Hands On With Tomb Raider (MasonicGamer.com)

MasonicGamer.com - The demo begins on the edge of a cliff. Our heroine has clearly been through some heavy shit, as her clothes are bloody and covered in dirt and mud. Lara has been stranded on a remote island and must now find her way back to safety. But it’s never that easy, is it?

The opening will seem familiar to fans of adventure games: Run along here, jump up here, grab this ledge, but poor Lara seems quite prone to falls. She comes crashing to the ground at least three times in the first five minutes, and not through my faults as a player – it’s just scripted that way. This helps explain her bruised and bloody body.

Everything looks fantastic, with cinematic camera motions, lens flair, and a character model that finally does Lara justice. She looks younger and a little more innocent than before, which made it hard for me to call her a stupid bitch when I missed a jump (come on, we’ve all done that before!). Then again, there weren’t a lot of jumping sections in the demo, so I’m sure there will be plenty of time for name calling in the final release.