Tomb Raider IV - VI Remastered review

It doesn’t belong in a museum

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / Crystal Dynamics

• Developer: Aspyr, Crystal Dynamics
• Publisher: Aspyr
• Release: Feb 14th, 2025
• On: Windows
• From: Steam
• Price: £25/$30/€30
• Reviewed on: Intel Core-i7-11700F, 16GB RAM, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060, Windows 10

There’s something uncanny about dipping “classic” games in a tub of HD paint for the purposes of a remaster. A reboot can completely reinvent an old character, intriguing players in the same way an adaptation of Macbeth might excite a theatre dweeb. But remasters often feel like someone has plainly yet painstakingly rolled over every inch of the original with linoleum. The worst remasters bring to mind the Spanish pensioner who butchered a fresco of Jesus Christ . As acts of restoration go, Aspyr’s work on Tomb Raider (and Soul Reaver ) isn’t quite that egregious. Hard work has gone into updating the scenery and textures. Basic vine sprites become handsome twirls of plantlife. Egyptian reliefs are given form. But there’s a limit to this unfurling of digital lino. The results ultimately evoke the look common in mobile games when smartphones were becoming ever more powerful. This is Lara Croft if she were designed by Gameloft in 2011.

The first three Tomb Raider games got their own remastered collection last year, representing the birth years of a genre and rise of an unlikely marketing icon. Now, we’ve got this package-holiday overhaul of the next three games. In The Last Revelation, Lara unwittingly unleashes an ancient Egyptian god. In Chronicles, her friends reminisce about her adventures after her funeral. Don’t worry, she’s alive again in Angel Of Darkness - the odd PlayStation 2 duckling of the three. Lara is here a prime suspect in the killing of her mentor (and a gritty victim of the smudged mascara era of popular culture). All these came before an awkward period of attempted reboots and reimaginings, and a change of studio that eventually resulted in the 2013 retelling that finally stuck.

But that’s years away. So let’s continue the polygonal parade down memory lane, or the hall of warped memory mirrors, to be precise. The games are coated in HD textures, smooth-edged props, and replacement character models that elicit an era that is neither then nor now. It replicates an art style that might have been appropriate in the PS1 era, were the technology able to reproduce the textures and lighting of an overheating HTC. There is some good attention to detail but the overall effect is a clash between boxy, unchanged geometry and HD moss that looks okay when inspected straight on, and bizarre once mapped to an exact 90 degree corner. The reworked lighting in The Last Revelation and Chronicles favours bold contrasts between light and gloom that sometimes obscures items or passageways that were once obvious in the old game.

Some props are turned from vague sprites to fully formed 3D models, and here the craft is clear. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / Crystal Dynamics

This conflict between old and new is positioned as a novelty. You can instantly press a button to swap between the new HD textures to a view of the game au natural, in its old pixellated form. Except, not really. The vertex snapping , low draw distance, texture warping , and other quirks of ye olde PlayStation are all missing, to merciful or sacrilegious results, depending on who you ask. I know these games also appeared on the PC but I and most others encountered them solely through Sony’s machine, so it’s those visual giveaways that I look for.

Some of my instinctive distate probably also comes from Crystal Dynamics’ intent (to re-sell a game) as opposed to Core Design’s original intent (to create a game). If you go back to the games on a PlayStation (or via some other nefarious means - I won’t ask) you’re playing a fossil preserved in amber. Every janky animation and wacky texture is part of the charm. Much of what looks to modern eyes like a wild mess was the result of intentional art direction working within the limitations of a machine that could barely see ten metres ahead of itself.

The beautician’s makeover in this remastered collection has been born of its own set of aesthetic decisions, of course. But those decisions don’t feel driven by creativity under limits. Instead, the choice to revamp these visuals feels dictated from on-high, results of a desire to reproduce and repackage a sellable chunk of nostalgia. The water caustics and wave effects of old Tomb Raider games are famous among VFX nerds for their twinkling ingenuity at the time. By contrast, the remaster’s water is a lifeless, transparent soup.

