Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis Makes A Classic Game More Cinematic

I promised you’d be getting two Remastered newsletters this week, so here’s the second one! At Summer Game Fest Play Days, I had the chance to go hands-on with Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis. Read on to see my thoughts about Flying Wild Hog and Crystal Dynamics’ remake of the original Tomb Raider. If you enjoy what you read, consider subscribing to for free or supporting the newsletter on Ko-fi!

A T-Rex Exemplifies Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis' Biggest Changes

When I first played the original Tomb Raider, I was shocked by how naturalistic the game still felt. While it has those blocky PS1-era visuals, it still manages to completely immerse you in its eerie caverns and dense jungles. Lara Croft’s encounter with a T-Rex exemplifies this feeling. You finally stumble out into a more natural environment after trudging through caves, only to be shocked when you come across some raptors.

You take those down and continue forward, only for a giant T-Rex to come barreling around the corner toward you. It all happens during gameplay, so Tomb Raider doesn’t make a big spectacle of it. Still, it’s a moment I remember because it felt like I stumbled upon something fantastical I shouldn’t have when raiding tombs. In comparison, Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis made much more of a AAA cinematic spectacle of that encounter in my Summer Game Fest Play Days demo.

That’s a prime example of the kind of remake that Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis is. It isn’t trying to closely resemble the original’s naturalistic tendencies; instead, it’s using the franchise’s origins as the backbone for a AAA resurgence of Tomb Raider. 

My Legacy of Atlantis demo took place in this game’s rendition of Peru’s Lost Valley, where Lara Croft is looking for a piece of the Scion in the tomb of Qualapac. It was not a one-to-one recreation of the first game by any means, as to even enter the tomb, I had to find two gears to activate a mechanism that would open the tomb’s door.

One was nearby, but the other required a trek up to a nearby water temple to find it, requiring some light platforming and puzzle solving along the way. In terms of controls, Legacy of Atlantis feels much closer to the 2010s Tomb Raider trilogy or Uncharted than to the original. Lara feels a little more floaty and acrobatic here, but the platforming is happening less on nondescript stone walls and more on predetermined sections marked by white paint.

It's still somewhat naturalistic, as Legacy of Atlantis doesn’t drown the player with objective markers. Still, the level design subtly points you in a certain direction, and Lara has a scanner that lets the player know what certain things in the environment are. If you go off the beaten path, you can find materials to craft health-restoring or stat-boosting items. I eventually climbed to the temple that housed the gear, freed it, and, satisfyingly, watched it float down the man-made ruins of this ancient temple.

I then pulled it into place with Lara’s grappling hooks — which you can also use to swing in certain parts of the level — and watched the door open. From there, the demo jumped forward to Lara Croft’s first encounters with dinosaurs. This allowed me to get a clearer look at combat, as well as Alex Wilton Regan’s enthusiastic performance of a Lara Croft that Crystal Dynamics describes as “in her prime."

While you don’t flip as much during platforming as you did in the original, there is an energy resource you can build up to slow down time and flip during as you shoot at enemies. I had to do just that to take down the three raptors that ambushed Lara.

Then, the T-Rex moment happened. Rather than recreating the original’s moment, Legacy of Atlantis opts for a more cinematic approach. The T-Rex appears, and Lara Croft starts running away in a cutscene, which then translates into a lightly interactive platforming chase sequence as Lara freaks out and runs away from the dinosaur.

The fact that stumbling upon the T-Rex didn’t happen during gameplay was a bit disappointing, and I could see Legacy of Atlantis being less naturalistic becoming a big sticking point for fans of the retro original. If you’re tired of third-person action games that all look and play the same, this remake won’t be the title to break you out of that feeling. 

That said, being more cinematic allows the developers to add more spectacle to Tomb Raider moments that weren't. While the T-Rex coming around the corner in the original Tomb Raider is awe-inspiring, flippantly jumping around and shooting pistols at it immediately afterward hasn’t aged nearly as well. In comparison, Legacy of Atlantis turns that into a frenetic chase that I won't soon forget.

Wrapping up my playtime with that chase truly made me understand what Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis aims to accomplish. We already have Aspyr’s remaster of the original trilogy if we want to play the original Tomb Raider as it was. Legacy of Atlantis simply relies on building blocks from the first game that it knows will work. By doing so, Crystal Dynamics can more clearly reinstate Tomb Raider as a premier cinematic action-adventure franchise following an 8+ year gap between games. 

I’m definitely bummed that generative AI is being used in development, as the original Tomb Raider provides a fantastic base to build from. While I didn’t see what felt like generative AI assets anywhere in my demo, it is something I need to note when this game has the responsibility for setting the Tomb Raider standard going forward. 

No moment in my Legacy of Atlantis demo wowed me in the same way that the first encounter with a T-Rex did in the original Tomb Raider. AI-aside, though, I do think Flying Wild Hog and Crystal Dynamics have established a respectable cinematic base for this storied gaming franchise to build on from here. Legacy of Atlantis does not want to feel retro, but to refamiliarize players with this series before Tomb Raider: Catalyst comes out.

Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis launches on February 12, 2027, for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2.

What's Old Is News

A grab-bag of retro-inspired games from other summer showcases

In yesterday's newsletter, I covered the four major showcases. For this one, I wanted to go through some of the others and pick out the games that stuck out to me most.

• Dungeon Lurker: The next game from 13AM Studios was a standout from The MIX. It's a retro-themed roguelike, but with a twist similar to The Remake of the End of the Greatest RPG of All Time. The game you're playing is haunted, and you slowly piece together a meta-story together as you make your way through repeated roguelike ones. I enjoyed playing this one briefly at the in-person MIX event, and can't wait to play more when it launches next year.
• Wild Blue Skies: While the announcement of Star Fox's remake took the wind out of this game's sails a little bit, Wild Blue Skies will still give PC, Xbox, and PlayStation players a taste of that rail shooter formula when it launches on August 13.
• Gravity Circuit 2: I loved Gravity Circuit when I stumbled upon playing it earlier this year, so I was elated to see a sequel announced. It adds a new playable character with a focus on ranged attacks and will launch sometime in 2027. The original is free on Steam until 1 p.m. ET on June 14, so pick that up before that deal ends.
• Thief: The Dark Project Remastered: We learned that Nightdive Studios' next remaster will finally be one for the first Thief game. I previewed this for Polygon, so make sure you go and check that out.
• El Paso, Elsewhere 2: The Max Payne-inspired El Paso, Elsewhere was one of my favorite games of 2023. As such, I have high expectations for this sequel.
• Company of Heroes: Definitive Edition: I love a good PC game remaster, so I'm happy to see that this influential RTS is going to be getting one later this year.
• Defender of the Crown: The Legend Returns: I've had my eye on this remake of a cult classic PC strategy game, and now know I'll be able to play it on August 13.

That's all for Remastered this week! Stay tuned in the coming weeks for more Summer Game Fest Play Days coverage on EverQuest Legends, The Wolf Among Us Remastered, Turok: Origins, Stuntman: Hollywood, Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered, and Ace Combat 8! Subscribe so you don't miss those things, and consider supporting me on Ko-fi to help fund this independent newsletter!