Speaking to IGN, the developers of Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis confirmed that the upcoming re-imagining of Lara Croft’s original journey is not set in a different continuity to the modern Survivor trilogy.
Asked specifically if the game exists in its own place, Jeff Adams, Director of Experience at Crystal Dynamics, said: “No, the events of the Survivor series have happened and this is the same. [Lara] in the same place, but for now we find him in his work.”
Earlier in the interview, the team explained that while Lara’s Survivor-era adventures remain part of her past, Legacy of Atlantis focuses on a different phase of her life: “Lara [the] The series survived his past, but was not seen in Legacy of Atlantis. So, we get [Lara] at some point in his career when you see him growing up and that’s what we’re focusing on in this episode.”
In other words, the Survivor trilogy still seems to work as Lara’s origin story in this new/modern continuity. Those events happened, that version of Lara went through hell, too Legacy of Atlantis it picks up with a person who has been shaped by those events. But worst of all, the team doesn’t seem to be making a direct sequel to Shadow of the Tomb Raider, either.
If you listen to the full interview, it seems clear that although there will be connections between the Survivor games and the reimagining, and maybe some references – like how Lara now uses a grappling hook – these will still be separate events. It’s just that once you’ve played some brutal Survival games, you’ll have more context about who Lara is and where she came from.
Basically, while there is a continuity link, it doesn’t feel like there’s much focus on it within the story itself. Crystal Dynamics seems more interested in presenting Lara as the fully formed alien fans remember from the old games, rather than always dragging the trauma of the Survivor trilogy and the voice behind her like an emotional backpack full of climbing axes.
But the game design is another matter entirely, because interestingly, the team seems to be drawing from the design language of the Survivor trilogy, not just wrapping those games in a wide range of books. When discussing the famous T-Rex encounter from the original Tomb Raiderone developer explained that the goal was to preserve the memory of that moment while turning it into something cinematic and grand.
Instead of simply recreating the T-Rex as the main enemy that Lara shoots down, the team wanted to give it “more screen time” and turn it into a “longer sequence.” To do that, they looked at the Survivor trilogy, where Crystal Dynamics liked to have Lara run away from collapsing tombs, floods, avalanches, bears, and any other kind of natural disaster that wanted to ruin her day.
“If you look at some of the things we did with the Survivor trilogy,” said Raul Siqueira, Game Director at Crystal Dynamics, “we got really good at making Lara run from avalanches, floods, bears, and all the other things. Those two were a great marriage.”
