For over a decade, Tomb Raider and Uncharted have slugged it out for the love of players however how did issues begin and what’s the future for each sequence?
Even the best rivalries can take years to develop and when Tomb Raider was launched (initially solely on the Sega Saturn) in 1996, there was no trace that it could find yourself as one half of a double act. Even so, it’s tough to overstate the affect it made on a beforehand unsuspecting game-playing public. It could seem unimaginable now, but it surely was the primary profitable motion journey sport to function a feminine protagonist. And what a protagonist: Lara Croft was blue-blooded, seductive, completely kickass, and in a position to wield a gun in every hand whereas pulling off gymnastic strikes.
By the time Tomb Raider 2 was launched in 1997, Lara Croft had appeared on the duvet of The Face and been the topic of a function in The Economist. She was additionally famously co-opted into Tony Blair’s Cool Britannia circus. Ian Livingstone, at the moment CEO of unique Tomb Raider writer Eidos Interactive, later informed me the corporate had solely pressed 100,000 copies of the primary Tomb Raider at launch and ended up promoting 5 million.
Eidos was not gradual to capitalise on its hit: Tomb Raider 3 adopted in 1998 and Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation in 1999. The sequence turned related to the parallel success of the unique PlayStation, with Eidos negotiating a console exclusivity clause with Sony that made Lara Croft a de facto console mascot.
But Eidos’s eagerness to take advantage of its money cow – and the aforementioned affinity with the PlayStation – almost bred catastrophe. Things went pear-shaped when unique developer Core Design’s did not familiarize yourself with the complexities of programming for the PlayStation 2 (launched in 2000), which led to the disastrous launch of Tomb Raider: Angel Of Darkness – initially slated for a 2002 launch however delayed till 2003.
Angel Of Darkness was a scorching mess – not solely was it hopelessly buggy (then Sony Europe boss Chris Deering subsequently informed me that had it not been a Tomb Raider sport he would by no means have allowed it to be licensed for launch) however its try to redefine the well-worn Tomb Raider format, inserting Lara in a near-empty Paris that was imagined to operate as a type of world hub, fell hopelessly flat.
Tomb Raider survived the catastrophe that was Angel Of Darkness, however Core Design didn’t. Eidos subsequently entrusted growth duties to San Francisco-based Crystal Dynamics and one of many video games business’s first profitable franchise reboots was the outcome. Crystal Dynamics’ first effort, 2006’s Tomb Raider Legend, obtained issues again on observe in superb fashion and Lara was reborn, with a much less anatomically infeasible determine and a typically extra real looking tone.
And at that time, one of many video games business’s nice rivalries was born. In 2007, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune was launched to the world. One of the primary main first social gathering releases for the PlayStation 3, it was revealed by Sony and developed by Naughty Dog, who had been then finest identified for Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter.
In Nathan Drake, it might have had a male protagonist, however Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune had greater than a mere whiff of Tomb Raider about it – to the purpose the place some nicknamed it Dude Raider. Third individual motion journey gameplay involving gunplay, platforming, and puzzle-solving with an Indiana Jones fashion archaeological bent? Check. Exotic areas? Check. Rock-climbing? Of course.
Playing Drake’s Fortune felt like enjoying a Tomb Raider sport, albeit with the most effective manufacturing values a mid-2000s online game may muster. There was additionally a powerful solid of supporting characters, who had been attention-grabbing and sophisticated (Lara’s cohorts are hardly ever something lower than annoying) and a few equally involving storylines. Indeed, story-wise, Drake’s Fortune had rather more to supply than any earlier Tomb Raider sport and in graphical phrases it felt extra state-of-the-art.
Lara’s fierce fanbase would counter that it lacked Tomb Raider’s extra complicated platforming and puzzles, whereas additionally accusing Uncharted of copyism: Tomb Raider, in fact, was already a decade outdated as a franchise, earlier than the primary Uncharted was launched.
