14 DAY TRIAL // Tomb Raider Underworld sounds more and more appealing with the disclosing of new details. This week, Official PlayStation Magazine UK has revealed that Underworld, although it sticks to the series' roots, will smash the boundaries of regular action-adventure gameplay and deliver amazing maneuverability and interaction with... well, everything!
According to CVG, the magazine explains how one of the game's levels, located in the ruins of a Mayan city, is "jammed with detail and lashed with rain." OPM states that "Every crack in the architecture's running with shiny hid-def H20, and it'll actually affect Lara's progress - the water makes surfaces slippery, meaning she'll occasionally need to address her grip or risk falling off."
And this is just the tip of the iceberg, as far as realism goes. Read on and see why.
Another major focus for TR Underworld is what project lead Rob Pavey calls "elegant movement," such as Lara performing cartwheels across beams and wall-kicking her way up medium-sized ledges, as the same website informs. In short, "...Lara will be able to do anything that you'd expect her to be able to do," assures Pavey.
For example, Lara can pick up a staff from the environment as long as there are any scattered around, and "use it in hand-to-hand combat and as a javelin, or dual-wield it with a gun," as CVG writes. But do you want to hear something even more interesting? Remember the poles in the walls scattered throughout TR Legend and Anniversary? Well, you'll be seeing less of those in Underworld since Lara can now "jam the staff into holes in walls and then swing on them gymnast-style to reach what you may have thought to be unreachable ledges," the gaming publication confirms.
The weapon lock-on system has also been improved while Lara can shoot from pretty much anywhere she stands. But check this: Pavey says that "Most enemies are non-human, because Lara's going places she's never been before." Aliens? Oh my God! Tell me that as a dedicated Tomb Raider fan I'm finally going to beat some alien ass with a stick... or staff.
Vehicles, just as in many TR games in the series, have an important role too, only now Lara can jump on her motorbike whenever she wants, being able to ride it on almost any surface and sector within the stage players are at.
Last, but not least, the magazine also reveals that Underworld takes place across "several continents, in places no-one has seen for centuries." OK, so we've got Atlantis, parts of the South and North Pole... Wait, Pavey says that Lara will be going to places she's never been before. And where might that be? The woman's covered almost every area on the planet.
Underworld is the third Tomb Raider developed by Crystal Dynamics and the eighth in the series. It has been confirmed that Underworld will be released in 2008 for PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.
