Titan Books has published a hardback book titled Shadow of the Tomb Raider: The Official Art Book available from numerous online retailers and high street book stores. Can Shadow of the Tomb Raider: The Official Art Book deliver what it sets out to by producing a companion to the concluding part of Tomb Raider’s reboot trilogy story arc for the videogame Shadow of the Tomb Raider?
Shadow of the Tomb Raider is a third-person story driven action adventure available via retail stores and digitally on home consoles and PC. Lara Croft became an iconic videogame character in 1996 when the first Tomb Raider game was released for the PS1 and received much attention for starring a female protagonist, while the original game was followed by four sequels on PS1 which saw Lara Croft gain even more prominence across the entertainment industry. During the transition to PS2; Angel of Darkness saw the series lose its way somewhat, although it did massively bounce back with a series of successful titles including Legend and Anniversary on PS2 which were later re-mastered for PS3 in a trilogy story arc that also included Underworld which had previously released as the first Tomb Raider game on PS3. The character and the series are certainly no strangers to spin-offs as there have even been a range of side projects such as Game Boy Advance spin-off games that are not considered to be connected to any of the story arcs found in the home console games, alongside isometric home console games titled Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light for PS3 in 2010, Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris on PS4 in 2014 and a further isometric game albeit in a turn-based fashion named Lara Croft GO which released for mobile devices in 2015 before being ported to Vita and PS4 in late 2016. There have even been three films with the third film released in 2018 starring Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft. However, it was the terrific Tomb Raider reboot which has resulted in the Tomb Raider series and Lara Croft’s character being at the peak of their popularity and quality. Rise of the Tomb Raider celebrated Tomb Raider’s and Lara Croft’s 20th anniversary by building upon the momentum and overhauling gameplay mechanics that were previously established in the Tomb Raider reboot.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider: The Official Art Book is in expertly prepared hands as it is written by Paul Davies and Martin Dubeau. Paul Davies has over a quarter of a century worth of experience from editing gaming publications to being a writer and consultant for videogame developers and publishers. Paul Davies has also co-authored a variety of gaming art books based upon the subject matter of Assassin’s Creed: Origins, the Deus Ex universe, Halo 4, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Sea of Thieves, Thief and more besides. Meanwhile, Martin Dubeau has over two decades worth of experience in the videogame industry were he began as a lead 2D artist for a multitude of games. Martin Dubeau joined the development team at Eidos-Montreal when he was approached to become the technical art director and production manager for Deus Ex: Human Revolution and has also brought his vast knowledge of art direction to Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider: The Official Art Book begins with an introduction that covers Lara Croft’s evolution from Tomb Raider and Rise of the Tomb Raider via a thought provoking descriptive overview; complimented by incredible artwork for Tomb Raider by Crystal Dynamics and Rise of the Tomb Raider by Brenoch Adams, Brandon Russell and Mathieu Latour-Duhaime that certainly sets the scene in the build-up to Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
From lead protagonist Lara Croft and her allies to her fiercest enemies and civilians that are caught in the middle of their battle to reach the artifacts first; characters have always been a huge part of the Tomb Raider franchise from the very first game in 1996 onwards. Characters are certainly not ignored in Shadow of the Tomb Raider: The Official Art Book as it is the first major component of Shadow of the Tomb Raider to be covered in detail from page 12 until page 51. For instance, Martin Dubeau and Michaël Verhaaf discusses Lara’s outfits in Shadow of the Tomb Raider not only needing to reflect how much of a survivor she has grown to become, but also to encompass the cultures she is surrounded by whilst on her travels; accompanied by artwork from Michaël Verhaaf and Yun Ling. Meanwhile, Lara’s equipment and ability to craft items is also referred to such as how Lara’s knife is constructed from metal she finds in her crashed plane early on in the story, alongside Daniel Drapeau discussing Lara’s arsenal of weaponry that is essential when fighting numerous enemies. Lara’s equipment and weapons are accompanied by artwork from Crystal Dynamics, Arnaud Pheu, Ricardo Lima, Bruno Gauthier Leblanc and Secret 6 shows a variety of equipment and weaponry that Lara utilises throughout the story. Pages 24 and 25 revolve around the personality and concept artwork for Lara’s parents Richard and Amelia Croft by Brenoch Adams and Marek Okon respectively followed by two of Lara’s closest allies Jonah and Abby that also receive focus on their respective personalities and concept artwork.
