Fast-paced and violent: the debut trailer for Shadow of the Tomb Raider is certainly attention-grabbing in its execution of multiple executions. Even the colouring of the orange eclipse over a Mayan temple paints a very brutal picture for Lara Croft’s latest romp, and according to hands-on reports from those in attendance at a recent preview event in Montreal it’ll be the darkest. At the very least, that’s what Eidos Interactive and Square Enix are branding it as.

Apparently Croft has gone through a bit of a change of heart, as the need to raid tombs and gather treasure before her rivals has taken precedent over everything else. Personal relationships, murdering waves upon waves of soldiers, and more don’t concern her anymore – as she becomes a very real reflection of the the ne’er-do-wells that she’s taken out in the past. Truly, she has become the monster this time around, making the title ‘Shadow of the Tomb Raider‘ a rather telling monicker.

Of course, the trailer itself does a great job at further elaborating upon this as well.

In the past we’ve seen Lara Croft become impaled, mauled by bears, and brutalized beyond recognition in a number of different ways. All of this has set the tone for the rebooted trilogy as Square Enix pushes it into new directions that better tell an intimate (and occasionally gruesome) story of the iconic gaming character. So now that word has arrived that the envelope will be pushed even further by sending such a beloved adventurer down a horrendously dark path, so only the question of “when” remains. Fortunately, Square Enix opted to disclose just that.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider will arrive on September 14, 2018. Although there’s a way for fans to gain access a little earlier, because if they preorder the forthcoming game then they’ll be able to play it two days ahead of its release. Not too shabby of a deal, truthfully.

On top of that, the recent Tomb Raider film should help to garner more attention for the game, so things are beginning to look quite promising for the future of the franchise. Perhaps Shadow of the Tomb Raider won’t feature a narrative quite as surface-level as that film (hopefully, at least), but given the quality of this title’s predecessor, Rise of the Tomb Raider, it’s looking like gamers will be in for a treat.

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As previously mentioned, Shadow of the Tomb Raider arrives for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on September 14, 2018.

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