So what, exactly, is the ’Survivor’ era of Tomb Raider? The most recent three games of the Tomb Raider series covers the ‘Survivor’ era, consisting of: 

• Tomb Raider (2013) 

• Rise of the Tomb Raider 

• Shadow of the Tomb Raider 

This tells Lara Croft’s origin story, following as she goes on some of her first big expeditions that shape her into a hardened Survivor. This was also the effort made to push Tomb Raider into more modernized action-adventure style gaming, while maintaining the integrity of exploration, solving puzzles, and unearthing forgotten mysteries.   

Fans of the Survivor era had much to say about why these games are their favorites, as shown on Twitter and Facebook.  This was the starting point for many modern fans, and they were more than overjoyed to share their love for Survivor Lara Croft:     “The Survivor trilogy is a breath of fresh air. Seeing Lara grow up from a student to a survivor then an adventurer was inspirational. I love the choice of myths for the trilogy. The puzzles in SOTTR are simply the best and Camila as Lara is awesome.” - Tomb Raider Files 

“I hope I'm not too late, but the Survivor trilogy is a fantastic look at Lara's origins. I love how she evolved throughout the three games. These games are a lot more combat heavy (especially the first 2), so be patient if you're hoping for puzzles and tombs. They evolve with 1) ara, really, with bigger more complex tombs as Lara becomes more confident and knowledgeable. Be prepared for an emotional rollercoaster. Oh, and if you like a bow, the mechanics work really well, imo. 2)” - Rai 

“Phenomenal trilogy. The friendliest control wise to get started with. Gameplay is smooth and responsive. You grow with Lara in this trilogy. Lara starts with zero confidence and rises to overcome any obstacle in her path. She’s beautiful, badass, and absolutely lethal.” - DudeKyleRaider 

“I’ve been a fan of Lara since the beginning, and I love this trilogy as much as previous adventures. Don’t be afraid to explore! A lot of the collectible artifacts are based on history and mythology, which I found to be the most fun! It puts you in Lara’s shoes. You see her get excited to discover while at the same time you get to learn about the culture’s customs, history, myths, etc… everything being a Tomb Raider is all about. The combat is also fluid and the environments are gorgeous” - Hexboy_956 

“We got to see Lara become not just a tomb raider, but a bad a*s survivor. This clip especially makes me think back to when she was hiding in a river of blood from the cultists, barely peeking her nose above it, and here she just rises up because she knows she can survive.” - Will 

“I LOVED the visuals and locations. I still remember experiencing the vivid jungles in shadow of the tomb raider. It was so beautiful. Let's not forget about the badassness of 2013 Lara!” - Ilydude 

“Reboot Lara really shaped me during my teenage years and helped me a lot back then she is just so badass. The games were just such a fun, complete experience with cool environments and tombs to explore and fun platforming” - LaraCrxft 

“Everyone has a story behind them, their success, and things don’t come from nowhere. We always know who we are/who we can be deep down that we run away from but it’s experience that shapes us and helps us to reach the individual we are meant to be. That’s why I adore the trilogy.” - WeBeenCroft 

“I love the trilogy because it’s fun, cinematic, emotional and engaging in carving out the identity of a ferocious young Lara Croft, that while not yet fully formed shows all the passion and perseverance required to become the icon we all love It’s my favorite TR era” - Aurayal 

“2013 reboot was the one that got me into the series. It is made beautifully with stunning locations,great voice acting from Camilla Ludington and I love the new gameplay added to it.This trilogy was so cinematic and Lara was really fleshed out and we got to see her character grow” - H.B.S.C. 

“With the trilogy as my intro, I fell in love with ALL things Lara and met an incredible community to top it off. It was also my intro into the world of VP, with Lara as my muse! Oh and Porvenir is GOAT!” - Angelus 

“The gameplay complements this perfectly with its intense, immersive survival elements, making every decision and challenge feel personal. It’s not just about action. It’s about witnessing her journey of becoming the Lara Croft. You get to see her vulnerabilities and growth” - Starrituals 

Forget what you know about Lady Lara Croft. Prepare to witness a darker more gritty take on Lara as you delve into her roots and experience her defining moments that forged her to take on a life of adventure, face her past and determine her future from the ground up. - Luke    I love them. They are brilliant. - Jimmy 

Survivor Era Lara is the best Lara. - Matthew  

I loved the new iterations; overall though they were excellent and am sad no more have been developed. - Daniella 

What I loved was traveling to the different locations and solving the puzzles in the Tombs. - Patrick 

I love the developing story around Lara's evolution and the progress through the games. Lara Croft backs story really inspired me – Willian 

I actually quite like the reboot Lara because it's more fleshed out, a sense of bewilderment, weakness yet nothing stops her spark and thirst for adventure. Hopefully it's through all this endeavours in her early days that slowly honed her survival skills into a full fledge tomb raider  then I can surely say that we discovered all the different sides of her and watch her growth. The puzzle was fun and the exploration was vividly beautiful! Love the combat too. - Yew 

Okay, incoming opinion that may be unpopular. But it’s food for thought… so I’ve been playing Tomb Raider since the classics came out in the 90’s and they are the video games that made me fall in love with gaming. Games have really matured a lot since then. In my opinion they did their best to give us an origin story, and I think they succeeded. Is every aspect of this trilogy perfect? No, but it really does give you the development and story of how Lara become the character we remember and love. I for one, loved these games as much as the original even though the formula was so different. Guess I’m just a diehard though! - Spencer 

Survivor era gave us the foundations of Lara Croft, and her journey to becoming the Tomb Raider. She continues her globe-trotting ways and foils the plans of villains similar to previous installments, while exploring her past and introducing new allies along the way.  What were the stand out scenes in the Survivor era that will always stick with you? What are you looking forward to in the next Tomb Raider instalment?  As always, make sure you’re following us on all of our socials for the latest in Tomb Raider news!    Twitter 

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Tomb Raider (2013)

Rise of the Tomb Raider

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

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