We reach a point sometimes during the gaming adventures of our life where we find ourselves cursing at the computer screen, babbling unacceptable things while getting so close to throwing our controller or keyboard out of the window or right on the screen itself. This may happen more than once, depending on how experienced a gamer you are or not, on how difficult and demanding are the games that you like to play and, maybe mostly, on how their gameplay is structured, something that quite often does not have much to do with how hard the game in question may be overall. What I am describing is those points in video games that tortured us enough to be considered as the banes of our existence; be it a nasty jumping sequence, an evil timed run, an insane boss fight, sometimes all such things combined. 

I started playing video games in the early 2000's, and have played quite a few since then; and I recall always wanting to complete the highest difficulty levels when they were available. I am mentioning this in order to highlight that a game sequence turning into a bane does not always have to do with the difficulty level; most of the times, it is a result of design and setup, and although how much experience a gamer has is also very important, it is not a number one factor in every case. The very first games that I played were third person shooters (Blake Stone, Wolfenstein 3D and Duke Nukem 3D), and a bit later I discovered the iconic third person adventures of Lara Croft in the Tomb Raider series. Up to now, I have played and loved games of various genres and gameplay styles, and naturally I have my fair share of banes, ranging from my first gaming years until recently. 

Von Beck's Revenge (Tank Chase Sequence), from Indiana Jones and The Emperor's Tomb

Released in 2003 by Lucas Arts, Indiana Jones and The Emperor's Tomb was sensational for its time, and it still is, for that matter. Classic third person, with fancy action, smart puzzles and wonderful sceneries, its only serious flaw (well, if you can call it such, but from a practical point of view, it kind of was) being the lack of checkpoints in the course of the levels. Each chapter was divided in several levels, at the end of which the game would make an automatic save; but there was no way to save your progress while in those levels. I do not remember experiencing any issues with this, however, until I reached a point very close to the finale, the infamous tank chase sequence in Hong Kong, in the level "Von Beck's Revenge". Von Beck was the villain of the story, an annoying and persisting German military man, who had been pursuing Indy throughout the whole adventure. So in Hong Kong he made his most grand entrance in a nasty tunnel full of abysmal gaps, driving a huge tank with a drill at its front. Not the least impressed with his artillery, Indy must run along said tunnel, jumping over the small gaps and taking care to swing over the biggest ones with the aid of his trusty whip, while Von Beck's drill is literally down his neck, creating even more gaps on the ground as it moves. It is a sequence that requires timing, speed and reflexes, and although it lasts less than 3 minutes, it is guaranteed to leave a mark. When I first played the game, it took me one whole week of retries until I finally made it, and I remember that when I gave the game another go a bit later, because I liked it so much, when I got to the accursed level I stopped and quit without even trying again. Just recently, I decided to go back to it and record it, to see how it would be after all this time; it now took me only a few reloads until I succeeded, and it was mainly because of the different control system which I was not used to. To be fair, however, I cannot blame my younger self for having such a hard time with this sequence, because back then I was playing with keyboard and mouse, and admittedly it is way easier to do with a controller, with which I played it now. 

 

Brother Obscura aka The Red Ghost Boss, from Tomb Raider: The Angel pf Darkness

Technically this is not a boss fight, as you do not literally fight the enemy in the actual sense, but as a sequence per se, it is set up in such a way as to be justly classified as such. Concluding a rather well-structured sequence in an underground archaeological site, this part of the Angel of Darkness is clearly one of its most notorious moments. Released in 2003, the last game of the now historical Core Design was a charming tangle of fascinating elements and problematic gameplay. In an attempt to evolve the well-known and lauded features of the classic Tomb Raider games, the developing team decided to implement a few new mechanics which, however, could never work as they were supposed to. And not only that; they affected the overall gameplay so badly, that even the simplest task, running from one spot to another just a few steps away, would end up being nothing less than a struggle. The main and most infuriating problem of the game was Lara's inexplicably slow movements, a number one obstruction in instances when she was called to do things quickly and with perfect timing. One such instance was the sequence in the attic of the Hall of Seasons where Brother Obscura, the infamous Red Ghost, was guarding a painting, the artifact that Lara had been looking for since the beginning of the adventure. In a small room with several identical statues, the Red Ghost keeps floating around, moving the painting from statue to statue, thus preventing Lara from taking it. The task here is to shoot the Red Ghost enough times so as to immobilize it for a few seconds, which will then give you time to run and grab the painting. Needless to say the conditions need to be perfect for the task to succeed: you need to stand close to the statue that holds the painting, but not too close because in this case the artifact will fly off to another statue; additionally, you need to stay there in the crawl position, so as to not get hit by the Red Ghost; and shoot it with a powerful gun so as to stun it quickly. Moreover, you need to holster the gun as soon as the Ghost gets stunned, and then stand up to run to the painting. With Lara's slow motion movements and her needing practically ages to change positions and holster her guns, all this becomes an instant and never-ending nightmare. Even now, I found it quite nasty, although not even half as bad as in my first runs.

