LARA CROFT SCORES MOVEMENT UPGRADE
Copyright 2008 www.tombraiderchronicles.com

[ January 2nd 2008 ]

Manoeuvrability remains a key factor for Lara Croft in Tomb Raider Underworld, and players can expect a considerable upgrade in the way Lara moves within her environment. One such feature is the move away from grid-based ledge manipulation in favour of a more non-linear method of scaling walls and shimmying around corners.

Our feisty heroine can now slide around corners, rather than using the more traditional right angle system present in earlier games. While Crystal Dynamics are keen to point out that Lara's immersive world isn't free-roaming, a greater arsenal of moves adds a more non-linear veneer to the adventure.

It's not just Lara Croft who scores an update. Those dastardly arachnids scurrying after Lara Croft in the Mexico segment of the game are also more nimble, now sporting the ability to both scuttle along the floor and flick their black-legged carcases onto poles and walls in order to hinder a retreating Lara Croft. They bite too, hard, and Lara Croft must keep her wits about her if she wants to unlock the secrets of the Underworld in one piece.

Much has already been written on the immersive and awe-inspiring environments which will now become Lara's chief adversary. Just how visually stunning those environments are almost defies belief. A real-world weather system complete with blinding rain and lashing winds brings to life the foliage around Lara Croft.

As thunderbolt and lightning - very very frightening - illuminates the cloud-strewn skies, the vegetation below mimics the scene, creating for a split moment a landscape snapped by an x-ray machine. All the while, as the thunder and lightning resonate through Lara's world, the cackle and clarity of electrically-charged atmospheric effects sing wistfully around the player's ears.

It's this attention to minute detail that puts the player right next to Lara in a way never experienced before. Much more information on Tomb Raider Underworld as we publish our exclusive preview in the coming days.

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