Rumor Killers is back, and this week Jennifer Allen is here to sort out the facts from the fabrications, including whether Lara Croft will return with a whole new look.

Tomb Raider reboot on the way?

With the release of some intriguing concept art from a mysterious mole within Eidos – or should that be Square-Enix Europe now – the Internet rumor mill went into frenzy at the sight of potentially new, very different-looking Tomb Raider. It looks to be a total reboot for the series; the game will be open-world rather than linearly constrained like previous titles, and the concept art suggests a wide array of new weapons to offer more creativity to its combat.

I don’t think anyone would be particularly surprised at the idea of another Tomb Raider game, but a non-linear open-world Tomb Raider is an interesting concept. The series has been somewhat lacking in imagination in recent years. Although titles such as Legend and Underworld were reasonably well received, even the most ardent of fans would have to admit the series is practically the same as it was back when it debuted in 1996. To continue to compete with this generation of gaming, this is exactly what’s needed for the Tomb Raider franchise.

The concept art shows a younger, thinner, and dare I say less endowed Lara, suggesting another prequel for the series. This would provide a perfect opportunity for a massive series reboot. I am confident that this rumor is extremely likely. The very fact that Four Player Co-Op, the first site to publish the information, was asked to take it down by lawyers from developer Crystal Dynamics suggests that they were almost certainly onto something. We also know that, despite huge job losses for Crystal Dynamics earlier this year, they are working one “one of the most prestigious AAA franchises in the industry” – if that’s not a new Tomb Raider, I’ll eat my keyboard. So perhaps what we have here is an ideal example of what to expect from the new combined force of Square-Enix and Eidos, and maybe this is the beginning of classic Eidos franchises like Tomb Raider and Hitman getting a revamp to bring them back to their earlier glory days (I surely hope so – Ed).

TGR says: Highly likely