TheTomb Raiderfranchise has always enjoyed taking its players to different locations around the world. Many of the older games were structured around Lara having to travel to different places, usually to find scattered pieces of an artifact. Most of their stories were broken into segments that each took place in a different country. This format was dropped with the 2013’sTomb Raider. Instead, the story took place on a single island. Similar approaches were taken withRise of the Tomb RaiderandShadow of the Tomb Raider, both set in a particular region with a few exceptions.
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It proved to be a good idea. While the games could still enjoy a variety of locations the single setting left a lot more room to develop the environment. Lara now had more room to explore and learn about her surroundings instead of simply following a linear path, and it left room for her to encounter interesting characters along the way, but the franchise still gets to enjoy bringing Lara to different countries. But surprisingly, for all the traveling she has done there are still some locations that have been barely touched or ignored entirely.There is talk of Crystal Dynamics working on a newTomb Raidergame, which means they will need tofind an interesting setting for it.
7Canada
This might seem like a strange choice at first since, as a country, Canada is not very old… but it has some pretty interesting history pre-dating Confederation in 1867. The earliestEuropeanswere Viking settlers, and there were countless indigenous tribes long before that. This opens up a new area of history that has been largely untouched by video games - that of North America’s pre-colonial inhabitants. Certainly Lara could explore the ruins of old Viking settlements, but there is a more interesting opportunity here to explore Native American history and culture.
There have not been many games exploring Native American history. There have been a few with varying degrees of success.Never Alonewas well-received, but attempting to introduce a Native American protagonist inAssassin’s Creed IIIwas less successful. It is still a largely untouched piece of culture and bringing it into a big franchise likeTomb Raiderwould be something new and different as well as drawing attention to a traditionally marginalized demographic. This is especially true if it takes a similar approach toRiseandShadow of the Tomb Raiderby allowing Lara to freely explore and interact with Indigenous characters.
6China
There is a lot to unpack when it comes to Chinese history. The country has been ruled by several empires and dynasties at different times, and it has clashed with various factions. There is no shortage of elaborately carved tombs and artifacts from its ancient period, yet it has only appeared twice in theTomb Raiderfranchise.Tomb Raider IIopened in China and returned there for the climax, but those sections were confined exclusively to the famous Great Wall.The Cradle of Lifealso had a plot line where Lara pursues the antagonists to China, which included a sequence where she rides a motorcycle over the Great Wall and a fight scene that ends up destroying a lot of terracotta warriors.
Both instances barely scratched the surface of Chinese history. Obviously, China is a lot more than just the Great Wall, and there are plenty of other ancient ruins that Lara could explore. There are plenty ofoptions for what parts of Chinese historyto look at- any of the major dynasties, their rivalries with the Huns, the attempted conquest by Ghenkis Khan- maybe a combination of all of these things. They could even try to fit in the real-life warrior woman Wang Cong’er if they wanted some interesting historical figures.
5Britain
Surprisingly, despite being English by birth, Lara has not done that much archeology in the UK. Some games have scenes dealing with Lara’s personal life or childhood, many of which take place in or around Croft Manor in England. BothLegendandAnniversaryhave a level where the player can freely explore the manor.Shadow of the Tomb Raiderhas a level with a young Lara navigating the house. But so far the only one to really have Lara actually doing any Tomb Raiding in her own home country isLegend, where Lara visits a cheesy King Arthur theme park that turns out to be built on top of the actual King Arthur’s tomb. Of course nearly all of these take place in England, while other parts of Britain- Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales- remain mostly untouched. All of these countries have no shortage of historical ruins that would be great for Tomb Raider action.
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Perhaps the most obvious choice would be to take advantage of Britain’s numerous castles and focus on medieval history, which could be very interesting. But if Eidos wanted to do something different, there are other options. Viking history could be an interesting direction. Going further back, Britain was at one point ruled by the Roman Empire. That is not even getting into the various Celtic tribes that have existed across Britain, or the Picts of Scotland. They could even combine a few of these, or make one the primary focus while having the others available as side quests similar to the more recentAssassin’s Creedgames. One potential story advantage of aTomb Raidergame set in Britain would be that it would be closer to home for Lara. This might leave roomfor a more personal story.
4Egypt
Though it might be the most obvious choice, Lara Croft has not actually been to Egypt very often. The originalTomb Raiderand the remakeAnniversaryboth have levels set in Egypt, but the only ones to have it as a major setting areThe Last Revelationand the spin-offLara Croft and the Temple of Osiris. Both games involve Lara diving into heavily mythologized Egyptian ruins.
A reboot could still go the route of incorporatingEgyptian mythology, but it could also do a lot more to develop Egypt as a location. The rebooted games have tried to develop compelling settings with interesting characters beyond the ancient ruins. The reboot treatment would allow Lara to explore modern Egypt as well, and with it probably encounter some interesting characters.
3Greece
For such a seemingly obvious location, there has been surprisingly little of Ancient Greece inTomb Raider. The biggest role it had was in the movieThe Cradle of Life. In the games Lara has only been to Greece during one stretch of the originalTomb RaiderandAnniversary. This is surprising since the Greeks have become so iconic. Thesuccess of other games centered on Ancient GreecelikeAssassin’s Creed Odyssey, Immortals Fenyx Rising, and theGod of Warseries would make it seem like a logical business decision. But the modern setting combined with the format of the rebooted series has opportunities to add something new- in addition to the old ruins, Lara would also be able to explore and interact with people in modern Greece.
AsAssassin’s Creed Odysseyshowed, the Ancient Greek world is vast and full of interesting locations. For a lot of people, “Ancient Greece” conjures up images of Athenian architecture and fancy togas, but it was a bit more complicated. If the developers wanted a less obvious part of Greece, they could explore any of the different islands. The second most obvious choice would be Sparta, but they could also visit Macedonia and incorporate Alexander the Great, or even visit parts of Turkey that were once Greek.
2India
For a country with some complex history, India has not been seen very often inTomb Raider. The original game andAnniversaryboth had opening cutscenes set at a hotel in Calcutta, but it was only a playable location for one stretch ofTomb Raider III. However, it is the setting of the similarly-themedUncharted: The Lost Legacy, a gamethat was very successfuland hopefully will eventually get a sequel.
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The Lost Legacy’s critical and financial success would indicate that there is definitely a market for games about delving into the ancient ruins of what is now India. That would include a lot of possibilities, from exploring the impacts of the Persian Empire to British colonialism in the 19th century. GivenTomb Raiderhas shown itself to be more open to the supernatural thanUncharted, they could even take inspiration from Hindu mythology.
1Mesopotamia
Technically, Mesopotamia no longer exists as a region and therefore could not be visited by Lara without time travelor an Animus. But it did encompass several modern countries including Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Syria, and Turkey, all of which she could conceivably travel to and find historical ruins or artifacts in. Of those countries, only Syria has made an appearance in the games and that was just for one brief section inRise of the Tomb Raider.
Any one of them could be interesting settings, but the biggest draw Mesopotamia has is the Sumerian Empire, literally the oldest civilization on record. That alone should be of interest to an archeologist like Lara Croft. It could even be incorporated into the story-perhaps Lara is initially brought to Mesopotamia by a major archeological find that sets things in motion.
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