On the 14th of September, five years ago, Shadow of the Tomb Raider was released for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

It continues the narrative from the 2015 game Rise of the Tomb Raider and is the third and final entry of the Survivor trilogy.

Set three years after the events of Rise of the Tomb Raider, its story follows Lara Croft as she ventures through the tropical regions of the Americas to the legendary city Paititi, battling the paramilitary organization Trinity and racing to stop a Mayan apocalypse she has unleashed. Lara must traverse the environment and combat enemies with firearms and stealth as she explores semi-open hubs. In these hubs she can raid challenge tombs to unlock new rewards, complete side missions, and scavenge for resources which can be used to craft useful materials.

Development began in 2015 following the completion of Rise of the Tomb Raider, lasting until July 2018. Shadow of the Tomb Raider was designed to conclude Lara's journey begun in the 2013 reboot, with a key theme being descent both through the jungle environment and into her personality. The setting and narrative was based on Mayan and Aztec mythologies, with the team consulting historians to create the architecture and people of Paititi. The gameplay was adjusted based on fan feedback, incorporating swimming and grappling while increasing difficulty tailoring. The game cost an estimated US$110–135 million to develop, making it one of the most expensive games ever made.

Released as the final installment in Lara Croft's origin trilogy, Shadow of the Tomb Raider received generally positive reviews from critics, with particular praise going to the game's emphasis on challenge tombs and puzzles, although some felt that the series' gameplay had become stale and lacked innovation. While opening to slow sales, the game eventually shipped over 8.9 million copies worldwide.

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy

This is it. This is their dynamic.

A Survivor Was Born 11 Years Ago!

On this day, 11 years ago, we shipwrecked on a mysterious island off the coast of Japan, located somewhere in the Dragon's Triangle.

From escaping captivity to climbing a radio tower to signal for help, Lara faced a perilous and challenging ordeal to reunite with her crewmates and leave Yamatai for good.

Which moment from the game struck you the most? 🏹⛩️🏯

Explore the gallery below for a short trip down memory lane!

Happy anniversary to Tomb Raider (2013) and congratulations for this big milestone to the development teams at Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montréal, the entire cast of actors, Square Enix, and everyone involved in making the game.

Há 11 anos atrás nascia uma sobrevivente!

Neste dia, há 11 anos atrás, naufragámos numa misteriosa ilha perto da costa do Japão, localizada algures no Triângulo do Dragão.

Desde escapar ao cativeiro a escalar uma torre de rádio para emitir um pedido de socorro, Lara enfrentou uma perigosa e desafiante jornada para se reunir com os seus colegas de tripulação e fugir de Yamatai.

Que momento do jogo mais vos marcou? 🏹⛩️🏯

Explorem a galeria abaixo para uma breve viagem no tempo!

Feliz aniversário a Tomb Raider (2013) e os nossos parabéns às equipas de desenvolvimento da Crystal Dynamics e da Eidos Montréal, ao elenco de atores, à Square Enix, e aos restantes envolvidos na realização deste jogo.

Prague - Sascha Dikiciyan [Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (Original Soundtrack Extended Edition)]

Eidos Montréal’s Holiday card!

⛄ HAPPY PAW-LIDAYS! 🐶

Cosmo is such a good boy.

SHADOW OF THE TOMB RAIDER [2018] dev. Eidos-Montréal

Guardians Of The Galaxy

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Released: 2021

Developer: Eidos Montréal

Rating: 9/10

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Replayed this recently and forgot just how much I love it. I absolutely adore all the guardians - such good versions of them - and the dynamics they have with one another. (Drax is HILARIOUS). I also love this version of Peter so much.

The combat is just so chaotic in the best way, and I actually think only playing as Star Lord works really well. It's fast, it's fun, it's explosive - fantastic

Art direction is insane - the world's you visit, the characters, the outfits - everything is so colourful and vibrant and really leans into the weird sci fi aspect, love it.

