Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft should be the talk of the town, with fans being nothing but excited. Unfortunately, this seems to be more of a rushed remaster, lacking the love and attention it deserves.
There are so many games that are on the list of fans screaming for a remake or remaster; it seemed to be only a matter of time before Tomb Raider was the next on the block for the re-treatment. There was a lot of online divide about whether the games, originally from 1996, 97 and 98, would get a full remake from the bones.
While some felt this unnecessary, with the 2016 Lara Croft reboot already acting as a remake, others saw these new games as different enough from the originals that a remake would be well worth the effort from the devs.
Embracer Group, who acquired the rights for Tomb Raider in 2022, went down the remaster route, leaving as much of the original games intact as possible. This allowed the turnaround to be far quicker than from the bones remake, with the acquisition only taking place in May of 2022.
The announcement of Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft only happened in September of 2023, and the full release of all three games in February of ’24. A timeline this quick can mean one of two things to most, either this was a passion project with endless hours poured into it by a dedicated team that worked tirelessly, or it was a rushed cash grab.
The world of remakes, remasters, and re-releases have left a lot of room for confusion, with many people being unsure of what to expect when one of these words is slapped onto the title. There is also a lot of variation within how each developer defines each of the terms. For example, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary (2011) was a remaster with graphical improvements and sound updates.
Yet, the 2014 version of Halo: Master Chief Collection of the same game included performance enhancements that made the upgrade feel very fresh and new only three years later. Both of these were described by many as remasters on release, although they did different things.
The Resident Evil Remakes have added to this confusion even more, with Capcom remaking the games from scratch in a whole new engine. Changing the story and recreating whole environments for players to experience. The definition of remake seems to mean that the game is made from scratch, not just given a shiny paint job.
Yet Quake Remastered offers new levels, updated character designs, anti-aliasing, and improved gameplay, including upgraded depth of field. It is even in the Kex Engine rather than the original, which was made in the eponymous Quake Engine. Surely, this lobbies for the title of a remake, yet it is a self-proclaimed remaster.
When talking about the Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft, it is important to curb expectations in order to understand what you are fully getting into. This remaster aims to do just that, remaster. The graphics will improve, but the core gameplay will remain the same.
The player will be able to switch between the new and old graphics and play with the original and modernized controls; we will get into how well this works a bit later and the journey you have to go on to learn these controls.
The polygons beneath the game are ultimately the same, meaning the graphics can only improve so much. It will look how you remember it in the new graphic with the over-exaggerated features and none of the photorealism you have come to expect from modern games. This is until you swap into old graphics, see how much worse it really looked, and curse your terrible memory for lying to you for all these years.
The story of Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft does not change anything from the original games. Our protagonist, Lara, is an archeologist-adventurer. In the original game, 1996, she is approached by a mercenary named Larson, who works for Jaqueline Natla. Natla wants an artifact called the Scion, which is buried in a tomb in Peru.
Upon release, the Scion is just one part of the whole artifact. Lara uses the information she learns from breaking into Natla’s office to learn the whereabouts of fellow archaeologist and Lara’s rival, Pierre DuPont. From here, Lara travels to Greece and Egypt, platforming and puzzle-solving to find the rest of the artifacts.
These sections of Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft are straight from the original, with the story being the same, and the original DLC Unfinished Business was originally used to promote Tomb Raider II. Tomb Raider II, this time in China, follows a not-dissimilar plot, searching for a long-lost artifact.
Tomb Raider II includes an escape sequence, and many would agree that the stakes feel a lot higher for Lara as we have learned more about her and care for her a lot more. The game goes through China, as said before, as well as a level on an oil rig, a shipwreck, and the foothills of Tibet.
Tomb Raider III has the most locations of any of the three games, taking place in India, the South Pacific, Nevada, London, and Antarctica. Lara begins this journey in India, where she uncovers the Infada Stone. Talking to an RX_Tech employee, Lara learns that the Infada Stone is one of four objects the Polynesians created from a meteorite before they abandoned it.
It was left this way until the 19th century when a crew led by Charles Darwin found the artifacts and moved them across the globe. The player, Lara, now has to hunt each down to reunite them.
The Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft version sticks to the story old fans will know and love so well. There are also options to go into Lara’s Home, a tutorial section of each game that helps the player learn or refresh the controls before jumping into her next adventure. There is no story in these sections, although they do have some fun moments, such as being able to lock the butler into the freezer in the huge kitchen found in Lara’s extravagant house.
The original Tomb Raider games were all limited to tank controls. The player could not move the camera; it simply sat static above Lara’s shoulder, following her around. This meant that her guns were aimed automatically at the player when an enemy approached; it also meant that a “roll” button allowed Lara to do a 180 instantly.
This is because tank controls famously make it difficult for the player to turn around. The inclusion of the roll is a great part of the tank control setup and is again ported over from the original games. While the roll is a huge merit, it is one that has simply been moved over.
Another element of the original games that has moved over is a lack of sprint in Tomb Raider I and II. Instead, Lara runs everywhere with a walk function in place that stops her from falling from whatever ledge she is navigating. In the third game, Lara can sprint for a limited time until her exhaustion meter runs out.
This, again, carries over to Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft. In the original game, there is also an action button. This allows Lara to press buttons, pull levers, and pick up items. This is the same button that grabs ledges when Lara is leaping to high places, all a part of the original makeup of the game.
Tomb Raider I – III Remastered has all the original controls from the first three games, indicated in the settings as Tank Controls. There is also an option to switch to the Modern Controls listed in the menu. This is where things start to get dicey.
