Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation is an action-adventure video game developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive. It was first released for PlayStation and Microsoft Windows in 1999, then on Dreamcast and Mac OS the following year. It is the fourth instalment in the Tomb Raider series. The narrative follows archaeologist-adventurer Lara Croft as she races to imprison the Egyptian god Set after accidentally setting him free. Gameplay features Lara navigating levels split into multiple areas and room complexes, fighting enemies and solving puzzles to progress.
Production of The Last Revelation began in 1998. Due to the strain of developing Tomb Raider titles non-stop since 1996, and general fatigue with the character, the Core Design staff wrote the narrative to end with Lara's death. While the same basic engine was used, it was extensively redesigned for better graphics and more intelligent enemy behaviour. The Dreamcast version emerged following the end of Sony's PlayStation exclusivity agreement with Eidos. The music was composed by Peter Connelly in his first major work on the series.
The game received generally positive reviews from critics, with many praising it as a return to form, but noting a lack of major innovation; several critics felt the series was becoming stale. The Dreamcast port was generally criticised for its poor technical performance compared to other platforms. As of 2009, The Last Revelation is the fourth best-selling Tomb Raider title with over five million copies sold worldwide. Eidos continued the series, and two more Tomb Raider titles began production at the same time; Tomb Raider: Chronicles for PlayStation, Dreamcast and home computers, and The Angel of Darkness for PlayStation 2 and home computers. A remastered version of the game was included in Tomb Raider IV–VI Remastered, released in 2025.
Gameplay
Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation is an action-adventure video game in which the player assumes the role of archaeologist-adventurer Lara Croft, exploring a series of ancient ruins and tombs in search of ancient artefacts. The levels are split between a mandatory two-level tutorial area set in Cambodia, and the other levels taking place across locations in Egypt. Levels are separated into different zones, and some level areas need to be revisited to progress further into the game. As with earlier Tomb Raider titles, the game is presented from a third person perspective. Key to progress is solving puzzles scattered through the level, which can rely on both pulling different types of switches or finding key items. During some levels, Lara has access to a Jeep and a motorcycle with a sidecar for vehicle sections.
As with previous entries, Lara is controlled through levels using tank controls. In addition Lara can sprint, walk, move certain objects, take manual control of the game camera to look around the area, climb, monkey swing using suitable overhead surfaces, crawl through narrow spaces, roll, and jump across gaps. There are also secret actions such as turning mid-jump, performing swan dives into water, and performing a handstand. In deep bodies of water, Lara can swim around, with a limited amount of breath before she must surface or risk drowning. In shallower water, Lara can only wade at walking pace and jump vertically. In addition to her standard and returning moves, Lara can climb up poles and ropes, swing on ropes to cross gaps or navigate between the floors of a level, use a scope to aim a weapon accurately, and climb around corners. Some environmental elements such as torches can also be interacted with.
Combat involves Lara engaging enemies which appear at certain points in the environment. Lara's main weapons are her recurring dual pistols with unlimited ammunition. A shotgun, Uzis, revolver, grenade launcher, and crossbow can also be found across the game; all have limited ammunition, and some have multiple types for different effects on enemies. Players can switch between manual and automatic targeting systems. A laser scope can also be found, which when attached to a compatible weapon allows for accurate aiming from a first-person perspective. Key items in multiple levels are the binoculars for seeing distant areas, the crowbar for prying items from set places or opening some doors, and flares for illuminating dark areas. The inventory system is different from earlier entries, which used a ring system. The Last Revelation uses horizontal scrolling menus, and adds another layer for combining items or switching ammunition types for weapons. Consumable items such as health packs and ammunition can be found through the level, including secret caches of supplies.
Plot The Last Revelation opens with a flashback to a teenage Lara Croft in 1984, when she and her mentor Werner Von Croy are exploring a section of Angkor Wat for an artefact called the Iris. Upon discovering the Iris, Von Croy's haste to retrieve it triggers a trap, forcing Lara to escape without him. In the game's present of late 1999, Lara is in Egypt exploring the Tomb of Set, where the titular god of chaos is said to be imprisoned. She finds the legendary Amulet of Horus within the tomb, and escapes with it after being betrayed by her guide, who is working for Von Croy. Writing on the Amulet reveals that Lara's actions have released Set. Guided by her friend Jean-Yves, Lara explores ruins beneath Karnak and enters the tomb of Semerkhet, human ally to Set's rival Horus.
Having foreseen Lara's actions, Semerkhet left instructions for summoning Horus into the world at the turn of the millennium by cladding a stone statue of the god in his Armour and empowering it with the Amulet. While at Karnak, Von Croy ambushes Lara and steals the Amulet. Reaching Alexandria, Lara and Jean-Yves race against Von Croy's minions to retrieve the Armour of Horus from the buried ruins of Cleopatra's palace, while Set's forces move in to guard ancient sites. While Lara recovers the Armour of Horus, Von Croy kidnaps Jean-Yves and holds him for ransom in Cairo, asking for the Armour in exchange. On his way to Cairo, Von Croy is possessed by Set.
