Not all the animals are that restrained, however. Since this is the Lost Valley level, fans will know it as the place where Lara fights living, breathing dinosaurs. The velociraptors look a damn sight better than they did a decade ago, and they like to move in packs, so Lara will have to be quick on the draw with her pistols.
Above: The velociraptors look a lot prettier than in the first game and they move a lot quicker, too
Unfortunately, the appearance of dinosaurs also heralded the end of the demo; as fans will remember, the Lost Valley is also home to a tyrannosaurus that makes one of the most dramatic entrances in videogame history. This time around it happened in a cutscene; after gunning down a few velociraptors, Lara had to duck as one of the big lizards sailed through the air and smashed into the rock wall next to her. A close-up on her horrified face zoomed out with each booming step, and when the camera had pulled back to the point where she was almost in the distance, a single, gargantuan, clawed foot stomped into view. A zoom back in on Lara's suddenly determined expression quickly gave way to a "Coming soon..." screen, however, so we didn't get to see our old nemesis just yet.
It remains to be seen just how well the mix of old and new will come together when Tomb Raider: Anniversary is released in the spring but, so far, the game looks to have a lot of promise. And given Crystal Dynamics' work on the stellar TR: Legend, we're confident they'll do Lara's original adventure justice - or at least make it palatable for those who missed it the first time.
