E3 2008: Tomb Raider Underworld Hands-On

By Jon Miller, GameSpotPosted Jul 17, 2008 3:28 pm PT

Lara Croft drops the hammer, Thor's Hammer, this fall.

E3 2008 Demo

Watch our live stage demo of Tomb Raider Underworld.

Deep within the bowels of the Eidos booth at E3 2008, we got our hands all over Lara Croft in her latest adventure, Tomb Raider Underworld. Her adventure begins, appropriately, under the sea in a cave on the floor of the Mediterranean. There, she will eventually learn that the legendary Thor's Hammer is not a myth, but real. Unfortunately, the secrets of the fabled weapon are guarded by a kraken whose giant tentacles block Lara's path. Our only choice is to drop a huge block of spikes on the kraken's head and make calamari. Our apologies to kraken enthusiasts everywhere for our inhumane treatment of krakens.

To accomplish this feat, Lara slyly jumped from platform to platform and shimmied across gaps in typical Tomb Raider fashion. Lara can use a grappling hook to snag onto stone columns, and then rein in the hook to pull down the stone column, this time on a kraken's tentacle. The level serves as a basic tutorial for navigating the increasingly complicated environments in Underworld. This adventure takes place in Thailand, Mexico, and "the far north," said Eidos, and each area will feature a different underworld, such as the Mayan hell known as Xibalba. After gathering clues and items from each of these underworlds, Lara will eventually track down Thor's hammer, which legend holds has the power to destroy even the Gods. If the hammer thing doesn't work out, Lara still has her trusty duel pistols.

Visually, Tomb Raider Underworld has a long way to go. That's good since the game is still in a pre-alpha state, although it must be said that Lara looked especially lovely in her form-fitting wetsuit. Despite a few bugs, expect large, wide-open environments and multiple paths to reaching your objectives, as well as an all-terrain motorcycle outfitted to negotiate snow and ice. Other new gadgets include an active sonar map that emits an active sonar ping that creates an image of Lara's surroundings, and the grappler that allows for wall runs and rappelling.

Tomb Raider Underworld is expected to be released this November, and we'll have more in the coming months.

64 Comments

  • leonheart_z

    Posted Oct 30, 2008 3:14 am PT

    i want this for the psp

  • Natderaj

    Posted Oct 28, 2008 4:27 am PT

    Hoping that this game comes out for ds and wii at the same time as 360 or PS3 I hate how games always come later for Nintendo

  • karthik_9840

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 10:23 am PT

    tomb raider is one of the my favroite game be soon i am always waiting

  • dudelovsgame

    Posted Oct 1, 2008 8:51 am PT

    I interested to see how the motion controls have been integrated for the Wii

  • Dark-huntress

    Posted Sep 7, 2008 8:57 am PT

    This better be on the PS2 >.

  • Dark-huntress

    Posted Sep 7, 2008 8:57 am PT

    This better be on the PS2 >.

  • August88_88

    Posted Aug 23, 2008 9:38 am PT

    I hope Underworld will come out for ps2 considering all of the Raiders have.

  • jaydeepzone

    Posted Aug 21, 2008 10:38 pm PT

    These tomb raider games have awesome adventure but graphics are not impresive. if the fraphics and sound can match encharted the ps3 game, then it'll be a must buy>>>

  • Gelugon_baat

    Posted Aug 19, 2008 8:52 am PT

    More jumpy shooty fun! And maybe this time Lara gets too kill demons and fiends too! Maybe even get possessed, corrupted, struggling against certain doom/damnation! Yay for originality!

  • Razieluk

    Posted Aug 5, 2008 7:45 am PT

    Re Fighterguard's comments - personally I preferred Soul Reaver - which is why the first part of my username is Raziel. I prefer using Raziel_uk but GS doesn't like underscores.

    As for Tomb Raider bring it on...

  • fighterguard

    Posted Aug 4, 2008 3:34 pm PT

    Give me a thumbs up if you want Crystal Dynamics to stop loafing around and start working on a new Legacy of Kain game!!!!

    Give us Kain now! I'm tired of Lara Croft!!

  • rift_zone

    Posted Jul 30, 2008 10:27 pm PT

    Hopefully Eidos will come up with a few new things to keep this game fresh. It's relied on improving boob physics in the past too much.

  • aass9900

    Posted Jul 30, 2008 4:17 pm PT

    i saw it in e3 it looks really good

  • Jackyll87

    Posted Jul 30, 2008 12:10 am PT

    I think this is going to take place after legends. The story didnt quite end in legends and some questions went unanswered.

  • alarausibun

    Posted Jul 29, 2008 7:44 pm PT

    can`t wait to see this dudes...i mean i` love tomb raider and i love this chick anyway...i`ve finished "legend" and almost "anniversary"...god speed gentlemen and hope we won`t be dissapointed!

  • lostboy85

    Posted Jul 27, 2008 1:26 pm PT

    I was really impressed by the quality of Underworld from what i've seen so far. I can only imagine what the final product will look like. Crystal D has really taken Lara to new heights.

  • MajorBrian

    Posted Jul 26, 2008 7:59 am PT

    Anyone know if this takes place right after Legend? If I remember correctly the story in Legend didnt quite end.

  • BleakCorner

    Posted Jul 25, 2008 2:11 am PT

    If this game "visually has a long way to go" - then I'm looking forward to the final results as it already looks very nice.

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