Tomb Raider III: Adventures of Lara Croft

Overview

Tomb Raider III (also known as Tomb Raider III: Adventures of Lara Croft) is an action-adventure video game developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive. It was first released for PlayStation and Microsoft Windows in 1998, and for Mac OS in 1999. It is the third title in the Tomb Raider series, following Tomb Raider II (1997). The story follows archaeologist-adventurer Lara Croft as she embarks upon a quest to recover four pieces of a meteorite that are scattered across the world. To progress through the game, the player must complete a series of levels that involve solving puzzles, traversing dangerous locations, and defeating enemies.

Tomb Raider III was built on an upgraded version of the Tomb Raider engine that was used by its predecessors. The engine offers better speed efficiency and new graphical features such as coloured lighting and triangular polygons, allowing developers to achieve greater detail and more complex geometry. The game was designed to be more in line with the puzzle-solving gameplay of the original Tomb Raider as opposed to the more shooting-oriented style of Tomb Raider II.

Accompanied by an extensive marketing campaign, Tomb Raider III was a commercial success, selling around six million copies worldwide. Although the game received generally favourable reviews, it did not fare as well as its predecessors, with critics generally agreeing that the game failed to change the same tried and tested formula. The game's difficult and unforgiving gameplay also received some criticism. A sequel, Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, was released in 1999. A stand-alone expansion for Tomb Raider III featuring six new levels, subtitled The Lost Artefact, was released in 2000. A remastered version of the game, alongside The Lost Artefact, was included in Tomb Raider I, III Remastered in 2024.

Official trailer

Gameplay Video. Watch on YouTube

Screenshots

Game details

Genres

Shooter, Puzzle, Adventure

Developer

Core Design

Publisher

Eidos Interactive, Aspyr Media

Series

Tomb Raider

Platforms

PlayStation 3, Windows, PlayStation, PlayStation Portable

Age rating

ESRB T

Modes

Single player

Yes

Local multiplayer

No

Online multiplayer

No

Co op

No

Age ratings

ESRB

T

PEGI

12

Release dates

Playable today

Playable offline todayYes

Single-player only, with no online features.

Online

Plays offlineYes

Credits

Publisher

Eidos Interactive, Aspyr Media

Developer

Core Design

Released

1998-11-24

Age rating

ESRB T

Region

US

Time to beat

about 20.2 hours