Gameplay Overview

Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis rebuilds its gameplay systems entirely. The game director has confirmed that both combat and exploration have been reimagined from scratch; nothing carried over directly from the 1996 original's mechanics. The result is a modernized action-adventure that honors the tone and spirit of the source material while playing nothing like it.

Modernized Controls and Difficulty

The tank controls of the 1996 original, which required Lara to rotate before moving and committed her to fixed grid-based movement, are gone. The game uses a fluid, direct control scheme suited to modern third-person action. Instant-death moments, which were a defining challenge of the original game's design, have been removed in favor of a modernized difficulty that keeps players in the experience rather than sending them back to a loading screen.

Traversal and Acrobatics

Lara moves through the world with acrobatic fluidity. Confirmed movement options include long jumps, rolls, handstands, swimming in underwater sections, and platforming across vertically layered environments. Her animations flow naturally between states, so transitions from running into climbing or swimming feel continuous rather than segmented. The game's environments, powered by Unreal Engine 5, are built around multi-level traversal with treacherous landscapes that reward careful observation.

Combat

Combat is fully rebuilt. Lara's signature dual pistols are her confirmed primary weapons, and she has been shown performing acrobatic gunplay such as backward gun dives during firefights. She faces lethal predators throughout the game; specific enemy types have not been detailed in pre-release materials. The combat system has been described as confident and dynamic, consistent with the broader modernization of her adventurer's skill set.

Puzzle-Solving and Challenge Tombs

Puzzle-solving is a confirmed major pillar of the game. The developers have described intricate, multi-layer puzzles featuring deadly contraptions and designed to deliver satisfying eureka moments when solutions click into place. Challenge tombs are confirmed as optional content scattered through the world, offering additional puzzle encounters for players who want to explore beyond the main path.

Specific puzzle mechanics, the number of challenge tombs, and reward structures for completing them have not been announced.

Technical Foundation

The game runs on Unreal Engine 5, enabling photorealistic environments across all four confirmed regions. Nanite virtualized geometry produces detailed stone textures and weathered surfaces at high fidelity, while Lumen global illumination creates realistic, dynamically shifting shadows and ambient light. Eleven language options are supported. Additional technical specifications such as frame rate targets, ray tracing settings, or accessibility features have not been confirmed.