Tomb Raider III
Encyclopedia
Tomb Raider III is an action-adventure
video game developed
by Core Design
and published
by Eidos Interactive
. It is the third instalment in the Tomb Raider
series, and the sequel
to Tomb Raider II
. The game was originally released for PC
and PlayStation in November 1998 and for the PlayStation Network in 2009 in America, with a release for the European PlayStation Network following in March of 2011. The story follows Lara Croft
as she embarks upon a quest to recover four pieces of a meteorite
that are scattered across the world. The game sold 6 million copies worldwide, and Lara Croft's popularity continued to explode.
India
When the game begins, Lara Croft is searching for the artifact in the ruins of an ancient Indian temple once inhabited by the Infada tribe. She encounters a researcher working for RX Tech who appears to be insane. After parting ways, the researcher beats Lara to the Infada Stone, gaining supernatural powers. After killing him and taking the artifact, Lara is approached by Dr. Willard, the head of RX Tech, who explains the origins of the Infada Stone.
Thousands of years ago, Polynesians came across the meteoroid crater and found that it had incredible power. Using rock from the meteoroid, they crafted four stones, one of which is the Infada Stone. They then fled Antarctica, but, in the nineteenth century, a group of sailors travelling with Charles Darwin came to Antarctica and discovered the artifacts. The four stones were then distributed across the globe. Dr. Willard has been able to track the artifacts by using the diary of one of the sailors. Lara agrees to help find the other three stones.
South Pacific Islands
On an island in the South Pacific, Lara fights cannibal tribesman, Velociraptors, a T-Rex and encounters a wounded soldier who tells her of a deity who lives in the hills of the island. Lara pursues the deity and learns from one of the tribesman that one of Darwin's sailors brought one of the artifacts to the island from Antarctica. Lara then infiltrates the deity's temple and faces the god himself, who has immense power granted by the meteor artifact called the Ora Dagger.
London
In London, Lara searches for the Eye of Isis, now in the possession of Sophia Leigh, the head of a cosmetics corporation. Lara learns that the corporation has performed sick experiments on humans in order to achieve immortality and eternal youth for Sophia's personal gain. The deformed subjects of Sophia's failed experiments, presumed dead by the corporation, they were dumped in the sewers, and assist Lara in exchange for a bottle of embalming fluid from the Natural History Museum. Sophia sends a number of assassins, under her employment, to kill Lara. However, they are all unsuccessful and Lara climbs through a ventilation shaft to Sophia's office where she is sitting with the artifact on her desk. Sophia mockingly offers Lara a job, telling her that with her lifestyle she would be the perfect face for her products, then Lara tells Sophia that her human subjects she experimented on are still alive. Lara demands she hand over the artifact which she refuses to do. Sophia takes the artifact and runs out the balcony to the other building and Lara who works her way up Sophia's building and across to the one she is on. Sophia attempts to kill her using the powers of the artifact, but Lara defeats her by shooting a fuse box connected to an electrical bridge that Sophia was standing on after the battle causing her to get electrocuted to death.
Nevada
In Nevada, Lara infiltrates Area 51, where she finds Element 115, one of the four artifacts, in an alien spacecraft guarded by the government.
Antarctica
At last, in possession of the Ora Dagger, the Eye of Isis, Element 115 and the Infada Stone, Lara goes to Antarctica to meet Dr. Willard. She discovers that the power from the meteor is causing genetic mutations, turning many RX Tech employees into vicious monsters. When she meets Dr. Willard and voices her opposition to his operation, Willard betrays her, stealing the artifacts and disappearing into the excavation site. After fighting more mutants and navigating the treacherous ruins of the ancient city built atop the meteor crater, Lara faces Willard, who has now used the power of the four artifacts to activate the even greater power of the meteor: to greatly speed up the evolutionary processes of the human body and thereby creating a terrifying and all-powerful Spider-like creature. Lara deactivates the meteor by taking the artifacts out of their positions that they were put in, kills the mutated Spider Willard and escapes by helicopter.
of Tomb Raider III picks up where Tomb Raider II left off (for a detailed examination of gameplay see the main article on Tomb Raider
). Once again, Lara's range of abilities has been expanded, now including such moves as the crouch stance, crawling, a sprinting move and the ability to "monkey swing" on overhead bars and vines. Sprinting allows Lara to gain a burst of greater speed while running. When activated by the player, a bar appears in the corner of the screen to indicate the amount of stamina Lara has left. Only sprinting depletes the bar (other activities such as climbing and jumping have no effect on it) and it quickly increases again by itself when Lara stops sprinting. When the bar is empty, she is forced back into her standard running speed. At any time during a sprint she can perform a forward roll, such as to dive under closing trapdoors.
