John Payne and the Emperor's Tomb

John Payne and the Emperor's Tomb is an action video game developed and published by Rocksteady in 2019 for the Xbox 720, Playstation 4. It features cover art by Drew Struzan. The game is a new adventure of fictional archeologist and adventurer John Payne. The story takes place in 2016, just between the events of John Payne: Eye of Indra and John Payne: Darkest Times, The tomb mentioned in the title is that of China's first Emperor Qin Shi Huang.

John Payne and the Emperor's Tomb received universal critical acclaim for its writing, voice acting, sound design, level design, motion capture, likeness to the actors and art direction. Its narrative was praised for its characterization, subtext, and critical depiction of the human condition, dealing with themes of sacrifice, loyalty, fate, and hope. Considered one of the most significant titles of the eigth generation video game era, John Payne and the Emperor's Tomb received over 200 "game of the year" awards from numerous publications. It was also a commercial success, and became the second-largest video game launch of 2019 (after Darknown), selling over 1.3 million units in its first week. As of March 2020, the game had sold over 6 million units worldwide.

Plot
John Payne and the Emperor's Tomb begins in the jungles of Ceylon, where John Payne (voiced and motion captured by Dylan O'Brien) is searching for the idol of Kouru Watu. After retrieving the idol, Jones meets with his mentor and close friend Phillip "Phil" Lovecraft (voiced by Robert De Niro) who was also seeking for it for an unknown funder. The funder is later revealed to be a japanese businessman named Akira Haruno. Both John and Phil defeats Harunos's henchmen and takes his leave while Haruno is attacked by a giant albino crocodile. Back at school in New York City, British explorer, thief and old friend of John Ron Parker (voiced and motion captured by Thomas Sangster) and his also british assistant and John's ex-girlfriend Helena Beckham (voiced and motion captured by Emma Watson) inform Payne and Phil of the "Heart of the Dragon", a black pearl buried with the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huangdi. The Heart is said to grant the wielder immense magical power, and Parker wants John to retrieve it with him the it before it falls into the wrong hands. Helena breaks open the Ceylon idol to find the first piece of the "Mirror of Dreams" inside it, an artifact that will help navigate through the Emperor's Tomb and reveal the entrance to Huangdi's crypt.