Players can customize their weapons based on play style

Oct 2, 2015 08:31 GMT  ·  By

Rise of the Tomb Raider, the next entry in the action-adventure saga from Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix, lets players upgrade their gear in various ways, going in directions such as stealth, and even craft new weapons to suit their preferred play styles.

2013's Tomb Raider not only rebooted the action-adventure series with a younger version of protagonist Lara Croft but also added an array of new mechanics regarding gear, upgrades, and new skills for the British explorer.

In Rise of the Tomb Raider, developer Crystal Dynamics has already showcased through various videos that Lara is more deadly against numerous foes but can also use stealth and sneak around various stages.

Gear upgrades are more varied and reward explorers

While talking to PixelVulture, Crystal Dynamics has emphasized that the upgrades for Lara's gear are more numerous than in the previous game and reward those who explore every nook and cranny.

While in the beginning she is provided just with her bow and arrows, Lara's starting skills are more developed, to reflect the experience she's gained in the past game. New gear can be found as well as repaired and crafted to add more variety. There are several bows that can be equipped and each can be tinkered with to better suit play styles like stealth, according to the studio.

"Overall her weapon and skill tree develops completely different each time you play the game. Weapons and skills also come in different rarity forms, if you explore more you will find better gear and if you just run right to the end of the game you will have the starter gear," the developer explains.

Among the new powers wielded by Lara in Rise of the Tomb Raider is the rope arrow, which can be used not only with the bow but also standalone to cross gaps and even tether objects together in order to solve puzzles.

Rise of the Tomb Raider is set to arrive in November on Xbox One and Xbox 360. PC users get to enjoy the title in early 2016 while PS4 owners have to wait until the end of next year to get it.