A portion of the game still takes place underwater
, but this time new perils have been added. In some levels, such as Madubu Gorge, the current of the stream will pull Lara in a fixed direction, preventing the player from being able to swim back or grab onto a ledge. She will eventually drown or be sucked into deadly rapids. These waters can only be navigated using a kayak
. Additionally, some tropical pools are inhabited by a school of piranha
s. Unlike alligator
s, these fish are invincible, and as soon as Lara enters their waters they will flock toward her, and kill her within seconds. Furthermore, the water in the Antarctic levels is too cold for Lara to swim through for more than a few seconds. She can only remain in the water for a short amount of time, and submerged under it for an even shorter amount of time. When she dives
into it, a new status bar will appear in the corner of the screen to indicate her body temperature. If that bar reaches zero, Lara's life will rapidly decrease. Unlike the oxygen bar, this temperature bar will decrease if Lara is swimming on the surface as well as under it; so the only way she can cross these waters over a large distance without freezing to death is by using the motorboat
. The temperature bar increases again by itself when Lara is out of the water, but it takes longer than the regular oxygen bar.
Quicksand
is a new surface introduced in this game. It is distinguishable from regular soil by its slow undulating movement. Should the player fall into it, Lara may wade very slowly but will sink deeper and deeper until she is completely submerged. Like being under water when submerged, the oxygen bar will deplete, and if this reaches zero the health bar will decrease and Lara will eventually drown
. The player may climb out of quicksand if next to solid ground. In the Crash Site level of the South Pacific Islands section of the game, the swamp
contains hidden stepping stones that Lara can use to cross safely.
As always, the pistols are Lara's most basic form of defence. The shotgun
, the harpoon gun
, the uzis and the grenade launcher
have remained from Tomb Raider II (though the grenade launcher's grenades will now bounce around unless directly hitting a living target, unlike the instant explode-upon-impact style of Tomb Raider II). The small calibre semi-automatic pistols have been replaced by the powerful Desert Eagle
. The M16 rifle
has been changed to a similar MP5
sub-machine-gun. Also new to Lara's arsenal is the rocket launcher
.
On the PlayStation version, saving the game is restricted to the amount of Save Crystals the player has stored in Lara's inventory, something of a combination of the two different save systems featured in the two previous Tomb Raider games. These floating blue crystals can be found throughout each level, but unlike the original Tomb Raider, they do not require the player to save the game at the pick-up spot. The PC version allows the player to save at any point. The developers planned on having the Save Crystal system for the PC version, but they simply weren't able to finish this feature before the end of the development cycle, so the green crystals act instead as small medipacks in that version.
The objective of the game remains unchanged, although Tomb Raider III arguably has fewer tomb
s to explore than the previous games. Instead, most levels take place in a more modern environment, and Tomb Raider introduces an element of stealth into the game play. For example in the Nevada adventure, it is sometimes preferable to sneak past guards instead of fighting them. Being spotted may set off alarms and close doors that are otherwise needed to complete the stage and therefore the player will have no other option than to take a more difficult route. Unlike its predecessors, after completing the India levels, the player can then choose which of the next three areas of the world they want to explore in any order they wish.
Judith Gibbins reprises her role as Lara Croft from Tomb Raider II.
, return as the game's main protagonist and only playable character. The game features several antagonists, notably Dr. Willard, who first hires Lara to retrieve four artefacts
but reveals at the end of the game his more sinister motives. The South Pacific levels features Puna, an islander posing as a deity with the power of an artefact. In London
, Lara is confronted by Sophia Leigh, a ruthless business woman who owns a cosmetic company which is experimenting on its employees in order to achieve the secret of immortality. She is in possession of one of the meteorite pieces. The game also marks the second appearance of Lara's butler, Winston, who appears in the Croft Manor training level as he did in Tomb Raider II.
temples and along the shores of the River Ganges. Whilst exploring these parts, she comes across a researcher hired by Willard, called Tony, who eventually goes mad with Jungle Fever and steals the Infada Stone from its shrine, driving it into his chest. This level has four parts: Jungle, Temple Ruins, The River Ganges, and The Caves of Kaliya.
