Square Enix Releases Footage From Cancelled Lara Croft Horror Game Tomb Raider Ascension

Square Enix released video footage of its Tomb Raider horror game Tomb Raider, Tomb Raider Ascension.

The company released the footage as part of its 25th Anniversary celebrations and in the roughly seven minutes of footage, we see a greyed-out character model that’s clearly Lara Croft traversing through dark caves, marshes, spooky houses, and more, as reported by Video Games ChronicleYou can find the video here. The footage is very obviously prototype footage from early in the game’s development, but it’s a fascinating look at what games can become over time. Ascension was later to become the reboot of Tomb Raider 2013.

“Check out footage from Tomb Raider: Ascension, which took Tomb Raider deep into survival horror territory during the exploratory phases of what would eventually become the 2013 reboot,” Square Enix writes in the footage’s description. “It was through Ascension that the team honed in on telling an origin story through the lens of survival.”

Lara Croft is seen in a particularly frightening scene. She appears to have built a mansion, possibly the Croft mansion scene from the rebooted series. Lara Croft burns tall monstrous enemies using a flame thrower and then stabs them with a pickaxe.

Lara Croft rides a horse down a cliffside and runs away from an ogre or giant. We also see some open-world elements. Lara Croft faces a boss in another video. It looks much more comfortable in FromSoftware games than in the rebooted Tomb Raider series. The boss pops up and down from the ground using its branch-like tendrils, striking at Lara Croft.

There were two other Ascension videos, one of which focuses more on the concept art for the canceled survival horror video. This video shows Lara Croft appearing animated in contrast to her more real-looking sequels and the reboot. It also gives us a better look at the monsters Lara Croft might have faced and the places she would have traveled.

The most recent video released is called “Tomb Raider (2013) Development: Ascension Branding” and it’s a closer look at the branding that likely would have been attached to Ascenion’s marketing. It highlights possible box art layouts, “early exploratory” voiceover, and more.

VGC points out that Ascension was first revealed in Square Enix’s digital Tomb Raider: Last HoursCrystal Dynamics started to question the potential of Tomb Raider’s survival-horror version. The book describes a team meeting where Crystal Dynamics asked themselves if Ascension would be as good as Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham Asylum game. The team decided that Ascension would not be as great as Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham Asylum game, and moved on to what is now known as the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot.

Watch the videos and see our views on the 2013 reboot. Game Informer’s Review of Tomb RaiderThis is. Our thoughts about its sequels are here Game Informer’s Rise of the Tomb Raider: Review Game Informer’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider ReviewAfterwards.