Tomb Raider: Underworld

Tomb Raider Underworld
Tomb Raider 8
Release Date	18th and 21st November 2008
Platforms	PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PS2, Wii, Nintendo DS
Developer	Crystal Dynamics
Publisher	Eidos Interactive
Rating	16+
Game Chronology:
Tomb Raider Anniversary	Tomb Raider Underworld

Tomb Raider Underworld will continue the story of Tomb Raider Legend, as it was left open at the end. Tomb Raider Underworld sees Lara undertake her riskiest mission yet, descending to the depths of the underworlds. For generations, stories have been told of the fearsome weapon of the Norse god, Thor. Legend has it that he who wields the hammer has the power to smash mountains into valleys and the strength to destroy even the gods. For more than a thousand years it has existed only as a myth... until now. In an ancient ruin on the floor of the Mediterranean Sea, Lara Croft uncovers proof of the Norse underworld and the mythical hammer. As Lara attempts to unravel the secrets behind these myths, her perilous journey leads to a forgotten power that, if unleashed, could lay waste to all civilization.

Release Dates & Platforms

Tomb Raider Underworld will be released in November 2008. It will be playable on the PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS and PS2.

• 
  Europe - 21st November 2008
• 
  United States - 18th November 2008

Levels

• Level One: Mediterranean Sea
• Level Two: Thailand
• Level Four: Mexico
• Prologue

• No Illusions

• Mediterranean

• The Path to Avalon
• Niflheim
• The Norse Connection
• God of Thunder
• Realm of the Dead

• Coastal Thailand

• Remnants
• Bhogavati
• The Ancient World
• Puppet No Longer

• Croft Manor

• Protected by the Dead

• Southern Mexico

• The Unnamed Days
• Xibalba
• The Midgard Serpent
• Land of the Dead

• Jan Mayen Island

• Gate of the Dead
• Valhalla

• Andaman Sea

• Rituals Old

• Arctic Sea

• Helheim
• Yggdrasil
• Out of Time

Development Process

In November 2007, Eidos was reported to have filed for a trademark on the phrase, Tomb Raider Underworld. Eidos soon after reserved the Tomb Raider Underworld domain name. In December 2007, Eidos filed for a second trademark for Tomb Raider Underworld, reserving the right to provide "computer games that may be accessed network-wide by network users." In the January 2008 issue of the magazine Play, details from the "first-ever demo" of the game were revealed. SCi, which owns Eidos, officially announced Tomb Raider: Underworld on January 10, 2008, and confirmed that all platform versions of the game will be released simultaneously in November 2008.

Play's assertions that this is the "first true next gen Lara" and "one big physics smorgasbord" which "looks altogether photo-real" led to speculation that Tomb Raider: Underworld might be using a new game engine for its next-generation graphics rather than the system used by Tomb Raider: Legend, Tomb Raider: Anniversary and Deus Ex 3. Later, the Senior Producer and External Designer separately confirmed that Underworld uses an all-new engine that was built especially for it.

Keeley Hawes will provide the voice of Lara in this installment, as she did in Anniversary and Legend.

Lara's costume has been redesigned and she no longer wears her trademark blue sleeveless top and khaki shorts, but instead, a dark brown halter top and black shorts. Additionally, her hair is no longer braided, but worn in a ponytail. According to Play, Lara "moves as good as she looks [and] no longer moves like a video game character" thanks to being fully motion captured. Olympic gymnast and NCAA Women's Gymnastics champion Heidi Moneymaker was the model used for motion capturing.

A teaser trailer was released on 19 July 2008, displaying a chronologically backwards video of Croft Manor being destroyed. The trailer starts zoomed in on her signature weapons: her twin pistols, which are covered in ash and lying on Zip's computer desk. As the camera reverses out, it displays parts of the main hall covered in debris and ash. The camera continues to reverse out, flying through the main window of the hall, with the pieces of glass flying back into place, finally reversing far enough to show Lara facing the house with her back to the camera. As the camera stops, time starts again, with rain and rolling thunder surrounding Lara and the mansion. Lara turns towards the camera with a cold look on her face and she presses the trigger - blowing up Croft Manor. Lara walks off the side of the camera, and the final shot shows Croft Mansion burning.