, which is currently in the possession of cosmetics
tycoon Sophia Leigh. After a brief detour through St Paul's Cathedral
, she goes down into the abandoned Aldwych tube station
, where she is introduced to a secret gang of masked mutated men who call themselves "The Damned". These poor souls were experimented on by Leigh with the Eye of Isis in order for her to achieve the secret of eternal youth, only to leave them disfigured in the process. Later, she visits the Egyptology
department of the Museum of Natural History
. Lara then infiltrates Sophia Leigh's cosmetics factory, and makes her way through a system of air ducts to reach Sophia Leigh's office for the final confrontation. Lara also visits "All Hallows", a level taking place in All Hallows-by-the-Tower
, but only if the player has found all of the secrets in the entire game. The London level has four areas: Thames Wharf, Aldwych, Lud's Gate, and The City.
has obtained one of the meteorite stones and named it Element 115. It has been stored deep within Area 51
, the secret military base in the Nevada desert, where all sorts of experiments are rumoured to taken place. After a haphazard attempt to break into the base, Lara is locked up in a cell and stripped of her weapons (for this reason it is often recommended that this be the first of the four selectable levels that the player takes on, as important arms obtained in other levels, like the rocket launcher
, can be lost forever if they are earned prior to this point in the game). From here on the game takes her through prisons, laboratories, and military testing hangars. The levels in Nevada have an emphasis on using stealth rather than action.
Unlike the other levels, Nevada has three sections: Nevada Desert, High Security Compound, and Area 51.
warriors and reanimated dinosaur
s like Velociraptor
's and a T-Rex, finds a crashed plane, and kayak
s through the dangerous currents of Madubu Gorge. Her trail leads her into the Temple of Puna, where the "Ora Dagger" meteorite stone is said to be located. In this episode, she also learns of the Polynesians' journey to Antarctica and why they fled the area so suddenly: Prolonged exposure from the meteorite caused one of the natives to be born without a face, which led the shocked tribe to flee from what they considered to be a cursed land. Later, she manages to defeat Puna
in his temple and acquires the stone. This level has four areas: The Coastal Village, Crash Site, Madabu Gorge, and The Temple of Puna.
In The Lost Artefact, Lara learns of the existence of a fifth meteorite piece called the Hand of Rathmore. She begins her investigations at the castle of Dr. Willard in the Scottish highlands
, progresses to exploring the Channel Tunnel
in Dover
and then ultimately ends up in the catacombs of Paris
, where she is again confronted by Sophia Leigh.
. The game scored over 10 points lower than Tomb Raider II
, and nearly 20 lower than the first game. Despite this, it received some excellent reviews, Absolute PlayStation was highly positive, saying "Unable to disappoint her fans, Lara returns for a third instalment that easily surpasses her prior adventures. The action adventure will once again send Lara spanning the globe from the deserts of Nevada to the islands of the South Pacific." They awarded the game a 98/100 rating and added "In gameplay terms Lara's latest adventures are by far the best... but don't expect an easy ride. Core have reached a fine balance between frustration and challenge that should suit most punters." TotalGames.net also praised the game, commenting "Tomb Raider III may essentially be more of the same apart from a few new bells and whistles, but with gameplay as engrossing as this, perhaps that's no bad thing. It still walks all over young pretenders like ODT
."
Games Domain were more lukewarm however, offering the game a rating of 70/100. Whilst praising certain aspects of the gameplay, they felt "Although the gameplay is as involving as it ever was, the lack of innovation means that you feel you're playing an expansion pack for "Tomb Raider 2" than a completely new version." IGN
were mostly positive, awarding the game an 8/10, however, just like many critics, they felt the game had failed to change the same tried and tested formula. They said "The sad thing is that Tomb Raider III solves none of its original dilemmas, and as it stands now, the exploration-adventure genre -- one that was revolutionized by Tomb Raider -- is in the exact spot it was two years ago."
GameSpot
echoed something similar, remarking "Tomb Raider III is much like the first two games in the line, which is to say that there's nothing new thematically, although there are a few improvements to this edition." After describing some of the improvements, GameSpot rounded off a mainly positive review by saying "At the end of the day though (and putting all the hype, creepy marketing campaigns, and strange celebrity worship surrounding the series aside), there's no denying that Tomb Raider III is a solid game, worth the time of anyone who enjoys a good puzzle/adventure title. Those who lost interest in the series with Tomb Raider II may want to give it another look with the third."
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
video game developed
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
by Core Design
Core Design
Core Design was a British video game studio best known today for creating the popular Tomb Raider series.-History:Based in the city of Derby, England, Core Design was set up in 1988 by Chris Shrigley, Andy Green, Rob Toone, Terry Lloyd, Simon Phipps, Dave Pridmore, Jeremy Heath-Smith and Greg Holmes...
and published
Video game publisher
A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer....
by Eidos Interactive
Eidos Interactive
Eidos Interactive Ltd. is a British video game publisher and is a label of Square Enix Europe. As an independent company Eidos plc was headquartered in the Wimbledon Bridge House in Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton....
