CraveOnline has released a full 10 minutes of Tomb Raider gameplay footage they recorded for their latest "Watch Us Play" segment.
CraveOnline receved an advance copy of Tomb Raider to review, but first they explored a few caves and outdoor areas with Lara Croft for a few hours.
The extended gameplay scenes show attention to detail that is hard to pick up in quick-cutting trailers.
For example, when Lara runs through a small waterfall that separates two caves, she gets wet, and the lit torch she is carrying goes out. But refracted water drops also appear on the "camera" lens from the player's perspective. These water droplets fade in a few seconds as the water evaporates.
The early stages of the game serve to educate players about exploration and maneuvering Lara, jumping across chasms, or scaling walls with a climbing axe.
There are few enemies, and falls are relatively harmless, which does dampen some of the game's realism.
This reboot is supposed to show how Lara Croft became a world famous, toughened warrior woman, but she can fall down waterfalls with no ill effect right out of the gate.
Combat is also more harried and hectic that it appears in the trailers. The CraveOnline gamers succeed in shooting a lantern that explodes in fiery death above two scavengers -- a scene that appeared in the official trailers. But in the aftermath of that success, Lara takes arrow fire, and blood splashes across the camera lens, resulting in her watery tumble.
There are a few continuity nitpicks as well. When Lara opens a treasure chest, the sequence is essentially a cutscene. So she removes the lid of the chest with two hands, even though the player approached the chest with a lit torch in hand.
Her torches also seem to disappear as she begins climbing, he climbing axe instantly showing up in her hand.
But these effects facilitate gameplay, and fun is always more important than realism. After a few hours, it's likely small things like this won't be noticeable while dodging bullets and slashing throats with arrowheads.
Take a look for yourself.
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