Tomb Raider: Underworld

Born slippy

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For all the competition in the third-person action-adventure genre, Lara's last outing proved there was plenty of life in the old, ass-kicking, upper-class dog, yet.

We're here at E3 to check out Lara's next opus, Tomb Raider: Underworld, seated in a room with Eidos and Crystal Dynamics' representatives to be taken through previously unseen areas of the new game. The demonstration takes place on an Xbox 360 console, Eidos beaming about the virtues and improvements of our next-generation heroine.

We start out swimming beneath the waves, Lara bedecked in scuba gear enabling her to spend unlimited time beneath the surface. She's also once again wearing the kind of attire that makes teenage boys feel strange all over. Eidos tell us that this is an introductory puzzle from the new game. Huge, multi-layered puzzles are promised, and on this occasion we're tasked with locating the missing pieces of a mechanism we'll use to open a secret door, deep beneath the ocean.

Crystal Dynamics have been working hard to introduce 'real world rules', meaning that Lara can now pick up and physically carry sufficiently light objects; our demonstrator picking up a piece of puzzle and swimming with it to the previously mentioned door-way. While scuba gear is new, and takes some of the time pressure off underwater gameplay, we're told Lara won't be able to use it at all times, and players will still have to do some frantic swimming on occasion. A new sonar map should also prove useful, ensuring players don't get lost - a signal bouncing back a 3D map of the surrounding area.

Moving further into the demonstration stage, we enter a set of caverns, dripping with seawater, resplendent with ultra-rich textures, and incidental touches (carvings, dilapidation and more) that makes this easily the best looking Tomb Raider game ever. Journeying further into this subterranean complex, we're faced with a giant cracken, blocking the path to success. What ensues is an incredibly complicated, but ultimately engrossing puzzle to drop part of the scenery on the beast. The method of completion is just one of the many paths we're told can complete puzzles, while Lara climbs, runs, leaps her way to the point where shooting a set of chains sends the beast plunging back into the murky depths.

The atmosphere is made more tense by the absence of music and the amplification of incidental sound effects; dripping water and the like. As she explores the caverns, looking for ways passed the octopus-like monstrosity, Lara will also get dirty - washing-off when she enters the water. Eidos emphasize the fact that puzzles are now closely linked to the story - in a realistic fashion - and will come in multiple stages, with multiple solutions. Luckily, frequent check-points should also mean less frustrating re-plays, while Lara's new movement system is not only more sensible, but more forgiving. Basically, if a real world gymnast can do it, then so can Lara, and the animation of her movements has received attention that appears to be paying dividends.

Alongside a new handling system for carrying objects, not to mention a new combat system, there's also an enhanced grapple device. This will have multiple applications during gameplay; Eidos showing us Lara using the grapple to pull-over hefty chucks of scenery, as well as for rappelling down great heights.

There will be a pre-release demo, we learn, and the motorcycle will be much more practical this time around, the player given freedom to roam to some degree, rather than the on-rails feeling of the previous title. Versatility and realism is the key, Eidos and Crystal Dynamics highlighting the way physics, weather, variable surfaces, lighting and more will add further to the sense of adventure and immersion.

Settings on offer include south Mexico, Thailand and the Arctic, while DLC is also being 'explored', according to the developers. From an online perspective, Live-based photo-sharing has already been confirmed, Lara able to place a camera for capturing battles, acrobatics and other exciting incidents.

Having seen Tomb Raider: Underworld in action for only the second time, it is pleasing to see that Crystal Dynamics are investing a great of time creating the right 'world' for Lara to explore, fight and puzzle within. All we need now is a compelling plot, gameplay variety and slick controls to ensure Lara's renaissance can continue apace.

By Luke Guttridge