It proved to be a good idea. While the games could still enjoy a variety of locations the single setting left a lot more room to develop the environment. Lara now had more room to explore and learn about her surroundings instead of simply following a linear path, and it left room for her to encounter interesting characters along the way, but the franchise still gets to enjoy bringing Lara to different countries. But surprisingly, for all the traveling she has done there are still some locations that have been barely touched or ignored entirely. There is talk of Crystal Dynamics working on a new Tomb Raider game, which means they will need to find an interesting setting for it.
7 Canada
This might seem like a strange choice at first since, as a country, Canada is not very old… but it has some pretty interesting history pre-dating Confederation in 1867. The earliest Europeans were Viking settlers, and there were countless indigenous tribes long before that. This opens up a new area of history that has been largely untouched by video games - that of North America’s pre-colonial inhabitants. Certainly Lara could explore the ruins of old Viking settlements, but there is a more interesting opportunity here to explore Native American history and culture.
There have not been many games exploring Native American history. There have been a few with varying degrees of success. Never Alone was well-received, but attempting to introduce a Native American protagonist in Assassin’s Creed III was less successful. It is still a largely untouched piece of culture and bringing it into a big franchise like Tomb Raider would be something new and different as well as drawing attention to a traditionally marginalized demographic. This is especially true if it takes a similar approach to Rise and Shadow of the Tomb Raider by allowing Lara to freely explore and interact with Indigenous characters.
6 China
There is a lot to unpack when it comes to Chinese history. The country has been ruled by several empires and dynasties at different times, and it has clashed with various factions. There is no shortage of elaborately carved tombs and artifacts from its ancient period, yet it has only appeared twice in the Tomb Raider franchise. Tomb Raider II opened in China and returned there for the climax, but those sections were confined exclusively to the famous Great Wall. The Cradle of Life also had a plot line where Lara pursues the antagonists to China, which included a sequence where she rides a motorcycle over the Great Wall and a fight scene that ends up destroying a lot of terracotta warriors.
Both instances barely scratched the surface of Chinese history. Obviously, China is a lot more than just the Great Wall, and there are plenty of other ancient ruins that Lara could explore. There are plenty of options for what parts of Chinese history to look at- any of the major dynasties, their rivalries with the Huns, the attempted conquest by Ghenkis Khan- maybe a combination of all of these things. They could even try to fit in the real-life warrior woman Wang Cong’er if they wanted some interesting historical figures.
5 Britain
Surprisingly, despite being English by birth, Lara has not done that much archeology in the UK. Some games have scenes dealing with Lara’s personal life or childhood, many of which take place in or around Croft Manor in England. Both Legend and Anniversary have a level where the player can freely explore the manor. Shadow of the Tomb Raider has a level with a young Lara navigating the house. But so far the only one to really have Lara actually doing any Tomb Raiding in her own home country is Legend, where Lara visits a cheesy King Arthur theme park that turns out to be built on top of the actual King Arthur’s tomb. Of course nearly all of these take place in England, while other parts of Britain- Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales- remain mostly untouched. All of these countries have no shortage of historical ruins that would be great for Tomb Raider action.
Perhaps the most obvious choice would be to take advantage of Britain’s numerous castles and focus on medieval history, which could be very interesting. But if Eidos wanted to do something different, there are other options. Viking history could be an interesting direction. Going further back, Britain was at one point ruled by the Roman Empire. That is not even getting into the various Celtic tribes that have existed across Britain, or the Picts of Scotland. They could even combine a few of these, or make one the primary focus while having the others available as side quests similar to the more recent Assassin’s Creed games. One potential story advantage of a Tomb Raider game set in Britain would be that it would be closer to home for Lara. This might leave room for a more personal story.
4 Egypt
Though it might be the most obvious choice, Lara Croft has not actually been to Egypt very often. The original Tomb Raider and the remake Anniversary both have levels set in Egypt, but the only ones to have it as a major setting are The Last Revelation and the spin-off Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris. Both games involve Lara diving into heavily mythologized Egyptian ruins.
A reboot could still go the route of incorporating Egyptian mythology, but it could also do a lot more to develop Egypt as a location. The rebooted games have tried to develop compelling settings with interesting characters beyond the ancient ruins. The reboot treatment would allow Lara to explore modern Egypt as well, and with it probably encounter some interesting characters.
3 Greece
For such a seemingly obvious location, there has been surprisingly little of Ancient Greece in Tomb Raider. The biggest role it had was in the movie The Cradle of Life. In the games Lara has only been to Greece during one stretch of the original Tomb Raider and Anniversary. This is surprising since the Greeks have become so iconic. The success of other games centered on Ancient Greece like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Immortals Fenyx Rising, and the God of War series would make it seem like a logical business decision. But the modern setting combined with the format of the rebooted series has opportunities to add something new- in addition to the old ruins, Lara would also be able to explore and interact with people in modern Greece.
As Assassin’s Creed Odyssey showed, the Ancient Greek world is vast and full of interesting locations. For a lot of people, “Ancient Greece” conjures up images of Athenian architecture and fancy togas, but it was a bit more complicated. If the developers wanted a less obvious part of Greece, they could explore any of the different islands. The second most obvious choice would be Sparta, but they could also visit Macedonia and incorporate Alexander the Great, or even visit parts of Turkey that were once Greek.
2 India
For a country with some complex history, India has not been seen very often in Tomb Raider. The original game and Anniversary both had opening cutscenes set at a hotel in Calcutta, but it was only a playable location for one stretch of Tomb Raider III. However, it is the setting of the similarly-themed Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, a game that was very successful and hopefully will eventually get a sequel.
The Lost Legacy’s critical and financial success would indicate that there is definitely a market for games about delving into the ancient ruins of what is now India. That would include a lot of possibilities, from exploring the impacts of the Persian Empire to British colonialism in the 19th century. Given Tomb Raider has shown itself to be more open to the supernatural than Uncharted, they could even take inspiration from Hindu mythology.
1 Mesopotamia
Technically, Mesopotamia no longer exists as a region and therefore could not be visited by Lara without time travel or an Animus. But it did encompass several modern countries including Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Syria, and Turkey, all of which she could conceivably travel to and find historical ruins or artifacts in. Of those countries, only Syria has made an appearance in the games and that was just for one brief section in Rise of the Tomb Raider.
Any one of them could be interesting settings, but the biggest draw Mesopotamia has is the Sumerian Empire, literally the oldest civilization on record. That alone should be of interest to an archeologist like Lara Croft. It could even be incorporated into the story-perhaps Lara is initially brought to Mesopotamia by a major archeological find that sets things in motion.
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