14 DAY TRIAL // The next game in the popular Tomb Raider franchise might see its main heroine, Lara Croft, explore an open world, in the form of a Japanese island, which would be a first for the action adventure series.
Seeing as how recent Tomb Raider titles haven't achieved the sales success that Eidos and its new owner, Square Enix, have hoped for a new rumor has begun flying around the web, saying that the next title might use different game mechanics.
Among them, according to PC Gamer magazine, will be the use of an open world, as seen on popular titles like Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead Redemption.
This open world, presumably a secluded Japanese island, will allow the game's star, Lara Croft, to explore a variety of puzzles with multiple solutions.
Up until now, players were forced to maneuver Lara through separate levels, which contained puzzles and challenges that needed to be solved in a single way.
According to the report published by PC Gamer, the next Tomb Raider game, rumored to appear in late 2011, will be set on a Japanese island, which will act as one whole level.
The puzzles located on the island will have multiple solutions, thus prompting the player to explore the island.
Also, the magazine says that Lara's origins will be explored further, and we will get to control a younger, more inexperienced version of the popular, tomb raiding heroine.
If these rumors will turn out to be true, the Tomb Raider franchise might once more go into a new direction, after the recent spin off title, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light.
The game has recently been launched as a downloadable title for the Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and the PC.
It featured a top-down, isometric point of view, and used much simpler graphics than the most recent, full pledged Tomb Raider game, subtitled Underworld.
Despite the promise of a grittier, more realistic take on Lara Croft's adventures, Tomb Raider Underworld failed to meet sales expectations set by its publisher, and even prompted layoffs to be made at its development studio, Crystal Dynamics.