Achievements for Classic Tomb Raider Games

Recently my friend Eldin came up with an awesome idea for fans of the classic Tomb Raider games. I liked it so much I just had to share it here. For players who crave more challenge than simply beating each level, we've decided to create achievement lists for each of the first six Tomb Raider games. Making the lists is going to be a task in itself, so we'll need your help!

In case you're not familiar with Xbox 360 achievements—and similar systems like PlayStation trophies and Steam achievements for PC games—they're basically in-game challenges players can beat to earn points. These points are then added to the player's total Gamerscore, a general indicator of how many games the player has beaten and how thoroughly they've played. For example, my Xbox GamerCard, displayed in the right margin of this blog, shows off my own feeble 8,000-point Gamerscore. ;)

The new Tomb Raiders, developed by Crystal Dynamics, already incorporate achievements and trophies. (Here are lists for Legend, Anniversary, Underworld and Guardian of Light.) But since the classic Tomb Raiders obviously don't have real achievements built in, we're going to make up our own.

This isn't a totally new idea. Back in the early days, sites like tombraiders.com featured "Expert Challenges" invented by fans. Similarly, Tomb Raider speed runners have been racing through the levels since long before Tomb Raider: Legend first incorporated official time trials.

Now we're asking you to help us design a list of achievements for each game from Tomb Raider through Angel of Darkness. We're open to anything, provided it's challenging and fun for players but not impossible to do. Windows, Macintosh and PlayStation gamers are all welcome to contribute. We'll use as many of your suggestions as we can. Maybe we can all vote on the best ideas. The final lists will be available for players to use, post on their own fan sites, etc.

Ideally we'd like to follow the Xbox 360 model, so the total points for each game add up to 1,000—with 250 extra points for each expansion pack (Unfinished Business, Golden Mask, Lost Artifact). So keep that in mind when building your lists. You can write complete achievement lists for each game or suggest individual challenges.

We've already come up with a few ideas for the Peru levels in Tomb Raider 1, but none of these are set in stone.

Tomb Raider 1 Peru Achievements
Find all secrets in Caves	( 10 points )
Complete Caves without killing any enemies	( 15 points )
Don't use any medpack	(5 points )
Complete Caves in 5 minutes or less	( 20 points )
Find all secrets in City of Vilcabamba	( 15 points )
Don't kill any bear	( 10 points )
Open middle Red-Roofed door    without falling in the pool	(5 points )
Complete City of Vilcabamba in    8 minutes or less	( 20 points )
Find all secrets in Lost Valley	( 20 points )
Obtain the shotgun	( 10 points )
Kill T-Rex with pistols	( 15 points )
Don't kill any small dinosaur	( 15 points )
Complete Lost Valley without dying	( 15 points )
Do swan dive to the water at the end of level	(5 points )
Complete Lost Valley in 15 minutes or less	( 20 points )
Find all secrets in Tomb of Qualopec	( 10 points )
Don't use shotgun in fight	( 10 points )
Beat Larson without using a medpack	( 10 points )
Complete Tomb of Quolopec in    10 minutes or less	( 20 points )
TOTAL: 250 points

Those are just a few of our ideas to start. We're open to anything, provided it's challenging and fun for players but not impossible to do. We'll use as many of your suggestions as we can. Maybe we can all vote on the best suggestions.

To join the discussion, post a comment below, chime in on my Facebook page or visit the page Eldin has set up on his Tomb Raider forum. We'd love to hear your ideas!