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Tomb Raider

GAME · 2013 · USA

Tomb Raider

Developer
Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal, Nixxes Software
Publisher
Square Enix, Eidos Interactive
Platforms
Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, macOS

22 archived facts 6 topics 2 sources Last reviewed Nov 2026

  • Tomb Raider — production image

22 Interesting Facts About Tomb Raider

Interesting Facts (4)

  1. #001

    You have the capability of returning to the island after the game is 'won' to try and get a 100% rating. However, once you return, there is no way to get off the island later. Even achieving a 100% score strands you on the island, and after all the minions of Father Mathias are killed, you are totally alone.

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  2. #002

    For the first time in the Tomb Raider franchise, Camilla Luddington provided both the voice and motion capture for Lara Croft.

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  3. #003
    Contains a major spoiler — show

    It is possible to finish the game without finding all the hidden treasures. After the end credits, the player is given the option to return to the island and find the rest, and take care of the remaining bad guys until achieving the 100% rating. However, after this, there is no way to get off the island!

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  4. #004

    It is possible to finish the game without finding all the hidden treasures. After the game ends, the player is given the option to return to the island, find the rest and deal with the remaining enemies until reaching 100%. But after that there is no way to leave the island!

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Production Story (5)

  1. #005

    "Batman Begins" and "Arrow" are considered possible strong influences behind the reboot.

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  2. #006

    Tomb Raider (2013) is the second time the series has been rebooted. Tomb Raider: Legends (2006) was the first attempt to reboot the series.

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  3. #007

    Rhianna Pratchett, the writer for Tomb Raider 2013 and Rise of the Tomb Raider, has stated that she would enjoy writing a game with Lara having a romantic relationship with Sam. She also stated that no romantic options of any kind were discussed for Lara during the development of the games. Moreover, the writers of the canon comic "Tomb Raider: Inferno" wanted to have Lara realise she has romantic feelings for Sam, with them sharing a kiss in Lara's subconscious, but were told to change it to a Korrasami-like hug in the end.

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  4. #008

    The feature film's reboot Tomb Raider (2018) is loosely based on the plot of this video game.

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  5. #009

    In January 2012, Crystal Dynamics global brand director Karl Stewart said there were no plans to release Tomb Raider on Nintendo's Wii U console. He explained that a simple port would not be right, since the game was built to be platform-specific before the Wii U was announced, and that building for the platform would have required a very different approach with unique functionality.

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Behind the Scenes (7)

  1. #010

    Lara's face was redesigned in the re-release, called the "Definitive Edition" (released on Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4), to resemble her voice and motion capture actress Camilla Luddington.

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  2. #011

    In the Making of Turning Point, sound designer Alex Wilmer said that the unannounced composer of Tomb Raider remotely directed an in-house concert violinist to perform a "very intimate" piece.

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  3. #012

    Jack Grillo described the approach for Tomb Raider as creating an overture in which an outline of the narrative structure was used to have the composer build themes and textures spanning the whole game.

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  4. #013

    Alex Wilmer stressed that the unannounced composer's music for Tomb Raider was scored to adapt dynamically in-game, reacting instantly to what happens.

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  5. #014

    For Tomb Raider, Jason Graves aimed to create a signature sound that would impress players and stand out, using objects such as mallets to produce odd musical sounds.

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  6. #015

    With neighbouring architect Matt McConnell, Jason Graves built a special percussion instrument for Tomb Raider that produced a variety of odd signature sounds to mix into the orchestral score.

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  7. #016

    Although Tomb Raider was set in Japan, Jason Graves avoided Japanese instrumentation and instead chose sounds and themes reflecting the island's scavengers, who came from multiple regions of the globe.

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Characters & Cast (1)

  1. #017

    Camilla Luddington revealed in an interview that she was hired to make Lara Croft more of a realistic woman and not a sex symbol for teen boys' fantasies. But, ironically, at the same time, she was appearing in the fifth season of Californication (2007) where she fulfilled the fantasies of men by spending considerable time in pools, hot tubs, and showers stark naked.

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Easter Eggs & References (4)

  1. #018

    When Dr. Whitman comments that his and Lara's discovery is like discovering Atlantis, Lara corrects him that Atlantis is a myth. In the original Tomb Raider game, the plot is about Lara Croft finding artifact pieces that are connected with Atlantis, which turns out to be a real place.

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  2. #019

    The game's plot is similar to the backstory of Oliver Queen, the main protagonist of the hit DC Comics television series Arrow (2012). In the Arrow pilot episode from 2012, Queen (played by Stephen Amell) is marooned on a remote island in the Pacific, where he learns to fight and survive. When he returns home to Starling City, he uses his training and archery skills as the masked vigilante known as Arrow. In the game, Lara transforms from a frightened young woman into a warrior after she herself is marooned on an island and learns to survive. When the show originally aired on Sky One in the UK, it was sponsored by the game.

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  3. #020
    Contains a major spoiler — show

    Collecting all of the GPS caches in the game unlocks a secret document detailing an Agent of Trinity being sent to Yamatai in order to find the power there, teasing their eventual reveal as main antagonists in Rise Of The Tomb Raider and Shadow Of The Tomb Raider.

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  4. #021
    Contains a major spoiler — show

    The only time Lara uses her iconic dual pistols is during a pseudo quick time event against the antagonist at the very end of the game.

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Deeper Meaning (1)

  1. #022

    Like Batman Begins (2005), this video game, a reboot of Tomb Raider (1996), is a dark reinvention of the character. Like Christian Bale's incarnation of Batman/Bruce Wayne, the game is about Lara Croft: as she learns to fight and survive while marooned on an island, she becomes the warrior, adventuress and architect she is destined to be — the Tomb Raider.

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Sources & editorial notes

Sources for the entries on this page

  1. Wikipedia Tomb Raider (2013 video game) — WikipediaEncyclopedia · accessed 17 Sep 2026

Information from external sources is independently selected, consolidated and edited by Arka Evren. Sources are listed for verification and further reading. Encyclopedia text is used under its licence (CC BY-SA). How we work