Rise of the Tomb Raider will feature more tombs, more puzzles

Rise of the Tomb Raider is looking like it will bring back some of the features that were missing from the 2013 reboot.

Crystal Dynamics talked to Game Informer about how the sequel will have a bigger focus on tombs and puzzles.

"Puzzles are an important part of the Tomb formula, so we're excited to have more tombs in the game, featuring more puzzles," said creative director Noah Hughes (as transcribed by Eurogamer).

"You'll still see a spectrum of difficulty for puzzles, so some of the secret tombs are larger and in some cases might have more difficult puzzles, but we're trying to put them in the game in a ramped kind of way."

Puzzles will be physics-based once again, with some of them involving multiple steps to fully unravel.

"Our intent is to challenge the player but we don't want average players getting into stalemates. So one of the things we're doing to push the level of accomplishment with these tombs is something we call nested puzzles, which were actually common in classic Tomb Raider games.

"It's where you have multiple sides to a room or multiple things you have to do to solve the main puzzle. And this really allows you to actively tinker with these different elements rather than just standing there, face-to-face [with a puzzle] and scratching your head.

"These tombs will take you longer to solve but it's still an interesting combination of physics and cause-and-effect systems that add up to that grand finale of getting through that door at the end of the room."

Rise of the Tomb Raider is out this year on Xbox One and Xbox 360.