Boaz Returns, from Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness

Another nasty highlight from The Angel of Darkness was undoubtedly the boss fight with Cristina Boaz, the scientist who mutated into a hideous giant spider-like creature and was "tasked" to rid off Kurtis Trent, the secondary protagonist of the story. Designed almost the same way as Lara in this game, Kurtis however was at the same time better and worse as far as his movements were concerned: he was able to run a bit faster, but certain moves, like stepping backwards for instance, seemed to be a pain for him to execute. On top of that, although he was carrying his cool, sharp and shiney chirugai, it remained a precious gem hanging from his belt, as he could use it only during cutscenes. On the other hand Boaz, although being even more awkward than him, was able to attack him with a variety of ways, the worst being those that made him fall, because then, just like Lara, he needed ages to stand up on his feet. In addition, the aiming system was not on Kurtis's side either, resulting in most of us succeeding in hitting the targets (the four pods on Boaz's body) almost entirely by chance.

 

The Great Pyramid Shaft, from Tomb Raider: Anniversary

Timed events are always a highlight in games; in fact the tighter, the better. Or maybe not. Sometimes the line between challenging and infuriating is so thin, it can easily become invisible. One such case is the sequence with the timed jumps in the shaft of the Great Pyramid, from Tomb Raider: Anniversary. The game was released in 2007, created by the developing team of Crystal Dynamics as an admittedly impressive remake of the original, classic first Tomb Raider game. For the most part, Anniversary was a blast; fantastic graphics, immersive, interactive environments and ambience, beautiful music, a smoothly moving Lara, an easy and comprehensive control system - and then there were the retractable poles. I can't even attempt to understand the logic of adding retractable poles in nearly every room in Egypt, but regardless it was something you eventually got used to after a point; until you reached that demonic shaft in the Great Pyramid in Atlantis. The room consists of several levels going upwards, that you need to reach after performing sets of timed jumps. Said jumps involve, guess what: retractable poles, as well as retractable rings to which you must grapple and swing from. After the first two sets which are rather easy, there comes the third set - the actual bane of my existence in this game. That third set is, no doubt, the work of demonic forces combined, moreover since there is a workaround there in plain sight which, however, is nearly impossible to acknowledge due to the deceiving complex "official" route that you are supposed to follow while running out of time in the most unforgiving fashion. When I first played the game, I literally quit at that point after I don't know how many retries. Then I downloaded a save file from right after that part, so as to be able to at least complete the game. I admit it was a most traumatic experience, because it is not like me to quit a game like this; let alone a Tomb Raider game which, moreover, I loved. And now, nearly 20 years later, the time came for me to make amends and give it a try again. Again, it was pure nastiness, but now, after having played several difficult and challenging games meanwhile, I knew how to deal with it; and I knew that when something in a game seems impossible, there is always another way around it. Of course it can also be done the official, long way, but the shortcut I am going for in the video is pure work of art - and yes, I see it this way since, thanks to it, I was finally able to complete this part after all these years. 

 

The Final Execution Chamber, from the Executioner DLC of The Evil Within

I have very fond memories of The Evil Within, which proves how a game can be as difficult as it gets, but if it is wisely designed, it can offer a most entertaining experience. Created by Shinji Mikami, the mastermind behind the first Resident Evil games, The Evil Within was released in 2014 by Bethesda and it still carries its peculiar, undeniable charm. There are no flaws in its DLC The Executioner either, just an extremely difficult extra level / room in NG+. Luckily, you have very strong weapons at your disposal at that point, but this does not make the Final Execution Chamber less challenging. In the DLC, you play as the Keeper, and you pass through a series of rooms where you have to fight all sorts of monsters and enemies from the main game. The Final Execution Chamber is naturally the toughest of all, as there are that many enemies whom you must defeat, and on top of that, in the end you are forced to fight a very badass Sebastian and a crazed, enraged Joseph at the same time. I like to call them The Murder Husbands at that point because, let's face it, they kind of look like they are that. Needless to say they are insanely tough bosses, and more so since they attack together. I remember reaching my wits end in this frustrating mess of a battle, so I decided to start recording it to give me a motive and keep trying. I was victorious eventually, but I admit that, as much as I enjoyed it, I don't think I will ever touch that DLC again.

