- Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis Experience director Jeff Adams explained why the game is a “reimagining” rather than a remake.
- Adams says this allows Crystal Dynamics to capture “iconic moments” while making new creative decisions.
- Some features will be familiar, while others will be brand new, like the new Focus mode.
Crystal Dynamics explained why it processes Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis as more of a “reimagining” than a remake or remaster of the classic 1996 game.
That’s according to Director of Experience Jeff Adams, who told TechRadar Gaming at Summer Game Fest 2026 that the approach he’s taking allows the studio to stick to what fans know, whether that’s story beats and recognizable puzzles, while still building on those foundations.
“It allows us to still be able to capture those really iconic moments from the original experience and make sure that feels recognizable and resonant,” Adams said, “but it also gives us the creative latitude to say, ‘Hey, can we potentially make a slightly different creative decision here and push the game further?'”
Some of these new creative decisions include a reimagined Lara Croft, played by Dragon Age: InquisitionIt’s Alix Wilton Regan, but will be just as acrobatic as she was 30 years ago, a gorgeous photorealistic world, and a Focus mode that fills a combat gauge that can grant a slow-motion shooting ability.
Crystal Dynamics also applied ideas from its Tomb Raider Survivor Trilogylike more intuitive traversal and deeper puzzles, while still keeping memorable moments like the T-Rex boss fight.
Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis was originally scheduled to launch this year, but will now launch on February 27, 2027 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.
Wilton Regan also spoke to SGF’s TechRadar Gaming about the iconic character’s role in The Legacy of Atlantisstating that she feels “incredibly lucky to bring Tomb Raider into this new era” and that she is not “worried about having to differentiate, as I am very confident in the choice to return to core Lara”.
“In the context of classic Lara, my job as the actress portraying her is to leave no Laras behind,” Wilton Regan said.
“I’m very keen to understand, acknowledge and respect everything that has happened in the Tomb Raider franchise, to take the most important elements, assimilate them, digest them, and then update them for modern audiences.”
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