Xbox players who want to prepare for Shadow of the Tomb Raider's release next month can now perfect their grappling techniques old-school style, as two of Lara Croft's earlier adventures have been added to Xbox One's backwards compatibility list.
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend
Key events
6th January 2011
20th December 2010
18th June 2007
12th June 2006
30th May 2006
10th April 2006
7th April 2006
26th July 2005
3rd May 2005
6th April 2005
Tomb Raider - Live in Concert premieres at Hammersmith Apollo in December
For one night only - crotchet while you can!
Tomb Raider - Live in Concert premieres at the Hammersmith Apollo this December in celebration of the game's 20th anniversary.
FeatureRetrospective: Tomb Raider Legend
Legendary?
Crystal Dynamics' first go at the Tomb Raider license must have been terrifying. Such an enormously famous series in the hands of Core, so spectacularly falling to pieces after Angel Of Darkness, Tomb Raider was at once one of the most famous franchises in the world and one of the most despised. Lara overkill combined with the unmitigated disaster of its sixth game meant that it was something of a poisoned chalice that was handed to the Californian developers, and the result is a fascinating combination of fervent loyalty to the series mixed in with some interesting new ideas.
Tomb Raider Trilogy is PS3 exclusive
Includes HD Legend, Anniversary.
HD remasters of Tomb Raider Legend and Tomb Raider Anniversary, as well as the full Tomb Raider Underworld game, are being bundled together exclusively for PS3.
This Tomb Raider Trilogy pack will be available to buy on 25th March.
Additional bundle guff includes a Trilogy theme pack, Lara Croft costume for a Home avatar, a Viking Thrall costume for a Home avatar and Making Of videos covering all three games.
PS3 Tomb Raider Trilogy HD confirmed
CD injects new life into old Lara.
Crystal Dynamics has confirmed the existence of a PS3-exclusive Tomb Raider Trilogy pack.
A listing for the trilogy popped up on the German arm of Amazon over the weekend. It revealed a 22nd March 2011 launch date and a €29.99 (£25) price point.
On the disc you'll find HD versions of two of the three Crystal Dynamics developed Tomb Raider games: Tomb Raider: Legend and Tomb Raider: Anniversary. Tomb Raider: Underworld, the series' last pillar-release, is also included on the Blu-ray disc.
Next Tomb Raider film to star new Lara
"It's not full-on action, it's like Terminator."
Dan Lin, the producer of Terminator Salvation and the forthcoming Tomb Raider film, has been discussing his plans for Lara's next big screen adventure.
FeatureTomb Raider Retrospective
Who's that girl?
Tomb Raider is back on track. Following 2003's berated and broken Angel of Darkness, which saw Eidos relieve Core Design of its duties and ship Ms. Croft over to Crystal Dynamics, the series has made a solid return to form. Tomb Raider Legend was a promising if cautious reinvention, while Anniversary was a glorious update of the original game. This week sees the release of Underworld, the ninth game in the series.
Tomb Raider episodes confirmed for Xbox 360
Downloads start in September.
Eidos has confirmed that it plans to release Tomb Raider Anniversary on Xbox 360 as a series of downloadable episodes starting in September.
The content - Xbox Live's first ever serialisation of a full retail game - will be made available for owners of Tomb Raider Legend to purchase through Xbox Live Marketplace.
In September "Episodes 1 & 2" will be offered along with a free training mission ("Croft Manor"). The following two episodes will arrive "shortly afterwards".
Ian Livingstone on why Lara's still going strong.
In part 1 of our interview, published yesterday, Ian Livingstone discussed Eidos' future plans and his thoughts on the next-gen console battle. Here, he reveals more about his work with the Edinburgh Interactive Entertainment Festival, plans for a third Tomb Raider movie and a 10th anniversary game, and why the evolution of E3 is good news for publishers.
Eidos in talks with Paramount.
Eidos' Ian Livingstone has revealed that the company is in talks with Paramount about a third Tomb Raider film. Before you get too excited though, beware that it's very much in the planning stages.
With 'Next Gen' graphics option.
Graphics card maker NVIDIA is hosting an updated 1.2 version of the Tomb Raider: Legend PC demo offering you the chance to enable the game's "Next Gen" graphics option, which was absent from a previous PC demo.
You still would.
Folk might've done a lot of standing around at E3, but the queues were nothing next to the ranks of hacks lining the internet earlier this year waiting to have a pop at Tomb Raider. Who could forget Angel of Darkness, after all?
