Tomb Raider is back. Again. Lara Croft is back. Yet again. This time, her character is positioned between the "Survivor" trilogy of the last decade and her iconic debut in 1996. Yes, 30 years ago.
Legacy of Atlantis is a remake of that very first adventure, centered on Atlantean mythology, tomb raiding and, well, a few dinosaurs. At Summer Game Fest 2026, Crystal Dynamics and Flying Wild Hog shared the first gameplay demo, with Unreal Engine 5 adding vivid detail and lushness to Lara's travails.
The developers made a clever choice, centering the demo on an early part of the original game. Set in the Peruvian mountainside, my playthrough included a giant cog puzzle I remember from playing the original. There were also several shootouts with a herd of dinosaurs, the same vivid red velociraptor-adjacent creatures from Tomb Raider (1996).
Retreading the original game's ground gives a clear demonstration of how Legacy of Atlantis will elevate the game from the original, making a relatively insipid cog puzzle (find the giant wheels, bring them together, interrupt the waterfall to make a path) into a more exploratory, exciting experience. Yes, you can swan-dive into the waterfall pool whenever you want.
Lara can collect and use healing packs between fights, gathering resources from trees and caves, as well as mythical curios and historical objects. Not all the contemporary gaming changes are welcome: I'm not particularly thrilled with the inclusion of collectible hunting. The Assassin's Creed series has largely moved on and I think a lot of gamers have done the same. Some collectibles, like fangs, can be converted into skill points, meaning I will feel obliged to scour for objects.
Lara's PDA (love it: that's some 1996 nonsense) combines encyclopedia entries for everything you find, along with the current task. It also includes a scanner that can be used intermittently to offer some tips on what to do next. I did get lost at times, and that was due to my not paying enough attention. Legacy of Atlantis leans into verticality a lot, and pretty much each time I lost my way, the route forward was either literally above my head (grappling hooks!) or under my feet. (Of course, there's a cave behind that tiny waterfall.)
A grappling hook and climbing axe round out the equipment loadout, drawing inspiration from more recent Tomb Raider titles. Besides swinging across chasms, the grappling hook can also be used to pull objects towards the player and is crucial to solving the cog puzzle.
After scaling the mountainside and unlocking a route through the waterfall, the demo jumps a little farther forward, deep into the jungle. Dinosaurs soon surround Lara, and she doesn't even blink. While I wasn't able to shoot two targets at once, OG Tomb Raider style, I wouldn't be surprised if that's some kind unlockable skill in the full game — skill trees were blocked in this demo.
Crystal Dynamics
While there's no shared development core, parts of the game reminded me of another recent game with a connection to the Amazon industrial entertainment complex: 007 First Light. It's not just the detailed environments and quippy British lead but a new skill for Lara. Focus, when pressed during gunfights, slows time, helping you to shoot with more precision or switch to a distant target. Oh, she also does so while doing an aerial (a sort of hands-free cartwheel), reminding me of Max Payne, any of The Matrix's spin-off games and many others. Thankfully, Lara's dual pistols have infinite ammo and it was easy enough to down the pack of dinosaurs, though not before they gored me a few times.
Not long after, a T. rex enters the scene and we're locked into a high-speed set piece as I attempt to escape the dinosaurs without falling to my death. I'm relieved that Legend of Atlantis plays more like the original action-adventure titles, while integrating some of the more advanced game mechanics of the last few games. Lara isn't invincible, but she's now made of sterner stuff.
Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis launches on February 12 2027, on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Steam and Nintendo Switch 2.
