Summary

Experience Lara Croft's defining moment.

As Lara Croft races to save the world from a Maya apocalypse, she must become the Tomb Raider she is destined to be.

Become the Tomb Raider

Storyline

In the two months since Rise of the Tomb Raider, Lara Croft and her friend Jonah Maiava have dedicated themselves to stopping the activities of paramilitary organization Trinity. The two track a cell to Cozumel in Mexico that is led by Pedro Dominguez, the head of Trinity's High Council. Slipping inside nearby tombs being excavated by Trinity, Lara discovers a temple containing the Dagger of Chak Chel and references to a hidden city. Murals adorning the walls allude to the Silver Box of Ix Chel and warn of "the Cleansing", a Mayan apocalypse culminating in a permanent solar eclipse. Lara ignores the warnings and takes the Dagger to prevent Trinity from acquiring it. Dominguez catches her and reveals that by taking the Dagger, Lara has triggered the Cleansing. He takes the Dagger, intending to unite it with the Box to stop the Cleansing and use the power it grants him to remake the world in his image. Lara and Jonah escape a tsunami that destroys Cozumel and foreshadows the coming apocalypse.
Despite growing tensions between them over her actions, Lara and Jonah pursue Dominguez into the Amazon. Their plane crashes in the Peruvian jungle during the second cataclysm—a massive storm—and the two find their way to Paititi, the hidden city shown in the murals. Exploring local tombs reveals that piercing the Box with the Dagger will grant the user the power of the god Kukulkan, which must be used to halt the Cleansing. Lara witnesses Trinity soldiers being slaughtered by strange humanoid monsters later identified as the Yaaxil, guardians of the Box. When Lara saves a boy named Etzli, she and Jonah are brought into Paititi by his mother Unuratu, queen of the city. Lara sees Dominguez is the leader of a cult dedicated to Kukulkan and Unuratu reveals he is her brother-in-law Amaru, who was taken by Trinity as a child and raised to complete the ritual and reshape the world in their image. Unuratu directs Lara to the Box, but Lara finds it is missing. Believing the cult already has the Box, Lara, and Unuratu attempt to steal it, but Unuratu is captured. Lara also encounters the Yaaxil and their leader Crimson Fire.
Lara infiltrates the cult's temple and overhears Amaru telling Unuratu that the Box was hidden by Andres Lopez, a missionary sent to Paititi by Trinity during the Spanish conquest of South America. Lara rescues Unuratu and realizes that Amaru does not fully understand the ritual; rather than merely imbuing Kukulkan's power, the ritual sacrifices it to stop the Cleansing. Unuratu is shot by Commander Rourke, Amaru's second in command. Before she dies, Unuratu implores Lara to complete the ritual but warns her not to let the Box influence her. Rourke attacks Lara and Jonah, who are separated as they leave Paititi to decipher the next clue. Thinking Jonah dead, Lara goes on a rampage that destroys an oil refinery and slaughters everyone there except Rourke, who escapes. She momentarily breaks down when she finds Jonah alive, but he manages to calm her, and they decipher the Box's location. Driven mad by the Box, Lopez established a mission near Paititi where he trained acolytes to complete the ritual. Lara and Jonah find a secret catacomb beneath the missiong leading to Lopez's tomb and the Box. Amaru finds them and forces Lara to surrender the Box. He admits that he ordered her father's death to prevent him from finding Paititi and revealing it to the world. Lara tries to persuade Amaru to use the ritual to benefit the world. He refuses, as the Cleansing will only affect Paititi. Amaru has used his position in Trinity to manipulate them into preventing it. He leaves Lara and Jonah to escape the third cataclysm, a massive earthquake that causes a landslide and destroys the mission.
Back in Paititi, Lara and Jonah help the newly-crowned Etzli lead an assault on an underground temple complex at Paititi's center. They plan to disrupt Amaru's ceremony while avoiding the fourth cataclysm, a volcanic eruption threatening Paititi. Lara is forced to go on alone when Trinity cuts off Etzli's forces. She encounters the Yaaxil and Crimson Fire, convincing them to help her stop Amaru. Lara takes on the symbolic role of Ix Chel while Crimson Fire becomes Chak Chel. While the Yaaxil kill Rourke and the Trinity High Council, Lara makes it to the temple summit. She fails to stop Amaru from piercing the Box and absorbing Kukulkan's power as an eclipse blocks the sun. Lara overpowers Amaru after a lengthy battle; accepting defeat, he transfers Kukulkan's power to Lara as he dies. True to Unuratu's warning, she is tempted to use the Box to revive her parents, but instead lets Crimson Fire symbolically stab her, sacrificing Kukulkan's spirit and stopping the Cleansing. In the aftermath, Unuratu is laid to rest, and Jonah decides to take a vacation. Lara stays in Paititi to help Etzli restore the city to its former glory. A post-credits scene shows Lara planning her next adventure at Croft Manor, acknowledging that her role is not to solve the world's mysteries, but to protect them.


