It's been 30 years since Lara Croft made her debut in Tomb Raider, becoming one of the first modern gaming icons, whose popularity has endured. While she's set to get a new TV series played by Game of Thrones' Sophie Turner, what fans really want to mark this milestone anniversary is a new game.
The good news is that we're getting not one but two games, Tomb Raider: Catalyst, expected in 2028, and coming considerably sooner, Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, a remake of the original 1996 game, with Alix Wilton Regan portraying the titular explorer in both.
Given this is actually that game's second remake, following 2007's Tomb Raider: Anniversary, while there was also a recent remaster that let you freely toggle between the low-poly PS1 graphics to updated visuals, it might not sound as exciting a propsect. But after watching a live demo at Gamescom 2026, I can appreciate how Crystal Dynamics and Flying Wild Hog are taking the power of Unreal Engine 5 to reimagine Lara's original globetrotting adventure like never before.
The level I get to see is from Ancient Greece, a perfect graphical showcase, which game director Raul Siqueira describes as "very iconic and beloved. It blends the grandeur of an ancient civilisation, with untamed subterranean wilderness. Between the towering pillars, the god ray lights that come from the ceilings into the caverns. There's a lot in the environment that is breathtaking."
Yet even as Unreal Engine 5 means being able to create more realistic environments compared to the simpler boxy designs of the original game, Legacy of Atlantis isn't seeking to make more expansive levels for the sake of it, as Siqueira says the team's intent is to honour the original game while still being able to surprise new and modern players.
"Everything that has been considered has been looked through the lenses of, does this make sense in the original game, rather than putting something cool that's completely unrelated. Respecting the original has always been kind of a North Star."
An early example when exploring these Greek catacombs comes from an encounter with bats, an enemy from the original game. But whereas you would just tackle one, they move around and attack as an unpredictable swarm. So while Lara takes out her trademark dual pistols to shoot at them, you also have to mash the melee button to bat them away (no pun intended).
This level is also famous for its room with the falling swords of Damocles. They're reimagined in more dramatic fashion with a few cutscenes and QTEs to emphasis how large and deadly these ancient objects are as they fall from above and would have no problem impaling our heroine (fortunately, or unfortunately, if you're the sadistic type, the demo of this sequence was played through without any fatal errors).
But as well as walking over pressure plates to trigger these falling swords, a nice touch in this remake is that a more observant player can also shoot them down first if they're in range.
Of course, modern games also have a recurring problem where more realistic and detailed environments can cause readability issues. Often, the solution is a very artificial 'detective' vision, and it seems Legacy of Atlantis has something similar, as Lara can equip a scanner, which will highlight interactable objects as well as provide lore for her to muse on. Siqueira does however describe the scanner as an "opt-in" item, implying it won't be essential for solving puzzles.
But I also had concerns during another combat sequence when Lara is facing a hostile leopard. Evidently, realistic visuals doesn't necessarily mean the gameplay aims to be realistic as well, as Lara has superhuman acrobatics closer to the original game than her more grounded depiction in the modern Survivor trilogy, while she can also dive-roll and cartwheel around to dodge attacks, though these are all faithful to what she can do in the original game. Still, I couldn't get over watching her facing off against the spongiest leopard alive.
While Siqueira jokes that this wild cat had just developed a very thick skin after all this time in Ancient Greece, he adds that the team did choose to emphasise fun over realism in combat. I'm however more wary that it's also a means to make players engage with the game's other modern trappings, including skill trees and a crafting system.
Nonetheless, he does assure me that players who just want to stick to a classic experience would still be possible, though it sounds like it would require further tinkering with accessibility and difficulty settings if you want a more classic style of gameplay where it doesn't feel like you're having to grind through a light RPG that so many modern games are designed to be like.
Despite these concerns aside, Legacy of Atlantis feels like it's going to be a faithful reimagining of a gaming classic, using the power of Unreal 5 to bring a greater grandeur to these ancient, mysterious and deadly locations than ever, while still feeling familiar to the original game's blueprint.
Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis launches on 12 February 2027 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, and PC.
In the meantime, check out the behind-the-scenes videos on the making of Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis.
