By Paul Davies and Martin Dubeau

Titan, out now

Everyone’s favourite concussive archaeologist is back in the third part of her reboot trilogy. But this time Lara has made a very big mistake. A world ending one…

The Tomb Raider games have always been impressive but the reboot trilogy is next level in style and approach and the attention to detail shines through here. The book isn’t big on text but there’s a constant flow of information that places the designs in context and talks about what they’re intended to do. The game plays with light in particularly interesting ways and some of the best sections include explorations of how Lara’s motion through the world is mapped onto her emotional state at that point in the game. Climbing out of darkness into light, moments of quiet in the middle of chaos. It all means something to the game, which means it all means something to the player which means it needs to be there.

The attention to detail is extraordinary and every setting here not only looks and feels plausible but has clearly gone through multiple iterations. In each case it’s been improved, becoming more lived in, more realistic and in some cases more terrifying. Because this is the game where things take a very dark turn indeed and the design choices behind that are amongst the best sections.

The book goes into specifics too, and animatics from the game are scattered throughout to give you an idea of how the environments are used. Better still, it walks you through character design and explores how the various pieces of equipment and outfits Lara builds are reflective of her state of mind and position in the game. Every page shows you how much work goes into every element of a game like this and every page tells you something new. Although my favourite were the puzzle blueprints. I can almost feel my oxygen bar running out…

Verdict: Gorgeous to look at, informative and well produced this is a must for any Tomb Raider fan. 9/10

Alasdair Stuart