There hasn’t been a new Tomb Raider game since 2018’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider, closing out the action-adventure franchise’s Survivor Trilogy, providing the iconic protagonist Lara Croft with a more hardened origin story. The wait is finally over early next year with Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, a reimagining of the 1996 original game albeit completely revamped for modern gaming platforms and audiences. At Summer Game Fest 2026, we not only got the chance to play an early build of Legacy of Atlantis but talk to the creative team and Alix Wilton Regan, who stars as the new Lara Croft.
Like the 1996 classic, Legacy of Atlantis has Lara searching for a valuable relic in the ruins of a lost civilization deep within the Peruvian rainforest, with these tropical environments gorgeously realized in the build that we played. This includes plenty of puzzle-solving and acrobatic platforming as we climbed cliffsides and swung across ravines and rivers to advance deeper into the civilization. Though the premise and narrative are certainly familiar, Legacy of Atlantis is not just a high-definition reskin of the 1996 game or its previous remake in 2007’s Tomb Raider: Anniversary.
“We’re providing something that feels like an echo from the past but that we don’t feel handcuffed by,” explains Crystal Dynamics experience director Jeff Adams, observing that the game also has to take into account players who never witnessed the original title. “We’re able to make creative choices that enhance the experience because we do want to make something fresh. We want to make something that feels like it’s your first time playing it.”
Compared to the Survivor Trilogy, this is a much more visibly confident Lara Croft, bringing a wisdom and swagger to the proceedings, magnificently brought to life by Regan. This heightened expertise and competence is immediately apparent in the game’s combat mechanics, with Lara not only back to using her signature dual pistols but a pronounced acrobatic fighting style. Using something called “focus,” Lara can trigger a mechanic while in mid-somersault to temporarily slow down time and rapidly blast incoming enemies. This reflects the more seasoned adventurer that Lara has become since the Survivor Trilogy.
“We wanted combat to have a more deliberate place in the franchise,” notes Crystal Dynamics game director Raul Siqueira. “The Survivor Trilogy pushed combat in a certain direction which was very cool for what those types of games were. When we look at the personality for our game and the acrobatic Lara, where everything flows with what she does and she’s at the top of her game, we wanted that to not just be for show but have some meaning to it.”
Though Regan has portrayed plenty of action-oriented video game characters in beloved titles like Assassin’s Creed Origins and Dragon Age: Inquisition, the role of Lara Croft is a particularly special one for her. Adopting a “no Laras left behind” approach, Regan notes that her depiction is “a unified Lara” while also evoking the classic iteration from the original trilogy and Angelina Jolie’s two-movie take on the character.
“My Lara Croft is a highly experienced archaeologist and tomb raider with a wealth of knowledge and an entire history behind her,” Regan observes about her portrayal of the video game icon. “She’s very firmly rooted in her present and in her power as a highly intelligent, highly capable, and fiercely independent woman.”
With Legacy of Atlantis a reimagining of the original game, Regan similarly looked to the 1996 title for inspiration in her own performance. Struck by the line “I only play for sport,” Regan found the bit of dialogue “highly informative” in clueing her into who Lara Croft is at this point in her life and that she truly enjoys what she does.
