As part of a mini-doc series, Crystal Dynamics and Flying Wild Hog have opened up about how they’re reimagining combat and progression within Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, the modernising reimagining of the original game.
Game Director Raul Siqueira reveals that there’s a new gameplay system of ‘Focus’. This meter is built up through combat – dodging attacks, taking hits, dishing out damage, etc. – and this allows you to then slow down time and pull off acrobatic stunts and showstopper moments.
There’s also a deeper sense of progression, taking a few notes from the ‘Survivor’ Tomb Raider trilogy, Design Director Jason Epps discusses. There is a skill tree in Legacy of Atlantis, using artifact collectables to earn you skill points to spend on things like increasing fire rate, more graceful falling, improved healing and more.
Healing is one factor that depends on crafting, gathering resources to produce bandages and other stat buffs.
This is the sixth entry in the vi-doc series, with others introducing the new Lara Croft, Alix Wilton Regan, and digging into how the game will reimagine Peru, the hostile creatures, puzzles and Lara’s range of movement.
It’s a full reimagining, though it’s not the first. Tomb Raider: Anniversary was released in 2007, a PS3 era remake that came early on in Crystal Dynamics’ tenure as the franchise developer, Now we’re entering into a new era for Tomb Raider, with Amazon acting as publisher after Crystal Dynamics was sold off by Square Enix a few years ago.
Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis is launching for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC on 12th February 2027.
Legacy had been expected for release this year, but was pushed back to the start of the next, backflipping out of the way of the GTA 6 launch this November in the process. With one game delayed, so is the other, as this reimagining will then be followed by a new original game, Tomb Raider Catalyst, which is now expected in 2028.
