STACK #167 Sept 2018

GAMES FEATURE

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Shadow of theTomb Raider is the conclusion to Lara Croft’s rebooted trilogy. We threw a few questions at Heath Smith, Lead Game Designer at Eidos Montreal, to find out what to expect from the journey’s end. Words Paul Jones Last Crusade The

the perfect match and it inspired us to create new gameplay abilities and challenges for Lara. It also spoke to the narrative themes of duality – life and death – that Lara must come to terms with in this final chapter. Finally, we knew this was the game where Lara would become the Tomb Raider she was destined to be. So we looked back

How do you balance the workload/ communication with two different devs working on the same game? HEATH SMITH: Open communication is essential during the development of any game, and this is true of Shadow of the Tomb Raider . Eidos-Montréal and Crystal Dynamics have

on the floor below. Everything is trying to kill you in the Amazon – from the plants, to the animals to the scarcity of resources. But we also wanted to show that – with knowledge – this place of death can be a source of aid and healing. In essence, what can kill you can also cure you – if you know where to look, and who to talk to. You’ve already mentioned the stealth aspect of the game, but have other elements of Lara’s combat abilities been overhauled? Absolutely. In this game, we can see that Lara is becoming more proactive and less reactive. An example of this is what we call ‘Herbal Remedies’. In previous games, Lara

fine-tuned communication, so that it is as if they work on the floor above and below each other.

at the classic Tomb Raider games and asked ourselves the question – what abilities does she not yet have in

Everything is trying to kill you in the Amazon

this series that we could not only bring back, but enhance and re-interpret

Where did you draw inspiration for the final part of the trilogy? For Shadow of the Tomb

through the survival lens? With the new setting of the jungle, rappelling and underwater exploration were the perfect fit to ensure a unique gameplay experience for the final entry.

Raider , we drew inspiration from Lara’s journey, the new setting of the jungle, and the legacy of the franchise itself. We had the narrative momentum of Lara’s journey from the end of Rise of the Tomb Raider . Since Lara is so powerful at the end of Rise , we knew we needed a location that would not only be visually different but challenge Lara like never before – pushing her to survive and thrive in a new environment. The jungle was

The walkthrough we saw at E3 looked spectacular.The Amazonian environment is a perfect canvas for your artists to embellish.Why did you choose to set SotTR in the Amazon? First off, we wanted to

differentiate ourselves from Rise of the Tomb Raider – each game has its unique mood and palate and Shadow is no

exception. The environment should also reflect the hero – in this case, Lara is struggling with her own duality – trying not to let the shadow overtake her and become the thing she is fighting against. The Amazon is a place of great duality – of life in the canopy and death

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SEPTEMBER 2018

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