Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis is set to offer us a fresh take on Lara Croft’s original adventure, and the devs want to make sure the spirit of that first game remains intact – right down to the often-goofy jumps and somersaults you’d have to do in order to take down enemy wolves and velociraptors while keeping Lara’s life bar intact. The devs at Crystal Dynamics and Flying Wild Hog have admirably found a way to keep the acrobatics in Legacy of Atlantis.
“One of our main gameplay changes to Legacy of Atlantis we’re introducing is a system called Focus,” game director Raul Siqueira says in a new developer video. “When you’re doing actions in combat, taking damage, dealing damage, dodging attacks, you’re building your Focus meter. Focus allows you to slow down time around you and showcase some of the things that Lara used to do in 1996. The acrobatic component is really important for the character, so we wanted to make sure there was a way on the sticks for that to be celebrated.”
I’m sure there are OG Tomb Raider players out there who can make PS1-era Lara look graceful in battle, but I imagine most players had the same experience I did with that original game, jumping wildly and haphazardly while constantly firing off your guns and hoping for the best.
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Still, jumping sideways while repeatedly shooting local wildlife in the face is a key part of the whole Tomb Raider vibe, and based on my hands-on time with Legacy of Atlantis at Summer Game Fest, the Focus system does an admirable job of replicating the feel in a more modern context. Once your Focus bar is filled, you can tap a button to have Lara flip into an impossible jump and unload a couple of clips from your pistols into whatever target catches your fancy. I’m harboring some fears that might get repetitive over the course of the game, but it was great fun in the short demo that I played.
And that’s another point the devs are keen to emphasize. “As a hardcore Tomb Raider fan, I wanted dual pistols,” Siqueira continues. “So coming back to this game, I think one of the biggest things that we wanted to make sure we got right is, the pistols have to feel right. All weapons need to feel right. Combat needs to feel right. But if the pistols don’t feel right, we are missing a big part of what makes Lara Lara.”
Legacy of Atlantis bridges the gap between the modern survivor trilogy and Lara’s classic adventures, and it is bringing back elements like crafting and skill trees from the newer games. But if you really want to kick it old-school, you will be able to just keep those dual pistols through the entire game.
“If you want to, you can use two pistols throughout the entire game,” creative director Michal Kuk says. “Yes, it will be challenging, and probably it’s going to take more time. But if you want to, yep, you can. You can use just two pistols.” I certainly would’ve been struggling to beat those creepy late-game Atlanteans without the SMG even in the original, so personally, that might be a challenge beyond me.
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