Tomb Raider III is a single-player action-adventure game where the player controls the protagonist, Lara Croft, from a third-person perspective through five locations: India, South Pacific, London, Nevada, and Antarctica. Once the player completes the first location (India), the following three (South Pacific, London, and Nevada) can be played in any order before the final location (Antarctica) closes the game. Each location features a series of enclosed levels that involve solving puzzles, jumping over obstacles, and defeating enemies. Most puzzles involve rearranging items, manipulating switches, or pushing objects. As Lara, the player can run, jump, climb, crawl, "monkey swing" across certain overhead frames, and swim and dive underwater for a limited period of time. Lara can also sprint to gain a temporary burst of greater speed while running, which is useful for escaping errant boulders and other immediate disasters.
To defeat enemies, the player can use a variety of weapons, including dual pistols, dual Uzis, a Desert Eagle, a shotgun, an MP5 submachine gun, a grenade launcher, a rocket launcher, and a harpoon gun for underwater use. The dual pistols have infinite ammunition and are Lara's default weapons, while the other weapons have finite ammunition and must be found in the levels. At one point in the game, Lara will be stripped of all her weapons, leaving the player defenceless and forced to use stealth, before recovering her pistols later. Lara has a certain amount of health that decreases if she falls from a great height or when she is attacked by enemies. If Lara's health is fully depleted, the player must start the game again from a previous save point. Saving the player's progress on the PlayStation version of the game requires a memory card and consumes a Save Crystal from Lara's inventory. These can be found throughout each level and do not require the player to save the game at the pick-up spot.
A significant portion of the game takes place underwater. Some pools are inhabited by piranhas that can kill Lara within seconds, while others have streams with currents that can pull her in a fixed direction, preventing the player from being able to swim back or grab onto a ledge. Furthermore, the water in the Antarctica levels is too cold for Lara to swim through for more than a few seconds. The player can also wade through quicksand, but at the risk of drowning Lara. Some levels require the player to use vehicles. For example, the kayak helps Lara fight her way down rapids in the Madubu Gorge level, while an underwater propeller unit allows her to explore deep water areas in the Lud's Gate level. Other vehicles include a quad bike, a boat, and minecarts. Flares may be used to explore darkened areas. Ammunition, flares, and health recovery items are dispersed among the levels to help players increase their resources. The game also features a tutorial level where the player can practice Lara's moves and combat abilities.
Plot
A corporation called RX Tech excavates the crash site of a meteorite that impacted on Antarctica millions of years ago and finds strange Rapa Nui-like statues alongside the grave of one of HMS Beagle's sailors. Meanwhile, archaeologist-adventurer Lara Croft is searching for an artefact known as the Infada Stone in the ruins of an ancient Indian Hindu temple once inhabited by the Infada tribe. After taking the artefact from a researcher working for RX Tech, Lara is approached by RX Tech scientist Dr. Willard, who explains that Polynesians came across a meteorite crater in Antarctica thousands of years ago and found that it held incredible power. Using rock from the meteorite, they crafted four crystalline artefacts, one of which is the Infada Stone. They fled Antarctica for unknown reasons, but in the 19th century, a group of sailors travelling with Charles Darwin came to Antarctica and rediscovered the artefacts. The four artefacts were distributed across the globe. Dr. Willard has been able to track the artefacts by using the diary of one of the sailors. Lara agrees to help him find the other three.
Travelling to a South Pacific island, Lara encounters a wounded soldier who gives her hints about the existence of a powerful deity. While pursuing the deity, Lara learns that one of Darwin's sailors brought one of the artefacts to the island. She infiltrates a temple and defeats the deity, who has immense power granted by the second artefact, the Ora Dagger. In London, Lara searches for the third artefact, the Eye of Isis, now in the possession of Sophia Leigh, the head of a cosmetics corporation. Lara learns that the corporation has performed experiments on humans in order to achieve immortality and eternal youth for Sophia's personal gain. Lara confronts Sophia in her office and ultimately obtains the artefact. In Nevada, Lara makes her way through a desert canyon and tries to enter Area 51, where the fourth artefact, Element 115, is located in an alien spacecraft guarded by the US government. She is taken prisoner after her attempted break-in fails. Freeing herself, she escapes the security compound and stows away in a truck to Area 51, where she obtains the artefact.
