Tomb Raider I-III Remastered’s new features have been detailed

Aspyr has detailed how it’s updated the original Tomb Raider trilogy for modern platforms.

Tomb Raider I-III Remastered was announced in September for release on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC.

And with the game’s February 14 release date now less than a month away, its developer discussed how it has given a “fresh look and feel” to Lara Croft’s first three globe-trotting adventures in a PlayStation Blog post published on Tuesday.

“We had a firm belief that the gameplay of Tomb Raider I, II, and III is timeless, and with our use of the existing source code, we had every jump, secret, enemy, and puzzle exactly as the original development team designed and intended,” said Chris Bashaar, director of product at Aspyr.

“So the conversation evolved into: how do we surprise and delight these fans? And that’s where we started brainstorming additions instead of revisions.”

Players can toggle between two control schemes: the original tank-style controls from the PS1 game, and modernised controls based on the Legend, Anniversary, and Underworld era of Tomb Raider.

Aspyr has also introduced a health bar for bosses in a move designed to make tougher encounters less frustrating, in-game items like health kits and ammo are now 3D instead of 2D, and there are over 200 Trophies to collect across the PlayStation versions of the games.

It’s also added “a robust photo mode” and “a few more surprises” it’s keeping under wraps for now.

Bashaar said the studio’s “biggest challenge and changes” for the remasters concerned the art.

“Our philosophy here was rather straightforward; we want the games to look the way they did in your mind. We knew we were on the right track in our early playtests because some play testers didn’t even know they were playing with the modern art toggled on.”

Modern art updates include baked and real-time lighting effects, the ability to swap between the original and modern graphics at any point during gameplay, and new models, environments, and enemies.

Tomb Raider I-III Remastered is available to pre-order from $26.99 / £22.49.

Further reading

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The next Tomb Raider game will unify the original and reboot timelines

But Crystal Dynamics says the new game won’t be announced in the near future

In December 2022, Amazon Games announced that it will publish the next mainline Tomb Raider game.

It’s being developed by Embracer-owned studio Crystal Dynamics with Unreal Engine 5 and will be built alongside Amazon “from development all the way through publishing”.