Rise of the Tomb Raider: A Must-Play for Fans of the Series

Rise of the Tomb Raider is an action-adventure video game developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Square Enix. It is the sequel to the 2013 video game Tomb Raider, a reboot of the Tomb Raider franchise.

It was released for Xbox One and Xbox 360 in November 2015 and for Microsoft Windows in January 2016. A special edition of the game, titled Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20-Year Celebration, was released worldwide for PlayStation 4 in October 2016.

One year after the events of Tomb Raider, young archaeologist Lara Croft is struggling to explain her experience of the supernatural on Yamatai and appears to be suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder due to her having to kill to survive on the island. Looking for answers, she turns to her late father’s research into the lost city of Kitezh and the promise of immortality.

Her father’s partner Ana attempts to warn her off as his obsession with Kitezh drove him to ruin and suicide. Lara ignores her and organizes an expedition to Syria, hoping to uncover the tomb of the Prophet of Constantinople, a key figure in the legend of Kitezh. Although successful, the tomb is empty, and Lara is interrupted by Trinity—an ancient order of knights that now exists as a paramilitary organization investigating the supernatural—and their leader Konstantin.

As she flees, Lara discovers a symbol etched into the tomb that she links to a book on Russian religious history in her father’s study. A Trinity assassin steals the book, prompting Lara and her friend Jonah to give chase in Siberia. When the two are separated after an avalanche, Lara is forced to go on alone.

Lara discovers that Trinity has taken over a Soviet-era mining installation as a base of operations in the search for Kitezh. She is caught attempting to retrieve the book and placed in a prison cell with Ana. Konstantin forces Lara to reveal what she knows by slowly strangling Ana in front of her, but Lara is unable to tell anything of use.

Ana then reveals herself to be Konstantin’s sister and Trinity’s spy who has been manipulating her father. The two interrogate her as to the whereabouts of the “Divine Source”, an artifact believed to grant immortality. Lara escapes, and in the process aids Jacob, a mysterious stranger who leads her through the mines into the valley beyond.

Jacob is revealed to be the leader of the Remnant, the descendants of the followers of the Prophet of Constantinople. As Lara aids in their resistance against the Trinity, she begins to learn more about the deathless Prophet and the lost city of Kitezh. After being branded a heretic and pursued by the Order of Trinity, the Prophet and his followers resettled in Russia, where they built Kitezh.

However, spurred on by agents of the Trinity, the Mongol Hordes led by Genghis Khan attacked the city, and the Prophet was forced to sacrifice it to protect the Divine Source. The Remnant escaped and settled in the area, vowing to defend the city’s secret. Jacob warns her that although the Divine Source exists, it is not what she expects it to be.

Konstantin’s forces repeatedly attack the Remnant, believing them to be heretics and justifying the slaughter as God’s will. However, Lara discovers that Ana is dying and has been manipulating her brother to find the Divine Source and save her.

Jacob and Lara decide that the only way to protect the Divine Source is to retrieve it before the Trinity can. In order to do this, Lara recovers the Atlas, an artifact that serves as a map of Kitezh. She is reunited with Jonah, who has been spying on Trinity forces, and they locate the path into the city.

However, Konstantin is aware of Jonah’s presence and lets him go free in the hopes that he will lead them to Lara. Trinity then attacks and takes Jonah and the Atlas. Lara goes after Trinity and tries to rescue Jonah, but before she can free him, Konstantin stabs him and escapes. Lara takes Jonah to Jacob, who miraculously heals Jonah. Jacob then admits that he is the deathless Prophet himself.

With Trinity advancing on the glacier that rests over Kitezh, Lara is forced to enter the city through the Path of the Deathless where she encounters the Deathless Ones, the immortal guardians of the city.

Following the journals of a Trinity agent embedded in the Mongolian forces, Lara realizes the truth of Jacob’s warning: the Divine Source grants immortality to the person who beholds it at the cost of their sense of self, and the Deathless Ones are the hollow immortal inhabitants of Kitezh who no longer know anything else but defending the city.

As Lara enters Kitezh, the Remnant rallies to attack the Deathless Ones, giving her time to reach the heart of the city. She encounters Konstantin blocking the path and mortally wounds him; he dies in disbelief that he was not carrying out God’s will, but Ana’s. Before his death, he claims that Lara’s father did not commit suicide, but was in fact murdered by Trinity.

Lara is too late to stop Ana from retrieving the Divine Source, a large glowing crystal, but wrests it from her before Ana can use it. Lara then smashes the Divine Source, killing the Deathless Ones and taking away Jacob’s immortality. However, he is happy that his death has finally come and thanks Lara for bringing his end as he peacefully disintegrates.

In the aftermath, Jacob’s daughter Sofia takes over the Remnant. Jonah recovers from his wounds and joins Lara in planning their next expedition, with Lara vowing to investigate more of the world’s mysteries as well as thwart Trinity’s plans.

A post-credits scene shows Lara and Ana leaving Russia, two weeks before Lara returns to the manor. Lara confronts Ana about whether Ana killed her father. Ana denies it, despite admitting that Trinity gave her the order. Before she can reveal anything else, a sniper shot hits Ana, killing her instantly. The sniper asks his unseen superior about killing Lara but is told to stand down for the time being.