If you've seen the cross roads trailer (see below) then you also got to see a bit of what we press did backstage. What you didn't get to see was a bit of the survival tactics needed to keep Lara going in the game, how to upgrade skills and items in game and also a bit of "bullet time" sequences for specific fights. I'll break those down below but before I do I do need to say that what you see in these trailers is all in-game. So rest assured that Tomb Raider is just as pretty live as it is recorded.

Starting us off, survival is definitely a key element in the game. Not just making sure you make it to the next check point with at least a little health, but I am talking even basic survival one would need if really placed in Lara's shoes. While not killing for survival and necessity, you will need to also hunt down food. On top of that, while not 100% required, you will also need to keep a bit of navigating and orienteering involved in your tactics. For instance, at one point Lara needs to get some nourishment during the demo. She then had to literally stalk down a deer and shoot it with an arrow. Now while the player could have used a map to find his way back to camp, he instead remembered it was next to a waterfall and followed the stream it was linked to back. So while yes you can use a map or Lara's "survival vision" the environment wasn't set up in a generic way as in other games. Everything seems placed for a reason.

So now in the demo, Lara is back at camp. Something can be set up anywhere there is a campfire in the game world. Outside of using them as points to cook your meat, these are your upgrade stations in the game would. It's a bit weird to me, but I guess the devs needed something that fit the theme of the game. Anyways, as Lara progresses through she will gain effectively "talent points" from experience. At the campfire you can go through a list of survival skills and unlock them with your points. For the demo, the ability to retrieve arrows from kills was unlocked thus making ammo consumption a little less worrisome. It is also at these "camps" that specific items can be upgraded as well. Think along the lines of Dead Island minus the goofiness and you'll be on track.

The final thing that was shown in the demo and not the trailers was a form of bullet time in the game. It isn't something you can enact at the press of a button but more along the lines of when Lara is in an extremely dangerous situation. One specific time was shortly after getting the bow in the demo she is attacked by a pack of wolves. As each made a deadly lunge at her time slowed down so the player had a few extra seconds to aim and shoot the bow. There was no real mention on how often this might come up, but I did see it once or twice more throughout the demo so it would seem not to be location specific on when it happens.

I for one am very impressed with what Crystal Dynamics has done with the Tomb Raider franchise. I was impressed last year. I was impressed this year. Damn it I want to play the damn game already. I can even over look the cheese video game cliché things in the game, like ammo just left all over the place for no reason and needing a campfire to build stuff. March 5^th 2013 just seems so far away now. If the team keeps what they are doing and polishes it all up I'll be all over Tomb Raider.