Eidos have announced that the latest instalment of the Tomb Raider franchise will be available from the 7th April 2006 (USA - 11th April).

This is a fairly crucial release for Eidos as the previous Tomb Raider games have been pretty poor in quality and lacking in gameplay innovation having stuck to the tried and tested formula of the original. Whilst this style of gameplay and character control worked in 1995 it quickly became boring and frustrating in the subsequent incarnations and reached its nadir in the quite frankly awful Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness.

I’ve played (and completed) Tomb Raider I, II and III but with IV I just became bored of the same gameplay and Lara’s continued lack of responsiveness. Skipped V as a result and then lasted about 2 levels of Angel of Darkness before selecting “uninstall” and wondering why I’d even bothered.

However, with a new developer (Crystal Dynamics) in charge and the original designer/artist of Lara Croft (Toby Guard) involved for the first time since Tomb Raider I, Tomb Raider: Legend might be worth a look. If not, might this be the last Tomb Raider game we see?

Screenshots (xbox 360 version):

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