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Xbox.com | News & Features - A tour of Tomb Raider: Underworld

We saw Tomb Raider: Anniversary as a fine indication of how Lara would evolve on Xbox 360. Now we’re happy to say we aimed too low. Xbox.com recently spent time with the first demo of Tomb Raider: Underworld and it shows Lara at her most agile, within a world that hides its secrets more cunningly than before.

In order to prepare Lara for her most challenging tour to date, the game’s creators hired an Olympic gymnast to motion-capture every move. New Lara can lithely scale ancient ruins as good as any mountain climber and as gracefully as a ballerina. While this certainly looks wonderful, the gameplay opportunities it enables are significant too. For example, the surfaces she clambers can be slippery where she least expects meaning that balance and timing become an issue – a tidy cartwheel across a narrow ledge could prove to be a life-saver.

When duty calls, Lara is more than prepared to use her twin Desert Eagles against foes. She can now choose to aim and fire at separate targets while running and / or jumping, even swallow diving from height which looks mightily impressive. Panthers prowling the ruins don’t really stand a chance. A small army of gunmen can be quickly taken out of the picture too for as long as Lara is sprinting out of range.

A subtle but stylish touch is how Lara gets all muddied up and soaked to the skin through all her gymnastic antics in a tropical downpour. Rolling in the muddy forecourt to the Mayan temple gets her filthy and quick, but if she rests to cool in the rain it’ll wash her clean. Amazing that her hair doesn’t frizz out though!

Puzzle solving has become more physics-based, and looks set to be mentally challenging too. Nothing is obvious, Lara really needs to scrutinise the environment for clues, such as objects that may seem out of place. One such tool is an engraved Mayan shaft, weighty enough to wallop assailants into submission and strong enough to stand on if slid into a hole in the wall. And if you think that’s handy, this particular item also serves as a key to open up the colossal temple gates.

Observing a small trickle of water that disappears below the floor, Lara realises she must smash through to access the temple’s hidden depths. The physical challenge here is to bring a boulder crashing down by using her rope attached to a far wall. You’re unlikely to figure this out inside of five minutes but suddenly it clicks and you get the kind of mental reward that Tomb Raider offers best of all.

The demo closes with Lara manipulating a gigantic astrological calendar carved from stone. With the calendar’s parts correctly aligned the entire temple forecourt transforms noisily and most spectacularly into the very gates of Xibalba, the Mayan Underworld or ‘Place of Fear’! Lara’s straight in there on her motorbike…

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Underworld will be released for Xbox 360 this year.

The last Tomb Raider game I played was legend and as much as I enjoyed playing it I found it a bit too short! I hope this one last a bit longer.