You Can Now Play This Canceled Tomb Raider Game
Things have been pretty quiet for Lara Croft ever since 2018's Shadow of the Tomb Raider and its last DLC came out, with only the upcoming mobile game Tomb Raider Reloaded to look forward to. However, if you're looking for some never-before-seen Tomb Raider experiences to play, then you're in luck. Tomb Raider preservation fan-site Tomb of Ash has made it so that you can finally play 2006's canceled Tomb Raider 10th Anniversary.
To play this forgotten artifact of the Tomb Raider universe, fans need to download the appropriate files from Tomb of Ash and potentially install Visual Studios to fix some DLL errors. While originally designed for the PSP, the game is only playable on PC for the time being. Tomb Raider fans will also have to make sure they have a DualShock 4 laying around or dig up an Xbox 360 controller, as these are currently the only input devices supported.
Once everything is put together, fans will be able to explore three levels from the original Tomb Raider, remade with enhanced visuals. The available maps are Greece, Peru, and the Croft Manor. While the lighting and geometry of the game may seem a bit dated today, the texture work and physics are a clear improvement over the 1996 original. These maps do not feature any enemies, unfortunately, but the levels are explorable and show off some of Lara Croft's trademark acrobatics.
Tomb Raider fans, especially those that host Tomb of Ash, have been curious about Tomb Raider 10th Anniversary ever since it was revealed and then abruptly canceled. The early 2000s were not kind to the Tomb Raider franchise, with a series of disappointing releases that devalued the brand. Core Design, Tomb Raiders' creators, began working on Tomb Raider 10th Anniversary in 2006, but it was quickly shelved in favor of Crystal Dynamics' cross-platform Tomb Raider Anniversary. The only reason fans ever knew 10th Anniversary was in the works was because of a gameplay trailer that leaked before the entire project was tossed out.
Fans who want to try out Tomb Raider 10th Anniversary might want to do so sooner rather than later. Tomb of Ash notes that the site has reached out to Crystal Dynamics multiple times to ask permission to publish the assets, but never received any sort of official response. The game could be classified as abandonware due to its unfinished nature and the dissolution of the original development studio. However, the post does include a takedown policy that states that any assets will be removed within five days of a request to do so from a copyright holder.