To hell and back

Lara's back, and this time it's mythical in Tomb Raider™: Underworld on PlayStation®3.

A wild thunderstorm rages through the skies of Mexico as a solitary figure creeps through the rain, pistols drawn. A majestic Mayan temple rises up out of the jungle both forbidding and enticing, laden with treasures and dangers beyond most people's imaginings. Without warning, two panthers, black as coal, streak out of the downpour, teeth bared, claws at the ready. This might be considered a problem for most people. Not for Lady Lara Croft, however, and, looking better than ever before, she makes short work of the panthers in an effortlessly balletic display of grace and aggression.

This is Tomb Raider: Underworld, the latest instalment in the hugely popular and successful Tomb Raider series about everyone's favourite glamorous archaeologist, Lara Croft. The first thing you notice about the Mexico level that Eidos has shown to the world is just how incredible everything looks. The weather effects are beautiful, with the overwrought sky lighting up with periodic flashes of lightning and every surface slick with rainwater. It's not just a cosmetic touch either - the rain actually affects Lara's progress, making surfaces slippery and difficult to gain purchase on, as well as dampening Lara's clothing and slicking down her ponytail.

Glorious mud

Everything is as realistic as possible - mud from the ground will attach itself to Lara as she touches it and then wash off in real time in the rain. Foliage too, is fully interactive, and Lara will brush leaves aside with her hands as she makes her way through dense undergrowth. Everything in the environment has its own presence and weight, adding to the feeling that you are exploring a very real world full of very real dangers.

Lara can now target two enemies at once with her trademark pistols, as well as take advantage of a whole host of new moves, such as cartwheels and wall kicks to reach higher platforms. She can also pick up loose poles lying around, which can be used as weapons to fend off attackers, and which can also be slotted into likely-looking holes in the wall to create a springboard to reach previously inaccessible areas. Lara has also been fully motion-captured from an Olympic gymnast, giving her moves an incredible sense of fluidity and realism.

Hell and high water

In terms of story, Eidos is remaining tight-lipped over the trials and tribulations Lara will be facing, although the level revealed so far has Lara attempting to open a portal to the Mayan underworld by aligning a giant stone calendar to the dates when the gates of hell were traditionally thought to open. Once these gates are open, Lara only has a short amount of time before the ancient stone gates slide back into place, and to reach the entrance in time, she's going to have to use another piece of new equipment - her motorbike. Unlike previous Tomb Raider games with stand alone vehicle levels, Lara can ride her bike pretty much anywhere throughout the regular levels and it becomes an essential tool to solving some of the puzzles you'll find throughout the game. Lara's grappling hook has been upgraded as well. It is now fully integrated with the physics of the game world, as demonstrated in the demo level by Lara using the taut grappling hook line to pull a large stone slab off a pillar to break a section of crumbling floor below.