Tomb Raider Legend was a huge step in the wrong direction for a lot of fans; however Crystal started to pull things together when they celebrated 10 years of Lara Croft and Tomb Raider with their own commemorative remake of the adventure that brought Lara into the world. This was a small, but very definite step in the right direction – so, what we wanted to know was, can they push things further with Tomb Raider Underworld?

The game has already taken some criticism from the fans, comments about dull graphics and an aging Lara are rife on most boards but they have all been based on poor quality magazine scans. So was the reality any different? Of course it was. Tomb Raider Underworld in the flesh (so to speak) is far more impressive than it’s portrayed in the 200dpi magazine scans, granted we were seeing it on a huge cinema screen but it closely reflected the quality we could expect from the finished product.

The first thing to point out would be that the graphics are quite stunning. A huge step up from the next generation graphics of Tomb Raider Legend and an incredible leap from the last generation graphics of the Playstation 2, although a few of the plants could have done with a bit of a touch up the remainder of the environments were rich in colour and detail. This will come as welcome news to the many people who noted the undistinguished tones of the environments in Tomb Raider Anniversary. There is an incredible sense of depth and distance in Tomb Raider Underworld. The skyline is much busier than before, Mayan tombs and temples in the far distance give the illusion of an exceptionally vast environment.

The brand new weather system is another thing to marvel, Crystal Dynamics have really done themselves proud with this beauty. It was only 50% complete when we saw it, but you’d never have known! Gentle rumbles of thunder fill the overcast skies, rain trickles gently down, cascading over Lara’s new next generation body and the occasional flicker of lightening brightens up the ominous sky, if only for a split second. This is the first time a Tomb Raider game has seen such an intelligent weather system and it adds so much to the lavish environments.

"making her way through a flame-engulfed Croft Manor..."

The demo begins with Lara in Southern Mexico, her aim is simple – to open the gates of Xibalba (Underworld) she must reset the Mayan calendar. We are told that this is the fourth level in the game, but not much is mentioned about the previous three or the levels that follow. It has been speculated that one of the levels in the game will see Lara making her way through a flame-engulfed Croft Manor but Eidos aren’t open to questions on that just yet… Heading slowly towards the Mayan temple visible in the distance Lara stumbles into a poacher’s village. The music strikes up and we know something is about to happen.

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