Siberia chosen as setting for new Tomb Raider video game phenomenon

Siberia is the setting for the much-awaited latest instalment in the multi-million dollar Lara Croft video game phenomenon.

Almost 20 years have passed since the character first appeared in the award-winning Tomb Raider, which was also turned into a Hollywood movie starring Angelina Jolie.

Now it has been announced the new game, which is expected to be one of the highest-grossing of all-time, will be mainly set in the Siberian wilderness.

Video previews of Rise of the Tomb Raider show the British archaeological-adventurer being chased through the forest by a bear, before leaping off a mountain holding an ice axe.

The heroine is also seen exploring dark caverns and watching over a snowy Siberian town.

Developers of the game, which is expected to be released in time for Christmas, say they are 'delivering a Tomb Raider experience to dream of'.

In a similar fashion to previous video games, its popularity could also spark a new interest in Siberian tourism among a new generation of people, particularly young Americans. 

The plot centres on an invisible Russian city and a shadowy secret society hiding the truth about immortality. During the gameplay Lara has to collect various raw materials to make traps, grenades, and poisonous ammo as well as Molotov cocktails.

Animals and enemies will have simulated line of sight and hearing, which will be affected by rain and fog, and there will be the usual puzzles to complete along the way.

But game director Brian Horton said it will not just be all snow and ice, and another as yet undisclosed location, dubbed the Oasis, will provide a contrast to frozen Siberia.

He said: 'It isn't completely permafrost. This Oasis, which we're not going into a lot of detail about – just know that different weather, different temperatures are important to make sure we're not going with one single look throughout the whole game.'

Lara Croft is one of the most successful franchises of all time, with the character actually holding six Guinness World Records, including one for having 'the most real-life stand-ins'.

Its importance in boosting revenue cannot be underestimated, with the 2003 movie becoming the highest-grossing video game adaptation in US history. The success of the game also sparked an interest in the ruins of the Angkor Wat temples, in Cambodia, where much of it was set and filmed.

Russia has featured in Lara Croft games in the past, with the heroine boarding a former Soviet submarine in Tomb Raider: Chronicles. Last year Siberia was also the location for the new Muppets movie, Muppets Most Wanted, which saw a Kermit the Frog lookalike escape from a gulag.