Lara arrives to find Cairo overrun by Set's forces. With help from the Egyptian Army sergeant Azizas, Lara gathers triggers for a truckload of explosives to kill a giant serpent blocking the path into the Citadel of Saladin. Azizas sacrifices himself driving the truck into the serpent. Lara rescues Jean-Yves, then pursues Von Croy into the Crusader vaults beneath the Citadel to retrieve the tablet containing Set's binding incantation. While Set offers Lara a chance to be his ally, Lara refuses and retrieves the Amulet. Beneath the Great Pyramid of Giza, Lara begins summoning Horus, but Set disrupts the ritual and attacks Lara. Lara escapes, using the Amulet to trap Set beneath the pyramid. Exhausted and injured as the temple crumbles, Lara meets Von Croy waiting outside. Unsure about whether he is himself, Lara does not take his hand as she hangs from a ledge, and Von Croy is forced to run as the temple collapses, leaving Lara's fate uncertain.
Development Production of The Last Revelation began in mid-1998, with development running parallel to Tomb Raider III. By this point, series developer Core Design had produced games annually for publisher Eidos Interactive since completing the original game. This led to both franchise fatigue, and emerging physical and mental health issues among the staff. They were also running out of ideas for keeping the franchise relevant. Since they were being given a large amount of creative freedom by Eidos, the staff secretly decided to kill off Lara and close the series. They formed the plan over a fortnight, and managed to keep it secret until it was too late to make any changes. When Core Design CEO Jeremy Heath-Smith discovered the team's plan, he reprimanded the team. Despite ultimately failing, the team were generally happy to have killed off Lara.
The story was created by Andrew Sandham, Pete Duncan, Kieron O'Hara and Richard Morton; the script was written by Sandham and Hope Caton. The title and concept came from the team wanting to create something new, a "revelation" for the series. The development team began by reading books on ancient civilizations, then designed levels based on these, which Sandham shaped into the plotline. Sandham's extensive involvement in the story was due to no-one else wanting to be involved. The limited location kept the narrative and aesthetic focused, while also giving a rich mythology from which to draw enemies and environments. While the location provided a lot of interesting elements, it also proved challenging due to a potentially-limited colour and texture palette. A trip on location was initially planned, but production deadlines meant it was cancelled, with the team instead going to the British Museum's Egyptian section and finding books on the region with lots of reference images.
The story goal was kept simple and clear, although there were several twists to the narrative. In an early draft of the planned finale, Sandham had Lara decapitated, but dropped the concept as Core Design's executives would not stand for it. In a series retrospective, Sandham noted that Core Design's attempted killing-off of Lara provided some catharsis for the team despite knowing it would likely not succeed. Lara's relationship with Jean-Yves was compared by staff to that between Fox Mulder and Dana Scully from The X-Files. The character of Jean-Yves caused controversy due to his coincidental resemblance to French archaeologist Jean-Yves Empereur. Eidos issued a public apology to Empereur following complaints from him about the character, and decided not to use the character in future instalments.
The atmosphere and puzzle design deliberately harkened back to the design principles of the original Tomb Raider, while differentiating the concept. The puzzle elements focused back on the solving of problems rather than exploring large environments for keys as had been happening in earlier sequels. Several elements, such as the UI menus and the opening tutorial level, were entirely redesigned so the game would act as a reintroduction of the character to players. In addition to new moves, Lara's existing moveset and animations were tweaked to be easier for players to activate. The targeting system was improved so Lara would lock into enemies within range and could toggle between them. In addition, the enemy AI was reworked to be more reactive and strategic. Speaking on the companion AI, Sandham remembered it being difficult to program effectively as it was a new feature in gaming at the time. While a multiplayer option was considered, it was rejected due to time and resource limits. A separate tutorial area was similarly removed to reduce workload, with tutorial elements instead incorporated into the opening levels.
While using the same basic engine design as had been used up to Tomb Raider III, the team redesigned and rebuilt it as far as possible, with an estimated 90% of the code being new. The engine redesign allowed the environment to have more 3D architecture and interactive objects within levels than earlier titles, along with more context-sensitive lighting. Lara's model was redesigned to remove the polygonal appearance of earlier instalments as much as possible. She was also given more animation during cutscenes, allowing her to blink and have lip movements when talking. The cutscene design, which had real-time sequences merging into gameplay and "natural" zone transitions linking the narrative, was inspired by the cinematic style of Final Fantasy VII and Metal Gear Solid. To make the game more accessible, the inventory rings were replaced by simpler scrolling inventory menus, and the loading screens were removed.