Discerning players, with no specific bias, would contend that two high quality motion journey franchises, nonetheless related, had been absolutely higher than only one. And for the following decade the rivalry raged in the very best means for players: with a gentle stream of nice video games.
In 2007 Tomb Raider: Anniversary – a well-received remake of the unique Tomb Raider – went up in opposition to Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. It was swiftly adopted by Tomb Raider Underworld in 2008, the ultimate sport in Crystal Dynamics’ preliminary trilogy of titles.
Naughty Dog hit again with Uncharted 2: Among Thieves in 2009, which was showered with each important reward and a hatful of awards. Still thought-about by many to be the most effective within the sequence, it was the purpose at which Uncharted turned one among Sony’s most necessary new franchises and Naughty Dog was recognised for his or her storytelling and character work, as a lot as for his or her gameplay and graphics.
We then needed to wait till 2011 for Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, which was excellent, even when it by no means eclipsed its predecessor. But Tomb Raider wasn’t executed but: 2013’s gritty reboot, merely entitled Tomb Raider, sparked a brand new trilogy which clearly borrowed some parts from Uncharted. Most notable was a new-found potential to drop into first individual mode and free intention bows and weapons, plus a multiplayer factor – as seen in Uncharted 2.
The Tomb Raider reboot’s depiction of a younger Lara’s origin story breathed a brand new lease of life into the legendary franchise and Crystal Dynamics, unsurprisingly, capitalised on it. Next up within the new trilogy was 2015’s Rise Of The Tomb Raider after which in 2016 Naughty Dog launched the final mainline entry within the Uncharted sequence and the primary to not contain co-creator Amy Hennig.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End had a barely extra critical tone, and no supernatural parts, and was adopted up by half-sequel Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, during which gamers managed the feminine character Chloe Frazer, making it probably the most Tomb Raider-like Uncharted sport of all.
Crystal Dynamics’ second trilogy, begun in 2013, was concluded in 2018 with Shadow Of The Tomb Raider, which once more garnered important reward, and bought nicely, though not spectacularly.
And then… nothing. Since 2018, each franchises have been dormant and their massively gratifying rivalry, lasting over a decade, has evaporated. Will we see both franchise resurrected? Currently, it’s exhausting to say, and there are worrying explanation why.
As far as Tomb Raider is anxious, its most up-to-date writer, Square Enix (which subsumed Eidos in 2009) bought Crystal Dynamics and the Tomb Raider mental property to Embracer Group in 2022. 2024 was an annus horribilis for Embracer Group; after an overoptimistic bout of enlargement, it was compelled to restructure and laid off greater than 4,500 workers. Tomb Raider’s future has been assured however nonetheless nothing has been proven of the sport and followers are understandably fearful.
Meanwhile, Uncharted 4 was a really purposeful ending for the franchise, no less than so far as protagonist Nathan Drake Is involved. Naughty Dog has made it very clear they’re not returning to the sequence however, particularly after the discharge of the reside motion film, there’s been persistent rumours of Sony getting a special developer to work on a brand new entry.
However, away from video video games, each franchises proceed to exert main cultural affect. The rivalry between the 2 moved into a brand new enviornment in 2022, when an Uncharted movie was launched, starring Tom Holland as Nathan Drake and Mark Wahlberg as Sully. A sequel is already underway.
Tomb Raider, in fact, has existed within the film house since 2001’s Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, during which Angelie Jolie portrayed Lara, returning for a sequel in 2003, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life. More lately, Alicia Vikander took over celluloid Lara duties in 2018’s Tomb Raider.
Head to Netflix and also you’ll discover a newly launched anime sequence entitled Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft and Phoebe Waller-Bridge is reportedly engaged on a brand new reside motion Tomb Raider sequence for Amazon Prime, probably involving Sophie Turner within the lead position.
While each franchises reside on by way of TV and movie there virtually definitely can be new entries in each sequence inside the subsequent couple of years. In reality, given the timings concerned there’s a superb probability they’ll come out at roughly the identical time, opening up a brand new period of their mutually helpful rivalry.
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