Tomb Raider: 10 Hidden Details Redditors Found In The Games
With 13 titles stretching over three decades, the Tomb Raider franchise is one of gaming's most iconic and long-lasting, but there are always more things to uncover in the action-adventure series. Playing as globe-trotting archaeologist and adventurer Lara Croft, fans have always loved to solve the puzzles and explore the environments of the games, all of which offer hidden details to make the gameplay more exciting and compelling.
Whether fans like replaying the original Tomb Raider or getting their first glimpse of Lara Croft's origins with the reboot Tomb Raider (2013), there are always fascinating secrets and hidden details that enrich the experience.
Longtime fans of the Tomb Raider games will remember being able to antagonize Lara's butler Winston during the training levels in Croft Manor in Tomb Raider II. Players could get the hang of the controls and all of Lara's abilities before setting out on various adventures.
Joss2366 brought up a screenshot of communication between Winston and Lord Croft mentioning young Lara's antics at Croft Manor, which involved setting a trap for him "in the walk-in freezer." Not only is it a cleverly hidden detail, but it's also an effective way for Rise of the Tomb Raider to tie in to the original Tomb Raider games.
The newest trilogy of Tomb Raider games, which includes Shadow of the Tomb Raider, explored Lara Croft's origins in ways that differed from the original games of the '90s. One fan found a hidden detail in the game during a playthrough at Croft Manor when Lara was a little girl.
According to a video uploaded by Mr_Pocket_, there's a treasure chest in little Lara's treehouse that directly references the Forest Fenn treasure named after the famous antiquities dealer and author who in 2010 gathered a collection of rare coins and items worth over 2 million dollars and made it the objective of a massive hunt in the Rocky Mountains. His memoir The Thrill of the Chase provided clues to its location, and many treasure seekers died trying to find it in a story worthy of Lara's adventures.
Fans who considered Tomb Raider II to be one of the best Tomb Raider games in the franchise wanted to continue Lara Croft's adventures in the expansion Tomb Raider II Gold, which featured four levels set in Alaska that didn't so much add story elements to Lara's adventures but rather gave her more surreal environments to explore, including Nightmare in Vegas!
With screenshots posted by dady977, this secret fifth level (which was only available to PC owners) was a mash-up of Croft Manor and Las Vegas with a few kaleidoscopic visuals thrown in for fun. It comes across as a literal "nightmare" Lara has after her adventures, complete with appearances by bosses including a T-Rex, a Yeti, and some Elvis impersonators. Early versions of the level even had Lara wearing a leopard-print jumpsuit!
The Opera House portion of Tomb Raider II was difficult to traverse with its Esher-like map, falling sandbags, and random areas full of pointed glass shards. Fans were so focused on making it through that they might have missed a hidden detail in the hallway that pertained to one of Lara's most compelling villains.
One Redditor found a video showing a few hidden secrets in Tomb Raider II, one of which was a poster of Gianni Bartoli (a doctored image of Harry Houdini) in the Opera House level. It's interesting to see the former leader of the Fiamma Nera cult in his heyday as a magician.
While not considered the most challenging level in a Tomb Raider game, the Croft Manor portion of Tomb Raider II still provides a few surprises that can only be found by fans thoroughly exploring the sprawling house and its accompanying grounds.
In the same video, the Redditor explores the secret room in Croft Manor activated by completing the garden maze. Climb through the window in order to activate a mode in which Winston can't follow Lara, and the way to simultaneously draw weapons at the same time that will allow Lara to use the best of both (such as firing a grenade launcher at the speed of an automatic handgun).
Lara Croft is a timeless character who never seems to age, especially since current games focus on her origin story. But she is given a birthday, which is celebrated in two current titles.
AmirMoosavi informed fans who chose to fire up either Shadow of the Tomb Raider or Rise of the Tomb Raider on February 14th that they would see a special happy birthday message on their loading screens. Though Lara Croft was officially born on February 14th (as the tiny Mayan calendar reads), her year of birth has changed several times throughout the games (the original being 1967, and the current timeline stating 1992).
Tomb Raider: Anniversary was a celebration of the Tomb Raider franchise but also included an homage to another iconic adventurer that inspired Lara Croft's journeys: Indiana Jones. Just like Lara's braid, twin pistols, and shorts, Indy had key pieces of his signature outfit, including his hat and bullwhip, which can be seen in one level of the game.
Michalcc found a special reference to the globe-trotting archaeologist in the Tomb of Qualopec, and it's not just the large boulder from Raiders of the Lost Ark that Lara has to dodge! Eagle-eyed fans who pause their screen as the boulder roles past Lara will see Indy's fedora and bullwhip clearly printed on the side.
The Tomb Raider franchise used to be concurrent with the Legacy of Kain franchise, and even Tomb Raider: Legend paid homage to the popular Crystal Dynamics games by featuring a giant portrait of Kain (prior to his becoming a Soul-Reaver wielding monster) in Croft Manor.
In a post discussing a possible crossover between the two franchises, Redditor Baziel even noted that such an event, "wouldn't be the first time Lara knicked LoK material." That's because at the conclusion of Legend if players have unlocked it, Lara can wield one of the best weapons in the Tomb Raider games, the mighty Soul Reaver.
The fourth installment in the Tomb Raider franchise, Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation allowed fans to play Lara as both a teenager in Egypt as well as an adult, and during her grown-up raiding in The Great Pyramid level, fans could explore a secret temple area (if they could find it).
Beausoleil linked a video to a brief walkthrough showing how to reach the temple after sliding down the side of the pyramid, the inside of which featured a strange repeating pattern of a female statue on all the walls. There didn't appear to be anything for Lara to explore in the temple, so its presence remains a mystery to this day.
Most of Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation is spent in Egypt, and beyond the majestic pyramids, desert sands, and sacred temples, the designers included a few homages to local flavor in the form of movie posters that Lara spies in her Alexandria travels. Triton_7 managed to find the real corresponding posters to share with fans.
Courage793 lent a translation, specifying that the Arabic words on the posters read, "The Time of Wonders" (1952) and "Summer Girls" (1960), depicting actors that were "all the rage back in the day", with the embrace on the second poster signifying a more liberal Egypt at the time. Not only do they highlight great attention to detail from the designers, but also pay homage to the country that inspired so many of Lara's adventures.