Set three years after the events of Rise of the Tomb Raider, its story follows Lara Croft as she ventures through the tropical regions of the Americas to the legendary city Paititi, battling the paramilitary organization Trinity and racing to stop a Mayan apocalypse she has unleashed.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider was designed to conclude Lara's journey begun in the 2013 reboot, with a key theme being descent both through the jungle environment and into her personality.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is an action-adventure game played from a third-person perspective; players take on the role of Lara Croft as she explores environments across Mexico and Peru.

The controls for swimming have been revised, as Lara is able to hold her breath underwater for a longer period of time due to the introduction of air pockets.

Stealth is important, as Lara can disengage from combat when she escapes from enemies' line of sight by camouflaging herself in mud, hiding in bushes or blending into densely vegetated surfaces.

[8] Like its predecessors, the game allows players to hunt wild animals, craft materials using resources collected, solve puzzles and seek out optional tombs and side quests.

[9] In 2015, months since the events of Rise of the Tomb Raider,[10] Lara Croft (Camilla Luddington) and her friend Jonah Maiava (Earl Baylon) have dedicated themselves to stopping the activities of paramilitary organization Trinity.

Murals adorning the walls allude to the Silver Box of Ix Chel and warn of "the Cleansing", a Mayan apocalypse culminating in a permanent solar eclipse.

Exploring local tombs reveals that piercing the Box with the Dagger will grant the user the power of the god Kukulkan, which must be used to halt the Cleansing.

When Lara saves a boy named Etzli (Kamran Lucas), she and Jonah are brought into Paititi by his mother Unuratu (Patricia Velásquez), queen of the city.

True to Unuratu's warning, she is tempted to use the Box to revive her parents, but instead lets Crimson Fire symbolically stab her, sacrificing Kukulkan's spirit and stopping the Cleansing.

A post-credits scene shows Lara planning her next adventure at Croft Manor, acknowledging that her role is not to solve the world's mysteries, but to protect them.

[17]The staff wanted to tackle the "political tension" and social impact of a rich white woman hunting artefacts in foreign lands, with Lara coming to terms with her position in the story's climax.

The destruction Lara releases when claiming a key artefact before Trinity was designed as an inversion of the traditional Tomb Raider approach, which used a similar style without consequences.

[15] The team needed to consider the overall concept of the reboot trilogy, and narrative threads previously left unresolved in Rise including who killed Lara's father.

[17][22] While the team were restricted in story design by the overall plan, they were able to adjust the gameplay balance to bring a greater focus on puzzles compared to Rise.

[19] Director Daniel Chayer-Bisson described redesigning the established level design as "a nightmare", because they had to take into account player experimentation and potential sequence breaking when implementing new mechanics such as climbing onto overhangs and using the grappling line.

[10] During surveys of the fan base, the team heard wishes both for harder puzzles and the removal of visual climbing aids such as white surfaces.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider was made inviting for newcomers as the opening section acted as both a narrative introduction and a tutorial for Lara's abilities.

[15] The setting and narrative took inspiration from Mayan, Aztec and Incan mythology, including its recurring focus on sun worship, sacrifice, and the ages of mankind.

While following the musical styles established since the 2013 reboot, the team added new esthetic elements, incorporating the local culture and the darker portrayal of both Lara and her mission.

D'Oliveira was brought on due to his ability with South American instruments, and during recording at his Montreal studios worked with native musicians to achieve the right sound for each location.

[24] Square Enix confirmed that a sequel to Rise of the Tomb Raider was in development and scheduled to be released on 14 September 2018 for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One.

[2][3] A season pass gives players access to seven "paths" of downloadable content (DLC) which include new narratives, missions, tombs, weapons, outfits and skills.

[33][34][35] Brett Makedonski of Destructoid compared the game's themes to Uncharted and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, praised the graphics, platforming and tomb challenges, but criticized the story narrative.

[41] Lucy O'Brien of IGN said Shadow of the Tomb Raider offered a fitting conclusion to Lara Croft's origin trilogy, stating that the game's story manages to make a satisfying line between high-concept fun and grounded character exploration.

[46] Conversely, VideoGamer's Josh Wise disliked the main storyline as being filled with padding and undermined by weak writing, though he praised the platforming and world design.

[45] Edmond Tran of GameSpot also gave a mixed review, criticizing the game's side quests and Lara's character development while praising the story missions, graphics, environments and explorable tombs.

[37] Upon release, Shadow of the Tomb Raider got off to a slow start in sales, attributed by Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda to a lack of originality compared to other titles at the time.

[50] In a joint co-production between Netflix and Legendary Entertainment, an anime-style series adaptation based on the video game reboot franchise was in the works, titled Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft.