Survival is the name of the game for Lara Croft's next virtual excursion -- well, the name of the game is actually Tomb Raider, but, you know -- and a few details from the January issue of Game Informer (which already found its way onto the info-hungry internets) have revealed exactly how said survival story will unfold.
- 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.
- CD 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.
That's about it. It seems like CD is still be fairly secretive about the gameplay details. There are some nice in-game screenshots. One features Lara hanging upside down in what looks to be a cocoon. Also several screenshots showing her bloodied and with bandages on.
As one might expect, the game's survivalist objective sets a grim tone -- Lara will have to forage for food and water to stay alive. She'll also have to avoid the traps and violent inhabitants strewn across the game's island setting, which, according to the article, are capable of dispatching Lara in extremely brutal ways. Like, ways that make the Tomb Raider 2 "Blow Lara Up" code seem like a minor papercut. Keep an eye out for the January issue of Game Informer for even more details about this interesting adventure.
