New Tomb Raider trailer explains how to survive in the jungle

Crystal Dynamics has kicked off a new series of trailers for its upcoming Tomb Raider reboot, simply titled Tomb Raider. Episode 1 of the trailer series, called Guide to Survival, shows the start of the game's story and explains how Lara Croft is a smart and resourceful character.



The big new feature of the game is the Base Camp, where Lara rests between missions. The base camp has many options, including fast travelling and levelling trees. The base camp also lets you upgrade weapons and skills, experience for which is earned by doing missions, exploring or fighting.

One big example of the upgrade system is shown through the climbing axe, which is acquired early in the game. At first, it is used simply to open doors or crates. Later on, the climbing axe isn't strong enough to open some boxes, and that is when Lara has to find and salvage parts to upgrade the axe. Among all these utilities, the climbing axe also lets you zip along ziplines; it can also be used as a makeshift weapon in case of an emergency.

Salvage is usually found all over the island, with some being harder to acquire than others. A lot of times, salvage piles are also booby trapped, which brings in a major risk-to-reward factor.

Welcome to the jungle

The game also boasts of many puzzles and challenges where you have to harness the power of the primal elements—fire, water and wind.

The video also talks about Lara's new signature weapon—the bow. At first, it is simply used for hunting animals for food. Soon after that, it becomes a tool for self defense against the dangerous fauna of the jungle. Eventually, it is used as a weapon against the island's deadly scavengers.

The next episode is going to talk about the exploration aspect of the game, and how Lara moves from being the victim of the island to conquering it.

Back in november, new information on the reboot was revealed through a Q&A that the developers had with fans over Twitter. The game is set to be around 12 to 15 hours long, depending on your play style. Along with this, Crystal Dynamics has also promised that the story will have lots of twists and turns. The company has also said that you will not be required to have any knowledge of the previous games in the series, since it is a reboot and tells Lara Croft's origin story. It seems that Tomb Raider won't be immune to modernisation as Crystal Dynamics has revealed that the game will feature a regenerating health system. This is odd because the company laid emphasis on the game's survival aspects, but survival isn't an issue when your health can regenerate after hiding in cover for some time.

A curious design decision is that Lara won't have the ability to swim in this game. "Lara can swim, but just not in this game," says the tweet. The game will also be getting a sequel if the reboot is successful. Crystal Dynamics has said that more information on the game will be revealed in December, including whether the game will be focusing on stealth or all out action gameplay. The company also plans to show some more platforming elements in the game.

The game will see a release on the PlayStation 3, the Xbox 360 and the PC on March 5, 2013.