. It is the third instalment in the Tomb Raider
Tomb Raider
Tomb Raider is an action-adventure video game developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive. It was originally released in 1996 for the Sega Saturn, with MS-DOS and PlayStation versions following shortly thereafter...
series, and the sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
to Tomb Raider II
Tomb Raider II
Tomb Raider II is an action-adventure video game in the Tomb Raider series and is the sequel to the 1996 video game Tomb Raider. Developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive, the game was originally released for PlayStation, Windows 95 in November 1997, Macintosh in 1998 and on the...
. The game was originally released for PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
and PlayStation in November 1998 and for the PlayStation Network in 2009 in America, with a release for the European PlayStation Network following in March of 2011. The story follows Lara Croft
Lara Croft
Lara Croft is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Square Enix video game series Tomb Raider. She is presented as a beautiful, intelligent, and athletic British archaeologist-adventurer who ventures into ancient, hazardous tombs and ruins around the world...
as she embarks upon a quest to recover four pieces of a meteorite
Meteorite
A meteorite is a natural object originating in outer space that survives impact with the Earth's surface. Meteorites can be big or small. Most meteorites derive from small astronomical objects called meteoroids, but they are also sometimes produced by impacts of asteroids...
that are scattered across the world. The game sold 6 million copies worldwide, and Lara Croft's popularity continued to explode.
Story
Millions of years ago, a meteoroid strikes Antarctica. In the present day, a corporation called RX Tech excavates the site, and finds that the meteoroid rock has strange properties.India
When the game begins, Lara Croft is searching for the artifact in the ruins of an ancient Indian temple once inhabited by the Infada tribe. She encounters a researcher working for RX Tech who appears to be insane. After parting ways, the researcher beats Lara to the Infada Stone, gaining supernatural powers. After killing him and taking the artifact, Lara is approached by Dr. Willard, the head of RX Tech, who explains the origins of the Infada Stone.
Thousands of years ago, Polynesians came across the meteoroid crater and found that it had incredible power. Using rock from the meteoroid, they crafted four stones, one of which is the Infada Stone. They then fled Antarctica, but, in the nineteenth century, a group of sailors travelling with Charles Darwin came to Antarctica and discovered the artifacts. The four stones were then distributed across the globe. Dr. Willard has been able to track the artifacts by using the diary of one of the sailors. Lara agrees to help find the other three stones.
South Pacific Islands
On an island in the South Pacific, Lara fights cannibal tribesman, Velociraptors, a T-Rex and encounters a wounded soldier who tells her of a deity who lives in the hills of the island. Lara pursues the deity and learns from one of the tribesman that one of Darwin's sailors brought one of the artifacts to the island from Antarctica. Lara then infiltrates the deity's temple and faces the god himself, who has immense power granted by the meteor artifact called the Ora Dagger.
London
In London, Lara searches for the Eye of Isis, now in the possession of Sophia Leigh, the head of a cosmetics corporation. Lara learns that the corporation has performed sick experiments on humans in order to achieve immortality and eternal youth for Sophia's personal gain. The deformed subjects of Sophia's failed experiments, presumed dead by the corporation, they were dumped in the sewers, and assist Lara in exchange for a bottle of embalming fluid from the Natural History Museum. Sophia sends a number of assassins, under her employment, to kill Lara. However, they are all unsuccessful and Lara climbs through a ventilation shaft to Sophia's office where she is sitting with the artifact on her desk. Sophia mockingly offers Lara a job, telling her that with her lifestyle she would be the perfect face for her products, then Lara tells Sophia that her human subjects she experimented on are still alive. Lara demands she hand over the artifact which she refuses to do. Sophia takes the artifact and runs out the balcony to the other building and Lara who works her way up Sophia's building and across to the one she is on. Sophia attempts to kill her using the powers of the artifact, but Lara defeats her by shooting a fuse box connected to an electrical bridge that Sophia was standing on after the battle causing her to get electrocuted to death.
Nevada
In Nevada, Lara infiltrates Area 51, where she finds Element 115, one of the four artifacts, in an alien spacecraft guarded by the government.
Antarctica
At last, in possession of the Ora Dagger, the Eye of Isis, Element 115 and the Infada Stone, Lara goes to Antarctica to meet Dr. Willard. She discovers that the power from the meteor is causing genetic mutations, turning many RX Tech employees into vicious monsters. When she meets Dr. Willard and voices her opposition to his operation, Willard betrays her, stealing the artifacts and disappearing into the excavation site. After fighting more mutants and navigating the treacherous ruins of the ancient city built atop the meteor crater, Lara faces Willard, who has now used the power of the four artifacts to activate the even greater power of the meteor: to greatly speed up the evolutionary processes of the human body and thereby creating a terrifying and all-powerful Spider-like creature. Lara deactivates the meteor by taking the artifacts out of their positions that they were put in, kills the mutated Spider Willard and escapes by helicopter.