Absolutely fantastic game that WAY more people need to play and appreciate.

(All photo mode shots by me 😊)

SHADOW OF THE TOMB RAIDER developed by Eidos-Montréal released 14 September 2018

Curse of the Tomb Raider

I'm sure this has been discussed already but it seems like every third game in the series is somehow "cursed" to underperform compared to its predecessors.

Tomb Raider III, even though the series' infamous 90s fatigue and oversaturation hadn't taken its toll yet, is still not talked about as fondly as the first or the second entries.

While the entirety of the 99-03 trilogy is arguably the series' darkest years, Angel of Darkness is by far the series lowest point and is often blamed for the series and Lara herself losing much of their brand power, almost killing the series completely and, according to Paramount, the reason the second Angelina Jolie movie underperformed (the last one is unfair in my opinion but it gets thrown around a lot). Unlike TRIII, which is still overall looked upon and rememberes fondly, for the most part at least, Angel of Darkness (although it has a cult following) isn't. Furthermore, while TRIII didn't do all that much to change up the series formula, other than pumping up the difficulty for no substantial reason other than to be more difficult for the sake of it, Angel of Darkness on the other hand tried to change things up by incorporating stealth and RPG elements in the gameplay and presenting a darker and more serious story but ultimately failing to make them a substantial addition or move the formula and the series in the generation and century. Ironically, ten years later, TR13 would start incorporating stealth and RPG elements with a darker and more grounded story back into the formula again, succeeding where Angel of Darkness failed.

Underworld was supposed to bridge the gap between Legend's more bombastic and action heavy, Hollywood-inspired action heavy gameplay, and the more exploration and puzzle-heavy, atmospheric gameplay of the classics (or Crystal's take on it at least) but it isn't as smooth as Legend or Anniversary. Not unlike Angel of Darkness, it was supposed to be the next big step forward to the next generation and was also burdened by a last-minute game being developed alongside it, Chronicles and Anniversary respectively. Maybe if Chronicles and Anniversary hadn't taken up funds, development time and personnel the other two ambitious titles would have eventually fared better? Or maybe they were doomed from the start. In any case, Underworld, which was itself part of a soft reboot of the preexisting 90s universe, and its lackluster performance, ended up leading to the creation of a completely new, hard reboot, completely unattached to previously established canon this time.

In a similar vein to what Underworld tried, Shadow was supposed to try and bridge the gap between the brand new, even heavier action-focused and combat oriented gameplay, with the puzzles and exploration of the past. While hardcore audiences overall seem to be more pleased with what Shadow offers in comparison to Rise or the TR13 Reboot, the general consensus seems to be that Shadow is a weaker entry than either of the previous two Survivor games, and seems to have ultimately led to, or at least contributed to, the series and studio being abandoned by Square Enix and Tomb Raider entering its largest hiatus yet, with news and information about the upcoming entry that will allegedly try harder than ever to patch the many rifts in the fandom by presenting an experience that will ultimately try to be both modern and innovative, while also taking into account what made the series and the character blow up the way they did all the way back in 1996.

RISE OF THE TOMB RAIDER: BLOOD TIES (2016) dev. Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal

A piece I did back in October to celebrate the release date anniversary of Eidos-Montréal's Guardians of the Galaxy game.

The team (plus Mantis and Adam who got dragged along) decided to take a group photo with the tiny plant creature they collected for a job, but it seems they aren't alone!

A Survivor Was Born 10 Years Ago!

From being stranded on a mysterious island off the coast of Japan to unraveling all of its secrets and dark past, Lara sure wasn’t prepared for this unforgettable adventure.

Happy anniversary to Tomb Raider (2013) and congratulations for this big milestone to the development teams at Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montréal, the entire cast of actors, Square Enix, and other people involved in making the game.

Feliz Páscoa para todos!

Esperamos que tenham um dia maravilhoso junto de quem mais amam ✨

Harvesters - Michael McCann [Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Original Soundtrack)]