Well, as it turned out, we all could - because it might not have lasted that long, but Tomb Raider: Legend still did more than enough to erase the doubts shadowing Lara during her years off. Crystal Dynamics, best known for the likes of Legacy of Kain and Snowblind (and brilliantly rubbish weasel-and-rabbit platform game Whiplash), didn't just make a better sequel; they gave the series a new starting point.
Criticised in some quarters for an over-reliance on pointing the way - with clearly marked grapple-points, telegraphed jumps, simple puzzles and tap-along action sequences - the reality was that it harnessed these things to escape the traditional grid-layout 3D platform template with so much aplomb that we barely noticed the change. The Lara of Legend could move through environments with greater fluency than anyone since Ubisoft's latter-day Prince of Persia, allowing the player to pick paths that, while quite often obvious, were seldom less than entertaining.
Play in the park with Lara.
Eidos has confirmed that Tomb Raider: Legend is due out on PSP this Friday across all PAL territories.
Now available for download.
Eidos has released new patches for the PC versions of Tomb Raider: Legend and Hitman: Blood Money.
The TR patch is designed to improve overall performance and gives you a separate walk button with which to control Lara, amongst other things. It's now available for download via 3D Gamers.
The Hitman: Blood Money patch fixes all manner of bugs, including "the low performance problems that have been experienced on some hardware configurations." It's also up on 3D Gamers.
See her speak on EGTV.
It's official - Lara Croft loves Eurogamer.
Due out this autumn.
Having already released Tomb Raider: Legend on PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360 and PC, with PSP and GameCube versions on the way, Eidos has announced plans to complete the set with DS and GBA versions this autumn.
FeatureAnimal Crossing closes gap on Lara
Vivendi still chilling out in second place.
No change at the top of the charts this week, as Tomb Raider Legend clings on to first place for the third consecutive week, despite sales dropping by more than half over the Easter break.
FeatureTomb Raider stays ahead of Ice Age
"Thawed I had ya!"
It's another legendary week for Eidos as Lara Croft picks off the competition to retain the top spot, new entries from several publishers failing to make an impact on the re-shuffled top ten listing.
FeatureUK Charts: Eidos hails the return of a legend
Ladies first as Lara shifts three times more units than The Godfather.
The top spot in the all format charts goes to everyone's favourite heroine this week, as Tomb Raider: Legend significantly outsells The Godfather - pushing EA's mobster adventure back into second place.
But NVIDIA fans still out of luck.
Just days after Tomb Raider: Legend hit the shops, Eidos has released a new patch for the PC version of the game.
It addresses unspecified problems with performance, stability and the controller - but there's bad news for those who are having trouble with their spanky new NVIDIA cards.
According to Eidos, "The patch does not yet completely resolve the performance issues with the activated Next-Gen content on NVIDIA cards. NVIDIA actively works on an updated driver that should fully address the problems."
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend
A return to form, but only just.
Almost three years on from the Angel of Darkness debacle, Eidos knew it had a mammoth task on its hands to restore public confidence in a brand that had suffered the most humiliating critical backlash in years. Only Driv3r came anywhere near close in terms of a public mauling, and the indifferent commercial performance of Parallel Lines suggests that consumers aren't as forgiving as publishers might hope. What are the chances of Crystal Dynamics' debut Tomb Raider offering of turning the tide of ill will?
Wisely, the Californian developer has gone for the 'safety first' policy of taking the gameplay back to basics, back to the late '90s vintage when Lara's improbably proportioned torso bestrode every other magazine cover. Almost everything that made AoD a painful, hateful experience has been ditched, with much of the old-style Tomb Raider II-era globe-trotting, Tomb Raiding that so many of us loved brought back to the fore. Right from the opening section of the Bolivia level, it's immediately obvious how much homage to past glories that Legend pays, but this familiarity largely breeds warm, lasting nostalgia, rather than instant contempt.
No one should expect any kind of gameplay revolution here, though, and rightly so. Legend is full-on old-style Lara adventure, complete with its fair share of levers to pull, pressure pads to activate, traps to avoid and neuter, blocks to push and ropes to swing.
Plus themes and pics.
Eidos has released a playable demo of Tomb Raider: Legend over Xbox 360 Marketplace to go with the PC one released earlier this week.
Plus, it's heading to Cube.
Eidos has released a playable PC demo of Crystal Dynamics' new Tomb Raider game, featuring what sounds like the opening level, which is set in Bolivia.