 

Lucas Baker Boss Fight in Professional difficulty, from the Not A Hero DLC of Resident Evil 7

From Resident Evil 7 and onwards, most games in the Resident Evil franchise took a different approach as far as their levels of difficulty would differ from each other. Its DLC episode "Not A Hero" was no exception in its Professional difficulty, its main problem being the rather stingy drops of ammo that you find and the insane number of super-strong enemies you have to deal with until you reach the arena of the boss fight. Lucas Baker becomes a nasty, infuriating mold monster in the finale of the episode, and at first he may seem impossible to defeat in Professional difficulty. I remember arriving at the last room of the game with as much ammo as I could get, and still running out of all of it before he would even reach his last phase. The "secret" to beat him is in fact using several weapons in some kind of cycle, something that the game does not make clear during the fight. You can easily decipher that his weak point is his heart whenever it gets exposed, but to be able to shoot it enough times while preventing him from fatally attacking Chris requires a series of strategic moves that, once understood, can really make the battle in Professional end within minutes. Stunning him with incendiary grenades just before he lands an attack, then immediately shooting him to eventually expose his heart which, in turn, gets a dramatic amount of damage when shot with a specific kind of ammo, puts an end to his miserable existence faster than you would expect. This fight was a nightmare for me when I first got to play the DLC, and I remember not being able to finish it back then; I did so years later, and again now for the sake of this article. This time it felt way easier; I don't know if it was because I got a better computer now, thanks to which the game had better performance, or because meanwhile I had become more experienced after having played several demanding games; maybe it was a combination of both. 

 

 

Nemesis Boss Fight in Nightmare and Inferno difficulty, from Resident Evil 3 Remake 

Jill Valentine's iconic adventure in Raccoon City saw an interesting remake in 2020, which was a pretty atmospheric game with nicely developed characters, and one very nasty boss: the infamous Nemesis could only be even more evolved in his revamped version, made even more stressing due to Jill having to move in tight and limited spaces while being chased by her ferocious stalker. There are several boss battles that you have to carry out with this monster, plus one crazy chase through town; and although all of these sequences can easily become a gamer's banes, it is the last boss fight that shines as the absolute winner. The finale of the game finds Jill trapped in a room with the heavily mutated Nemesis covering half of it. The boss cannot move around, but it is able to attack Jill with a series of deadly ways, while she must shoot several blobs on its "body" and at the same time fix the super-powerful weapon which is conveniently placed in the same room and with which she will be eventually able to destroy the monster. In the first three difficulty levels this fight is a breeze; the Nemesis has very few blobs on it, its attacks are fewer and much slower, and Jill has all the time in the world to succeed in her mission. But in Nightmare and, worse, in Inferno difficulties, fighting the final form of the Nemesis is exactly that: a nightmare and Hell incarnate. This is one of the cases where the difficulty level truly makes a difference. The boss has way more blobs on it, which, moreover, are more resilient; its attacks are incessant, literally the one after the other, and capable of sending you to the You Are Dead screen far more times than you can count; and the time that you are given to fix the weapon whenever the monster is stunned, is marginally a nasty joke. The first time that I finally made it, I could not believe my own eyes, and I admit it is a sequence that I never look forward to when playing the game. 

Naturally in the gaming part of my life I still come across several sequences that have the characteristics of a bane, but those listed above have to be the most impressive ones, at least in terms of how many times I had to play them out until I would finally succeed in completing them.

Lara's Home Through the Years

One of the most iconic elements in the Tomb Raider saga has always been the Croft Manor, Lara's luxurious mansion, serving as a tutorial in the frist games, and evolving to part of the plot in the later ones.

The Beginning: Tomb Raider 1 (1996)

The Croft Manor in Tomb Raider 1 is big and with large rooms, but many of them are inaccessible. There are no exterior areas and there is not much to do in the house. However, there are still several rooms to visit: there is the bedroom, the music room, the library, the hall, the gym and the pool. Nearly all these rooms have very few items and furniture in them; of course we know Lara is away from home almost all year long, so she doesn't really have time to take care of the house's decoration.

The gym is thoroughly constructed with a training course so that Lara can practice her moves. This room used to be the ballroom but apparently Lara was too busy to host guests; so she decided to take advantage of all that vast space and have something that would actually be of real use to her.

