Lara Croft is getting a reboot with the upcoming release of Tomb Raider. Very little has been revealed about the game, and most of the information we're privy to was disclosed to us at last year's E3 presentation.
Unlike the previous games, which focused mainly on action and climbing around, the upcoming game offers opportunities for stealth, ranged and melee combat.
Eidos's Karl Stewart answered a few questions posed by fans of the series on the game's official forum, all of which can be read below:
Q: Will we ever see some behind the scenes content, such as motion-capture and voice-recording sessions?
A:Yes, we intend to show lots of behind the scenes content, but are working to ensure that it isn’t delivered in the same old vein as developer diaries. We’re going to do something very special in not-so-distant future, although I don’t want to give it away right now.
Q: The game will have any stealth system or it will be more action style?
A: We’re working very hard to ensure our combat system has a variety of different play paths and play styles. Melee, ranged, and stealth interactions all play a huge part in this world. We’re looking forward to showing you our combat system around E3, when we’ll be unveiling it.
Q: Can we expect to see a variety of enemies? or will it be exclusive to the islanders and animals? (ie no more mythological creatures?) and/or boss battles?
A:I don’t want to keep giving away spoilers. There is obviously an element of mystery to the island that you have to play to properly experience. I can say that there are plenty of people on the island, and lots of diversity in your encounters. I look forward to fans seeing the bow in action, and to hunting. That’s what you do on an island, right? Hunt.
Q: Now that Lara is so much more humanized (bravo on that direction of character development) what’s the potential to see her get involved in any relationships?
A:I’ve read and fed into the script now on many, many occasions, and I can tell you that there is no love interest in this game. She is trying to survive. She is busy. Surviving the situation is all she can cope with right now; surviving a relationship would be a bit tough. In one of the next releases we could possibly see this more human Lara meet someone, but that is way over the horizon.
Q: All the past games have had Lara search for an artifact. Will the goal of the game be an artifact, or survival?
A:Lara has landed on an island that is shrouded in mystery, so obviously we want her to uncover that mystery. First and foremost she has to survive. There is a core discovery to be made, and that core discovery will unlock the mystery of the entire island and answer a lot of questions for you. There are items and artifacts that you have to pick up and find around the island, but everything points to this big discovery.
Q: Will the axe interact with fixed climbing points, or will we be able to free climb with it?
A:We have a very wide range of fixed points, guaranteeing you’ll have freedom of movement. There are limitations, however, like not being able to jump off the side of a cliff and hook onto the side at random to free climb.
The real world doesn’t work like that. Like real life you can’t just walk up to a cliff and assume you can climb it. It may be too steep, or too rocky, or jagged. But then there will be other areas perfect for climbing. It will feel organic and natural. The path won’t be screaming at you – no white ledges.
The Tomb Raider reboot is expected to see release sometime this year, and is slated to come out on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC.
