Tomb Raider Underworld - first look

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New screens and detailed scrutiny inside

Interestingly, Lara's now able to fire at two independent targets at once, so long as they're within the 100 or so degrees that her pistols can aim at (crossing in the middle, naturally). We say interestingly because this was a feature supposedly set to feature in the 1996 original (according to Gamesmaster magazine at the time!), although it didn't quite make it in the end. It seems to work well here and we like the idea. It also looks way cool.

The grappling line has indeed been improved, so now Lara can attach it to a far wall, then move right to pull a boulder off of a pillar with the centre of the cord. We were told that the physics are being calculated in real-time, so the boulder would move differently each time, although we assume it's been programmed not to miss its intended target on the floor below. The physics do look great, though, and moveable objects look just as solid as the rest of the environment, which is a welcome improvement. The team are proud that debris and enemies will stay in situ for the duration of the game, although we remember the original Tomb Raider left enemies where they fell for as long as the power was switched on. So not that big a deal.

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.