The pool room is also made with detail; a pool in greco-roman style, with glass ceiling and beautiful decorations on the walls, lovely wall paintings in the outer room and greenery hanging from above. In the pool, Lara can practice her swimming on the surface and underwater, see how long she can hold her breath while in the water and learn to dive from the platform on the other side.

All the other rooms are vast, and there is even a mattess covering almost the whole floor of the music room. Lara prompts the player to jump around when she gets there. She also has a piano and a harp but she cannot interact with them, so we couldn't know, by that time, if she could play them or not.

• TR1 Lara's Home gameplay

Something Changes: Tomb Raider 2 (1997)

The game evolved - and so did Lara. Just one year later, their development is impressive, to say the least. Equally, the Manor is a very improved version of the previous one. Apart from the whole better design and texturing, there is also much more space to explore, as now we have the chance to see what lies behind all those closed doors.

We also have the chance to meet Winston, Lara's famous butler. Winston is as old as the sun, and has the somewhat annoying habit of following Lara around with a silver tea tray in his hands, several times getting in her way and cutting off her running momentum. What is bizzare about Winston is that, although he is literally dragging his feet, he is able to catch up with Lara in the most impossible places.

Lara's bedroom now has a private bathroom, decorated in the same greco-roman style of the pool room - Lara is an archaeologist, and has a great fascination for her field of science, so she somehow had to include all this in her everyday life as well.

The library, always present in Lara's home, is now imrpoved, with better textures, giving a much more realistic feel. The music room is there as well, with the piano and the harp, but now Lara also has a hi-fi stereo and can use it to listen to music.

The manor now has an attic, which for the time being only hosts a few random crates that cannot be moved. The ground floor is greatly innovated: the gym is gone and the ballroom is back in its place, and there is also a very large kitchen close to it, with a walk-in freezer where you can lock Winston if you are feeling devilish. The pool looks almost exactly like the one in the Tomb Raider 1 manor, but again the textures are a lot better, the water looks like real water and now the greenery is sitting in pots. The decoration of the walls and the pool is the same, only very improved.

What makes the biggest innovation however is the addition of a vast exterior area, the Manor gardens. This area surrounds the whole house and includes a garden, a smaller garden, a hedge maze and an assault course. So this is why Lara had the interior gym removed; she doesn't need it for now, as she can do all her practice and training outdoors. In the assault course she can perform all her old and some cool new moves.

The hedge maze is on the other side of the gardens. Despite its simple design, it's a real pain to make your way through it, to find a secret area, a secluded spot with two Mayan statues - a reminiscent of Lara's peruvian adventure from Tomb Raider 1 - and a button between them. Pressing that button, opens a closed door below the stairs inside the house, on the first floor, just before the entrance to the ballroom. This door is timed, so you have to make your way out of the hedge maze as quickly as possible - a task that still makes me lose my mind to this day - and just hope that the door will still be open when you get to it.

The room beyond the door is some kind of a storeroom of treasures, as it isn't an organized treasure room; you can see some familiar artifacts, but what really catches the eye is piles of gold scattered around. Is all this gold part of Lara's dowry, or a generous souvenir from her adventures? We will never know. But I guess it must also hint to the Gold expansion of the game, which was released a bit later; the Golden Mask, which is an epic northern adventure, and includes a level called Fool's Gold, possibly referring to the drifter goldminers who were looking for gold in the vast snowy mountains of the North.

• TR2 Lara's Home gameplay

It's an Ambush! : Tomb Raider 2 - Home Sweet Home (1996)

We are back to the Manor as part of the game at the very end of Tomb Raider 2. After Lara kills Bartoli and retrieves the Dagger of Xian, she returns to England in the Home Sweet Home level. We see her in her royal blue bath robe, examining the Dagger before she goes to have a shower. Suddenly the alarms go off, and we realize that we are under attack. Fiamma Nera goons are breaking in the Croft Manor, wanting to steal the Dagger from Lara.

Now Lara has a key in her inventory; this opens the door that was locked in Lara's Home, next to her bed. The room behind that door is the Armory, but for some reason only the Shotgun is available, along with plenty of ammo and some medipacks and flares. Lara has to kill all the goons and their dogs and walk carefully in the darkness so as to not bump onto any of them and be taken by surpirse. Some carry bats and other carry guns. Those with the bats are easy to kill, as they don't move very fast and if they don't get too close they can't hurt Lara. Those with the guns are quite tough however, as they start shooting as soon as they spot Lara and they don't stop even to reload their weapons (they were granted infinite ammo, obviously). Eventually the Manor grounds are free of goons, and you have some time to explore them in the dark with the help of flares, before the chief, a huge goon with two big guns in his hands, spots you. Of course you can try to lure him in the freezer, lock him there and run around the house at your ease. But at some point you have to face him anyway, as there is no other way to end this level than with killing him.

