Tomb Raider III
Lara Croft searches for four meteorite artefacts across the globe.
Tomb Raider III, also called *Tomb Raider III: Adventures of Lara Croft*, is an action-adventure game from Core Design and Eidos Interactive. It is the third game in the Tomb Raider series, coming after *Tomb Raider II*. Players control archaeologist-adventurer Lara Croft as she sets out to find four pieces of a meteorite that have been spread across the globe. The game uses an improved version of the engine from earlier titles, which runs more efficiently and adds coloured lighting and triangular polygons for richer detail and more complex level shapes.
The game is a single-player experience seen from a third-person perspective. Lara moves through five areas: India, the South Pacific, London, Nevada, and Antarctica. After finishing India, the next three locations can be tackled in any order, with Antarctica serving as the final area. Each location contains enclosed levels where the player solves puzzles, jumps across gaps, and fights enemies. Puzzles often involve moving items, flipping switches, or pushing objects. Lara can run, jump, climb, crawl, swing on overhead bars, and swim or dive for a limited time. She can also sprint for short bursts to dodge hazards like rolling boulders.
For combat, Lara has several weapons: dual pistols (which never run out of ammo), dual Uzis, a Desert Eagle, a shotgun, an MP5 submachine gun, a grenade launcher, a rocket launcher, and a harpoon gun for underwater use. The other weapons have limited ammunition that must be found in the levels. At one point, Lara loses all her weapons, forcing the player to rely on stealth until she retrieves her pistols. Her health drops from falls or enemy attacks; if it reaches zero, the player must reload a saved game. On PlayStation, saving requires a memory card and uses a Save Crystal from Lara’s inventory, which can be found throughout each level without needing to save at the spot where it was picked up.
Underwater sections are common. Some pools contain piranhas that can kill Lara quickly, while others have currents that push her in a fixed direction, making it impossible to swim back or grab ledges. In Antarctica, the water is so cold that Lara can only stay in it for a few seconds. Quicksand also appears, and wading through it risks drowning.
Quick Facts
- Title
- Tomb Raider III
- Developer
- Core DesignMac OS version developed by Westlake Interactive.
- Publisher
- Eidos InteractiveMac OS version published by Aspyr.
- Producer
- Troy Horton
- Designer
- Jamie Morton / Richard Morton / Andrew Sandham
- Programmer
- Chris Coupe / Martin Gibbins
- Writer
- Vicky Arnold
- Composer
- Nathan McCree
- Series
- Tomb Raider
- Platforms
- Microsoft Windows / PlayStation / Mac OS
- Released
- Windows, PlayStationEU · 20 November 1998 · NA · 24 November 1998Mac OSNA · 19 October 1999
- Genre
- Action-adventure
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Tomb Raider III 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. The player controls Lara Croft from a third-person perspective through five locations: India, South Pacific, London, Nevada, and Antarctica. After completing India, the next three locations can be played in any order before the final location, Antarctica. Gameplay involves solving puzzles, jumping over obstacles, and defeating enemies using a variety of weapons, including dual pistols with infinite ammunition and other finite weapons found in levels. A significant portion of the game takes place underwater, with hazards such as piranhas, currents, and freezing water. Vehicles such as a kayak, quad bike, boat, and minecarts appear in certain levels.
Reader's Guide
Tomb Raider III was a commercial success, selling around six million copies worldwide, accompanied by an extensive marketing campaign. However, 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 stand-alone expansion titled The Lost Artefact, featuring six new levels, was released in 2000. A remastered version of the game, alongside The Lost Artefact, was included in Tomb Raider I–III Remastered in 2024. The game's development began in December 1997, originating as an extension of a planned expansion pack for Tomb Raider II called The Further Adventures of Lara Croft. The final game retained a shortened Adventures of Lara Croft subtitle and was developed by the expansion pack team rather than the Tomb Raider II team.
Did You Know?
- The game's subtitle, Adventures of Lara Croft, was shortened from the planned expansion pack The Further Adventures of Lara Croft.
- Lara can sprint to gain a temporary burst of speed, useful for escaping boulders and other disasters.
- At one point in the game, Lara is stripped of all her weapons and must use stealth before recovering her pistols.
- The water in the Antarctica levels is too cold for Lara to swim through for more than a few seconds.
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