REVISITING THE ORIGINAL TOMB RAIDER AHEAD OF LEGACY OF ATLANTIS
[ 2 July 2026 ]
With development continuing on Tomb Raider Legacy of Atlantis, the forthcoming reimagining of the original Tomb Raider, interest has returned to the story that introduced Lara Croft's first adventure. Released in 1996, the game follows Lara's search for the Scion across four regional settings, culminating in a confrontation with Jacqueline Natla beneath the remains of Atlantis. This retrospective revisits the narrative of the original game as it unfolds from Peru to Atlantis.
Peru
The Peru section begins with Lara Croft travelling through the mountains of Peru with a guide. They discover a large stone doorway sealed with symbols. Lara climbs above the entrance and activates the mechanism that opens the doors. As they enter, wolves attack. Lara kills the animals but is unable to save her guide. She continues alone into the caves after the doors close behind her.
In the caves, Lara travels through a series of underground passages containing traps, wildlife and ancient structures. She passes through natural caverns, crosses bridges and overcomes obstacles before reaching the ruins of the City of Vilcabamba.
At the City of Vilcabamba, Lara explores interconnected chambers, pools and passageways while locating a Silver Key and a Gold Idol. These items allow her to unlock additional areas of the city and continue deeper into the ruins. After placing the Gold Idol in its receptacle, a doorway opens, providing access to the Lost Valley.
The Lost Valley contains a large open area inhabited by wolves, velociraptors and a Tyrannosaurus rex. Lara explores the valley and an ancient temple, where she recovers the first of three machine cogs. She locates the remaining two cogs in other parts of the valley before returning to a water control mechanism. Installing the cogs restores the machinery and redirects the flow of water, opening a previously inaccessible route that leads to the Tomb of Qualopec.
Inside the Tomb of Qualopec, Lara encounters further traps, moving blocks and hostile animals while activating three switches that unlock the route to the central chamber. There she reaches the throne room and removes the Scion from its pedestal. Taking the artefact triggers an earthquake that blocks the original exit and opens a new escape route.
After leaving the tomb, Lara returns to the Lost Valley, where she encounters Larson. Following a confrontation, Lara defeats and disarms him. During the subsequent conversation, Larson explains that Natla sent Pierre on another assignment. Lara states that she will speak to Natla directly, leaves Larson unconscious and departs Peru with the first Scion fragment.
Greece
The Greece section begins after Lara breaks into Natla Technologies and searches the building. She discovers a journal describing Tihocan, one of the three rulers of Atlantis, whose portion of the Scion is said to lie beneath St. Francis' Folly. Lara travels to Greece and, after finding evidence that Pierre has already arrived, enters the monastery in search of the artefact.
At St. Francis' Folly, Lara explores the monastery while activating mechanisms that grant access to four challenge chambers dedicated to Neptune, Atlas, Thor and Damocles. She recovers a key from each chamber and repeatedly encounters Pierre, who attempts to delay her progress before retreating. After obtaining all four keys, Lara unlocks the exit and continues her pursuit.
Lara next reaches the Colosseum, where she continues to encounter Pierre while exploring the arena and its surrounding structures. She activates a series of mechanisms, recovers a Rusty Key and opens the route onward by travelling through flooded passages beneath the arena.
The route leads to the Palace of Midas, where Lara explores several sections of the palace to recover three Lead Bars. The palace contains the Hand of Midas, which transforms the Lead Bars into Gold Bars. Lara uses the Gold Bars to unlock the final doorway and continues into the next area.
Lara then enters the Cistern, an underground complex containing flooded chambers, gates and waterways. By raising and lowering the water level, she retrieves Rusty Keys, Silver Keys and a Gold Key, allowing her to unlock the remaining sections of the structure and reach the Tomb of Tihocan.
Within the Tomb of Tihocan, Lara again manipulates water levels and ancient mechanisms while overcoming traps and hostile wildlife. She acquires additional keys that provide access to the temple containing Tihocan's tomb. Inside, Lara confronts Pierre, who has already taken the second piece of the Scion. Unlike their earlier encounters, Pierre can be defeated. After defeating him, Lara recovers his Gold Key and the second Scion fragment.
Lara unlocks the entrance to Tihocan's tomb and enters the burial chamber. An accompanying inscription identifies Tihocan as one of the two rulers of Atlantis who survived the destruction of the continent and later died without an heir, bringing the Greece section to its conclusion.
Egypt
The Egypt section begins with Lara travelling to Egypt after recovering the second fragment of the Scion. Her search leads her to the City of Khamoon, where she explores ancient temples and underground structures while overcoming traps, navigating interconnected chambers and recovering keys that allow her to reach deeper sections of the complex.
Lara then enters the Obelisk of Khamoon, where she explores a large temple complex containing interconnected chambers and ancient mechanisms. During her exploration she recovers four artefacts: the Eye of Horus, the Seal of Anubis, the Scarab and the Ankh. She places each item in its corresponding receptacle, unlocking the central chamber and opening the route to the next stage of her journey.
The final Egyptian location is the Sanctuary of the Scion. Lara travels through the underground complex while activating mechanisms, overcoming further traps and confronting hostile creatures. She reaches the chamber containing the third Scion fragment, where she assembles the three recovered pieces of the artefact.
When the completed Scion is brought together, Lara experiences a vision showing the destruction of Atlantis and revealing that Natla was imprisoned by Qualopec and Tihocan after abusing the power of Atlantis. The vision also identifies the Great Pyramid as Natla's destination.
Before Lara can leave with the assembled Scion, Natla arrives and takes the artefact. She reveals that she employed Lara to recover the three Scion fragments on her behalf, then departs for Atlantis. Lara follows in an attempt to stop her.
Atlantis
The Atlantis section begins after Lara is captured by Natla Technologies and stripped of her possessions. She escapes from Natla's mines by navigating the underground complex, restoring power with three fuses and recovering her pistols. As she continues through the mines, she defeats several of Natla's guards, recovers additional weapons and equipment, and obtains the Pyramid Key. Using the key, she opens the entrance to the pyramid.
A cut scene shows Natla placing the assembled Scion on an altar. Shortly afterwards, the summit of a mountain erupts, revealing the Great Pyramid.
Inside Atlantis, Lara explores a series of chambers containing living organic structures, ancient mechanisms and creatures created by Natla. She progresses through the complex by activating switches, navigating traps and opening new routes while repeatedly encountering hostile mutants.
Eventually Lara reaches the chamber containing the Scion. As she approaches the artefact, she experiences another vision showing Natla's trial before Qualopec and Tihocan. They accuse her of attempting to wage war against them and of using the Great Pyramid to create new life forms. Rejecting her defence, they sentence her to imprisonment in limbo, where she vows that Atlantis will also be destroyed.
Returning to the present, Lara confronts Natla. Natla explains that she intends to restart evolution by creating new species using the Pyramid and the Scion. As a countdown begins, Lara attempts to destroy the Scion. Natla attacks her, and both fall from the platform. Lara survives by grabbing a lower ledge, while Natla disappears into the depths below.
Lara enters the Great Pyramid and battles the creatures within its interior before reaching the chamber containing the Scion. She destroys the artefact, triggering instability throughout the Pyramid and opening the route onwards.
After continuing through the collapsing structure, Lara confronts Natla again. Although Natla survives the initial encounter, Lara defeats her during a second confrontation, ending Natla's plans.
With the Pyramid collapsing around her, Lara escapes through the upper passages and reaches the surface as the structure is destroyed. The final sequence shows Lara diving into the sea, swimming to her yacht and departing as the island explodes behind her.