Where is Winston, by the way? I guess he either didn't hear a thing because he's deaf, or he prefers to pretend he didn't take notice so as to not get involved. You can't trust anyone these days.

• Home Sweet Home gameplay

Swimming with the fishes: Tomb Raider 3 (1998)

Although technically the Croft Manor remains more or less the same in Tomb Raider 3 and even has Winston to go with, in its essence it is very different in many ways. The main difference is that it is made with much more detail, both in textures and objects. It now looks a lot like a real mansion that is actually inhabited by people, as in the rooms we stumble upon stylish furniture pieces that also add a decorative touch, like the animal print roman couch. Lara's bed has fancy blue curtains, the bathroom is much more luxurious and the interior gym is back - only now its vast space is limited, as part of it has been converted into a dining room, complete with a large table, chairs and a chandelier.

The attic is now more organized, and there is a switch puzzle waiting for you there. The basement is renovated and expanded and hosts a huge aquarium with exotic fishes swimming in it. Apparently Lara uses this place to relax, as there is a stylish and comfy couch and a small bookcase in the center of it. In the depths of the aquiarium, lies the key that opens another new area in the estate, the race track in the yard outside.

The swimming pool looks like a better version of the TR2 one, with brighter colors; and now has a button behind the diving board that opens a panel close to the entrance of the house. Bahind that panel is a lever, which opens a really nasty timed door on the opposide side. Needless to say that if you have Winston (who is back and slower than ever) following you around as you try to do this task, you will never be able to complete it so again it's better to act wisely beforehand and lock him in the freezer. Behind the timed door, is Lara's private museum which holds all those familiar artifacts from the previous games.

The exterior of the house is marvellous, with beautiful gardens and paths. The assault course is renovated to suit Lara's needs as now she can perform more moves and she has to do some practice. There is even a target practice section at the end, where Winston shows up dressed in camo, still carrying his tray and bugging the hell out of you. Just like in Tomb Raider 2 you can lure the poor guy in the freezer and lock him inside if you want.

The hedge maze is gone (thank God) and is now replaced by the race track, where Lara can check out her cool new ride, the quad bike. This is a vehicle that is essential in the game, so it's a good idea to try it out here.

• TR3 Lara's Home gameplay
  

Everything Changes: Tomb Raider Legend (2006)

Legend is a fast-paced, action-packed, humorous, vibrant and sprightly uptempo game, with Lara in great spirits and shape, her exploration skills and survival instincts reaching their peak. The Manor section goes along the same lines. The mansion has undergone a complete makeover and now looks like a real-life luxurious villa. It has a main hall and living room where we can see some artifacts on stands and a fireplace.

We get to see a new version of Winston, who looks considerably younger. All those hours that he spent locked in Lara's freezer did the trick obviously. He can be seen in various spots around the manor, but Lara cannot interact with him. Unfortunately you can't lock him in the freezer anymore, as the kitchen is nowhere to be found in the renovated manor. I guess it's one of the locked rooms that we don't have the chance to visit.

At the far end of the hall is a newly built tech-room full with monitors and stuff of the kind, which is Zip's realm. Zip, Lara's trusty tech assistant, is an expert on this field and, as the game's files inform us, also an excellent cook. Almost every time Lara steps into the tech room, they exchange a few funny lines.

The gym on the ground floor is now a big and perfectly equipped room, where Lara can practice her crazy acrobatics with her incomparable skill and style.

From the main hall, Lara has also access to the stylish and luxurious pool room which, like in the past games, has a dominant greco-roman feel; this time it's thanks to the several statues that decorate it.

The upper floor has two wings, but only the one has rooms we can visit: Lara's sunny bedroom and her precious library. In her bedroom, Lara holds some of her very personal things, like her twin pistols.

The Library is where her other assistant, Alister, can be seen. An archaeologist like Lara, Alister is more the indoors type. Although he shares Lara's enthusiasm about history, ancient cultures, myths and artifacts, he prefers to do study and research work rather than climb steep mountains and get involved in crazy fights with bloodthirsty mercenaries in hostile jungles, unlike a certain lady we know.

