Rise of the Tomb Raider is a 2015 action-adventure game developed by Crystal Dynamics, continuing Lara Croft's origin story as she races to find the mythical city of Kitezh in Siberia — refining the combat, traversal, and survival systems of the 2013 reboot into a larger, more confident sequel.
Rise of the Tomb Raider picks up after the events of the 2013 reboot, with Lara Croft increasingly obsessed with validating her late father's research into the supernatural. Following a lead on the legendary city of Kitezh — said to hold the secret of immortality — she travels to Syria and then Siberia, where she finds herself hunted by a paramilitary organisation called Trinity, who are after the same prize. The game deepens Lara's characterisation: where the first game was about a young woman surviving against the odds, this one shows her becoming the explorer she was always meant to be.
The game expands on its predecessor's template with larger, more open environments that reward exploration. Semi-open hubs are filled with challenge tombs — optional puzzle dungeons that yield skill points and gear — as well as hidden caches, collectibles, and optional missions. Combat blends third-person shooting with stealth: Lara can craft arrows, set traps, use poison bottles, and pick enemies off silently from cover, or escalate into direct firefights. A skill tree branches into Brawler, Hunter, and Survivor paths, allowing meaningful builds. Crafting from scavenged materials — animal hides, mushrooms, scrap — keeps resource management relevant throughout. The Siberian wilderness is one of the game's real strengths: a snow-covered forest that shifts into ancient ruins, geothermal valleys, and abandoned Soviet installations, all traversable with rope arrows, ice axes, and climbing gear.
Rise of the Tomb Raider launched as a timed Xbox One exclusive in November 2015 before arriving on PC and PlayStation 4 in 2016. Critics praised its level design, traversal feel, and visual quality — particularly its Siberian environments — while some noted the story didn't fully capitalise on its setup. It holds Metacritic scores in the mid-to-high 80s across platforms and is widely regarded as the strongest entry in Crystal Dynamics' reboot trilogy.