Joe Martin – Product Marketing for Startups

In 2015 I wrote for Trusted Reviews about the development of the 2014 reboot of Tomb Raider by Crystal Dynamics, focusing on content that was cut from the game before release and alternate directions the team pitched.

The article focused on two different pitches that Crystal Dynamics proposed, the first an unnamed survival horror version and the second known as Tomb Raider: Ascension.

Primarily a survival horror game, Tomb Raider: Ascension would have taken place on an entirely different island, with an entirely different cast. In 2013’s Tomb Raider reboot, Lara starts off young and timid, relying on the encouragement and support of her crewmates – but in Ascension, Lara would have been much more seasoned to start out with. She’d also have been accompanied by a six year old girl called Izumi.

Meanwhile, the survival horror version of the game would have pitted Lara against giant, invulnerable colossi that stalked an island she was shipwrecked on.

You can read the full article, The Story of the Tomb Raider That Was Never Made, for more information or contact me for access to the original research.