She sounds pretty mental.
With just over a month to go until Lara's latest adventure hits the shops, more details of Tomb Raider: Legend have been revealed - including news that she's set to face off with a mysterious figure from her past.
See Lara in action on EG TV.
There's not long to go now until Lara Croft returns in Tomb Raider: Legend - and if you fancy seeing how she's shaping up, head on over to Eurogamer TV right now.
It belongs to Zoe off Spooks.
Just a week after unveiling the new real life incarnation of Lara Croft, Eidos has announced who will provide her voice for forthcoming title Tomb Raider: Legend.
She used to work in Top Shop.
With just a few months to go until Tomb Raider: Legend hits the shelves, hopefully, Lara's latest real life incarnation has been unveiled to the world.
For PC and old-gen consoles.
Eidos has announced that Lara Croft, everyone's favourite super-posh extra-athletic giant-breasted explorer, is returning to PC and consoles in April.
Angelina's up for it, apparently.
Following on from the huge box office success of the first two Tomb Raider films - despite the fact that they were a bit rubbish - rumour has it that Lara may get a third outing on the big screen.
With new TR 360 trailer.
A new trailer for Lara Croft's first Xbox 360 adventure, Tomb Raider Legend, is now available for download.
Hands-on with the PS2 version. She cleans up good.
Lara couldn't be much farther away from the Parisian night if she tried. Some of us may be in Leipzig, but Lara's in Africa. And, just as they said she would be, Lara is back to her old tricks - leaping from ledge to ledge, solving ancient puzzles and dancing through traps that would've claimed Indiana Jones many times over. She's not just clinging on any more; she's clinging on, hauling herself up, jumping and tumbling past circular blades and then using her new multi-purpose grapple hook to smoothly swing across a spike trap with a rope - all in one fluid motion. Those of you hoping for something closer to the Prince of Persia may yet be satisfied.
Tomb Raider: Legend gets world premiere at Leipzig
Lara fun to be had in Deutschland.
The world premiere of Tomb Raider: Legend is to be held at the German Games Convention in Leipzig, SCi-dos has announced.
And interview with Toby Gard.
Eidos has released a new trailer for Lara Croft's latest adventure, Tomb Raider: Legend.
It's being developed by Crystal Dynamics with the help of Toby Gard, the man who invented Lara and who has since had to watch her painful decline.
"I saw the opportunity to help reinvigorate Lara, who in all truth has ended up in a bit of a mess," said Gard.
Tomb Raider and Hitman delayed
SCi-dos wants some hits, man.
Tomb Raider: Legend and Hitman: Blood Money have slipped to early 2006, SCi-dos (see what we did there?) has confirmed.
Lara returns with more make-up, less chest and a brand new motorbike. Watch her go.
Eidos has released a new trailer for Tomb Raider: Legend, currently in development for PC, PS2 and Xbox. It's available now on Eurofiles.
The trailer shows our Lara rope-swinging, gap-jumping and baddie-popping her way through a variety of environments, including modern cityscapes along with the more traditional tombs and temples.
It doen't show her putting on make-up, though, which we imagine must take up at least half of her day since she now sports more eyeliner than a Bangkok ladyboy. But there is a bit where she's driving a motorbike, so that's good news.
Tomb Raider, Hitman, Commandos, Generic Urban Gangbanger #387. And more announcements to come?
UK publisher Eidos has confirmed four key titles going on show at this year's E3, hinting that there could be more announcements to follow.
First Tomb Raider: Legend shots
You've seen what she looks like. Now you can see where she plays.
Lara Croft's looking very different these days. More human. And she's running around environments much closer in theme and design to those that inspired her huge following in the first place.
Lara returns with relatively normal-sized breasts, but tiniest t-shirt ever. Oh and a new game.
Ah, Lara - how we've missed her athletic exploring and ancient artefact-appropriating antics. But now Eidos has found time in its busy schedule of being taken over by SCi to reveal a few more details about her next adventure.
Tomb Raider: Legend is the latest in a series of games which can be individually summarised as Good, Nearly As Good, Too Hard, Quite Good, Dull and Rubbish. It's being developed by Crystal Dynamics, the people behind Legacy of Kain, and will be their first TR title.
"In setting the stage for the Tomb Raider franchise moving forward, we took ourselves back to Lara's origins, asked ourselves the hard questions and challenged ourselves to think differently," said Eidos bigwig Chip Blundell.