Three panthers appear, closely followed by mercenaries. The AI (Artificial Intelligence) in this game has received a dramatic makeover. More abilities have been given to them, one of which being that they can fight each other as well as Lara. Lara sits atop a hill watching as one of the poachers dives out of the path of a ravenous panther, Lara won’t be attacked until she gets too close or becomes a threat; but what’s Tomb Raider without a bit of action eh? She pulls out her pistols and heads into the village.

As Lara slides down the muddy hill and into the village a panther comes racing toward her, a few shots of the pistols and the beast is dead, a surprisingly easy kill, but then the poachers did do most of the work. She runs forward and leaps for a ledge, its here that we really see the benefit of the motion capture animation. This is the first time the Tomb Raider series has seen Lara animated through motion capture and it adds wonders to the way she moves. With complex routines and stunts performed by Olympic gymnast Heidi Moneymaker, Crystal Dynamics have achieved a whole new realistic light in which we see our heroine. She really does look and move more realistically.

"Sticky Bombs liven up Lara's arson"

Once she has reached higher ground Lara is free to fire off a few rounds at the nearby poachers and panthers. Lara’s arson sees another new addition in the form of ‘sticky bombs’. Throw these at your enemies and they are stricken with fear as they desperately try to detach the bomb from themselves. This poacher wasn’t so lucky… The bomb explodes projecting the poacher across the village - an effective and somewhat humorous weapon.

As well as her arson, Lara is now able to use objects within the environments to her advantage. A conveniently placed pole (which seems to have broken away from the main Mayan temple) is lying on the floor. Pole and pistol in hand Lara is now able to defend herself from predators more effectively using both simultaneously (Lara is able to fire her pistol while holding the pole). As a panther gets a little too close she swings the pole smashing it violently on the skull. The panther runs away for a while giving her time to fire a few shots at the last of the panthers.

As Lara walks around the now peaceful village our attention is brought to the game’s lighting features. As we’ve mentioned already the weather system is a feat of genius engineering which allows for a brand new hybrid lighting structure built around dynamic light maps, this is shown best as the light casts shadows of the foliage on Lara as she moves through the environments, think Assassin’s Creed and you’ll have a good idea of what to expect. This new lighting system combined with the many new features adds a whole new level of realism to the game. Crystal Dynamics are really focusing on the subtle details to provide a more realistic gaming experience. Part of this subtlety is the new spherical harmonics system that means Lara will now take on the colours of the environments. Walk past a vibrant green plant and there will be a hint of green to Lara’s person.

"Objects within the levels can serve more than one purpose"

As well as taking on the colour of close by foliage Lara is now able to interact with it. Run through a bush and she will cross her arms shielding her face, gently brushing the leaves aside. It’s the little details like this that make the environment so much more convincing. You get the feeling you are able to do just about anything which is the opposite effect you feel in the past two additions to the series. As mentioned before Lara is now able to use objects within the environment to her personal gain. That pole is useful for more than just cracking a panther over the head with; she can use it to get to places within the level, creating alternate paths and routes.

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