Features
The gameplayGameplay
Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and player's connection with it...
of Tomb Raider III picks up where Tomb Raider II left off (for a detailed examination of gameplay see the main article on Tomb Raider
Tomb Raider
Tomb Raider is an action-adventure video game developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive. It was originally released in 1996 for the Sega Saturn, with MS-DOS and PlayStation versions following shortly thereafter...
). Once again, Lara's range of abilities has been expanded, now including such moves as the crouch stance, crawling, a sprinting move and the ability to "monkey swing" on overhead bars and vines. Sprinting allows Lara to gain a burst of greater speed while running. When activated by the player, a bar appears in the corner of the screen to indicate the amount of stamina Lara has left. Only sprinting depletes the bar (other activities such as climbing and jumping have no effect on it) and it quickly increases again by itself when Lara stops sprinting. When the bar is empty, she is forced back into her standard running speed. At any time during a sprint she can perform a forward roll, such as to dive under closing trapdoors.
A portion of the game still takes place underwater
Underwater
Underwater is a term describing the realm below the surface of water where the water exists in a natural feature such as an ocean, sea, lake, pond, or river. Three quarters of the planet Earth is covered by water...
, but this time new perils have been added. In some levels, such as Madubu Gorge, the current of the stream will pull Lara in a fixed direction, preventing the player from being able to swim back or grab onto a ledge. She will eventually drown or be sucked into deadly rapids. These waters can only be navigated using a kayak
Kayak
A kayak is a small, relatively narrow, human-powered boat primarily designed to be manually propelled by means of a double blade paddle.The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each seating one paddler...
. Additionally, some tropical pools are inhabited by a school of piranha
Piranha
A piranha or piraña is a member of family Characidae in order Characiformes, an omnivorous freshwater fish that inhabits South American rivers. In Venezuela, they are called caribes...
s. Unlike alligator
Alligator
An alligator is a crocodilian in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. There are two extant alligator species: the American alligator and the Chinese alligator ....
s, these fish are invincible, and as soon as Lara enters their waters they will flock toward her, and kill her within seconds. Furthermore, the water in the Antarctic levels is too cold for Lara to swim through for more than a few seconds. She can only remain in the water for a short amount of time, and submerged under it for an even shorter amount of time. When she dives
Diving
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...
into it, a new status bar will appear in the corner of the screen to indicate her body temperature. If that bar reaches zero, Lara's life will rapidly decrease. Unlike the oxygen bar, this temperature bar will decrease if Lara is swimming on the surface as well as under it; so the only way she can cross these waters over a large distance without freezing to death is by using the motorboat
Motorboat
A motorboat is a boat which is powered by an engine. Some motorboats are fitted with inboard engines, others have an outboard motor installed on the rear, containing the internal combustion engine, the gearbox and the propeller in one portable unit.An inboard/outboard contains a hybrid of a...
. The temperature bar increases again by itself when Lara is out of the water, but it takes longer than the regular oxygen bar.
Quicksand
Quicksand
Quicksand is a colloid hydrogel consisting of fine granular matter , clay, and water.Water circulation underground can focus in an area with the optimal mixture of fine sands and other materials such as clay. The water moves up and then down slowly in a convection-like manner throughout a column...
is a new surface introduced in this game. It is distinguishable from regular soil by its slow undulating movement. Should the player fall into it, Lara may wade very slowly but will sink deeper and deeper until she is completely submerged. Like being under water when submerged, the oxygen bar will deplete, and if this reaches zero the health bar will decrease and Lara will eventually drown
Drowning
Drowning is death from asphyxia due to suffocation caused by water entering the lungs and preventing the absorption of oxygen leading to cerebral hypoxia....
. The player may climb out of quicksand if next to solid ground. In the Crash Site level of the South Pacific Islands section of the game, the swamp
Swamp
A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
contains hidden stepping stones that Lara can use to cross safely.
As always, the pistols are Lara's most basic form of defence. The shotgun
Shotgun
A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...
, the harpoon gun
Harpoon
A harpoon is a long spear-like instrument used in fishing to catch fish or large marine mammals such as whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the target animal, allowing the fishermen to use a rope or chain attached to the butt of the projectile to catch the animal...
