a third-person action-adventure game developed by Crystal Dynamics, set one year after the events of the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot. Lara Croft follows her late father's research into the lost city of Kitezh and a mythical artifact called the Divine Source, said to grant immortality. The trail leads from Syrian ruins to the harsh Siberian wilderness, where she runs headlong into Trinity, a well-armed paramilitary organization with the same goal and far fewer scruples about how to achieve it.
The story gives Lara a genuine motivation beyond survival. Her father was dismissed as a crackpot for chasing the same legend, and her decision to continue his work carries real emotional weight. Along the way, she teams up with Jacob and his people, the Remnants, direct descendants of Kitezh's original inhabitants, who have been quietly protecting the city's secrets for centuries.
Gameplay and mechanics
Combat pulls from three main approaches: firearms, stealth takedowns, and melee. The semi-open hub structure means players can push the main story or branch off into challenge tombs, side missions, and resource gathering at their own pace. Key mechanics include:
- Stealth kills and distraction tools
- Crafting from scavenged materials
- Skill trees split across combat, hunting, and survival
- Puzzle-focused challenge tombs
- Expeditions mode for replaying levels with modifiers
The crafting system feeds directly into combat and exploration. Lara can build poison arrows, molotov cocktails, and other improvised tools from materials collected in the environment, which makes scavenging feel purposeful rather than busywork.
World and setting
Siberia is the game's centrepiece environment, and Crystal Dynamics uses it well. Snow-covered forests, frozen rivers, and ancient Soviet installations sit alongside ruins that date back centuries. The contrast between modern Trinity hardware and the crumbling remnants of Kitezh gives the world a sense of history colliding with the present.
The challenge tombs are highlights. Each one is a self-contained puzzle space that rewards lateral thinking, and completing them unlocks useful skills or equipment upgrades. They feel like the spiritual core of what a Tomb Raider game should be.
Content and replayability
Expeditions mode is where Rise of the Tomb Raider separates itself from most action-adventure games of its era. Rather than a traditional multiplayer suite, it lets players replay story chapters with card-based modifiers that change enemy behaviour, Lara's abilities, or environmental conditions. Score Attack, Remnant Resistance, and Chapter Replay variants give the mode real legs beyond the main campaign.
The 20 Year Celebration edition, available across PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and mobile platforms, bundles the base game with all released DLC, including the Cold Darkness Awakened survival mode and the Blood Ties story expansion. That version represents the most complete way to experience the game, with enough additional content to extend playtime well past the roughly 15-hour main story. For fans of third-person adventure games built around exploration and progression, the depth here holds up.