New Tomb Raider Details

By Mark

It was pretty surprising yesterday when Game Informer revealed the latest installment to the Tomb Raider series taking Lara back to her origins, we now have some details about the game courtesy of Playstation Informer.

Some of these are pretty shocking given what we've come to expect from Lara Croft game, but shocking in a good way here are the important parts:


- Lara is 21 in this game

- It’s not only a reboot of the franchise but a reboot of the entire brand. As a result there will be no “real” Lara model this time

- They’re doing performance capturing with this game

- There are brutal deaths in the game this time. One is described as a deranged man stabbing Lara in the chest and then closing her eyes after she’s dead. Another includes a boulder falling on her leg to trap her before another falls and crushes her head

- Crystal Dynamics won’t talk specifics on weapons but concept art shows a bow, shotgun and pistol

- The lock on targeting system is gone and it now has a free aim system. CD says that it can compete with any of their competitors

- “I think that the major difference between this game and the old is the concept of smoke and mirrors,” begins Darrell Gallagher, the studio head at Crystal Dynamics. “There was an illusion of freedom because of streaming and loading that would pop you out in a different location, but this is absolutely real. You can literally go any direction that you see and carve your own way to the finish line instead of being guide.”

- “It was important in the game to not only deliver the character arc of Lara Croft emotionally, but to deliver it in gameplay as well so the player gets to grow into a hardened survivor,” says experienced director Noah Hughes. As the game unfolds, Lara will scavenge new tools and gear that augment her abilities. Lara’s athletic prowess will also evolve. Some areas begin inaccessible due to physical limitations or scarce supplies. With the right skills and gear, however, the island is Lara’s for the taking

- There are base camps in the game. Here you can combine items to create something new and access a skill system to upgrade Lara’s abilities. You’ll also be able to use base camps to fast travel to different locations to minimize backtracking

- You’ll need to gather food and water in order to survive

- There are humans in the game, including some of the crew members from the shipwreck off the coast of the island

Reading those details it's sort of hard to not get at least a little excited, there's no visual proof that they will deliver on these yet but we can hope that Lara Croft may hit the big time once more with this reboot.

Source - Playstation Informer (scans of magazine over there so be sure to have a look)