Rise of the Tomb Raider Update: “Most Ambitious Game Ever Made” With Bigger Maps and Standalone Story

By Staff Writer

Mar 23 2015, 08:39 AM EDT

New details on the Rise of the Tomb Raider have been spilled by its developer Crystal Dynamics and it involves the maps and a little bit of the story that will surely mark the 2015 much-anticipated videogame another hit in consoles.

In a podcast, game director Brian Horton called the Rise of the Tomb Raider "certainly the most ambitious game ever made," where the team tries to make the map three times bigger in scope and breadth than the previous installment. The creatives behind the action-adventure videogame have also made every system of the game more engaging and interactive.

"We really tried to do something bigger and we have said it will be three times larger. Not only bigger, but also more dense. We worked a lot more about the game systems, not only to make this map bigger, but to make it even more engaging and interactive. Every single system, every aspect of the game, we have built for the latter reason," Horton stressed.

Fans have been eagerly asking whether the new installment will continue the events of Yamatai or not. While deriving a little of the previous story's plot, Rise of the Tomb Raider has been described to have a standalone story.

Tomb Raider series creative director Noah Hughes said the team has been badly wanting to develop a story intended for the new installment alone for the benefit of those who never have experienced the preceding title. He said, however, they at Crystal Dynamics have to keep up and meet the expectations of the game's avid followers and give them a good show of Lara Croft's adventure from the beginning to the end.

"We have always decided to create a story in itself, so that if you have not played the previous title, you can enjoy it without problems. But we also strive to meet the fans who have followed the adventures of Lara from first to last. So we strive to create a story in which those who played their predecessors may get something more. It is absolutely a story in itself," Hughes explained.

Rise of the Tomb Raider will come out Holiday 2015 to Xbox One and Xbox 360.