Why Tomb Raider's camp fire scene has changed

There's a scene in the final version of Tomb Raider, out in shops today, that has been changed - dun dun dunnnnnn!

Look away now if you don't want any of the story spoiled.

It's a camp fire scene near the beginning of the game where Lara comes across a girl, Sam, that she knows. There's also a man who's stranger.

In the old version, the man - Matthias - exposes himself as a baddie when he kidnaps Sam at knife point.

In the new version, Lara falls asleep and wakes up to find Sam and Matthias gone.

(The old version was shown by Square Enix during a Eurogamer Expo developer session last year. Our Ian dug up that footage and compiled a comparison video with the finished game's scene. I've posted it below.)

Why was it changed? To improve the story, Square Enix told me.

In the new version, Lara sits down and talks about a sun queen called Himiko. This shows her "geeky archaeologist side", Square Enix said, and sheds a bit of light on her mission.

The second reason was to make Sam's kidnap "more suspenseful".

"It's clearly suspicious that they have disappeared without Lara," Square Enix remarked, "but it's more suspenseful to create intrigue for the player at this stage rather than come right out with it."

A third reason, and I've buried it right at the bottom for people wanting to avoid spoilers - please don't look if you are - is to...

Stop looking...

Leave the reveal of Father Matthias as the arch villain of the game until later.