Tomb Raider: Underworld First Impressions
Lara Croft has restocked the ammunition, brushed up her acrobatics, and got her groove back in Tomb Raider Underworld.
Eidos producer Bill Beacham explains more about the development of Tomb Raider Underworld.
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.
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