A gameplay trailer was released on 15 August 2008. It features Lara in various locations - Mexico, Thailand and what appears to be her own manor as it burns down. In the trailer, Zip shoots at Lara with a gun, Lara then draws her pistols and shouts "Drop it Zip or I'll drop you". At the climax of the trailer, Lara walks into a laboratory-like room as the screen turns to black, and then Natla's voice is heard saying "I'm very pleased to see you again, Lara", before the final release date screen shows.

Gameplay

Differences from previous iterations in the series are that Lara's environment will be an "interactive world that reacts and remembers". Such as footprints left in the mud, or mud transferred to Lara's knee from kneeling on the ground will be washed away by rain, the bodies of the foes she encounters will remain where she killed them, and any destruction to the environment she causes will be permanent. According to creative director Eric Lindstrom, this is "to not only reward the player for the effect they're having on the world, but to give them navigational aids." The game uses an animation blending system that allows Lara to interact dynamically with her environment, such as pushing foliage aside with one or two hands, depending on if she is carrying a weapon. It also features a "hybrid lighting model that combines dynamic lights with carefully created light maps" and a weather system that changes the environment, for example, "If Lara’s negotiating a wet ledge she’s more apt to slip or lose grip," which makes "the environment ... her adversary" for a large part of the game.

Previously seen separate aspects of gameplay have been combined together for a new experience. Lindstrom explained that "in the past, there was climbing, and there was shooting, and there was puzzle solving. And they often didn't overlap. We've now integrated all of those elements." This installment also features a new melee combat system, requiring Lara in some instances to use "direct combat and evasive manoeuvres to distance herself from her attacker". Notably, Lara's bike, among other things, will be a key component in solving the puzzles she will encounter in her adventure. Pick-ups will have multiple uses as weapons and tools in interaction with the environment, and Lindstrom stated that Lara "can also split up her guns and fire at two different targets simultaneously," or hold an item with one hand and fire a gun with the other. The grappling hook can now be stretched taut and used to push objects off ledges unlike in previous iterations, illustrating what project lead Rob Pavey said, that "Lara will be able to do anything that you'd expect her to be able to do," which he called "the big theme this year." Lindstrom describes this as "a philosophy called 'What Could Lara Do?'—WCLD. It's short-hand for having the player be able to use their own intuition about what someone with her abilities should be able to do in an environment such as this, and consistency across the different mechanics and abilities. If she can throw a grenade, then if she can pick up this pole, why can't she throw it?" Crystal Dynamics also aims to make the game non-linear, unlike Tomb Raider: Legend, and eliminate the need for hint icons that indicate the ability to interact with objects.

The interactive cutscenes from previous titles have been replaced with "adrenaline moments". Instead of specific button presses, time slows down and gives the player a chance to get out of harm's way while retaining complete control of Lara.

Lara will now have over 1700 moves, including:

• Mantle onto ledges
• Melee kicks and punches
• Wall kick/ Wall kick on perch
• Free climb on concave and convex surfaces
• Split target, even on perch
• Can use poles as a weapon, slot into walls, climb on, swing on or balance on
• Run with picked up objects
• Can use "sticky grenades" on still/ moving targets
• Glances at killed enemies as she goes by
• Pushes branches out of her way
• Sprint - allows Lara to run twice as fast without running out of stamina
• Different stances when running with picked up objects
• Can balance on beams and ledges, but will slip off when wet
• Can cartwheel
• Personal Light Source
• Can shimmy on ledges and around corners smoothly
• Can free-climb
• New reach move
• Can shoot while swan diving
• Can exert force using the grapple
• Can climb horizontally
• front flip on narrow beams
• shoot while doing a backhand spring
• can fronthand spring off small objects.
• ledge hop - Lara can hop from one part to the next, in a zig zag form.