The characters feature does not only involve Lara and her family, friends and equipment, but also her greatest adversary in the form of Trinity, their leader, soldiers, weapons and anyone else included in Trinity’s objectives with as much focus in description and artwork by Crystal Dynamics, Michaël Verhaaf, Nicolas Francoeur and Ricardo Lima as everyone and everything related to Lara. Further enemies of Lara’s include the jungle creatures that she encounters on her journey such as jaguars, howler monkeys, piranhas and more besides are rendered in detailed art by Mathieu Latour-Duhaime. That is not the end of Shadow of the Tomb Raider’s impressive array of characters as Lara forms an alliance with the native Paititi people and their leader Unuratu as they see the best of intentions in each other through battling against a common enemy in Trinity; complimented by concept art for their character models, clothing designs, architecture of their amulets and bows by Nicolas Francoeur, Ricardo Lima, Crystal Dynamics, Maxim Verehin, Michaël Verhaaf, Gabriel Van de Walle, Jean-Francois Mignault and Mike Chassagne. There are also numerous non-playable characters that Lara meets within communities with their own clothing styles and personalities as depicted by the artwork of Blake Rottinger, Nicolas Francoeur and Charly Chive.
Artifacts have always been a mainstay of the Tomb Raider franchise with Shadow of the Tomb Raider’s two significant artifacts analysed between pages 52 to 57. The Box of Ix Chel and the Key of Chak Chel are discussed in detail by Martin Dubeau from their origins to design inspirations over the course of two pages each with the Box of Ix Chel including concept artwork from various stages of design by Arnaud Pheu and Ricardo Lima, while the Key of Chak Chel features concept artwork from the very first design onwards by Clément Crocq and Arnaud Pheu.
Even the retro Tomb Raider games established Lara Croft as a globetrotting explorer; therefore it is no surprise that the vast majority of the book is dedicated to what could be described as additional characters in the form of the various locations Lara embarks upon in Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Locations are explored in astonishing detail from page 58 until 175 beginning with Lara’s family home at Croft Manor that is an important component in conveying Lara’s heritage and how it is integrated into the story that is accurately described by Martin Dubeau and depicted by amazing artwork from Fred Bennett, Yun Ling, Kenrick Leung, Ricardo Lima, Clément Crocq and Michaël Verhaaf. Lara explores Maya ruins throughout Shadow of the Tomb Raider’s story, so it is expected that they are focused on substantially with stunning concept art from unused environment ideas to artwork that made it into the final game from many of the talented concept artists. There are also environments situated in Mexico at the start of the story such as the immense scale of the Path of the Stars mural and communities of local people in Cozumel with more superb artwork by Charly Chive, Crystal Dynamics, Michael Baytion and Clément Crocq. Shadow of the Tomb Raider’s story includes many important moments such as Lara and Jonah’s plane crash early on that is conceptualised in art by Charly Chive, Nicolas Lizotte and Michel Chassagne to create the appropriate tension in the scene as Lara attempts to assist in steering the plane out of danger. Navigating the jungle as Trinity’s guards patrol is Lara’s toughest test as she must learn how to disguise herself amongst her surroundings with efficient use of camouflage that is showcased by stunning artwork by Yohann Schepacz and the rest of the team. Further locations include inhabited villages such as Kawaq Yaku and a city on a bigger scale named Paititi, multiple large murals and temples, alongside numerous other crucial environments to the story that are discussed and conceptualised in artwork by the team.