Filed under: Tomb Raider: Underworld

Having been delayed late last year thanks to layoffs at Crystal Dynamics, Eidos has officialy set a new date for the Tomb Raider: Underworld DLC. The first content pack, "Beneath the Ashes," is set to arrive on February 10 and finds Lara exploring the ruins of Croft Manner to discover a hidden "deadly source of power" amidst ancient caverns and crypts. Frankly, we hope the DLC unravels the mystery as to why the Crofts decided to build their mansion on top of so many caverns and crypts in the first place. "Beneath the Ashes" will also contain six new costumes for Lara and new achievements worth 125 points.

The second batch of DLC, "Lara's Shadow," will be available March 10. No details were released regarding the second pack, but it's probably safe to assume it will also contain a new level, costumes, and achievements. No prices were announced, though GameStop lists both packs combined for $20, leading us to believe they will be individually priced at 800 points.

It's worth noting that former creative director for Crystal Dynamics, Eric Lindstrom, has stated that the DLC levels were originally intended to be included in the retail game, but were cut as the result of "a production issue" that would have caused the game to miss its ship date.

"On a global basis our sell through to 31 December, which we estimate at approximately 1.5 million units, is below our internal forecasts," admitted an Eidos rep, adding that the lower than expected sales were "primarily due to a lower start in North America." Well, there's always a chance at financial success with Arkham Asylum.

If you have a penchant for the discovery of tombs and the subsequent raiding of them, you just might have a little place in your heart for the Tomb Raider: Underworld soundtrack. If so, you might also be interested to know that you can download the entire soundtrack -- for free -- from Tomb Raider Chronicles. You can download the soundtrack in separate packages (one for each level of the game) or as one massive deluxe edition (71 tracks at 198MB). Apparently, it's been available for some time now, but that only makes it that much more exciting. After all, archaeology is about discovering ancient treasures, right? Well, that and the destruction of Atlantean gods, of course.

Is this really the road Eidos wants to travel? According to a Twitter post by Gamespot UK writer Guy Cocker, Eidos UK's PR firm, Barrington Harvey, has sent out a message asking all outlets to withhold any reviews of Tomb Raider: Underworld with scores below 8/10 until Monday. When contacted by videogaming247, a Barrington Harvey representative stated that the company is, at the request of Eidos, "trying to get the Metacritic rating to be high" and that the US brand manager for the game wants the company to "manage the scores before the game is out." All of this, of course, comes in the wake of the firing of Jeff Gerstmann from Gamespot less than a year ago, alledgedly because of a low score given to another Eidos title, Kane & Lynch.

One of Barrington Harvey's directors, Simon Byron, has since responded to the story, saying, "Barrington Harvey is not in the position of telling reviewers what they can and cannot say." Byron added, "As an ex-journalist myself, I firmly believe in editorial integrity and the right to express an individual opinion. As an agency, we never - ever - make demands of the press in terms of awarding scores; at the end of the day, they are free to score as they wish." It's worth noting that while Byron's statement makes it clear that Barrington Harvey cannot demand that outlets withhold review scores, it never addresses whether or not the company asked them to do so.

[Via Joystiq]

Source - UK Tomb Raider: Underworld reviews under 8/10 silenced until Monday
Source - Eidos UK PR firm: We are "not in the position of telling reviewers what they can and cannot say"

• Lips bundle (€209.99): Spain, Italy, the Nordics, the Netherlands, Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, Russia, South Africa, Belgium, Greece, Czech Republic, Portugal and Ireland
• Call of Duty: World at War bundle (€269.99): Spain, Italy, the Nordics, the Netherlands, Hungary, Switzerland, Russia, Greece, Czech Republic, Poland, Portugal and Ireland
• Tomb Raider: Underworld bundle (€269.99): UK, France and Germany

Source - Lips bundle
Source - Call of Duty: World at War bundle
Source - Tomb Raider: Underworld bundle

You've read the headline and you're probably thinking, "Oh, great. Just what we need. Another article effusing praise for Left 4 Dead. Thanks. Thank you so much." In truth, yes, we're excited that Left 4 Dead is coming out this week, but the reality of the headline is best understood by glancing at the list below. There are twelve, twelve new games being released this week. If that's not enough to metamorphose every respectable gamer into a gibbering, cash-starved zombie, we're not sure what is. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have suddenly developed an irresistible craving for braaains gaaames.

