Is one of the most famous videogame franchises of all time going to get a full reboot? That's the rumor that started floating around yesterday. Documents and initial concept art leaked over to a gaming site called fourplayercoop yesterday which suggested that Square Enix Europe's Tomb Raider franchise could well be the recipient of a fresh start.

Shacknews posted the leaked information before it was removed from fourplayercoop at the request of Crystal Dynamics' lawyers. The concept work included the notion that survival horror elements might be added to the game, which would star a young and inexperienced Lara Croft.
The Next Tomb Raider Video Game Concept for PS3, Xbox 360 and PCs:

When a sudden storm destroys her research vessel, a young and inexperienced Lara Croft finds herself stranded on a mysterious and remote island hidden off the shores of Japan. Despite several signs of various inhabitants the island is oddly deserted, and an uneasy feeling settles in as strange sounds emerge from the shadows. With only her determination, inner strength and resourcefulness to help her, Lara must overcome the challenges of a harsh and unforgiving journey that will take her across a vast island wilderness and deep into the claustrophobic and menacing underground tombs from the island's past. As she struggles to prevail through brutal combat encounters and treacherous exploration, Lara will be pushed to her limited and forced to adapt to her situation in order to survive and escape from the lethal predators that stalk her every move.

  • Hunt or be Hunted: Evade, outsmart, track and kill the mysterious enemies that hunt you as prey.
  • Survival Action: Brutally attack and defend yourself as you fight to survive the visceral one-on-one melee combat.
  • Strategic Weapons: Gain an advantage in combat by finding an array of different melee and ranged weapons including a variety of guns and the hunter's ultimate weapon, the bow.
  • Creative Survival: React and adapt to the island by using only that which you can salvage from the environment like climbing axes, rope, and machetes that can be used to unlock new traversal and combat gameplay options.
  • Free Movement: Scramble up a vertical cliff wall, sprint and leap across a huge chasm, steer mid-air to land a misdirected jump. There is no one right way to traverse, survive, and explore the harsh environment of the island.
  • One Cohesive World: the diverse multi-region island is an open playground alive with creatures, weather, and natural events.
  • Origin Story: This new Tomb Raider concept reboots the franchise by exploring the origin of Lara Croft's transformation into a hardened adventurer as you unravel the story behind the island's mysterious past.
    • Other elements of the document suggest that players might gain progressive access to new items and abilities in a similar fashion to that of Nintendo's Metroid games. There's no way of knowing if this new concept work will turn out to become a fully fledged game at this time.

    Resident Tomb Raider-vania?



    Bryn says: If this stuff is accurate then I might actually be interested in playing a game crafted using these ideas. It doesn't sound like anything truly original or revolutionary, but the current state of Tomb Raider has left me cold for a number of years now.

    I like both the Resident Evil and Metroid franchises quite a bit, so I'd be keen to see how Lara would handle these new gameplay elements. Would you like to see a new Tomb Raider molded around these concepts?