Place the pole in a hole on the wall and voi-là! You have your own makeshift swing-pole. Unfortunately there is nowhere to swing to so you’re at a bit of a loose end. But wait! What’s this..? Lara has a new ability (one of many). As well as being able to swing on horizontal poles Lara can now climb atop them to reach higher levels, giving you more options and more possibilities for alternate routes. As Lara climbs it becomes clear where she has to go (damn those obvious ledges, yes… they are back). It’s now a case of guiding Lara around the multitude of pillars and beams, an ancient assault course if you will. Once again the benefits of motion capture animation really shine through as she shimmies, jumps and cartwheels her way to the open cavity in the Mayan temple wall.

She’s in! And like any fine temple this one is quite dark on the inside. Fortunately for Lara she’s equipped with her PLS (Personal Light Source) again. Moving through the temple Lara is searching for the final piece of the puzzle. We take some time to admire the lighting system once more; beams of light shining through cracks in the walls cloak the room with a striking effect leaving it feeling beautifully ambient. Little droplets of rain are highlighted as they descend past the PLS, another subtle new detail.

"Subtlety makes for more challenging gameplay"

As Lara comes to a more built-up area of the temple we notice a loop-ended pole placed subtlety in the corner of the room. This is a grapple point, but one unlike the garish “Look at me!” grapple points we saw in Tomb Raider Legend. This one has no shine to it so it’s no longer an obvious eye-sore. While we seem to have been allowed to mature as gamers in Tomb Raider Underworld with a cease to the spoon-feeding, Crystal Dynamics have placed in some very subtle hints to guide us should we become stuck. One of the most cleverly concealed features were the hints given out by the water within the environments. At first glance it looked as though it were nothing more than a puddle, however on closer inspection it became clear that the water was slowly moving, dripping into a crack in the floor. The more astute gamer will see this as a signal that there is more under Lara’s feet. A gentle push in the right direction from Crystal Dynamics.

Lara makes her way to higher ground and fires her grapple at the inconspicuous grapple point she passed on her way into the room. The grapple has been a part of Lara’s inventory since Tomb Raider Legend and has proven itself to be a very useful tool in the past. Its back again for its third game but this time it has a new feature.

Unlike previous models if an object intercepts the line between Lara and the grapple this grapple will not recoil, instead the wire will bend and curve around the object in its path. Handy, considering we need a way to dislodge this rock from its resting place. Once Lara has positioned herself correctly she is able to apply pressure to the grapple wire slowly edging the rock away from its pillar until it crashes through the floor below.

The last piece of the puzzle is in sight but Lara needs to find a safe way to reach the floor through the gaping hole she has just created. Another of Lara’s new abilities comes into play. Lara is now able to free-climb surfaces, much like in the sixth instalment to the series –The Angel of Darkness – her climbing ability isn’t limited to flat surfaces. She can climb along concave and convex surfaces as well. The best thing about this ‘new’ feature is that these surfaces aren’t obvious. You’ll have to look carefully to spot them.

"The return of an old adversary makes things interesting"

As Lara reaches out for the final puzzle piece the music strikes up again. It’s only a very short piece but it signifies achievement and the harmonic chants are reminiscent of a piece that may have been heard in a classic Tomb Raider game. Our moment of reminiscing is interrupted quite hastily by the arrival of an enemy we’ve not seen since the Great Wall in the smash hit sequel ‘Tomb Raider II – The Dagger of Xian’. The spiders are back, faster and creepier than ever. We are told that these tarantulas (which were about the size of Lara’s head) were the ‘small’ ones… If that’s the case then it’s safe to say that the ‘big’ ones are going to be pretty huge!

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