, the uzis and the grenade launcher
Grenade launcher
A grenade launcher or grenade discharger is a weapon that launches a grenade with more accuracy, higher velocity, and to greater distances than a soldier could throw it by hand....
have remained from Tomb Raider II (though the grenade launcher's grenades will now bounce around unless directly hitting a living target, unlike the instant explode-upon-impact style of Tomb Raider II). The small calibre semi-automatic pistols have been replaced by the powerful Desert Eagle
Desert Eagle
The Desert Eagle is a large-framed gas-operated semi-automatic pistol designed by Magnum Research in the U.S. and by IMI in Israel; the pistol is manufactured primarily in Israel by IMI...
. The M16 rifle
M16 rifle
The M16 is the United States military designation for the AR-15 rifle adapted for both semi-automatic and full-automatic fire. Colt purchased the rights to the AR-15 from ArmaLite, and currently uses that designation only for semi-automatic versions of the rifle. The M16 fires the 5.56×45mm NATO...
has been changed to a similar MP5
Heckler & Koch MP5
The Heckler & Koch MP5 is a 9mm submachine gun of German design, developed in the 1960s by a team of engineers from the German small arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch GmbH of Oberndorf am Neckar....
sub-machine-gun. Also new to Lara's arsenal is the rocket launcher
Shoulder-launched missile weapon
A shoulder-fired missile, shoulder-launched missile or man-portable missile is a projectile fired at a target, small enough to be carried by a single person, and fired while held on one's shoulder...
.
On the PlayStation version, saving the game is restricted to the amount of Save Crystals the player has stored in Lara's inventory, something of a combination of the two different save systems featured in the two previous Tomb Raider games. These floating blue crystals can be found throughout each level, but unlike the original Tomb Raider, they do not require the player to save the game at the pick-up spot. The PC version allows the player to save at any point. The developers planned on having the Save Crystal system for the PC version, but they simply weren't able to finish this feature before the end of the development cycle, so the green crystals act instead as small medipacks in that version.
The objective of the game remains unchanged, although Tomb Raider III arguably has fewer tomb
Tomb
A tomb is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes...
s to explore than the previous games. Instead, most levels take place in a more modern environment, and Tomb Raider introduces an element of stealth into the game play. For example in the Nevada adventure, it is sometimes preferable to sneak past guards instead of fighting them. Being spotted may set off alarms and close doors that are otherwise needed to complete the stage and therefore the player will have no other option than to take a more difficult route. Unlike its predecessors, after completing the India levels, the player can then choose which of the next three areas of the world they want to explore in any order they wish.
Judith Gibbins reprises her role as Lara Croft from Tomb Raider II.
Characters
Tomb Raider III sees fictional archaeologist, Lara CroftLara Croft
Lara Croft is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Square Enix video game series Tomb Raider. She is presented as a beautiful, intelligent, and athletic British archaeologist-adventurer who ventures into ancient, hazardous tombs and ruins around the world...
, return as the game's main protagonist and only playable character. The game features several antagonists, notably Dr. Willard, who first hires Lara to retrieve four artefacts
Artifact (archaeology)
An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...
but reveals at the end of the game his more sinister motives. The South Pacific levels features Puna, an islander posing as a deity with the power of an artefact. In London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Lara is confronted by Sophia Leigh, a ruthless business woman who owns a cosmetic company which is experimenting on its employees in order to achieve the secret of immortality. She is in possession of one of the meteorite pieces. The game also marks the second appearance of Lara's butler, Winston, who appears in the Croft Manor training level as he did in Tomb Raider II.
Levels
Tomb Raider III was the first game to feature a non-linear level structure. While the India level must be played first, once it is completed three additional levels - Oceania, London, and Nevada - are available to play in any order that the player chooses. However, once a level is entered, the player must remain in that level until it is completed. In addition, completed areas cannot be revisited. Antarctica, the game's final area, is made available only after all other levels have been finished.Lara's mansion in England, UK
Tomb Raider III features the largest tutorial level yet seen in a Tomb Raider game. The assault course from Tomb Raider II is drastically expanded to include exercise of Lara's new moves, target practice and a racetrack to hone the player's handling of the quad bike. Inside the mansion, a secret room can be discovered filled with artefacts and memorabilia from Lara's past adventures. It was the last game of the series to feature Lara's mansion until Tomb Raider Legend.India
The game begins in the jungles of India, where Lara is on the trail of a mystical relic called the Infada stone. She travels by foot and on a quad bike, as the game takes her through the ruins of ancient HinduHinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
temples and along the shores of the River Ganges. Whilst exploring these parts, she comes across a researcher hired by Willard, called Tony, who eventually goes mad with Jungle Fever and steals the Infada Stone from its shrine, driving it into his chest. This level has four parts: Jungle, Temple Ruins, The River Ganges, and The Caves of Kaliya.