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider: The Official Art Book does not quite end there though as there is significant coverage of the challenge tombs that plays a massive part in the gameplay design of Shadow of the Tomb Raider as discussed by concept artist Ricardo Lima; complimented by even more incredible artwork by Clément Crocq, Ricardo Lima, Vincenzo Barkasy, Arnaud Pheu, Yun Ling, Michael Baytion, Crystal Dynamics and Virtuos. Given that puzzles are a main component of challenge tombs; the next logical step is puzzle designs as discussed by lead puzzle designer and 3D modeler Yann Régnier involving an overview to eight of his puzzles from the Sky Temple puzzles and Croft Manor puzzles combined with an illustration of how each puzzle is constructed. Shadow of the Tomb Raider: The Official Art Book concludes with a two page spread of iconic art from Tomb Raider and a further two pages worth of iconic art from Rise of the Tomb Raider by Crystal Dynamics before a page lists some of the contributors to Shadow of the Tomb Raider: The Official Art Book and their respective roles within the development of Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
Quality of writing is always enthralling due to how natural the approach is from experienced writer Paul Davies, Shadow of the Tomb Raider’s art director Martin Dubeau and additional contributors as it reads as more of a discussion from one person to another about a videogame that means something to all the people involved in its creation. Meanwhile, it strikes a balance between being informative by discussing each fundamental process and tone to build the tension or emotion of a scene, while simultaneously being very readable without technical jargon detracting from the reader’s understanding of how scenes were constructed.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider: The Official Art Book is presented to an amazing quality with stunning artwork from the front cover through to the back cover with the positioning of concept art situated precisely on each page; resulting in every image perfectly framing the text and vice versa. Artwork consists of everything from characters and artifacts to environments and puzzles with artwork and descriptive text forming a creative discussion of the processes involved in each important scene that resonates effectively with the reader.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider: The Official Art Book’s ultimate value is in the quantity of quality that it produces in not only showing such intricate artwork from an entire team of extremely talented artists, but also by having Shadow of the Tomb Raider’s art director Martin Dubeau and further contributors from throughout the development team discussing the process of each scene showcased within the book, alongside providing insight into early concept artwork from some scenes that did not make it into the final version of the game. Character design and environment design has such an amazing emphasis, while artifacts have less coverage, although both of the major artifacts within the story are focused upon more than enough to provide equal parity with other features. For instance, all of Shadow of the Tomb Raider’s environments provides absolute wonderment to their sheer scale and magnitude that is perfectly showcased throughout the 118 pages worth of detailed coverage containing every memorable environment. There is not a moment throughout the 192 pages that seems to be too long or out of place as Shadow of the Tomb Raider: The Official Art Book always remains interesting in both writing and artistic approach from the front cover to the back cover and everything in between. A further nice touch is the inclusion of a Black Shadow Band Resource Pack redemption code via Square Enix’s official website for the reader’s preferred platform; providing a total of eight gold and four jade to assist in crafting ammo or healing items that are essential to Lara Croft’s survival in Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
Analysis
- Title: Shadow of the Tomb Raider: The Official Art Book
- Writers: Paul Davies and Martin Dubeau
- Contributions: Arnaud Pheu (Senior Concept Artist), Fred Bennett (Senior Concept Artist), Michaël Verhaaf (Concept Artist), Charly Chive (Concept Artist), Clément Crocq (Concept Artist), Ricardo Lima (Concept Artist), Yun Ling (Concept Artist), Yann Régnier (3D Artist), Daniel Drapeau (Gameplay Director) and more
- Publisher: Titan Books
- Length: 192 pages
- Cover: Hardback
Shadow of the Tomb Raider: The Official Art Book can be purchased in the UK from Amazon and Forbidden Planet, while Shadow of the Tomb Raider: The Official Art Book can be purchased in America and Canada from Amazon. You can also find Titan Books‘ official website including a back catalogue of captivating books and product details regarding Shadow of the Tomb Raider: The Official Art Book.
