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In 2003 Eidos moved development of the next Tomb Raider away from Core to Crystal Dynamics, who had worked on the well-received Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver games. Fans were concerned that the franchise was moving from the original developer in the UK to a new developer in the US, but at least Crystal Dynamics had form in the genre. Soul Reaver had already been dubbed ‘Goth Raider' by many critics, and showed that the developer knew how to build interesting and complex 3D action adventures. Then in 2004 Eidos brought on Toby Gard as a consultant to show that the series was taking Lara back to her roots.

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Tomb Raider: Legend saw the series back on track, despite a short running time and an excessive emphasis on combat.

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2006's Tomb Raider: Legend might have been short and a little too combat heavy, but it still did an awful lot right. Legend changed the control system to fit today's analogue pads and stole a few ideas from Ubisoft's Prince of Persia series - though some might call this merely returning a favour. Lara was back raiding tombs, but the incorporation of the latest graphics technology and a real-world physics engine added a new feel to the gameplay. The first HD Tomb Raider wasn't perfect, but it did leave you feeling that Lara was back on the right tracks.

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Eidos celebrated Lara's first decade with a fabulous remake of the original Tomb Raider. For many fans, Anniversary is the strongest of the games.

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Last year's Tomb Raider: Anniversary felt even more assured. In some ways, this remake of the original classic was a deliberate step backwards. The engine was clearly built with the PS2 rather than the next-generation consoles in mind, and there were a few frustrating sections that reminded you of old-school Tomb Raider in all the worst ways. All the same, it boasted the finest set of levels in the series' history, and put all the emphasis on the bits of Tomb Raider - the exploration, the puzzle solving, the platform navigation - that Lara's long-term fans liked best. As we said at the time, "If the next Tomb Raider can take the best from Legend - its cinematic qualities, integrated real-world physics and fabulous visuals - and make it work with the rediscovered gameplay values here, we could be on our way to the greatest Tomb Raider of all time. We've got our fingers crossed for you now, Lara. Just don't you dare let us down."

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