London, England
Lara crosses the rooftops of London on a dark and rainy night, in search of another mysterious artefact called the Eye of IsisIsis
Isis or in original more likely Aset is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. She was worshipped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the matron of nature and magic...
, which is currently in the possession of cosmetics
Cosmetics
Cosmetics are substances used to enhance the appearance or odor of the human body. Cosmetics include skin-care creams, lotions, powders, perfumes, lipsticks, fingernail and toe nail polish, eye and facial makeup, towelettes, permanent waves, colored contact lenses, hair colors, hair sprays and...
tycoon Sophia Leigh. After a brief detour through St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
, she goes down into the abandoned Aldwych tube station
Aldwych tube station
Aldwych is a closed London Underground station in the City of Westminster, originally opened as Strand in 1907. It was the terminus and only station on the short Piccadilly line branch from Holborn that was a relic of the merger of two railway schemes. The disused station building is close to the...
, where she is introduced to a secret gang of masked mutated men who call themselves "The Damned". These poor souls were experimented on by Leigh with the Eye of Isis in order for her to achieve the secret of eternal youth, only to leave them disfigured in the process. Later, she visits the Egyptology
Egyptology
Egyptology is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious practices in the AD 4th century. A practitioner of the discipline is an “Egyptologist”...
department of the Museum of Natural History
Museum of Natural History
A museum of natural history is a museum with exhibits about natural history, including such topics as animals, plants, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, and climatology. Some museums feature natural-history collections in addition to other collections, such as ones related to history, art and...
. Lara then infiltrates Sophia Leigh's cosmetics factory, and makes her way through a system of air ducts to reach Sophia Leigh's office for the final confrontation. Lara also visits "All Hallows", a level taking place in All Hallows-by-the-Tower
All Hallows-by-the-Tower
All Hallows-by-the-Tower, also previously dedicated to St Mary the Virgin, is an ancient Anglican church located in Byward Street in the City of London, overlooking the Tower of London.-History:...
, but only if the player has found all of the secrets in the entire game. The London level has four areas: Thames Wharf, Aldwych, Lud's Gate, and The City.
Nevada, USA
The United States GovernmentFederal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
has obtained one of the meteorite stones and named it Element 115. It has been stored deep within Area 51
Area 51
Area 51 is a military base, and a remote detachment of Edwards Air Force Base. It is located in the southern portion of Nevada in the western United States, 83 miles north-northwest of downtown Las Vegas. Situated at its center, on the southern shore of Groom Lake, is a large military airfield...
, the secret military base in the Nevada desert, where all sorts of experiments are rumoured to taken place. After a haphazard attempt to break into the base, Lara is locked up in a cell and stripped of her weapons (for this reason it is often recommended that this be the first of the four selectable levels that the player takes on, as important arms obtained in other levels, like the rocket launcher
Rocket launcher
A rocket launcher is any device that launches a rocket-propelled projectile, although the term is often used in reference to mechanisms that are portable and capable of being operated by an individual....
, can be lost forever if they are earned prior to this point in the game). From here on the game takes her through prisons, laboratories, and military testing hangars. The levels in Nevada have an emphasis on using stealth rather than action.
Unlike the other levels, Nevada has three sections: Nevada Desert, High Security Compound, and Area 51.
South Pacific islands, Oceania
Among the beautiful, tropical scenery of the South Pacific, Lara fights a tribe of cannibalisticCannibalism
Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
warriors and reanimated dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
s like Velociraptor
Velociraptor
Velociraptor is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that existed approximately 75 to 71 million years ago during the later part of the Cretaceous Period. Two species are currently recognized, although others have been assigned in the past. The type species is V. mongoliensis; fossils...
's and a T-Rex, finds a crashed plane, and kayak
Kayak
A kayak is a small, relatively narrow, human-powered boat primarily designed to be manually propelled by means of a double blade paddle.The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each seating one paddler...
s through the dangerous currents of Madubu Gorge. Her trail leads her into the Temple of Puna, where the "Ora Dagger" meteorite stone is said to be located. In this episode, she also learns of the Polynesians' journey to Antarctica and why they fled the area so suddenly: Prolonged exposure from the meteorite caused one of the natives to be born without a face, which led the shocked tribe to flee from what they considered to be a cursed land. Later, she manages to defeat Puna
Puna (mythology)
In the Polynesian mythology of the Tuamotu archipelago in the South Pacific, Puna is the king of Hiti-marama or of Vavau, depending on the story....
in his temple and acquires the stone. This level has four areas: The Coastal Village, Crash Site, Madabu Gorge, and The Temple of Puna.