Scattered around the manor, there are bronze, silver and gold awards that you can look for and collect as a special mini challenge. The ones hiding in the gym may be quite tricky to reach, but this way you have one more opportunity to get to know Lara's moves.

• Legend Manor gameplay

The Past Revisited: Tomb Raider Anniversary (2007)

Tomb Raider Anniversary was a remake of the first Tomb Raider, and thus the Manor got an extreme makeover as well. The house is basically the same as in Tomb Raider Legend, only this time, since Tomb Raider Anniversary takes place long before Legend, it is still undergoing repairs and some of the rooms are incomplete or locked.

You can still practice in the gym, but the pool room is under construction and the tech room is just a storage area which hosts several crates. Things are significantly better on the upper floor, as both Lara's bedroom and the Library are in a good state. There is also a secret room where Lara keeps the relics that she collected throughout the game.

This time, you can explore the garden of the mansion, where the hedge maze is back; but it's much easier to navigate this time. In the maze, as well as in several other places and rooms, there are relics that you can collect as an extra challenge.

The Anniversary Manor is in fact one big puzzle where you have to do a series of actions that will unlock the secret music room on the upper floor. Such actions include finding your gear and specific items, turning on the water, solving a dais puzzle, putting pieces together so as to get a special item that you can use to open the locked door of that room.

• Anniversary Manor gameplay
  

Burning Down The House: Tomb Raider Underworld (2008)

The Manor in Tomb Raider Underworld is part of the main game, although you get to play some sort of prelude version of it where it serves as a brief tutorial at the start. In the plotline of the game, we see part of the house in a cutscene where Lara, Alister, Zip and Winston are discussing in the tech room, where there is a secret crypt leading to the basement. When the actual gameplay of that section starts, Lara is already down there and an eery darkness lies ahead.

The game is called Underworld for some reason; Lara goes to explore the several mythical underworlds, but this research would never be complete if she didn't dig into her own family's 'underworld' - which is literally the basement and metaphorically the deeply hidden secrets. Following several clues discovered in the previous chapters of the game, Lara enters the crypt and goes down to the basement where the spiders and bats are the least of her worries.

There seems to be a whole world underneath, starting with a private chapel which is part of a puzzle. Solving this, opens the way to the next section which leads Lara to her father's secret study, a haunted and eery place where she makes some interesting discoveries and encounters a couple of strange, hostile creatures.

When she goes back up again, through another exit, she sees that the whole house is on fire. While running in panic to get out, she catches a glimpse of a figure, looking almost exactly like her; soon after, that figure attacks Alister and kills him, then running away through the flames. Lara doesn't know that yet, but that creature is an evil clone of hers, created by Natla, her old, eternal enemy.

A devastated Lara carries Alister's unconscious body out in the garden where Zip and Winston are waiting. The three of them stand and watch as the Croft Manor is burning down in a raging fire.

• Protected by the Dead: Underworld Manor gameplay

Secrets of the Past: Rise of the Tomb Raider - Blood Ties (2015)

The epic and adventurous Rise of the Tomb Raider has the Croft Manor in a separate mini game called Blood Ties. In that expedition, we find Lara in her mansion, having just received a letter from her uncle, her mother's brother, in which he claims the ownership of the house.

Lara is sure that there is a way to stop him, and that there are clues hidden in her father's safe. To open the safe, however, she needs to find the combination first. So she starts exploring the manor, finding relics, items, documents and other things that will lead her to the solution, while at the same time they bring back to her mind memories of her life in the house, her relationship with her father, with Winston, her mother, her uncle and her father's girlfriend, Anna. Once she finds the clues and opens the safe, there is another riddle that she has to figure out, which will open up a passage to her father's hidden vault. A revealing secret comes to the surface which, eventually, leads to her uncle resigning from his claims about the house.

Although the general architecture of the mansion is more or less the same with the previous versions, it has some differences. The library is organized in a different way, it looks bigger, it has a fireplace  and two upper sections with more bookcases. There is also a vintage gramophone which plays the "Venice Violins" theme from Tomb Raider 2 when you turn it on.

Lara's bedroom is inaccessible, but we have a chance to unlock and see the bedroom of Richard and Amelia Croft, as well as Amelia's atelier nearby. Amelia was a painter and there are several paintings that she left behind in that room, including a portrait of her husband.

The basement is more extended; it includes a complex network of corridors filled with rubble and water, and a spooky cellar which holds the secret entrance to Lord Croft's hidden study.

The house looks quite a mess; especially the West Wing which has been locked up since Lara's mother died. That section is very creepy, as it is dimly lit, the walls are half-destroyed and a huge tree has fallen inside one of the rooms.

