Tomb Raider Underworld - first look by GamesRadar (February 1)

Let's go out on a limb here and say that Tomb Raider Underworld is likely a continuation of the abruptly chopped story of Tomb Raider Legend. Of course, when we asked the team straight off whether this was the case, they refused to comment. You see, so much of Tomb Raider Underworld is being kept under wraps (in a lead-lined bunker in a secret installation under the sea - on another planet), we're having to draw our own conclusions from the demo we were shown recently at a top secret event in London.

As we walked into the cinema where the game was being demonstrated, the massive screen was showing Lara standing idle in lush vegetation, in a rainstorm. This was likely to prove that the demo was real-time, although it was very well-rehearsed and scripted (with no mistakes). It was definitely in-game action depicted on the screen, though, and the sheen belied the supposed 'pre-Alpha' state of the code being shown. Even at this early stage, it looks impressive. It's as smooth-running as the HD water trickling down Lara's thighs and with the engine running so well already, we reckon the finished game could surpass even Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, at least in terms of graphical fidelity.

The Mayan architecture is authentic, based as it is on real-life locations

So what's new? Well, the weather, for starters. The rain was absolutely lashing down on Lara, even though the weather effects are only 50% complete at the moment. So we'll be expecting twice as much rainfall in the finished game (groan). The soundtrack had deep rolls of thunder, corresponding with the flashes of lightning a couple of seconds beforehand, just like real-life. The attention to detail doesn't end there, either, with hi-def footprints left in muddy puddles and Lara's shapely form taking on the hues of whatever scenery she's standing by. Run near the green leaves and her legs reflect a green tinge, head out back into the open and the colours turn colder on her skin. It's subtle, sure, but another step towards making Lara look like she's really a part of her environment.

However, that's not always the case. The movement has been motion-captured by an Olympic gymnast, but while Lara does move beautifully in tightly-controlled animations like walking along beams or finding individual hand and footholds while climbin, it's a different story in ground movement. In combat or pushing circular levers, it can look a bit awkward compared to the more organic animations of Uncharted. With the two games' similarities so evident, they're easy to compare like for like. And, at the moment, Lara's looking a little more solid and assured than Drake, but slightly less forgiving to control. This could just be a greater sophistication than Drake's perhaps over-simplified movement, but we'll know for sure when we get to play with her ourselves (ooh-er).

Movement is mainly excellent, although a few awkward moments did break the illusion momentarily in the code we saw

As you'd expect, the Lara model looks superb. A little older, perhaps, maybe about 30 years old, but convincingly solid. Her clothes were wet from the rain and hugged her torso, with realistic shine on her shoulders and cheeks from the water running over it. In this state, she'll pick up mud from rolling around, too, which washes off in the downpour. Despite the supposed boob reduction of Legend, a close-up of her upper-half revealed each breast to be easily as big as her head. A bit daft, in truth.

The detail level has been ramped up in the environments, to the point where you can tell there's a tunnel underneath a slab of rock because there's a small stream of rainwater running down the side of it. Clever. The rain also affects Lara's grip levels as she's climbing the walls (now with less obvious handholds) and you'll have to pay close attention to the animations as the intrusive 'Y' prompt has been removed when she's about to slip. Much better.

Disappointingly, it seems Lara's back to her murderous ways as seen in TR Legend. She came upon a pack of black panthers and a group of poachers... and so killed them all (as you would do). It seems a tad insulting that the player is forced to kill when all Lara's really doing is exploring. And while the combat seems to work well enough, it's still based on jumping dodging, rather than using the environment to your advantage. Indeed, some enemies like crab spiders can actually scale vertical walls, so Lara can't just climb to safety any more.

Look at the detail level in new in Lara. It's an even better character model than that of Legend

Interestingly, Lara's now able to fire at two independent targets at once, so long as they're within the 100 or so degrees that her pistols can aim at (crossing in the middle, naturally). We say interestingly because this was a feature supposedly set to feature in the 1996 original (according to Gamesmaster magazine at the time!), although it didn't quite make it in the end. It seems to work well here and we like the idea. It also looks way cool.

The grappling line has indeed been improved, so now Lara can attach it to a far wall, then move right to pull a boulder off of a pillar with the centre of the cord. We were told that the physics are being calculated in real-time, so the boulder would move differently each time, although we assume it's been programmed not to miss its intended target on the floor below. The physics do look great, though, and moveable objects look just as solid as the rest of the environment, which is a welcome improvement. The team are proud that debris and enemies will stay in situ for the duration of the game, although we remember the original Tomb Raider left enemies where they fell for as long as the power was switched on. So not that big a deal.

Panthers would likely kill you without warning, so fair enough. But would poachers shoot a pretty girl on sight? Really?

The demo ended with Lara jumping on her motorbike. Apparently the bike we saw will not be the final model, which is a shame as it looked awesome, with a massive back wheel that looked like it was straight out of a Batman film (or No More Heroes). This was perhaps the most impressive section of the demo, as the bike physics were brill and, combined with that ultra-smooth frame rate, made for a scene that looked even better than the jeep chase from Uncharted, only player-controlled. It wasn't a separate section, either (unlike Legend's biking bits), with the vehicle working within the actual level. Apparently the bike is to be used in two ways, so we're thinking maybe you have to use its weight or power to solve some puzzles as well as carry your shapely behind to the next level.

The game is to feature multi-levelled puzzles, meaning Lara won't simply enter an area and have everything she needs right there. Of course, this sounds a lot to us like needless backtracking to pad out the game, but we're sure there'll be more to it than that. After all, Crystal Dynamics did a great job with the last two Tomb Raider games, so we have high hopes for this one. From what we've seen, there won't be anything radically new - just honed, embellished and with a fine attention to detail.

Source: gamesradar.com, by Justin Towell, GamesRadar UK