The End Of Lara? (2000)
The Croft Times


The just released Tomb Raider game, "The Last Revelation", together with it's ending (which we will not mention, for the benefit of those who haven't didn't finished the game), have released a wave of fear among the fans. Many people seem to think that this will be the last game in the series. Well, think again.

Although no official word has been released about a fifth game in the series, possibly since exclusivity deals might be in negotiation, there's every indication that we'll be seeing Lara again in a major game release.

Let's not forget that both Lara and Tomb Raider are a far too valuable franchise to drop all of a sudden, and that many related products are planned for this year (see article on this issue), including the movie. There's no chance all of this will not be backed up by a game. There's just too much money in it.

What kind of game might be hidden behind the last game's title and ending sequence? There's definitely a chance that something somewhat different will be in the making. Read the following statements carefully...

Adrian Smith said, referring to TLR that "it's the end of the beginning. It points to where Lara could go in the future..." But his brother Jeremy was a bit more cryptic and added: "Well, you know, The Last Revelation can mean a lot of things. The key is to watch the end-of-game FMV."

Nevertheless, when asked if we would see Lara on the PlayStation2, Jeremy Smith was much more clear: "Almost certainly. I think it would be wrong for us not to put her on to PlayStation2. So, yes. We've been spending time looking and researching exactly what we'd like to do with Lara and the next generation of hardware."

But what new features of the console are they planning to use? "Its awesome power - I think that says it all, really," Jeremy said, going cryptic again and not getting much better when referring to other new consoles. "There's a lot of new hardware, both launched and in development, and we want to be there. So, yes, we're considering our options!" he laughed.

So there will be more Lara after TLR? "Lara's following at the moment is huge," says Jeremy. "So I'm not convinced that we'd be wise to kill her off right now." So why "last"? "Let's just say that this could be the last part of a certain chapter in Lara's life," reveals Jeremy. "When people see the end of the latest game, they might get the message."

Does that mean the game will change? After all there have been four similar looking third-person, 3D adventures...

"Lara was created as an adventuress," Jeremy answers, "and that's the way she'll stay - after all, the world is a huge place, with plenty of adventures left. We've got some tremendous ideas on where we can take Lara, working along the same theme as the other games. As long as we don't deviate too much from the winning formula, I'm confident that Core's talent and ideas will keep people interested in many more similar Tomb Raider adventures."

That's it then, we'll have a new Lara game this year! Jeremy isn't so sure: "One game a year has worked really well for us," he says, "but turning a game around in nine months is a massive undertaking. With new hardware approaching, it's going to be a far greater challenge to keep that up."

So, what does all this means? In our opinion it means that there will be more Tomb Raider games, probably somewhat different, and probably for the PlayStation2 - and PC, of course. There's some chance that the next game won't be out by the end of this year, but we're not betting on it. A game/movie release in the next holiday season would be too good to Eidos troubled financial status, to be missed.

And let's not forget Adrian Smith's famous words: "You just can't keep a good girl down...!"