Fan documentaries are nothing new, though it can be a bit hard to find ones that are of a high enough quality to recommend to anyone other than die-hard followers. When I stumbled upon History and Geography in Tomb Raider, I realized it was one of those rare fan documentaries that could appeal to a broader audience. Fans of historical gaming, the Tomb Raider series, history, and web documentaries can nestle in with this YouTube series, which covers the interesting and exciting real-life myths, historical events, archaeological sites, and locations that inspired the various adventures of video game heroine Lara Croft.
The Tomb Raider series dates back to the original PlayStation and has become a staple of the gaming industry. Lara Croft is a notable hero known for venturing deep into lost civilizations to uncover mysteries of the past. On its surface, the franchise has always been about adventure, but when you start to really pay attention to the stories told, you realize there are hints of realism pulled from the annals of time.
History and Geography in Tomb Raider pinpoints those aspects of the series and delves deep into the franchise’s early years, starting with the first title and making its way through the later entries. The documentary series was created by Simon Bucher, a 25-year-old Tomb Raider fan and director from Germany.
Originally launched in August of 2016, the series has three episodes, each one covering an entry into the PS1 video games. The third episode just launched in the 4th quarter of 2020, so now is a perfect time to check out the documentary series. There is a ton of material for the series to cover, so it’s possible that Bucher will dive into the rest of the franchise and possibly even touch on the more recent reboot trilogy.
Each episode is filled to the brim with interesting historical facts, archive footage, behind-the-scenes photos, and more. The first episode is even narrated by Shelley Blond, the original voice of Lara Croft herself. Every subsequent episode of the web series has also gotten progressively longer in length and more ambitious, with episode one being 37 minutes, episode two more than double that at 1 hour and 16 minutes, and the recent third episode having a whopping 1 hour and 32-minute runtime.
Even those who may not be longtime fans of the Tomb Raider series still may find interest in this documentary web series, simply because it features many interesting historical facts and for the level of research that has gone into the whole project.
It’s relatively rare to see fan documentaries with this much love and dedication put into them, so any big fans of the Tomb Raider franchise owe it to themselves and the documentary series’ creator to check this out. If you hold any sort of appreciation towards Lara Croft’s adventures or historical video games in general, then the documentary web series History and Geography in Tomb Raider will be worth the watch.
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At Epoch Xperience, we specialize in creating compelling narratives and provide research to give your game the kind of details that engage your players and create a resonant world they want to spend time in. If you are interested in learning more about our gaming research services, you can browse Epoch Xperience’s service on our parent site, SJR Research.
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(This article is credited to Ben Price. For as long as he can remember, Ben has always loved playing, discussing, and writing about video games. Since receiving his B.A. in English, he now writes about them for a living.)