Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis isn’t even out yet, but already it feels like an old relic – in all the wrong ways

Final 12 months, on a little bit of a whim, I ended up enjoying Tomb Raider 1’s very good remaster and Crystal Dynamics’ 2007 remake Tomb Raider: Anniversary. Each, it seems, are enormously satisfying – and really completely different – methods to play Lara Croft’s trailblazing unique platform journey, which celebrates its thirtieth anniversary this 12 months. So I can perceive why the minds behind Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis may wish to do one thing past a slick visible overhaul. However after my newest Gamescom look, I am not precisely satisfied this remake – now because of arrive early subsequent 12 months – is heading the precise method.

Not like Chris’ “strangely double-A” hands-on time with Legacy of Atlantis earlier this year, its Gamescom displaying was strictly hands-off; a “first look” at developer Flying Hog Video games’ reinterpretation of Greece – a location that comes roughly 1 / 4 of the best way into the unique sport. And for this newest displaying, Crystal Dynamics, which is overseeing the mission for Amazon, opted to point out off an “up to date and reimagined” model of the Damocles Room sword puzzle deep beneath St. Francis’ Folly.

Our presentation begins in what’s maybe one among Tomb Raider 1’s most memorable areas: the intimidatingly vertical chamber immediately beneath the church, the place what stays of an unlimited central column, stretching up from the depths, offers a treacherous technique of reaching completely different gates located on completely different flooring of the chamber’s perimeter. Within the unique, it is a advanced little bit of stage design, requiring each navigational prowess – a lot of the walkways and staircases between areas are lengthy gone – and puzzle-y thinkery to be able to purchase the keys required to proceed.

And there is not any doubt Legacy of Atlantis’ take captures the unique’s spirit: you will nonetheless navigate the imposingly vertiginous chamber, puzzling your method into 4 completely different rooms so you’ll be able to puzzle your method again out with 4 completely different keys (technically gems on this model). And there is not any doubt it seems a deal with whereas it is doing it; shafts of sunshine placing by way of the traditional darkness, as thick vegetation, wealthy with vibrant bursts of flowers, run wild throughout stone. And it is a pleasure to listen to new Lara Croft voice actor Alix Wilton Regan warmly quip her method across the place – instantly, welcomely resetting the tone again to the previous, 1,000,000 miles away from the wretched distress of Crystal Dynamics’ divisive reboot trilogy.

However as Crystal Dynamics expertise director Jeff Adams, who’s narrating this alpha gameplay playthrough, reminds us, Legacy of Atlantis goes past an audio-visual makeover. “The workforce seeks to protect what made these areas so particular to start with”, he says, “however we wish to discover new methods to shock and delight”. The objective is to provide newcomers a “sense of awe and surprise”, whereas old-hands really feel like they’ve had their first play expertise “reignited”. The extent’s bat enemies have, as an example, now been became thick undulated swarms with extra unpredictable motion patterns. However there’s the opposite, extra controversial stuff Crystal Dynamics is shoving into Legacy of Atlantis, together with the reboot period’s RPG-like development parts – talent bushes, crafting, and different faff (to not point out its own dollop of gen-AI).

On this new model, Lara can snaffle up environmental junk – I am fairly positive I see her swipe a turnip at one level, regardless of not being a vegetable recognized to thrive within the historic half-light – to be able to craft the likes of boon-granting meals. Which results in the comical sight of our demo participant scrolling by way of a listing of recipes – an infinite plate of stew, an enormous pan of baked beans – which Lara promptly twiddles out of skinny air. And after that, it is onto Legacy of Atlantis’ different massive new characteristic – a scanner – which gamers can use to analyse environments for “larger perception” into the way to proceed.

Within the instance we see, Lara scans an imposing gate located close to some type of opening mechanism containing 4 seen slots. “The gate continues to be shut,” Lara usefully explains after the scan is finished, “and the opening mechanism has 4 distinct slots”. Precisely the sort of perception a talented treasure hunter with years of tomb raiding expertise may want! It is clearly a gambit meant to ease much less skilled gamers into this world, however – as with plenty of Atlantis’ new additions proven within the demo – there’s one thing in regards to the immersion-busting implementation that simply feels inelegant and ill-considered.

By the way, Adams notes the scanner is “non-compulsory”, when you’re the sort of one who’d desire to not trace themselves out of an journey. However then comes phrase of a secondary operate: the power for Lara to scan the world to study of its historical past, as if the one factor a lady of her information and expertise has all the time wanted is a few sort of moveable ChatGPT.

Maybe I am simply getting unnecessarily hung up on these items, although. And a few of Legacy of Atlantis’ additions look neat! A nicely-animated leopard struggle on the best way to discovering the Key of Damocles reveals some enhanced enemy behaviour – on this case, the cat can conceal and carry out a sneak assault – suggesting there will be a bit extra meat to fight past frantic twirl-and-shoot. Lara’s grappling hook, in the meantime, has some new utility that lets her grasp onto distant levers, ascend and descend from sure grapple spots, or latch onto masonry and whizz over gaps. There are artefacts to gather that unlock outfits (the Tomb Raider group loves an unlockable outfit), and the demo ends with a very placing view.

As Lara emerges out of a depressing tunnel, we’re bumped into with an impressively sprawling vista: an historic metropolis constructed into the partitions of an enormous underground cavern, its elaborately organized buildings peering above a cover of thick, inexperienced foliage amid towering waterfalls. “We’ve got preserved that great thing about traditional Greek tradition, however we have now fused it into this huge subterranean wilderness that you just’re gonna get an opportunity to discover”, Adams notes, so there’s maybe extra room for deviation right here than we have been beforehand conscious.

As for the reimagined Sword of Damocles puzzle, when you have been questioning, the large twist is that after you’ve got run underneath the large swords to deliver them crashing down, you’ll be able to climb onto them to be able to navigate the room. And when you do not wish to danger your neck, they can be dislodged by taking pictures them – so long as you’ve got prolonged their vary by unlocking the Useless-eye talent from the talent tree, in fact. And at one level early within the sequence, as Lara collects the important thing from the chamber’s inevitably booby trapped plinth, she must dodge the falling swords by doing, sure, three back-to-back QTEs.

I really like Tomb Raider (not a lot the dour reboot trilogy, admittedly), and I might love nothing greater than to see Amazon’s long-awaited sequence revival restore the flowery exploratory rhythms and vivacious power of the sequence in its heyday. But when Legacy of Atlantis is any indication of Crystal Dynamics’ future plans for the sequence, I will want extra convincing. The acquainted Tomb Raider motion seems satisfying sufficient, however – and I hope I am flawed – all that different stuff shoehorned round it’s already giving the impression of a remake that feels drained and outmoded earlier than it is even acquired right here. The superfluous crafting, the scanning, the development, the QTEs; all of it appears so graceless – precisely the alternative of what Lara Croft needs to be.