Tomb Raider: Underworld Preview

Weather actually has an effect on gameplay

Eventually we're treated to Lara's grapple hook in practice and given the best example of how next-gen her first proper next-gen outing is shaping up to be. Here, she attaches the grapple line to a grapple point and, with the help of gravity, exerts tremendous force to send a heavy stone statue atop a tall column tumbling to the ground and smashing the stone floor into tiny pieces, each realistically pinging off and hitting other surfaces. It's one of the most impressive moments of the play through, and evidence that everything is being arranged in the right place, at least in this early stage.

With the floor caved in, Lara ventures into the dark interior of the temple. Lara's flashlight returns, showing off the lighting and shadow effects which change depending on what you've done to the environment. We can see rainwater sneak its way through the curves, indents and crevices of the stone walls. Lara approaches the puzzle piece inside the temple and takes it. In true Indiana Jones fashion, its removal triggers the attack of some giant spiders, which Lara swiftly dispatches. But she's also triggered something else - the opening of the gates to the underworld itself.

Via a cut scene, we see stone statues move and transform, the ground warp and shake and fire erupt from the bowels of the earth. It's all very Mysterious Cities of Gold (remember that 80's kids?) Lara has found her entry into the underworld, and it's up to her to take it. Cue a timed event where Lara has to race (that new sprinting animation kicks in) toward the opening to hell before it closes. Lucky for her, she has a motorbike (which will serve a dual purpose Eidos is keeping quiet on) parked nearby which goes much faster than her long, athletic legs will take her. She makes it of course, with the obligatory big last ditch jump, and our first look at Tomb Raider: Underworld comes to an end. The lights come on, the sound dies out, and that's that.

If you factor in the stunning weather effects, how it affects the game world, Lara's extra detail and her inevitable increased polygon count, it's fair to say Underworld will be a gorgeous game. But we gamers expect that now. We expect to be astonished every time we turn on our Xbox 360, PS3 or PC. That's what we pay our triple-A money for. That's what we demand as a given. Underworld won't be the only pretty game to be released this year. Hell, I'm thinking of a similar game right now which it will have to go some way to beat in the looks department. Can you guess what it is?

The environments aren't what you'd call small

It's Uncharted: Drake's Fortune of course, the wonderful PS3 exclusive which Crystal Dynamics will surely have kept a close eye as it came out at the back end of last year. The big question is, will gamers feel like they have to make a choice between the two? Will it be a case of picking from the Indiana Jones game with that bloke or the Indiana Jones game with that bird?

There are obvious points of difference. Uncharted was combat heavy, with a cover system and all that jazz, whereas Underworld is concentrating on the exploration, puzzle-solving side of the Tomb Raiding profession. From our point of view we're looking forward to our first hands-on with the game so we can get a real sense of how Underworld feels, but we quite like the sound of the game ignoring the combat cover-system trappings so many recent and upcoming franchises have found irresistible.

There is no small amount of pressure on Crystal Dynamics to take Lara to the next level. After the debacle that was Angel of Darkness, the developer has been trying, with a good deal of success, to restore credibility to brand Lara. But this is next-gen territory we're talking about now. No remakes. No solid PS2 games. Gamers expect. And, from what we've seen, bar some issues with the climbing sections, there's plenty to suggest that Crystal Dynamics will deliver. Next-gen Lara certainly looks great. Now we want to know whether or not she feels great.