Key Highlights:
- Crystal Dynamics debuted the Tomb Raider Survivor trailer at the 2012 Spike Video Game Awards.
- The trailer focuses on Lara Croft’s transformation from an inexperienced survivor into a more capable adventurer.
- Tomb Raider was scheduled for release on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on 5 March 2013.
Crystal Dynamics has revealed the Tomb Raider Survivor trailer, offering another look at Lara Croft’s origin story ahead of the reboot’s March 2013 release.
First shown during the 2012 Spike Video Game Awards, the trailer focuses on Lara’s struggle to survive after becoming shipwrecked on the island of Yamatai. She begins the story inexperienced and isolated before being forced to hunt, fight and rescue her captured friends.
The footage shows Lara climbing across the island, using her bow against enemies and navigating dangerous environments as her situation becomes increasingly hostile. These scenes reinforce one of the reboot’s central ideas: Lara is not yet the experienced adventurer established in earlier Tomb Raider games.
Instead, Crystal Dynamics built the story around her transformation. The Survivor trailer specifically presents Lara’s progression from fighting simply to stay alive towards becoming capable of protecting the other members of the shipwrecked Endurance crew.
Crystal Dynamics teased another Tomb Raider announcement less than a week later, prompting speculation about an additional feature planned for the reboot.
Developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Square Enix, Tomb Raider was scheduled for release on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on 5 March 2013.
That release date was ultimately met, with the reboot launching across all three platforms as planned. The finished game retained the survival-focused character arc highlighted in the December trailer, establishing the younger Lara Croft that would later continue her story in Rise of the Tomb Raider and Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
