Tomb Raider: Underworld First Impressions

She's hardly had a rest between her well-received reboot in Tomb Raider: Legend and the reflective Tomb Raider: Anniversary... but not one to rest on her laurels, Lara's back in action.

We recently caught up with Eidos to take a tour through a short section of the game. We were shown a prealpha build, but it already appears to be a promising addition to the Tomb Raider franchise. Having proven its talent with Legend, Crystal Dynamics has again taken the helm for this one. The developer has slowly been increasing the team working on Underworld since Legend was released in early 2006, and a full contingent was gathered following Tomb Raider: Anniversary's release last year.

The demonstration we saw was roughly halfway through the fourth stage, set in a Mayan ruin located in Mexico. The major part of the action revolved around Lara trying to gain access to the Mayan underworld by opening a set of gates located in the ruins--more on that later. Before you do all this, you'll need to take care of an immediate danger. Well, make that two: poachers and panthers.

Revamped artificial intelligence in Underworld results in new enemy behaviour and thus different outcomes depending on how they, and you, act. Panthers might slink away, attack you directly, or simply wait for you to attack. And, unlike in prior instalments, some enemies, such as those frisky felines, can follow you to hard-to-reach places, which makes it harder to find a vantage point and take potshots leisurely from afar.

While the poachers and panthers battled it out, our demonstrator jumped into the action with guns blazing and quickly disposed of those pesky problems with dual pistols. Eidos pointed out that you can dual target, pick up objects, and use new weapons that include sticky grenades. Dead bodies will remain in the game to the extent that, even if you backtrack through levels at a later time, they'll still be where you left them.

After the enemies were dispensed of properly, we were led to a large, open area of the temple where Eidos showed off some of Lara's contextual animations. She'll grimace when using a weapon, and smile with satisfaction once done. She'll get muddy when rolling around on the ground, but standing in the rain for a few moments will wash the mud away. Eidos has used a new model for her, complete with new facial expressions and body animations. Lara's movements are based on an Olympic gymnast that Eidos has motion-captured.

You will need to rely on objects to get some of the jobs done in Underworld. Our demonstrator illustrated this by picking up a pole that one of the poachers had left behind. Although you can use some objects in combat--and run and shoot while holding them--on this occasion the pole has another, more important use: to advance on to the next area. Studying a nearby column reveals a socket in which the pole can be placed. Once done, you can use this to swing up to the next ledge. Eidos used this part to highlight new balancing mechanics. Lara will respond to the physics of a beam she's crossing, and in this instance she's more likely to slip off because of the wet, rainy conditions.

As well as using objects, you'll still have the grappling hook, but this time the points to which you can attach it are a bit harder to spot; you might have to do a bit of detective work to find some. Previously, whenever objects got between Lara and a grappling point, the rope would detach, but now you can use the rope with objects. At one point in the demonstration, water running underneath a gap in the floor reveals a hidden passage. Connecting the rope to an up-high grapple point and walking perpendicularly to a stone column causes the loose top section to break off and crash through the floor below to reveal a new area. Many of the puzzles in Underworld can be solved in multiple ways, and this one could have also been solved by jumping onto the column and using Lara's weight to push the top off.

Underworld supports a new "free climbing" method that lets Lara climb around Spider-Man-style on concave, convex, and flat ledges, but only as long as the surface is designed to support her. (Think moss, protruding rocks, cornices, and so on...)

The environment in Underworld uses a new hybrid lighting system that combines dynamic lighting with light-mapping. Lara herself is lit partially by spherical harmonics (indirect lighting), which means that light reflected by nearby objects changes her colour and appearance. If you stand near some foliage, Lara's skin will have a tinge of green; if you move to a stone courtyard, she'll subtly change to a cooler, bluer hue.

The outdoor areas we saw were of high quality, even at this stage in the build. Inky black, detailed clouds raced along the horizon and cast shadows on the ground while lightning flashed through the sky and lit up the terrain. Multilayered rain poured down, and the trees were buffeted by strong winds. Eidos has used thousands of real-life photos to form the relics you'll see in the game, and though we've yet to visit a real-life Mayan temple, the one in the game is what we would expect it to look like in the flesh...or stone.

Eidos remained tight-lipped about the overall plot for Underworld but revealed that this particular part of the game revolves around opening the gates to the Mayan underworld. According to the backstory, the Mayans used a calendar based on a 300-day year. In addition to the 300 days, there were five "missing" days each year which--if Lara can discover the answer--is when the gates of hell will be opened.

To do this, you'll need to change the date on a Mayan calendar (essentially a series of overlapping stone plates on the ground) to one of the missing days. This is done by solving a puzzle that involves the disengagement of several gears on the calendar and the moving of plates, which will trigger a cutscene in which the gates open dramatically.

Lara then had a limited time period to get to the gates. Thankfully you'll find Lara's trusty bike close at hand. The bike, which makes a reappearance from Legend, will have another yet-to-be-revealed use this time around. The bike scene is a short one, and Lara's arrival at the gates brought the demonstration to an end.

Tomb Raider: Underworld looks promising so far, and the final product aims to build on the success of Legend while adding a few new tricks up Lara's nonexistent sleeves. Although Tomb Raider: Underworld has yet to be officially dated, Lara lovers should expect to see it sometime in 2008 on the PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, and DS.