Lara Croft fans have a lot to share. On the one hand, a recent leak reveals that a Tomb Raider: Anniversary remake was indeed in the works. On the other, we learned in the same breath that the project was canceled several years ago. This news is both exciting and frustrating, and it reignites the debate on the future of the franchise. Between that and the cancellation of the Amazon series...
A secret project... which had ambition for Tomb Raider
According to files shared on Archive.org, this remake was developed by Virtuos Shanghai, in collaboration with Crystal Dynamics. The development of this Tomb Raider would have begun in 2019, with a fairly clear objective: to offer a modernized version of Anniversary, well beyond a simple port.
Initially conceived as a classic remaster, the project would have quickly evolved towards something more ambitious, using the Rise of the Tomb Raider engine. The result: a younger, more realistic Lara, and vastly improved visuals.
But everything stopped Too soon
Unfortunately, the Tomb Raider project was interrupted before even reaching an advanced stage. The reason? Technical complications related to the integration of the new engine... but also "other factors", which remained unclear. Barely a few months after the first playable tests, everything was shelved.
The leak comes from an Archive.org user, and was relayed by the fan account InfinityTRaider. The site CoreDesign, well known to the Tomb Raider community, even confirmed the legitimacy of these documents. In other words: this remake was very real, even if it was never officially announced.
It's hard to decide. From what we can see, this project seemed to oscillate between a complete remake and a high-end remaster. The environments still looked very similar to the original ones, but the overall look was significantly more modern. What is certain is that the intention was there: to bring back to life a cult episode with today's tools. And for fans, this intention was something to dream about.
Source: Infinity Tomb Raider
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