Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis Hands-Off Preview & Impressions – While I wasn’t allowed to get my hands-on a playable version of Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis at Gamescom, I did watch about half an hour of footage from early on in the game, and I can’t shake the feeling that Legacy of Atlantis is somewhat misguided in its attempt to modernise a classic.
This reimagining of the original Tomb Raider seems to want to marry the experience of the Survivor trilogy with the original formula, and while there’s potential in this union, I feel an imbalance currently, and a creative dissonance that’s been sat in the pit of my stomach since seeing it in motion.
Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis Hands-Off Preview & Impressions – All That Glitters Might Not Be Gold
Broad Strokes
Our journey had us being walked through the classic Greece stage from the original game, reimagined for a modern era. Most of the core puzzle had been solved, leaving only one objective to be completed before moving onto the next area. The director of the game walked us through the process of reimagining these areas for a modern audience, and it seems that most of the original design has been kept intact.
In particular, we spent a lot of time in the room where swords fall from the ceiling to activate switches. This is a remake of a similar room in the original and this has been expanded from the original to add new dimensions to a classic puzzle.
In these moments, I saw what they wanted to do with Legacy of Atlantis; take the original foundation and transform it into something wholly new. Ignoring the fact that Lara felt particularly eager to tell us the solution to the puzzle, I can’t fault this particular direction. Combat also feels weighty, back in line with the original. Combat became an increasing focus of the Survivor trilogy as it went on, so seeing Lara actually have to navigate combat through dodging and thoughtful movement was bizarre, in a positive sense. If nothing else, I’m happy that this is where the game has decided to stick to its roots, and deliver on what came before.
Enemies have evolved and changed to continue to take advantage of this style, with the jaguar fight being a particular highlight. I can only hope this advanced behaviour is a pattern across the smattering of encounters across the game. It’s not about spectacle, it’s about depth. Though, spectacle isn’t a bad thing either.
Modern Teething Issues
Call me a purist, but I remain skeptical about the addition of skill points to the classic Tomb Raider games. I’m skeptical about the addition of a relic scanner to tell you what in the room is an interactable object. I’m skeptical about the entire direction of this remake, if I’m brutally honest. When introducing the crafting system to us, the director of this remake explained that it was implemented in pursuit of making a more realistic experience in terms of how Lara would find these objects. He joked that it doesn’t make sense for Lara to find fully usable first-aid kits in an abandoned tomb, and he’s right. On that front, I appreciate the ability to craft healing items.
With that logic in mind, the skill point system becomes a paradox. I decided to press on this, asking what the intention behind the skill point system was in light of the medkit changes and the answer was a rather limp admission that you can choose to ignore it if you want, and that no vital abilities are locked behind this progression. Skill points are accrued by obtaining relics, so there appears to be a logical leap in that design decision. What is it about the relics that help to stop Lara taking severe fall damage? If they were prepared to tackle the logical fallacy of medkits not making sense in an ancient tomb, this feels like a problem they’ve invented for themselves.
Skill points make more sense in a game where Lara is actively developing her skills, a la Tomb Raider 2013, not in a game where I’m meant to believe she’s at her prime. It’s a design decision that doesn’t add a whole lot.
Appeal To The Crowd
I can understand the rationale behind attempting to remake Tomb Raider through the lens of the Survivor trilogy, but I worry that it runs the risk of diluting its own (pun-intended) Legacy. Visually, Tomb Raider has never looked so realised, but mechanically I feel like I’m looking at a bit of a jumble. This isn’t a remake for people who loved the original, it’s a remake for people who want to play the original game in the style of the modern formula.
I don’t want to be a cynic, but this entire presentation felt closer to a jangling of keys in my face about how good the old days of Tomb Raider used to be. Drawing on this, I did ask whether any elements from Tomb Raider: Anniversary were considered when making Legacy of Atlantis, given that basically all of the preamble was squarely sat in the original, and the answer was an inconclusive yes, though to what extent, I couldn’t tell you.
The demo made a special effort to show that all of Lara’s iconic moves are back in full-force, but at the expense of modern trappings that feel overwhelming. It’s cool that her handstand is back after so long, but is that where the reverence ends?
Of course, we’ll have to wait for the final release to see whether or not my fears will be confirmed, but I hope that I’ll be surprised come February. For now, consider me on the fence.
Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis releases for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC on February 12, 2027.