Lara Croft’s PlayStation 1 Debut Returns as a Modern Remake, but the Demo Proved Exploration Still Beats the Gunplay

One of the larger behind-closed-doors experiences in last year's Summer Game Fest's Play Days was the home of Amazon Game Studios, where titles like Blue Protocol, Throne and Liberty, and New World Aeternum all had playable experiences. This year, though, they dedicated their entire space solely to their upcoming remake: Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis.

Legacy of Atlantis isn't the first time that Lara Croft's inaugural adventure has been rebuilt from the ground up from its original PlayStation 1 release, as Tomb Raider Anniversary was released a decade later on the PlayStation 2, Wii, and other platforms. I asked one of the developers helping field the demos if this would include all the content from Tomb Raider Gold/Unfinished Business, but they declined to discuss anything beyond the Peru content we were playing today. The fact that they're wanting to go with the Lost Island levels in one of their recent dev deep dives (starting at the 5:10 mark) leads me to believe that this will be pretty closely modeled after Tomb Raider Anniversary.

Our preview session for Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis centered around the Lost Valley, a level in the back half of Lara's time in Peru, and home of the Tomb of Qualopec, one of the rulers of Atlantis, and where one of the mystical artifacts that will grant access to Atlantis could be found. Here, Lara already has her signature dual pistols as well as a grappling hook that's useful for traversal and environmental puzzles. This particular level centered around one of Tomb Raider's more memorable puzzles: fixing an ancient mechanism that's blocking a waterfall by finding the missing cogs and starting the machine up and running once more.

This introductory level was exploration first and action second, as players get their bearings with Lara and her classic gameplay style. Crawling up walls, mantling over objects, and unnecessary cartwheels are all part of her regular moveset, and most are required to navigate the vertical terrain and discover these elusive cogs. Her grappling hook is a tool commonly used to pull down obstructions or yank errant vines off ancient machinery. Climbable areas are once again given obvious signposts and painted surfaces, so players shouldn't have much difficulty navigating around these massive environments. I did find myself missing a jump or falling into the water on more than one occasion, but that was usually because I was trying to rush ahead and not take the intended path. This did work out in the end, as I did find a number of hidden collectibles by either seeking out other paths or failing an intended jump and landing somewhere out of the way.

Lara's prowess with her signature dual pistols was only playable for the final moments of the demo, first from a gunfight with a few rampaging dinosaurs she stumbled upon in the untouched ruins of Peru. I've always found the gunplay in classic Tomb Raider to be serviceable and ancillary to the exploration, so I can forgive the studio for this not being the major focus this time around, unlike the Survivor trilogy. These peashooters did little more than annoy the raptors on Lara's tail. Maybe the dual .50 Caliber pistols or shotgun that show up later in the adventure will be much more enjoyable to bring to the battlefield.

Flying Wild Hog and Crystal Dynamics admitted that generative AI was used in the development of Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis. In a recent interview with Game Informer, Experience Director Jeff Adams had this to say about their justification:

At Crystal Dynamics, we see AI as a tool that can help our team get to right answers faster. So, let me give you an example of what that looks like. So, say in early level development, we have an idea for an object, but we're not sure whether or not we want to take the dev time to build it. We can use a generative AI tool to help us visualize that object in the world. And if it works, we'll then move it to our traditional pipeline. From there, the team will concept it, they'll build it, and we'll make sure that all the finished content in the final game is human-crafted. It's really important for us that our team has the tools to make the highest quality experience possible. Our fans deserve nothing less than that.

In the brief half-hour I spent with Lara Croft, I didn't see anything that immediately jumped out as AI-generated or as a reason for concern early on. Of course, it goes without saying that if you are vehemently opposed to the usage of generative AI in the games you play, Flying Wild Hog and Amazon Game Studios won't be doing much here to change your mind. I've always been of the mind that it can be a useful tool for the early brainstorming and ideation phases of a project, but anything more than that absolutely needs a human element behind it.

Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis still has some time to cook before Flying Wild Hogs and Amazon Game Studios are ready to release it ot the world. This Unreal Engine 5 reimagining of Lara Croft's initial adventure will be ready to journey on February 12, 2027, across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S|X, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.

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