Comic Con 2015 - Rise of the Tomb Raider

The Rise of the Tomb Raider is the next entry into the Tomb Raider series. Present from Crystal Dynamtics was Camilla Luddington, Actress and Voice of Lara Croft, Earl Baylon, Voice and actor for Jonah, Rhiana Pratchett, Writer, Megan Marie, Community Manager and Brian Horton, the Game Director.

The panel started with a quick video on the development of the game. It was the same one that we got to see during E3. It was focused on the new elements of the game. The power of the new console allows for a much more immersive experience. The elements and fighting take more a toll on Lara Croft. You can see her accumulate snow, dirt and blood from fights. They also promised Tombs this time for Lara to really explore with proper and challenging puzzles. There is going to be a much greater variety than what we saw in Tomb Raider.

After that, they talked some with the performs. Both Camilla and Earl had voiced their characters in the first game. The biggest difference between the two games was that they had a table reading. This helped them in the cases that the other was not in the studio to play opposite them. The directors were also very thorough to give direction on the head space of the characters. This meant that the performers knew where the characters were in the story line.

Meagan took plenty of time to talk about the Tomb Raider community. She talked about the strong following in the community. She talked about how Lara had been a very good influence for people. She also talked about how her branch worked with the existing fan community. They understood that the best things about the series already existed. They gave a lot of support over this community. Crystal Dynamics gave badges and helped with coding to improve these fan websites. Meagan talked about how they would occasionally invite these people out to events like San Diego Comic Con 2015, E3 and a number of other events like them. They recorded their reactions to “Rise of the Tomb Raider” and it was clear that the game was delivering unto the expectations.

Lara Croft this time is working through some issues. Mostly what she has done since the first game. She is still figuring out her place in the world and seeing what she can really do. More than anything, she seems to be avoiding thinking about the full implications of what she had done on the island during the first game. She has begun to realize that her strengths lie in what she did there, explore and go places only the brave few choose to.

One of the subjects broached in this panel was the legacy of the Tomb Raider series. Rhianna told us that Lara Croft's legacy from the earlier series has had influences on what is happening. She has been writing Lara Croft for several years solid now. Between the first game and the second, she had been working with Dark Horse Comics to fill in the gap between the games. This also made Lara Croft a fairly well known character to her. She has a lot of confidence and very brash.

While working on the story of the game, Rhianna talked about just how much of a collaborative process it actually is. Everyone gets a little input and they all influence things about the characters. The table reading undoubtedly helped as well to clear some things up. She does like Lara but they are not afraid of to put her in more challenging places. A good example of making her realistic is in the death scenes.

The performers were asked about how much freedom they were given to improvise. Both Camilla and Earl told us that they had a good bit of it. They would try different things throughout the takes. If they thought a line felt wrong for their character, they would challenge it with the writers. There would be something of a back and forth about how it worked. Sometimes the reasoning was in favor of the original script but they did make a number of good points about them.

This is a great looking game. There is a lot to it and we have a much yet to learn. Lara is going to been globe trotting and exploring numerous tombs. This game is going to be a big game and offer a lot more than what we saw in the first game. We will continue to see the Tomb Raider grow.