Reimagining Egypt
For Lara Croft, Egypt is where the adventure goes deeper than she ever imagined. In Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, it is the most demanding of the game’s ancient worlds, a place of monuments, mystery, and secrets that have waited thousands of years to be uncovered.
A Deeper Step Into the Unknown
“Egypt represents a deeper step into the unknown for Lara,” says John Stafford, Narrative Director at Crystal Dynamics. “It’s a place defined by monumentality, mystery, and an extraordinary relationship with the ancient past, where secrets have endured for thousands of years. We wanted to build on that feeling: the sense that beneath the history we recognize lies something older, stranger, and far more significant than what Lara first imagined.”
It is also where the story’s larger mystery begins to open up. “By the time Lara reaches Egypt, she knows there is a larger story to uncover, but Egypt begins to reveal just how deep that story goes,” Stafford says. “The connections she discovers here challenge assumptions about the ancient world. We wanted each discovery to feel like another piece of a much larger puzzle, while raising new questions that propel Lara toward what comes next.”
The Most Challenging World Yet
“In keeping with the original, Egypt is the most intellectually challenging of the Atlantis levels,” says Jason Epps, Design Director at Crystal Dynamics. “The puzzles are more complex and involved. Unlike the original game, we have recreated new puzzles centered around the Egyptian pantheon, to remove a lot of repetition.”
The shape of the world changes, too. “Peru and Greece are more about sweeping vistas and hidden oases,” Epps says. “Egypt is more about moving through a ruined complex. The path forward is more circuitous and frequently moves through tight tunnels that open into grand spaces.” One reimagined highlight is the temple to Anubis. “Anubis is the god that weighs the heart of the dead against a feather on a set of scales,” Epps says. “We’ve created a fun traversal puzzle section using Anubis’ scales that Lara must raise and lower to advance.”
For Game Director Raul Siqueira, the scale speaks for itself. “Egypt is just impressive from the size and scale of that level,” he says. “Egypt has been done before, so we’re not charting new territory. But the way we do Egypt is what makes it unique. You have everything you expect, filled with mythology just like Greece, and the puzzles are all themed around the deities and important characters of it.”
An Archaeological Journey
For the team at Flying Wild Hog, no location carries more weight. “It’s the most iconic location for Tomb Raider,” says Mateusz Dzięcioł, Level Designer at Flying Wild Hog. “It’s so profound in the history of the ancient world that Lara loved so much.”
His goal was to make the region feel like a genuine dig. “In Egypt I was trying to create the feeling of a real archaeological journey,” Dzięcioł says. “You need to crawl into the sunken tombs of the desert. You find the leftovers of robbers, so you know you’re not the first one there. Maybe it’s disappointing, but not for Lara Croft. She goes further. She finds the dead end that others thought was the end, but Lara knows it’s not, and she solves the puzzle with you to reveal the real entrance to the city of Kamun.”
That sense of descent drives the whole level. “It really starts to grow when you follow the puzzles,” Dzięcioł says. “With every step the puzzles are more tense, harder. Then you go into the total darkness of the tombs, and the tombs become deadly trials.” The traps are part of the spectacle. “They are part of the architecture. They want you to see those traps and admire them just before you try to defeat them.” The peak, he says, is the Osiris trial: “There is a story, there is a trap, there is a puzzle, and everything combined into one cohesive piece.”
From the vastness of the desert to the darkness beneath the city of Kamun, Egypt is Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis at its grandest and most challenging. As Dzięcioł puts it, the goal was to let players feel that pure joy of being somewhere ancient, alone, and alive with discovery.
Pre-order Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis
Lara Croft’s greatest adventure begins February 12, 2027. Pre-orders are live now. Secure your edition before launch, and join us across the months ahead for new mini-documentaries, deep dives, and exclusive looks at the world of Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis.
