Tomb Raider Underworld - first look

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New screens and detailed scrutiny inside

Feb 1, 2008

Let's go out on a limb here and say that Tomb Raider Underworld is likely a continuation of the abruptly chopped story of Tomb Raider Legend. Of course, when we asked the team straight off whether this was the case, they refused to comment. You see, so much of Tomb Raider Underworld is being kept under wraps (in a lead-lined bunker in a secret installation under the sea - on another planet), we're having to draw our own conclusions from the demo we were shown recently at a top secret event in London.

As we walked into the cinema where the game was being demonstrated, the massive screen was showing Lara standing idle in lush vegetation, in a rainstorm. This was likely to prove that the demo was real-time, although it was very well-rehearsed and scripted (with no mistakes). It was definitely in-game action depicted on the screen, though, and the sheen belied the supposed 'pre-Alpha' state of the code being shown. Even at this early stage, it looks impressive. It's as smooth-running as the HD water trickling down Lara's thighs and with the engine running so well already, we reckon the finished game could surpass even Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, at least in terms of graphical fidelity.

Justin Towell
Justin Towell

Justin was a GamesRadar staffer for 10 years but is now a freelancer, musician and videographer. He's big on retro, Sega and racing games (especially retro Sega racing games) and currently also writes for Play Magazine, Traxion.gg, PC Gamer and TopTenReviews, as well as running his own YouTube channel. Having learned to love all platforms equally after Sega left the hardware industry (sniff), his favourite games include Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams, Zelda BotW, Sea of Thieves, Sega Rally Championship and Treasure Island Dizzy.