Fresh Rise of the Tomb Raider Trailer Arrives

With the Rise of the Tomb Raider release quickly approaching, Microsoft has more to share. Instead of a blog post from developer Crystal Dynamics, we’re getting another deep dive into the world of Lara Croft with a fresh Rise of the Tomb Raider trailer.

Microsoft’s Xbox YouTube profile posted the new Rise of the Tomb Raider trailer this morning. Rise of the Tomb Raider isn’t being produced by Microsoft’s developer teams, but the game will be exclusive to the Xbox One and Xbox 360 this holiday season. Microsoft is hoping that locking down a year-long exclusivity deal for the game will boost sales of the Xbox One this holiday season.

The new “Descent Into Legend” trailer begins with a voice over asking, “What makes someone reach beyond the boundaries of human experience?” As the words are whispered the trailer shows viewers snow-covered peaks and a hostile forest with dangerous animals that seem to lurk in the trees. Dropping the last game’s tropical setting, Rise of the Tomb Raider takes place in Russia.

All of the footage we’ve seen of the game features Lara scaling mountains and successfully outrunning avalanches. Lara is in Siberia hunting down the Lost City of Kitezh.

As Lara is examining tire tracks made in the snow, we get a quick look at a dangerous big cat. The next scene is of Lara firing her bow at the animal. What follows is a montage of Croft pulling off some pretty dangerous stunts. First she leaps off a cliff. Next she uses a rope to reach an area she can grasp onto with her pick. Lara gingerly enters a huge, snow-covered ruin in the next scene. It turns out the montage is of Lara’s career in tomb raiding this far.

“Discover the legend within,” a message on screen reads at the end of the new Rise of the Tomb Raider trailer. The rope mechanic seen in the video appears to be a new addition to Rise of the Tomb Raider. All told, it’s a pretty decent trailer for what better be an amazing game. The Rise of the Tomb Raider release date is set for November 10th, that’s the same day as another huge release for holiday shoppers: Fallout 4.

Rise of the Tomb Raider has a day and night cycle complete with an upgraded crafting system. The combat controls seem to be the same, but Crystal Dynamics has doubled down on variety when it comes to encounters. There are multiple ways to take on enemies now, giving players the tools to be the best Tomb Raider they can with the extras they have at their disposal. Croft can swim too.

When Microsoft revealed that the 2015 release of Rise of the Tomb Raider would be an exclusive Xbox affair, large swaths of the gaming world revolted. Many questioned why Square Enix decided to sign a deal with Microsoft when past games in the series were available on both platforms. Microsoft seems to have prioritized exclusive games from its own studios instead of partnering with third-party developers like it had in the past with Activision for Call of Duty. Halo 5: Guardians, Forza 6 and Quantum Break were all set for release this calendar year.

Sony and Activision announced earlier this year that PlayStation was the “new home of Call of Duty.” PlayStation owners will be the first to get access to any new map packs added to Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 after release. The theory is that with that partnership out of the way Microsoft wanted to bet on a game that had cross-platform appeal. After all, exclusive games help sell console bundles. Sony moved its only major PS4 exclusive, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End into 2016, setting up Rise of the Tomb Raider for an epic battle with Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 and other major console games.