You need to see the water’s reflective effects in motion to see what I mean. But still. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / Crystal Dynamics

As an act of visual restoration, giving Lara a higher-poly facelift feels like shrugging her old works back onto the shelves. Witness here Crystal Dynamics pumping botox into an old game’s buttocks and insisting it is as firm as ever. But even when you put aside the visuals, Tomb Raider’s core design (geddit?) has not aged particularly well. Even if the remaster tries to address this too.

You can swap between Lara’s classic “tank” controls and a “modern” preset. The modern preset makes some sense to my thumbs after decades of controlling a character with one stick and a camera with the other. But (as with the previous remastered collection ) many of the precise leaps and jump-based puzzles of these dungeons were designed with the original control scheme and grid-based level design firmly in mind. It’s often necessary for Lara to sidestep or step lightly back or rotate just right so you line up the correct lunge or sideways somersault across a chasm. With the modern controls these precise movements are not possible, and even with the archaic controls you are fighting years of thumb training to revert to old ways.

I experimented with remapping the tank controls to try to find a middle ground I liked, but found it hard to come up with something natural. This is the difficulty of trying to remaster how an old game feels, you inevitably end up clashing with spaces designed under an entirely different mentality and purpose. You are trying to drive down a Roman road in a Toyota Corolla. Covering the Toyota’s wheels in horse hooves will not solve this problem.

It’s still sometimes interesting to play, in the sense that you’re going on a small expedition into the catacombs of video game history. You can track the forward trajectory of Lara’s capabilities from game to game. In Last Revelation she can swing on ropes. In Chronicles she can walk tightropes. In Angel of Darkness she can hop over railings and [gasp] make conversational choices in cutscenes. Core Design workers pumped out a Tomb Raider year-on-year for 5 years straight, an unthinkable feat by today’s standards, but one that meant annual games had interesting incremental improvements you could easily notice. Some game design archaeologists might get a twinge of delight seeing the action adventure staples of mounting, shimmying, and clambering being popularised years before Uncharted became the blockbuster to surpass Croft.

In Angel Of Darkness the redesigned character models go a step further, yet there’s still a feeling of PS2 puppetry. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / Crystal Dynamics

The first of Lara’s PlayStation 2 jaunts is full of invisible walls, randomly interruptive fixed cameras, and obstacles that look climbable but are not. I was not the only one obsessed with MGS at the time. Core Design-ers seem to have been fans too (along with every game studio on earth). Lara’s moveset for this entry includes crouching into a stealth mode and hugging corners to peer around them. Insta-fail stealth sections are still being made today for some god-forsaken reason, and Angel Of Darkness is just one of many games that first shoved those into the tote bag of unthinking game design.

Ah, the insta-hate stealth moment. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun / Crystal Dynamics

Lara’s classic tank controls are again in full use in Angel Of Darkness, yet this was an era when movement in other games was becoming more fluid and intuitive. Higher fidelity of environment art also works against Lara’s typically griddy and fusty moveset. Almost everything looks clamberable, craw-underable, step-upon-able. And yet only a few things are. Designers had yet to discover the magical properties of yellow paint. Switch to the modern controls and you’ll again feel a screeching clash of control scheme and level design, mildly upsetting to the human cerebellum.

The switch to HD textures and models is less dramatic in this one, with the old visuals retaining the bleary anti-aliasing of the PS2 (the best example of this remains Max Payne 2 ), while the new textures simply crisp everything up. The lighting in this one doesn’t differ between the two modes at all, though. And judging by the previous games, that might be for the best.

Probably the biggest benefit of playing Tomb Raider via these remasters is that they’ll allow you to quicksave anywhere, and there’s a way to map that quicksave to a multi-button shortcut. But from a purely aesthetic perspective, there is something needless and gestalt about it all. Lara Croft has not aged gracefully, which is fine - in the long run none of us will. But putting her through this TikTok filter and dismantling her tank treads has not made her knees any healthier, her stories more memorable, or her past any more playable. Only the most feverish crypt botherer should follow her into this ominously high-definition temple.

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Tomb Raider IV•V•VI Remastered

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All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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