Shadow of the Tomb Raider Activation Instructions

Shadow of the Tomb Raider Reviews & Ratings

70
Review by BenzoSt [user]
July 12, 2022

Like the previous Crystal Dynamics Tomb Raider games, this is more of the same: amazing graphics, wonderfully detailed environment, funLike the previous Crystal Dynamics Tomb Raider games, this is more of the same: amazing graphics, wonderfully detailed environment, fun platforming, and satisfying challenge tombs. Combat is more stealth-oriented than previous games because you can now lurk in the foliage and backstab goons when they least suspect it. This is in a way good because it makes the game much more believable. Unfortunately, the emphasis on stealth invalidates the value in improving your combat-oriented skills and upgrading your weapons. The story and dialogue, which are once again emphasized, continue to be mediocre.

100
Review by guimaster90 [user]
December 25, 2020

This is not only the worst Lara Croft game this game is the one of the worst games I played in years. It is basically a walking simulator.

100
Review by Kingdim [user]
December 18, 2020

Why Tomb Raider, at the origin had great success ?Crazy level design and HARD puzzles (find keys, mechanism, try to find a way by climbing,Why Tomb Raider, at the origin had great success ?Crazy level design and HARD puzzles (find keys, mechanism, try to find a way by climbing, etc.), loneliness and immersion with great dark ambient music, precise gameplay (with a clear view where you can go or not), great OST, different kind of levels (for example, in TR2 you had China, Italy, a boat in the sea).What Is Shadow of the Tomb Raider ? A game that has nothing to do with Tomb Raider and its spirit, who died in the reboot in my opinion.So basically, it's a walking simulation, in a fake open world (you can't climb 80% of the stuff). 70% of the gameplay is hunting, picking stuffs (in nature or reading useless stuffs). Everything is scripted when you explore the tombs, you have no liberty at all and you have to take THE way the devs wanted you to take). YOU DON'T HAVE TO THINK, except for some littles puzzles in very few moments. The firts tomb raider were way HARDER and better in everything.Basically so : useless side quests, useless story, useless characters (yeah, the fat latino with you is useless, Lara needs to be alone and don't talk, the immersion in levels normally have to do the talk if you understand what I mean), broken stealth system, too many cutscenes and dialogues, you collect things that you will never use, the map system is horrible.The only thing positive is the aestheticism in the game, that's all.I finish the game in 20 hours in hard mode doing a big part part of the side quests (thing that would be unconceivable with the first tomb raider). 80% of my deaths were due to : stealth that doesn't work, broken gameplay when you climb etc). Basically it's a straight line, and if you try to think and try other possible ways, you will die...Tomb raider needs to stop trying to copy the other games and come back to what make the success : a very hard game with crazy level design, immersion (you have to feel trap where you are). No no no and no, tomb raider is NOT a RPG with quests with talks to useless characters. That's the fate of video games nowadays (unfortunately) : you wanna please for a large public to make money, with everything is scripted with no savor! TOMB RAIDER 1 is way better than this piece of s****, believe me !

80
Review by Cjmolina007 [user]
July 21, 2020

The first game was truly awesome and perfect way to bring back the series from the grave. The sequel was even better although I did think itThe first game was truly awesome and perfect way to bring back the series from the grave. The sequel was even better although I did think it started off pretty slowly but got better as the game progressed. With this one it started off strong but slowly started to lose my interest. Not because the story wasn't interesting but I just got kind of tired doing the same things over and over again. The new game play mechanics like hiding in the mud or having jaguars attack you was pretty neat but lost it's cool feeling after a while. I still enjoy it's mature theme and want that to continue for future games, but please give me my duel pistols.

80
Review by Split_Decay [user]
December 27, 2019

A fun playthrough, just feels samey as the previous in the trio collection. The game stands as a nice addition in rounding off an adventure ofA fun playthrough, just feels samey as the previous in the trio collection. The game stands as a nice addition in rounding off an adventure of Lara Croft. However, the game does more or less resemble the previous game just in a new location and story. What makes it good is the constants that were carried over, the ease of use combat for example or the easy traversing of the terrain. It is let down however by the seemingly same plot line just in a new dress.Don’t get me wrong I had a blast playing this game, it just felt monotonous at times, when you realise its practically the same action over and over again. The puzzle elements were fine, and added that little bit of head scratching challenge you would expect. The fight scenes, especially the final boss was fun to play. Even stealth was challenging to a point it was fun, and I hate stealth.Though the game has its ups, it does have its downs. The game plays much like previous instalments, unearth some ancient artefact leading to a wonderful hidden civilisation, while running away from a military organisation hellbent on killing you, all the while Lara keeps saying that everything bad that happens is her fault.That last bit leads me on to my final point. I get it Lara is an all action fighting machine, I mean she is a Tomb Raider, but by god can she not be so stubborn about everything. Someone dies or is injured, she’s all like I’m sorry this is all my fault. She gets injured, she doesn’t want anyone’s help. Its like she plays the good guy and bad guy at exactly the same time.The game then is a fun play, although it gets repetitive and the character personality does irritate me from time to time, it’s still a fun game nonetheless. I don’t know if there will be another game, but if there is let’s hope it’s as good this one if not better.

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Game Information
Release Date September 14, 2018
Publisher Eidos Montréal, Feral Interactive, Nixxes Software, Square Enix, Crystal Dynamics
Content Rated M (Mature)
Game Modes Single player, Co-operative
Player Perspectives Third person
Genres Shooter, Adventure, Puzzle
Themes Action, Survival, Historical, Mystery, Stealth
Platforms Linux, PC (Microsoft Windows), Mac, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Google Stadia