There is neither gym nor pool room (Lara made those much later, after she started renovating the place) and Winston is nowhere to be found. When the puzzles and the riddles are solved, Lara is able to find the well-hidden crypt, where yet another secret awaits.

• Blood Ties gameplay

Zombies in the Mansion: Rise of the Tomb Raider - Lara's Nightmare (2015)

In this mini survival adventure which takes place in the Croft Manor, we become witnesses of Lara's nightmares where the eviction letter from her uncle takes monstrous dimensions and becomes a literal death threat.

In Lara's dream, her uncle releases an army of zombies in the house, and she is is trapped in there with no way out; her only salvation is to find the Master Key, destroy the skulls of rage (which are big skulls floating in the air) and confront the giant skull (a huge version of the other ones) in the main hall.

The manor is exactly the same as in Blood Ties, only now it is a dark and hostile place with scary sounds and eery, threatening voices heard every now and then and creepy zombies attacking from all directions.

In the sparse lighting, the West Wing looks even more haunting and all the rooms are potential traps as the zombies can crawl from everywhere. Your task here is to survive while looking for the three skulls of rage that you must destroy, before summoning the boss.

Of course it is not just Lara versus the giant skull; several zombies are attacking while you are trying to take the boss skull down. This becomes quite nasty, as the skull activates a protective shield from time to time, and while the shield is around it, it's immune to your shots. Obviously there is not much exploration you can do in the dark manor during all that hullabaloo as you will be constantly running, shooting, looting the dead zombies for ammo and resources and generally trying to survive in whichever way you can.

• Lara's Nightmare gameplay

Blood Ties: Secrets And Wonders In The Croft Manor

In the recent installment of the Tomb Raider series, Rise of the Tomb Raider, we get the chance to explore Lara Croft's mansion in the separate mission Blood Ties. The story of this mission revolves around a letter that Lara recieved from her uncle, making known to her that unless there's some change in the conditions concerning the manor, it will go under his possession. Certain that there have to be clues somewhere that would establish her ownership of her parental home, Lara starts searching the rooms for any little detail that could lead her to them.

While exploring, she comes across several relics and items that are connected to her known adventures. Of course since, Rise of the Tomb Raider takes place long before many of the other expeditions, locating all these things and making the connections becomes even more interesting.

Note that this article is strictly about the items found in the Croft Manor and that are connected specifically to other Tomb Raider games only.

The Jade Dragon

The Jade Dragon figurine is found in Lord Croft's secret vault.

"This was part of a set of statues Dad found in China. He thought it was linked to the Temple of Xian... perhaps I should look into it someday" Lara comments upon finding it among her father's possessions.

As we know, she did go to China later, and did find the Temple of Xian, in Tomb Raider 2:

Moreover, throughout the Tomb Raider 2 game, Lara found dragon statuettes, among which were the Jade Dragons:

The Egyptian Ankh

Lara finds the Ankh in a glass case, in the main hall of the manor.

Her father brought it from Egypt where he had gone on an expedition. So I guess that now we know where Lara's love for Egypt comes from. In the following years, she would visit Egypt more than once. During Tomb Raider 1 and Anniversary, she finds the Ankh in Khamoon.

Later, during the events of the Last Revelation, she finds the Ankh-shaped amulet.

The Anubis Bust

This statuette is found in the manor's basement, hidden behind rubble and crates.

Lara comments that her father had hidden it there for her birthday expedition years ago. Later, during her visits to Egypt, she would come across several depictions of Anubis, like this statue here in Anniversary.

The Tibetan Scroll

This relic is found in Lord Croft's hidden vault.

In Tomb Raider 2, Lara herself visited Tibet, following her father's footsteps. We don't know if she brought any souvenir back home, though.

Lara's Tiger Drawing

In the Library, Lara finds the little space that she owned behind her father's desk, where she would sit and draw for hours, "dreaming of her own adventures". Among her drawings is this one depicting a tiger.

Later on, during her actual adventures, she would come across real tigers several times, like in the Great Wall mission from Tomb Raider 2:

Winston's Tray

One of the documents that Lara finds in the manor is a note written by Winston where he states that he had prepared a tray for her, after an argument with her father that led her to leave the dinner table.

Additionally, if you look around the main hall downstairs, there is a tea tray sitting on the coffee table in front of the fireplace.

