I want to address the elephant in the room right off the bat. I’ve been gaming longer than most of the people I know. I had a PlayStation 1 in 1996. But I have never played the original Tomb Raider game. I knew about it, for sure. It was almost impossible not to, with the way Lara Croft’s debut adventure seized the zeitgeist of the industry back then. She was everywhere! So in 1996 I was too busy enjoying Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, Crash Bandicoot, and Suikoden. My dance card was full.
I bring this up because my first Tomb Raider experience came from the post-Uncharted trilogy reboot of the PS3/ Xbox 360 era. This is a series that, while incredibly fun for me, apparently lacked a lot of what made the original PS1 trilogy so beloved. So complete was my lack of knowledge about Tomb Raider on PS1, that I did not know until the day of my preview that this, in fact, is a remake of the original.
During Summer Game Fest, I played roughly an hour-long segment with Legacy of Atlantis. The demo had three distinct gameplay segments. I walked away from it very high on the experience. It boasted gorgeous graphics, stunning vistas, fun puzzles, exciting combat, and a Lara Croft way more jovial and endearing than the survival focused Lara of my previous trilogy. And there was so much to explore! I could have burned through my entire demo time if I hadn’t been focused on making sure I saw all it had to offer.
Lara Croft: Tomb Jumper
Lara Croft controls a little more loosely than I was originally expecting. My experience with the genre based on the other Tomb Raider series, Uncharted, and others had Lara’s more floaty jump hit me as a surprise. It was in no way a bad thing, it was just a minor mental hurdle I had to adapt to to overcome. And overcome it I did. In no time at all I was sprinting around, clamoring up walls, grappling across gaps, interacting with the puzzles, and jumping around willy-nilly. Speaking of the grappling hook, I loved it here. I love any game with a grappling hook to be honest, but the way Lara uses hers not only for traversal but also for puzzle solving made it feel even more vital to the gameplay.
“Knowing what we know about the use of generative AI placeholders, it does continue to make me wary.”
The first section of the demo had Lara searching for the Tomb of Qualopec on the hunt for an artifact of some kind. A tomb that required us to repair a busted gate opening mechanism by finding some cogs to replace the ones missing. The first cog was a simple affair, requiring a single use of the grapple to pull off its perch. The second involved a lengthy bit of platforming, maneuvering, and an entire puzzle room to figure out. Once the cogs were reunited, the path forward revealed itself. This area of the demo was dense with things to explore.
Hidden chests, material used for upgrading Lara, collectibles that provided expanded lore, and more were all dotted around the waterfall’s landscape. Even though I knew I didn’t need these pickups, that I couldn’t utilize them, I couldn’t help myself. I had to get them all! I have no way of knowing if I did since I didn’t have access to a count of the things hidden around me, but it certainly felt like I 100% the area. And it felt satisfying to do so thanks to the controls and the graphical splendor on display.
And speaking of splendor, did I mention the demo looked pretty? Because it sure as hell did. The way the lush jungle just popped was impressive. The water especially was eye catching. All in all, I was impressed with how it looked. Knowing what we know about the use of generative AI placeholders, it does continue to make me wary. I can only hope they are being truthful when they say all final components of the game’s art are handcrafted by actual developers.
Dino Crisis
The second portion of the demo involved an introduction to the combat of Legacy of Atlantis. It also introduced one of the most iconic aspects of the original game, one that even I knew about. Lara Croft fights dinosaurs with her twin pistols. The combat is simple yet highly satisfying and very responsive. Lara can aim with her twin pistols, firing off multiple rounds before needing to reload. She has a very agile dodge that can be chained together three times culminating in a nice little side flip, Mario 64 style.
]And most importantly, she can build up a Focus meter during combat to unleash a crazy Max Payne-esque bullet time effect. This allows you to rip those damn dinos to shreds. That’s what they get for trying to eat me. I’m Lara Croft, damnit. Learn your place on the totem pole. While this section didn’t last too long, I really did enjoy the combat in it. It just felt smooth and right. The developers at Crystal Dynamics and Flying Wild Hog nailed it.
T. Raider Meets T. Rex
The final segment is a remake of probably the most iconic moment from Tomb Raider – the T. Rex chase scene. Incredibly reminiscent (for me) of some of the Crash Bandicoot stages where you are running away towards the camera, Lara Croft was ducking, diving, and dashing all over trying to escape the ever present danger of the T. Rex. Quick reflexes were needed to nail all of the jumps, grapples, and swings to escape, and the demo ended in a flash when I reached a fairly climactic portion of it. It left me wanting more, and now my mind has to survive eight months until the game drops in February 2027.
All things considered, coming from someone that doesn’t have a nostalgic love of the first game to compare Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, I walked away very happy with what I experienced. If the developers can use these remaining months to polish away all of the rougher edges that sometimes poked through in my playthrough (minor hit detection and traversal accuracy issues, but nothing that impacted my overall enjoyment), I can see this return of Lara Croft being one of the big success stories of 2027.
Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis launches for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2 February 12, 2027.