Antarctica
After Lara's helicopter crashes into the icy waters of Antarctica, she makes her way through the abandoned research stations of RX Tech. After meeting up with Dr. Willard to hand over the stones, she descends down into mines and fights her way through stronger mutants and deadly mine shafts before finally entering the recently excavated lost city of Tinnos ; the ancient city built by the Polynesians on the meteorite crater. After traversing the ruins of the city Lara penetrates the Meteorite Cavern where Dr. Willard performs a ceremony to transform himself into a large spider-like creature until the artefacts are removed. This zone has 4 levels: Antarctica, RX Tech Mines, The City of Tinnos, and The Meteorite Cavern.Tomb Raider III: The Lost Artefact
Tomb Raider III: The Lost Artefact is a mini-sequel to Tomb Raider III, sometimes unofficially called Tomb Raider III Gold. It was released exclusively for PC in 2000. Unlike the expansion packs for the first two games, this was initially sold as a standalone product rather than as part of a re-release, and was not available for free download for existing owners.In The Lost Artefact, Lara learns of the existence of a fifth meteorite piece called the Hand of Rathmore. She begins her investigations at the castle of Dr. Willard in the Scottish highlands
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
, progresses to exploring the Channel Tunnel
Channel Tunnel
The Channel Tunnel is a undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent in the United Kingdom with Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. At its lowest point, it is deep...
in Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
and then ultimately ends up in the catacombs of Paris
Catacombs of Paris
The Catacombs of Paris or Catacombes de Paris are an underground ossuary in Paris, France. Located south of the former city gate , the ossuary holds the remains of about 6 million people and fills a renovated section of caverns and tunnels that are the remains of Paris' stone mines...
, where she is again confronted by Sophia Leigh.
Reception
Reviews
Critical reception for the game was a generally lower than the previous two Tomb Raider games, with the PC version receiving an average score of 72.89% (indicating "mixed") and the PlayStation version received an average score of 78.01% (generally favourable) on Game RankingsGame Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
. The game scored over 10 points lower than Tomb Raider II
Tomb Raider II
Tomb Raider II is an action-adventure video game in the Tomb Raider series and is the sequel to the 1996 video game Tomb Raider. Developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive, the game was originally released for PlayStation, Windows 95 in November 1997, Macintosh in 1998 and on the...
, and nearly 20 lower than the first game. Despite this, it received some excellent reviews, Absolute PlayStation was highly positive, saying "Unable to disappoint her fans, Lara returns for a third instalment that easily surpasses her prior adventures. The action adventure will once again send Lara spanning the globe from the deserts of Nevada to the islands of the South Pacific." They awarded the game a 98/100 rating and added "In gameplay terms Lara's latest adventures are by far the best... but don't expect an easy ride. Core have reached a fine balance between frustration and challenge that should suit most punters." TotalGames.net also praised the game, commenting "Tomb Raider III may essentially be more of the same apart from a few new bells and whistles, but with gameplay as engrossing as this, perhaps that's no bad thing. It still walks all over young pretenders like ODT
O.D.T.
O.D.T. - Escape...Or Die Trying, is a video game created by Psygnosis for the PlayStation and Microsoft Windows. It is a 3D action-adventure, with some role-playing elements. Playing as 1 of 4 characters, your goal is to explore the "Forbidden Zone" to look for gas canisters to re-inflate your...
."
Games Domain were more lukewarm however, offering the game a rating of 70/100. Whilst praising certain aspects of the gameplay, they felt "Although the gameplay is as involving as it ever was, the lack of innovation means that you feel you're playing an expansion pack for "Tomb Raider 2" than a completely new version." IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
were mostly positive, awarding the game an 8/10, however, just like many critics, they felt the game had failed to change the same tried and tested formula. They said "The sad thing is that Tomb Raider III solves none of its original dilemmas, and as it stands now, the exploration-adventure genre -- one that was revolutionized by Tomb Raider -- is in the exact spot it was two years ago."
GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
echoed something similar, remarking "Tomb Raider III is much like the first two games in the line, which is to say that there's nothing new thematically, although there are a few improvements to this edition." After describing some of the improvements, GameSpot rounded off a mainly positive review by saying "At the end of the day though (and putting all the hype, creepy marketing campaigns, and strange celebrity worship surrounding the series aside), there's no denying that Tomb Raider III is a solid game, worth the time of anyone who enjoys a good puzzle/adventure title. Those who lost interest in the series with Tomb Raider II may want to give it another look with the third."