Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis — awkward blend of past and present

Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis now looks likely to arrive in 2027 after a delay, and a brief hands-on at Summer Game Fest left me largely unmoved. It plays like a prettied-up redo of the original Tomb Raider; if someone wants that sort of remake, they’ll probably enjoy it, but it didn’t change my mind.

Part of the frustration came from being dropped into the demo without being taught basic mechanics. I spent minutes thinking I couldn’t make a jump that only worked if I sprinted first, a move I hadn’t been shown. The gunplay felt a bit flimsy, too, even when using the game’s bullet time to slow things down and watch Lara empty her dual pistols into the side of a rabid dinosaur.

I only learned about the slow‑motion mechanic after a developer told me, and having spent time shooting in real time first made the raw shooting feel like it needed work, though the dev did compliment my ability to take down a dino or two without going all Max Payne.

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