Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Is it Open World?

Is Shadow of the Tomb Raider Open World?

The rebooted Tomb Raider series is now a trilogy with the release of Shadow of the Tomb Raider. And if you’ve played the previous titles, you should be fairly familiar with the game design that Crystal Dynamics has all but perfected by now. Like its predecessors, Shadow of the Tomb Raider puts an emphasis on expansive, beautiful environments packed with relics to discover, crypts to explore, and of course, tombs to raid. There really is a huge amount to get through, so expect to invest plenty of hours into the experience. But is it open world? Here we’re explaining exactly how Shadow of the Tomb Raider’s world is designed.

The simple answer is no, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is not open world. Following a linear opening tutorial/introduction mission, you’ll explore segmented hub-style worlds that are semi-open world in design. Typically, there’s a fairly large central area to each hub and then several side areas that branch off in different directions. These side areas comprise the game’s many tombs, crypts, side quests, and challenge areas. Most of them are accessible straight away but others require you to have special items or weaponry to access. It’s definitely got some Metroidvania level design going on.

Don’t worry if you’re not a huge fan of back-tracking, though, because you can fast travel from base camp to base camp (the central hub of each area). You’ll find that some areas —even right at the game’s start— that are inaccessible you’ll end up returning to well into the game, and that can all be done pretty quickly with the fast travel mechanic.

That’s all you need to know about whether Shadow of the Tomb Raider is open world. For more useful guides and information on the game, check out our wiki page.