Crystal Dynamics has unveiled a hefty deep-dive trailer for its upcoming Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis remake, showcasing a look at its reimagined combat, puzzles, and the addition of modern RPG progression systems like crafting and a new skill tree.
Titled “Combat & Progression Reimagined”, the roughly five-minute-long trailer marks the sixth instalment of the mini-documentary series for the game leading up to its 12 February 2027 release date, and offers the best look at the title’s gameplay thus far. As its name implies, this trailer focuses on the remake’s refreshed combat and some notable tweaks to the original’s more traditional progression system, making it quite a departure from the classic 1996 title.
As a remake of Lara Croft’s debut adventure, her iconic dual pistols unsurprisingly make a return and, as the studio describes, will be the adventurer’s main weapons, although she will eventually have access to three more – a shotgun, SMGs and an assault rifle. Still, the studio remarked that if a player chooses to do so, they can still complete the entire game with solely her dual pistols, although the experience will be notably more challenging as each weapon is crafted to suit specific situations and enemy encounters.
One notable change to Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis‘ combat is the new Focus system, which fills up as she deals and takes damage. Once filled, this allows players to slow down time and perform acrobatic manoeuvres, which marks a slight departure from the original, where Lara could perform said moves at any time.
Perhaps the biggest change, however, lies in the remake’s new progression system. Unlike the original 1996 title, which featured a more linear gameplay structure, Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis will feature not just crafting, but also a fully fledged RPG-like skill tree. The former will see players collecting resources like herbs to craft items that provide buffs or health, while the latter functions similarly to that seen in the modern Survivor series, although instead of gaining experience points, the remake allows players to purchase skills by collecting artefacts spread across levels, which does fall in line with the adventurer concept slightly better.
While these new systems will no doubt offer a fresh change of pace for the remake, some fans online are understandably concerned that this will mark too big a change compared to the original game. Many initially saw Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis as a proper remake of the classic formula without the influence of the modern Survivor series, and are thus disappointed when finding out that the remake will once again reintroduce RPG-esque mechanics, while some question why Lara, who is supposed to be an already experienced adventurer in the game’s timeline, still needs to learn new skills from scratch.
Despite this, there’s no denying that having an established progression system in any game helps ensure that players always have something to work towards, allowing them to be constantly engaged as they gradually improve their arsenal of skills and weapons throughout the course of the game. How well Crystal Dynamics handles said progression, however, remains to be seen as Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis approaches its release on 12 February 2027.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
Si Jia