Story

For generations, stories have been told of the fearsome weapon of the Norse god Thor. Legend holds that he who wields the hammer has the power to smash mountains into valleys and the strength to destroy even the gods. For more than a thousand years it has existed only as a myth…until now.

In an ancient ruin on the floor of the Mediterranean Sea, Lara Croft uncovers proof of the Norse underworld and the mythical hammer. As she attempts to unravel the secrets behind these myths, Lara's perilous journey leads her toward a forgotten power that, if unleashed, could lay waste to all civilization.

Continuing where Tomb Raider Legend left off, Lara attempts to discover a portal into Avalon and save her mother...with one complication: the return of an old friend.

Locations

Confirmed

• South America, Mexico
• The Underworld (Helheim/Avalon/Xibalba)
• Mediterranean Sea
• Thailand
• Arctic
• Croft Manor (likely in ruins)

Rumoured

• Australia
• Easter Island
• the Golden Triangle - Laos, Thailand and Myanmar
• Mesopotamia
• Rome and the Vatican
• England (besides Croft Manor)

Traps and Obstacles

• Tightrope - Lara can balance on tightropes, monkey climb along them and mount them.
• Spring Boards - These are very dangerous obstacles. When in the game, you must skip them or they will throw you in mid air then a long fall which kills Lara.
• Columns - these are beams Lara has to balance on to get across.
• Poles - these are poles that are vertical that she either has to pole climb, or hop on.
• collapsing ledges - these are areas of a ledge that will collapse if not quick enough.

Artifacts

• Thor's Hammer
• Thor's Belt

Gear

• Active Sonar map

A revolutionary new tool that emits an active sonar ping to create a 3D image of Lara’s surroundings, perfect for uncovering hidden items and locations.

• Multi-purpose grapple

A claw-like device with a high-tension cable designed for climbing, rappelling, performing wall runs and manipulating objects within the environment.

Weapons

• Dual Pistols
• Tranquilizer Gun
• Spear Gun
• Shotgun
• Dual Mini SMGs

Outfits

As in Tomb Raider Legend and Anniversary Lara will have numerous Outfits at her disposal.

• Underworld Outfit (long and short)
• Underworld Wetsuit

Vehicles

Lara will be able to drive her motorbike as part of the Mexico and Arctic levels. She will also make use of other (still unnamed) vehicles.

• Motorbike - An all-terrain hybrid motorbike, a unique vehicle design built to drive on everything from mud to snow and ice. (The Wii version will support steering wheels for exclusive motorbike sequences.)
• Yacht - Lara's private yacht is seen and can be explored as part of the Mediterranean levels.

Characters and Enemies

Confirmed Characters

• Lara Croft
• Jacqueline Natla
• Winston
• Zip - Will return in low profile (possibly as a doublecrosser)
• Alister - Will return in low profile

Rumoured Characters

Several characters from the Tomb Raider series are likely to appear in Underworld. Amanda Evert being the only one still alive and Amelia Croft presumed alive are the most likely of those, all others are either expected in flashbacks or as plot twists bringing them back from the dead.

• Amelia Croft
• Richard Croft
• Amanda Evert
• Anaya Imanu
• Thor
• Tihocan

Confirmed Enemies

The number of human opponents is less than the number of animals in the game.

• Animals

• Black Panthers
• Bats
• Spiders
• Human-Sized Spider
• Sharks
• Tiger
• Lizards

• Monsters, Mutants and Mythical Creatures

• Kraken
• Nagas
• Human Enemies (Poachers, Mercenaries etc.)

Rumoured Enemies

• Atlantean Lara

Unlockables

• Outfits (details above)
• Storyboards
• Cheats

Press Releases

January 2008

SCI Entertainment announces that Tomb Raider Underworld will be released in the fourth quarter of 2008, for PS3, XBox 360, PC, Wii, Nintendo DS and PS2.