Both of them have to be a nod to Winston following Lara around the Manor with a tray in his hands, in Tomb Raider 2 and Tomb Raider 3:

The Butler In The Freezer

In the note to Lord Croft entitled 'Little Angel', Winston mentions the trap little Lara set on him, to lock him up in the walk-in freezer.

Lara could lock Winston in the freezer of her manor in Tomb Raiders 2 and 3 as well, when she was not that little. I guess old habits can't die that easily.

Roth's Pistols

Lara finds Roth's pistols in her father's study.

Roth was her mentor, whom we met in Tomb Raider Reborn. No doubt these are the legendary dual pistols that Lara would always carry with her later.

The Golden Rose

In the secret crypt where her mother is buried, Lara also finds the Golden Rose.

She mentions that her grandmother Rose was "nicknamed the Golden Rose, for her perfect reputation".

In Tomb Raider Chronicles, the secrets that she finds are Golden Roses!

The T-Rex Plushy

In the "workspace" that Lara had as a little girl behind her father's desk in the Library, there is also a green T-Rex plushy sitting at a corner.

In her adult life as an adventurer, Lara would several times come across a T-Rex, like this one in the Lost Valley in Peru, from Anniversary:

Sir Lancelot's Suit of Armor

In the corridor outside Lord Croft's study, there is the suit of armor of Sir Lancelot. When you press Action to interact with it, Lara says that "I won't be borrowing your sword this time".

Which brings us to Tomb Raider Legend, where she discovered the tomb of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and took the Excalibur part from King Arthur's statue.

The Bear Head Trophy

In one of the corridors, there is a bear head trophy hanging above a fireplace.

Quite possibly, a trophy of Lord Croft. Nonetheless, Lara helself had her share of bear-chasing, like in Peru, shown in Tomb Raider 1 and Anniversary:

The Family Piano

In Amelia Croft's atelier, located in the "forbidden" West Wing of the manor, there is a grand piano at the back.

So it becomes clear now that the piano that is always present in the Manor belonged to Lara's mother, as Lara clearly isn't very good at it:

The Yamatai Sword

Lara finds the broken Yamatai sword in the study.

Nothing more and nothing less than a souvenir from her tumultuous adventure with the Endurance team and Father Matthias that took place in Tomb Raider Reborn.

The Jade Water Buffalo

In Lord Croft's study and in the Library, there's a buffalo paperweight.

It looks like Lara had a special liking for the relic that she found in Yamatai, so she had two replicas made of it, to use as paperweights. This is the original relic, from Tomb Raider Reborn:

Newspaper Clipping

In the study, there is a newspaper clipping with an article about the Endurance crew and how they were rescued.

Which naturally refers to Lara's team from Tomb Raider Reborn and how they managed to survive (at least, some of them).

Endurance Crew Photo

In the same room, in a box, there is also a photo showing all the members of the Endurance crew posing together.

If you take a close look, you will notice that Dr Whitman's head is cut off (he is the one standing on the far left). I guess that Lara ripped the photo in rage, since it was revealed that he had betrayed the team by leading Sam to Matthias.

Stacks of Coins

At the back of the Library, there is a stack of coins on a desk.

This stack is identical to those that Lara would find in several areas througout the main game. It looks like she didn't spend all of them to upgrage her gear, she also kept some for herself. Or maybe her father had brought them from similar expeditions. We will never know.

Atlas

The Atlas is the major artifact found in the game.

It is the relic for which everything happens and everyone battles.

Atlas is also the name of Lara's uncle, whom she can't stand, as he tries to grab the Manor from her. Could there possibly be any hidden reason behind this "co-incidence"? Given that Lara even had nightmares about him releasing an army of zombies in the house, I wouldn't be surprised if Atlas de Mornay was revealed to be the one moving the strings behind everyone else, aiming at Lara's destruction.

Bust of Richard Croft

Lara finds her father's bust in the Master Bedroom.

"I suppose it's a family tradition", she comments when she finds it, "but I can't imagine one of these made of mine!"

Ironically enough, there is a huge statue made of her when she is presumed dead after the tragic events in The Last Revelation, and which we have a chance to see in Tomb Raider Chronicles:

The Toy Chopper

In the same place with Lara's drawings and the T-Rex plushy, there is also a toy chopper among the papers and the pencils, which obviously she had as a child.

Again there's irony for Lara here, since in the end of the main game, she had to fight against Konstantin's chopper:

Venice Violins

In the Library, there is an old gramophone. When you turn it on, a familiar music starts to play.

It's the lovely Venice Violins theme, from Tomb Raider 2. Check out this video, which includes both versions: