Tomb Raider: Legend - First Look Preview

The prominent rise and dramatic fall from grace of Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider franchise is one of the most noted in the videogame industry; for years Lara and her obvious charms entranced gamers who sucked up everything they could, and then things began to go a little wrong. The heavily delayed debut of Lara Croft on the then next-generation technology of Playstation2 was hugely hyped and promised much, starring a darker, edgier heroine and the introduction of Stealth/RPG aspects â?“ surely it couldnâ??t go wrong, but how wide of the mark they were.

The result as everybody knows was an absolute disaster, adamantly refusing to evolve important elements such as the fluidity of control and camera-work, Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness subsequently almost killed Lara off and ensured that the franchiseâ?? original creators, Core Design, were hastily removed from the franchise they created and assigned the task of creating PSP titles.

We say â??almostâ?, as Eidos took the late decision to put the franchise under the capable hands of Core Dynamics; the best news however for Tomb Raider fans is that the series creator and the man responsible for bringing Lara Croft to life, Toby Gard, has been reacquainted with his creation having left Core after Tomb Raider 1 to begin work on the equally notorious Galleon.

E3â??05 provided the first chance for us to see what Crystal Dynamics have been up to with the debut of Tomb Raider: Legend, and mercifully a combination of entirely new technology and design looks to put Lara back to where she belongs â?“ or more importantly out of the cities and into the tombs!

One of the most startling changes regards Lara herself, who courtesy of Gard has undergone a significant make-over, resulting in a more natural style that is in no-way less enticing for all the pre-pubescent males out there and those like me who refuse to grow up. Thereâ??s less doom and gloom surrounding Lara these days it seems, and the changeover certainly seems to have given her a new lease of life.

Thankfully the team at Crystal Dynamics have started from scratch, completely removing the grid-based movement system that signified previous Tomb Raider titles and implementing an advanced camera system that rarely frustrates. The result looks to be a fluid blend between character control and camera movement, something that the franchise has desperately needed for many, many years and more importantly no more â??one step forwards and two steps backâ? before every jump.

Within the game Lara has access to a variety of gadgets and gizmos designed to help her progress, but rather then store these away in a clunky interface system, you can simply see what youâ??ve got by looking at Laraâ??s model as everything is visually stored on her. The demonstration introduced a Blue-Tooth headset which allows Lara to keep in touch with a tech-team presumably back in England headed by Laraâ??s trusted Butler. Laraâ??s most useful new toy has to be the Magnetic Grappling Hook however, which allows her to pull items towards her, interact with objects and also to traverse the environment in ways never before possible; examples of the grappling hook in action included pulling a raft towards herself across a ravenous white-water section and swinging across a chasm in traditional Tomb Raider style. Other bits and bobs accessible to Lara include a Personal Light Detector attached to her chest that automatically switches on when natural light is limited, along with binoculars to scout a particular area, a variety of grenades and the return of flares!

The integration of real-time physics appears to be a significant drive behind the title as the gameâ??s various environmental puzzles are largely integrated within this, while the technology also allows for destructible environments to some degree. The result appears to emphasise the action and helps to create a more believable game world, which in turn leads to some interesting scenarios within the game.

Although the game breakdown takes an even split between combat/action, exploration/platform and puzzles, each element appears to have been significantly overhauled to the point of becoming something of a rebirth for the franchise. Combat in particularly looks to jump way beyond what was offered in previous titles, placing the emphasis back on Laraâ??s gun-slinging skills. Although she could probably kick your arse with a blindfold on, Crystal Dynamics have created a system whereby you use melee attacks to create a split-second opening in which to pull back the triggers â?“ swing onto a ledge, into a roll to kick-flip an opponent into the air and then let the double uziâ??s do the talking, or perhaps a slide tackle against an unsuspecting adversary to gain a similar advantage. Combine the stylish moves with a targeting system that actually works and takes in a variety of context-sensitive actions, and you finally have a Tomb Raider game that has evolved to present day expectations and possibly beyond.

Taking note of previous criticisms, Crystal Dynamics have taken the camera system straight back to the drawing board and come up with a method that whilst not revolutionary should certainly ease the frustrations associated with the franchise. The game stays close to the traditional third-person methodology but presents â??sensibleâ? cinematic views when needed; during the 30 minute demonstration we witnessed a variety of occasions when this became apparent and was surprised that the camera didnâ??t get lodged at a weird angle or become fixated on Lara on a single occasion. Thankfully you can still take manual control of the camera, however itâ??s looking unlikely that youâ??ll need to resort to this during the game as it makes vast leaps in terms of fluidity and response.

The main target for the team was completely eradicating the â??trial-and-errorâ? nature of the series in order to save her from the â??stupid-death syndromeâ?; through the vast improvements made to the camera/control system, most notably in the removal of the grid-based system, Tomb Raider: Legend finally looks likely to be the Tomb Raider game weâ??ve wanted.

As stated during the opening paragraphs the game firmly puts Lara back to where she belongs, gamers can expect to explore tombs from all across the globe taking in exotic locations such as West Africa, Himalayas, South America, Russia and Tokyo in an experience that is likely to weigh in between 10-12 hours to complete. The team has worked hard on a save system stemming from previous criticisms, placing regular checkpoints that should hopefully eradicate past frustrations of struggling through a level and having to restart from the beginning all over again simply because you inched too far back and the camera was pointing the wrong way!

Perhaps the only doubt regarding the title came in regards to the crucial voice acting, an element that the team are meticulously scouring the earth for in order to find the â??perfect voiceâ? for Lara Croft. Those awaiting confirmation of the rumoured Xbox360 version will also have to wait, as no suggestion was alluded to at E3.