Lara Croft is the latest crossover character coming to Call of Duty, and now that the Season 5 Reloaded skin has been fully revealed, Tomb Raider fans think this might be the first peak we're getting at the new, "unified" look for Lara.
While the modern Tomb Raider trilogy serves as an origin story for Lara, it's always been a bit tonally inconsistent with the more comic book aesthetics of the original games. Nonetheless, back in 2021 the devs talked about an effort to "unify these timelines," which has left fans guessing about what Lara's going to look like once the series bridges the gap between exaggerated '90s sex appeal and modern gritty realism.
That's why the new Lara Croft skin debuting in Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone Season 5 Reloaded is drawing so many eyes in the Tomb Raider community. Here's Lara in her classic green tank top, wielding old-school dual pistols, but looking a bit more like an actual human woman than she did back in the PlayStation days.
As one comment over on the Tomb Raider subreddit puts it: "UNIFIED LARA CROFT UNIFIED LARA CROFT UNIFIED LARA CROOFFFTT!!! YES YES YES YES!! The unified look is all but 100% confirmed at this point! This is all I’ve wanted in a Unified look!!"
"If this is what Lara will look like in the next game (and I think it is, it does look like an older survivor Lara), then we absolutely won!" another commenter says. "Seriously, my only nitpick is that I still want Shadow's muscle definition to be there. Other than that, this is perfect IMO."
"The dual pistols, the classic outfit, the braid, the backpack. No more bow and arrows. She's strong and confident. She doesn't have daddy issues," yet another commenter says. "I'm not crying, you're crying!!!"
Of course, Lara's appearance in Call of Duty doesn't necessarily show us exactly what she'll look like in the next game, and some fans are copping to that. "Considering this is from a crossover, made by a different developer who picked Lara's most recognizable outfit. I wouldn't treat this version as anything conclusive or a hint for future Tomb Raider games."
What this skin does give us, however, is an idea of what a Lara Croft that splits the difference between old and new aesthetics might look like. And if the franchise rights holders approved a more classic look for Lara in CoD, it might indicate that the new game is moving away from the survivor aesthetic. Fans have already been getting their hopes up for some actual concrete details on the new game thanks to a recent website update.
The new Tomb Raider game was formally announced back in 2022 as a "cinematic action-adventure" built on Unreal Engine 5. Later in the year, Amazon announced that it would be publishing the game.
Got enough new games for 2023 on your radar yet? Of course not.