The modern controls are a fully new controller mapping, which would be the correct move; on top of that, the camera can now be moved independently, allowing the player to look around without having to turn Lara. The point of these controls would be for the game to be more accessible to a modern audience. The thing is, they don’t offer this level of accessibility.
When loading into the game, the main menu shows Lara’s House, the tutorial, as the first option available, suggesting the player should do this section first. However, should you load into this and play through the tutorial in the modern controls, the game will seem as though it is completely broken.
None of the voice lines have been updated, meaning you will still be told to press the action button to climb. This button will not work, no matter how long you try. And even if you look in the menu for the action button, just to confirm you are using the right key, it will not work.
This means that every time you want to jump over a ledge or get out of the water, you have to switch back to tank controls to navigate the section. When I tell you I spent the first 15 hours of Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft playing this way, I am not exaggerating. It was like certain abilities had been removed, meaning I could not do the sideways flip or get up ledges. It was frustrating beyond belief.
But it turns out there is a fix. The control scheme is similar to the one from Tomb Raider Legend, Anniversary, and Underworld. This is not declared anywhere in Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft; there is nothing in any menu, not a single hint on screen or anything in the files that hints at this.
You learn this as follows: Step 1- spend hours playing, switching between controls, and getting mad. Step 2- look up the issue online and find nothing to help. Step 3- dig through the support on the dev’s webpage and finally find a post explaining that the shoot button also acts as the action with certain moves.
This means that these “modern controls” which make up a big part of what brings Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft to the next generation and add a significant amount of value to the remaster, have actually been around 18 years, meaning there isn’t anything modern about them. While working out the controls and adapting to them is possible, the lack of on-screen prompts means the player is left in the dark until they find this webpage.
It is a massive letdown and shows a lack of care from the developers. Rather than updating the controls or adding on-screen prompts, the devs left it in this very confusing state in a move that feels nothing but lazy.
Beyond the lack of an updated tutorial, Lara’s house will be a huge point of nostalgia to many fans of the original games. There is nothing like digging through your memory to try to work out all the secret switches and the various doors they open. I remember the TR2 Lara’s House so clearly. The assault course outside is still there, and the butler can still be locked in the freezer and iced over.
Even the endless walkthroughs to get to the quad bike and try to hit a new PB lap time. I haven’t worked out if it is possible to glitch onto the roof like in the original; please let me know if you have done it.
Despite the odd modern controls, the core gameplay of solving puzzles is still very fun once you are used to the movement. The other main element of the gameplay, outside the leaping and climbing, is the combat. The tank controls mean the player can’t aim. Instead, Lara auto-locks onto the enemy.
This is still true in modern controls and can make it very confusing when Lara locks on to something behind you. You also do not stop aiming at an enemy once it has died, meaning if you don’t release the shoot button and then hit it again, you will be trapped running around the foe in circles until you work this out.
If you have ever seen the modern Tomb Raider, you will probably picture Lara holding a bow. It was 2013, so bows were all the rage. The Last of Us lets the player control Ellie in one section, with the bow being the best weapon in that section.
Far Cry 3 had come out the year before, with the Recurve Bow being one of the most loved weapons in the game. If you had a strong woman in your game, she had a bow. Unlike her counterpart, the modern Lara is new to the world of archeologists and adventurers and holds a very cool bow.
In Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft, think less of the 2013 bow obsession; the old Lara was a dual-wielding pistol user. This is kept in the remake, with the guns still having unlimited ammo. There are also the various other weapons Lara can have in the original Tomb Raider games, including uzis, shotguns, and a harpoon underwater.
All of these reappear in this game. These weapons have an ammo limit, and using them too fast can prove to be a big mistake, so make sure you aren’t just spamming the shooting trigger as you approach every scary-looking room.
Graphically, Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft significantly improves the original games. It has not suddenly become a graphical marvel with complete photorealism, but that isn’t the aim. Instead, the updated graphics have a cartoon-like feel with extensive features and significant expressions that clearly display the thoughts and feelings of every character.
The textures on surfaces are also greatly improved, although some climbable surfaces look a little odd. Rather than having the original shapes beneath the wall’s texture and adding rope or struggle on top, the team has just added both textures to the polygon under it.
While this still effectively communicates that the surface is climbable, it does make it look very 2D next to textures that have had a lot more care put into them, such as the walls in the garden of Lara’s home that have been coated in lush, very 3D ivy.
Beyond this, the textures are a lot better. Fires and water, both famously hard to achieve, look great, which is a huge thumbs up compared to the old games. The ability to toggle between the new and old graphics also allows you to see for yourself how different and how much better everything looks.
The sound has been improved in Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft. While no lines were rerecorded for this release, the original files have been improved. However, as mentioned, the lack of updated lines means you have situations like the tutorial that does not explain the new controls.
Instead giving incorrect instructions to those playing on modern controls. The sound effects are the same as the originals but run through a butter engine, which improves the quality slightly, a positive for the remaster.
While there is definitely a huge collection of people wanting a re-release of these games, particularly as the originals don’t run on most modern machines, this version of that release poses many questions, the most vital of which is- Who is this for?
People who have not experienced the game before will likely be left very frustrated by the controls. Those who love the original games will notice where the remaster lacks care, being beyond annoyed with this being the result of their once-loved game.
On top of this, Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft has no physical release; collectors who want to put it with their originals will not have this option. The Tomb Raider games are loved in their fandom; this would have been the perfect opportunity for a remake that bore that love and care, similar to the ones Capcom has been producing for Resident Evil.
In this state, while being playable and a good opportunity for those wanting to experience Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft on a new PC, it feels like a grab for money by new developers who simply acquired the rights rather than a loving re-release by those whom it meant so much to.
