Exclusive - Adrian Smith speaks about Tomb Raider 2

1. What is the plot/storyline?

Lara is looking for 'The Dagger of Xian': an artefact that is hidden in an ancient emperor's palace within the Great Wall of China.

When she arrives at The Great Wall she'll have to find her way in and then locate the doors to the emperor's palace. However, it's not as simple as opening the doors and taking the treasure... the plot will begin to unfold and will send Lara to several locations in search of clues. Locations will include Venice, Tibet and an underwater shipwreck.

2. Could you describe how a typical TR2 situation differs from a TR1 situation.

Lara will have more freedom to explore in TR2. This is given to her in the new climbing move. She can climb hand-over-hand as well as side-to-side, so instead of looking for ledges to jump up to and making a bee-line for those, she'll have to be looking for hand-holds in the sides of cliffs or other objects that look as if they can be scaled. Once she starts to climb up the walls she can then move across to the left or to the right to access further areas of the map.

Also we'll have the underwater combat working in TR2. Instead of swimming like hell from the underwater nasties, Lara will be able to shoot at them with her new harpoon gun.

3. What specifically will be different about Lara, visually and otherwise?

Different 'outfits' for different locations.

A more detailed model - more faces and polygons.

Dynamic hair – her ponytail will swing / float around.

Refined texture maps (more detail).

Larger palette.

Additional moves and actions such as hand-over-hand climbing and underwater combat with her new harpoon gun.