It has been 30 years since Lara Croft made her debut in Tomb Raider, changing into one of many first fashionable gaming icons, whose reputation has endured. Whereas she’s set to get a brand new TV sequence performed by Sport of Thrones’ Sophie Turner, what followers actually need to mark this milestone anniversary is a brand new sport.
The excellent news is that we’re getting not one however two video games, Tomb Raider: Catalyst, anticipated in 2028, and coming significantly sooner, Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, a remake of the unique 1996 sport, with Alix Wilton Regan portraying the titular explorer in each.
Given that is really that sport’s second remake, following 2007’s Tomb Raider: Anniversary, whereas there was additionally a current remaster that allow you to freely toggle between the low-poly PS1 graphics to up to date visuals, it won’t sound as thrilling a propsect. However after watching a dwell demo at Gamescom 2026, I can admire how Crystal Dynamics and Flying Wild Hog are taking the facility of Unreal Engine 5 to reimagine Lara’s unique globetrotting journey like by no means earlier than.
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The extent I get to see is from Historical Greece, an ideal graphical showcase, which sport director Raul Siqueira describes as “very iconic and beloved. It blends the grandeur of an historical civilisation, with untamed subterranean wilderness. Between the towering pillars, the god ray lights that come from the ceilings into the caverns. There’s so much within the surroundings that’s breathtaking.”
But at the same time as Unreal Engine 5 means with the ability to create extra reasonable environments in comparison with the less complicated boxy designs of the unique sport, Legacy of Atlantis is not in search of to make extra expansive ranges for the sake of it, as Siqueira says the group’s intent is to honour the unique sport whereas nonetheless with the ability to shock new and fashionable gamers.
“All the pieces that has been thought-about has been appeared by means of the lenses of, does this make sense within the unique sport, reasonably than placing one thing cool that is fully unrelated. Respecting the unique has at all times been form of a North Star.”
An early instance when exploring these Greek catacombs comes from an encounter with bats, an enemy from the unique sport. However whereas you’d simply sort out one, they transfer round and assault as an unpredictable swarm. So whereas Lara takes out her trademark twin pistols to shoot at them, you additionally need to mash the melee button to bat them away (no pun meant).
This stage can also be well-known for its room with the falling swords of Damocles. They’re reimagined in additional dramatic style with a couple of cutscenes and QTEs to emphasis how giant and lethal these historical objects are as they fall from above and would haven’t any drawback impaling our heroine (fortuitously, or sadly, when you’re the sadistic kind, the demo of this sequence was performed by means of with none deadly errors).
However in addition to strolling over stress plates to set off these falling swords, a pleasant contact on this remake is {that a} extra observant participant may also shoot them down first in the event that they’re in vary.
After all, fashionable video games even have a recurring drawback the place extra reasonable and detailed environments may cause readability points. Usually, the answer is a really synthetic ‘detective’ imaginative and prescient, and it appears Legacy of Atlantis has one thing comparable, as Lara can equip a scanner, which can spotlight interactable objects in addition to present lore for her to muse on. Siqueira does nevertheless describe the scanner as an “opt-in” merchandise, implying it will not be important for fixing puzzles.
However I additionally had issues throughout one other fight sequence when Lara is going through a hostile leopard. Evidently, reasonable visuals does not essentially imply the gameplay goals to be reasonable as properly, as Lara has superhuman acrobatics nearer to the unique sport than her extra grounded depiction within the fashionable Survivor trilogy, whereas she will be able to additionally dive-roll and cartwheel round to dodge assaults, although these are all trustworthy to what she will be able to do within the unique sport. Nonetheless, I could not recover from watching her going through off towards the spongiest leopard alive.
Whereas Siqueira jokes that this wild cat had simply developed a really thick pores and skin in spite of everything this time in Historical Greece, he provides that the group did select to emphasize enjoyable over realism in fight. I am nevertheless extra cautious that it is also a method to make gamers have interaction with the sport’s different fashionable trappings, together with talent bushes and a crafting system.
Nonetheless, he does guarantee me that gamers who simply need to keep on with a basic expertise would nonetheless be attainable, although it appears like it might require additional tinkering with accessibility and issue settings in order for you a extra basic type of gameplay the place it does not really feel such as you’re having to grind by means of a lightweight RPG that so many fashionable video games are designed to be like.
Regardless of these issues apart, Legacy of Atlantis looks like it will be a trustworthy reimagining of a gaming basic, utilizing the facility of Unreal 5 to convey a better grandeur to those historical, mysterious and lethal places than ever, whereas nonetheless feeling acquainted to the unique sport’s blueprint.
Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis launches on 12 February 2027 for PS5, Xbox Sequence X/S, Swap 2, and PC.
Within the meantime, take a look at the behind-the-scenes movies on the making of Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis.