Everyone's favorite she-Indy had a great 2010 thanks to "Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light," which turned the "Tomb Raider" franchise on its head by adding dual-stick shooter controls the the combat-and-puzzle-focused adventure. The downloadable game was developed by a small team at Crystal Dynamics, the developer behind the Legend/Anniversary/Underworld trilogy.
Meanwhile, another team at Crystal D has been laboring over Lara Croft's next disc-based adventure. Titled simply "Tomb Raider," the story turns back the clock to a 21-year-old Croft's first outing as a derring-do treasure hunter. We know it's an open world game set on an island near Japan, and that new areas of the island will unlock as Lara finds new equipment and learns addition skills (think: "Zelda," "Metroid"), but that's about all.
Some new screens and art from the game have surfaced via Game Informer. While they're very pretty, they don't necessarily give a feel for the gameplay. Then again, "Tomb Raider" has always been a series best experienced in motion. Also, I've got faith in the developer. Even putting "Guardian of Light" aside -- which you shouldn't, because it's rip-roaring awesome -- the "Legend"-"Anniversary"-"Underworld" threesome offers some solid gaming experiences. It's a shame that "Underworld" was so short, but I think some of the more open sections offer a hint of what to expect from Crystal Dynamics when the give Lara an entire island to run around on.
"Tomb Raider" is planned for a late-2011 release and is expected to carry a rating of Mature 17+, a first for the series.
You can find even more images over at Game Informer as well.