• Left 4 Dead
• The Last Remnant
• Shaun White Snowboarding
• Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
• You're in the Movies with Camera
• Tomb Raider Underworld
• NPPL Championship Paintball 2009
• LIPS
• Karaoke Revolution: American Idol 2
• Disney's Bolt
• Sonic Unleashed
• Need For Speed: Undercover

If you haven't already discovered, there's a Lara Croft'erific Tomb Raider: Underworld demo available for download off the Xbox Live Marketplace. Huzzah!

The demo download weighs in at a hefty 1.3GB and demands that you "explore everything" and "stop at nothing", so you may want to do that. Explore and don't stop, download and try it, smile and be happy ... trick and treat!

In the latest of a fairly steady stream of trailers, we get to see the improved motorcycle sections of Tomb Raider: Underworld. While we do know that Lara is able to use her motorcycle at any point in the game this time around, it's unclear in the trailer just how much of the action is gameplay and how much is cinematic. Still, it's nice to see that the motorcycle will be used for more than on-rails chase sequences.

For instance, at one point in the trailer, Lara encounters a seemingly impassable pit (filled with spikes, naturally). Before moving on, she has to employ her acrobatic skills to solve a puzzle, thus triggering a mechanism that raises ramps into position. Sure, you might wonder what use ancient civilizations had for motorcycle ramps, but that's really beside the point, isn't it?

Honestly, when the developers at Crystal Dynamics talk about what Lara Croft can do in Tomb Raider: Underworld, they speak so passionately that one gets the impression they've spent one too many late nights staring at Lara's well proportioned figure on a computer screen. And that's exactly the right attitude. The video above notes that Cyrstal Dynamics began development of Lara's abilities by asking what she -- a highly trained woman with nerves of steel -- should be able to do. The list reads like a checklist of things that probably irked you while playing previous installments in the series.

Why can't Lara target more than one enemy? Why can't she just kick that tiger in the face? Why can't she shoot while hanging from a ledge? In Tomb Raider: Underworld, she can, and she does all these things using new motion captured animations. If the developers are to be believed, these animations number somewhere around 2000. Watch the video above and see how many you can spot.

A pair of new Tomb Raider: Underworld trailers have been released, and we'd like to direct your attention to the one above in particular. There are a number of new gameplay elements seen here. For instance, Lara picks up a bar and inserts it into the wall where she can then swing on top of it to reach new heights. Others skills featured in the video include wall jumping, balance beam walking and, our personal favorite, wall climbing a la Assassin's Creed. We'd like to point out that all of these moves are superbly animated.

The second video, embedded after the break, features Lara's new and improved swimming abilities. It also features her blowing up a shark with a sticky bomb, a practice we're not sure we wholly endorse. Doesn't she have any Shark Repellent Bat Spray or something?

So, we've all seen Lara Croft running and jumping and kicking her way through Thailand (and swimming in the deep blue sea) in her latest adventure, Tomb Raider: Underworld, but why? What is she searching for? It turns out that she's looking for Thor's hammer. In the video above, creative director Eric Lindstrom explains that Norse mythology is the underlying thread of the game. Exactly how Norse mythology applies to Lara's journey into Thailand and South America, Crystal Dynamics isn't saying, but it certainly sounds intriguing. It doesn't hurt that it looks great either. Here's hoping it all comes together.

Well good lord. Tomb Raider: Underworld is looking better and better all the time. In this latest video, we see Lara doing her usual acrobatic thing -- check out her spinning on top of a pole and then leaping off: epic -- when suddenly ... OMG TIGER ATTACK! It's no trouble for Lara though as she proceeds to kick the tigers -- in the face -- multiple times. Honestly, there's nothing else we can say about this video. We tried coming up with something, but words fail us. She kicks ... a tiger ... in the face. Seriously, eeny, meeny, miny moe, kick a tiger in the face. Watch it.

Tomb Raider: Underworld just keeps getting better every time we see it. The latest video of Lara Croft's latest adventure is all about her acrobatic skills. Let's say they look pretty damned nice. From climbing to shimmying to swinging, everything looks nice and smooth. At one point it looks like Lara even swings over a pole and proceeds to perch herself on top of it. We have to add that it's all super speedy too. That's a good thing because no one likes to watch their character spend 30 seconds climbing a 10-foot rope. Also worth noting is the lush greenery, so lush in fact that Lara has to brush it away from her face as she runs through it. Why are you still reading this? Watch the video!