Lara Croft can slow down time now.
That’s the headline feature in the latest look at Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, and it tells you most of what you need to know about where this series is heading. The second remake of the original Tomb Raider isn’t interested in being the original Tomb Raider.
A new video from the official Tomb Raider YouTube channel lays out a focus system in combat that lets Lara slow time to help pull off the series’ signature acrobatic moves. The team also stresses enemy attack patterns, the idea being that players learn to read them, dodge, and counter with Lara’s dual pistols.
Due in 2027, the game carries two more decades of design shifts on its back.
The skill tree arrives
Progression is where the pivot gets loudest. Design director Jason Epps praised the ability to “affect and increase Lara’s power” in the rebooted Tomb Raider games, and Legacy of Atlantis follows that thread: a skill tree, herbs you can brew into food for buffs or healing, and weapon options beyond the pistols.
Some of you will read “RPG-inspired systems” and immediately want in. I’m not sold.
Tomb Raider was a maverick when it first arrived. This reimagining is selling routine pieces of modern game design that feel more obligatory than inspired.
A 10% firing rate boost is not an adventure
The trailer’s quick pass over the skill tree shows a skill that “Increases the firing rate of all weapons by 10%.” Useful, sure. But menu-diving for small numerical bumps doesn’t obviously add to the excitement or immersion of an expedition.
Compare that to the 2007 remake. Tomb Raider: Anniversary folded in contemporary design too, cutting down the linearity and adding motion controls on the Wii. It was of its moment. So is this, and that’s exactly the problem.
The AI question hasn’t gone away
Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis has also come under scrutiny for its usage of generative AI in development.
That’s a separate fight from the combat and progression overhaul, but it’s the one following the game around.
What’s actually in the box
The setup is a reimagined origin story that drops players into Lara’s first globe-spanning expedition, hunting the scattered pieces of a mythical artifact tied to the lost city of Atlantis.
Older fans will spot echoes of classic tomb dives, puzzles and perilous ruins. Newer players get modern survival combat and exploration, built in Unreal Engine 5.
There’s more to come, and it’s possible Legacy of Atlantis has better skills and sharper ideas it hasn’t shown yet. I’d like to be wrong here.
What’s not in question: this isn’t the original game with prettier textures bolted on. Whoever’s steering Lara Croft has decided the map needs redrawing, and the first landmark they’ve put on it is a slow-motion button.
