In case you haven't heard, Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis is the official remake of the original 1996 game, and it will be developed by Crystal Dynamics and Flying Wild Hog (known for Trek to Yomi and Shadow Warrior), while Amazon Games will publish it. The game will run on Unreal Engine 5.
Up until now, we haven't had much information about this title, but it has now been confirmed that, fitting for the year it comes out, it will bring significant and modern gameplay adaptations in the form of resource gathering, a crafting system, and a skill tree.
Specifically speaking, this means that Lara's future iteration is becoming an RPG game where we will have an entire system for unlocking new skills, which will require us to collect artifacts. This hints that the game will not be linear; instead, we will most likely have a semi-open world where we can independently go to certain non-story locations to collect specific artifacts.
Another major new feature is the Focus mode, which, according to project director Raul Siqueira, is there to make the combat action feel different. Specifically, once filled, Focus allows for slow-motion gunplay and acrobatic moves. The last major addition is gathering resources for crafting equipment and food.
"We're introducing a system called Focus," Siqueira said. "The idea behind it is that when you're doing actions in combat, when you're taking damage, dealing damage, dodging attacks, you're building your Focus meter. Focus allows you to slow down time around you and showcase some the things that Lara used to do in 1996. The acrobatic component of Lara Croft is really important for the character, so we wanted to make sure there was a way on the sticks for this to be celebrated."
If we are being completely honest, these aren't new features for the franchise—especially if you played the recent trilogy—but they are new features for the first game that came out 30 years ago. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that people are already saying this might not be the remake everyone initially expected.
The official release is set for February 12, 2027 (after a slight delay) on PC (Windows), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2.
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