Lara Croft Tomb of the Sun

Lara Croft Tomb of the Sun: Slot Overview

Games Global partner Triple Edge Studios has dusted off its Lara Croft licence to have another blast with the famous Tomb Raider. It's impressive when you consider the first Lara Croft video game appeared in the mid/late 1990s, and the franchise is still going strong - at the time of review, a Netflix anime series was apparently on the cards. Lara Croft Tomb of the Sun is the next release in the online slot series, and like moving from Angelina Jolie to Alicia Vikander, Lara Croft Tomb of the Sun comes with one or two changes. Why don't we swing on in to take a look at what they are.

Released in 2019, Lara Croft Temples and Tombs felt dated the moment Lara Croft Tomb of the Sun sparked up the screen. The graphics are more defined, more engaging this time around. Instead of a stuffy stone room, Lara Croft Tomb of the Sun's base game takes place outdoors, in an Aztec-type location full of intricately carved masonry, waterfalls, thick bush, all that sort of thing. A new character plays the role of Lara, and when factoring in the general graphical overhaul, if you liked the previous slot, then excitation levels are probably running pretty high by this point.

Lara Croft Tomb of the Sun has been designed with four RTP models in mind, so if you're shopping around for the best deal, that will be the 96.36% version. At this level, the volatility is high, and the game has a hit rate of 32.57%. Wins trigger the Rolling Reels feature, which removes winning symbols and Single Wilds from the reels, dropping in symbols from above to replace them in the hopes of hitting consecutive winning Rolls. When picking a bet, the options start at 20 p/c, rising to $/€100 per spin, and the game is played on a 5-reel, 4-row grid matrix with 1,024 ways to win.

For symbols, from low to high, we find 4 Aztec-inspired carvings, then a compass and a map. Next, the 4 highest value symbols are Lara with blades, Lara with a pistol, Lara with a bow, and Lara looking soulful. Hitting a 5-of-a-kind win pays 0.8 to 3 times the bet for the non-Lara symbols or 3.5 to 10 times the bet for the Lara symbols. Wilds, or as they are called here, Power Wilds, help by replacing any regular pay symbol and land in 3 forms. Triple Wilds become Double Wilds after being used in a win, Double Wilds become Single Wilds when used in a win, and Single Wilds are removed from the reels when used in a win.

Lara Croft Tomb of the Sun: Slot Features

As for features, much of what is available in Lara Croft Tomb of the Sun is more or less the same as what came in Lara Croft Temples and Tombs. These are the Multiplier Trail, Rising Reward Jackpot feature, and free spins.

Multiplier Trail

The Multiplier Trail is linked directly to the Rolling Reels feature. Each Roll increases the multiplier, which applies to any following wins. During a Roll sequence in the base game, the Multiplier Trail goes x1, x2, x3, then x5, while in free spins, it goes x3, x6, x9, then x15.

Rising Reward Jackpot

When wild symbols land, there is a chance they trigger the Jackpot feature. Wilds also increase 1, 2, or 3 jackpots by up to 1x the bet whenever they land. When the feature is triggered, 1 of 5 jackpots is awarded, then its value is reset. The jackpots and their min/max values are - the Mini is worth 10 to 75 times the bet, the Minor is worth 15 to 100 times the bet, the Major is worth 100 to 750 times the bet, the Mega is worth 500 to 1,500 times the bet, while the Grand is worth 2,000 to 3,500 times the bet.

Free Spins

Hitting 3, 4, or 5 free spins scatter symbols awards 2x, 5x, or 10x the bet, plus 8, 10, or 15 free spins, respectively. Free spins can be retriggered, and the difference between them and regular spins is the Multiplier Trail upgrade.

Lara Croft Tomb of the Sun: Slot Verdict

To nutshell Lara Croft Tomb of the Sun, it seems closer to a do-over than a full reboot when compared to the slot which preceded it. On paper, much of the gameplay is the same - Rolling Reels, Multiplier Trail, free spins, and Jackpots triggered by landing wild symbols. It's not bang on the same, though. Lara Croft Tomb of the Sun arguably looks nicer and supplies a more immersive environment for players to pretend they're doing a bit of tomb raiding with the most infamous Tomb Raider of them all. But, scratch beneath the surface, and the gaming side of things is very comparable.

Other differences include the rising aspect to the jackpots, meaning their values are not static but theoretically improve the longer you play. Even so, with caps in place, there's only so far the jackpots can rise, and not always for the best. For instance, the Grand here taps out when it reaches 3,500x the bet, yet the Grand in Lara Croft Temples and Tombs sits at 5,000x the whole time. Therefore if chasing a bigger jackpot suits, it would be tough to recommend Lara Croft Tomb of the Sun over the last one. Power Wilds have been dropped in to offer a measure of novelty, and they're alright. Better to have some sort of wild persistence through a Roll sequence rather than not.

Power Wilds might not be enough on their own to justify switching from Lara Croft Temples and Tombs to Lara Croft Tomb of the Sun, though. However, it does look nicer, it's got more rows, symbols, and ways, yet the lower potential feels off. If Triple Edge Studios had loosened the max win, pushing it past what was available in the previous game, then Lara Croft Tomb of the Sun might have possessed more appeal. As it stands, Lara Croft Tomb of the Sun is an ok continuation of games like Gonzo's Quest or Jungle Jim El Dorado, but one that seems unlikely to achieve the same level of iconic status.