# Hellooo!

Ah! Tomb Raider 3! My favourite entry from the Classic era of Tomb Raider! Difficult. Dark. Daunting. Those are just a few words you could use to describe it. (I've also heard some people even consider it the black sheep of the first trilogy, if not the entire Classic era.) Its level design has been scrutinized for quite some time for its immense complexity. While people acknowledge how amazing the game looks visually, especially with the updated textures and added visual details for extra depth in the remasters (lush grass, reeds, vines, etc...), the OG graphics are still amazing on their own, with coloured lighting and new environmental mechanics being notable features of TR3.

Now, I've been thinking about a small (or maybe huge) detail in TR3's overall level design and themes. We know that TR3 takes place across 5 different locations plus 1 additional set of levels in TR3's The Lost Artifact. Something about each section caught my eye specifically when it comes to the theme of each location, that got me asking:

*Is it me or does each location of TR3 appear to represent something? What does each location (or chapter) of TR3 appear to represent? And, aside from the Meteorite Artifacts themselves, how are they all tied to the Lost City of Tinnos?*

Let’s begin with the game’s first chapter:

# India:

Lush. Damp. Muddy. The first thing that stands out to me about the India section is all the lush vegetation, tree canopies, and crumbling ruins of ancient (mortuary) temples contrasting against the vibrant greenery and brown mud. Mudslides and mud swamps are scattered all over the place. It’s clear that the design of the India is intended to evoke the **Earth** element from the Lost City of Tinnos.

# Nevada:

Hot dry desert, glaring sun, electric fences and deadly lasers that could fry you, THE HEAT (apparently slang for the police, fire arms, or armed law enforcement) and launching an entire rocket just to open a trap door while avoiding its fiery plume?! This place is on Fire! There’s even a high chance that Lara could get cooked thanks to stoves in the kitchen of the High Security Compound.

Feels like a stretch I know, and I was toying around with whether Nevada represents Air or Fire since there are several instances of military crafts flying around, the parked military aircraft in the hanger and the UFO. However, I just can’t imagine London, a dark, cold, wet, windy city representing the Fire element… And THAT MISSILE LAUNCH! HELLO?! If you don’t run away in time, Lara gets toasted!

IMO, this location represents the **Fire** element.

# South Pacific Islands:

This one’s pretty obvious as you start this section in water, literally swimming around in the water among the fish and coral reefs to reach the Coastal Village. On top of that, you have to kayak your way along the Madubu Gorge and literally unplug the entrance to the Temple of Puna. It doesn’t get any more obvious here that the South Pacific Islands section represents the **Water** element.

# London:

The dark, wet rooftops of London. Quite windy too judging by the background ambience of the Thames Wharf. However, the key here is in the height and verticality. Lara’s basically up in the air, hoping between rooftops and high ledges. This section of the game relies heavily on stealth just as much as the Nevada section. Lara spends quite some time crawling inside ventilation ducts and shafts as well. Don’t forget those creepy howling wind sounds in Aldwych! The final level of the London section, City, has you traversing an assault course high up on the rooftops of SLINC headquarters, with a helicopter waiting at the top. I’m getting **Air** element vibes from this one.

# Antarctica:

Obviously, Antarctica, or an island near Antarctica, as Willard states in one of the cutscenes, was the impact zone of the meteorite where all meteorite artifacts (minus 1) come together to reactivate the meteorite. It’s depicted as the meteor that changed the entire ecosystem of Antarctica.

# TR3: The Lost Artifact (TLA):

I had to Google this one… So apparently, there’s also a fifth (theoretical) classical element that was defined at some point by ancient philosophers known as ‘Aether’ (or ‘Ether’) and considering that this fifth element was defined after the first four classical elements, I can’t help but think, with all the weird glowing cyan/turquoise goo in you come across in The Lost Artificial, that this collection of levels is meant to represent the fifth element. By far the most outlandish level in TLA was Reunion. The sky has a weird red-purple glow to it, with several giant meteorites visible in the sky. It’s literally set in a whole different dimension or realm so that should be the most obvious sign this set of levels represents the **Aether** element.

When going through the Wikipedia page of the Classical Elements, I stumbled across this line:

*“According to ancient and medieval science, aether (\[…\] alternative spellings include æther, aither, and ether), also known as the fifth element or quintessence, is the material that fills the region of the universe beyond the terrestrial sphere."*

In some instances, the word ‘aether’ is also used to describe ‘space’ or ‘void’. Aside from Floating Islands from TR2, Reunion is the only other level in the classic TR timeline that appears to take place in some otherworldly realm or dimension. The place looks like a floating fortress/castle in space, or a void, and can only be accessed by the bearer of the Hand of Rathmore - and placing it inside a corpse!

Yeah, there’s definitely some weird stuff going on here…

# Conclusion:

So, you’re probably wondering: What was the point of all this?

Well, I was simply attempting to show, and though it might just be a coincidence and that it was not necessarily intended by the developers, that TR3’s level and environmental design is actually quite cohesive and each geographic location is connected to the four gauntlets/challenge rooms that represent the four classical elements of life in the Lost City of Tinnos. The Lost City of Tinnos was built and appears to set up as a critical foundation of civilization and evolution, much like Atlantis from TR1.

Or, maybe that Earth is just a beautiful planet featuring all elements!

Thank you.

**P.S.** I really hope that TR3 will get a remake (TR3: Legacy of Tinnos), along with TR2 (TR2: Legacy of Xian). 🤞🤞

# So, what you do think? Do you think each chapter of TR3 corresponds to a classical element, or represents something, or anything?

Am I just reading too much into this? Looking forward to reading your thoughts!

**References:**

Classical Elements: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical\_element](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_element)

Aether: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aether\_(classical\_element)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aether_(classical_element))

Loading Screens: [https://www.tombraiderchronicles.com/tomb-raider-i-iii-remastered/tomb-raider-iii-remastered-loading-artwork-01.html](https://www.tombraiderchronicles.com/tomb-raider-i-iii-remastered/tomb-raider-iii-remastered-loading-artwork-01.html)

What Each Location (or Chapter) of Tomb Raider 3 (Remastered) Appears to Represent...