If the question were "What would Lara do," the answer would be simple: climb things, flip around, and shoot stuff. Oh, and activate switches. All while looking very pretty, of course. The question posed by Tomb Raider: Underworld's design team at Crystal Dynamics in this new trailer, however, is "What could Lara do?" As in, if she were a real, super-athletic, flesh-and-blood lady adventurer.

The answers turn out to be some things we've heard about before, like the fact that she can now pull herself up onto poles and balance-walk them. The real treat of this trailer is seeing the latest animation pass in action. While Lara has been completely motion-captured for the first time in this outing, there's still a lot of work that's gone into hand-tweaking her 2,000-odd animations. We think the results look pretty darn great – if just a little too quick for natural human movement – compared to her animation in earlier builds. What do you think?

Xbox 360 players planning to lace up in Lara Croft's skin-tight boots this November can look forward to a double helping of new content even after the final credits roll by. Eidos announced that it has inked a deal with Microsoft to release two additional chapters to Tomb Raider: Underworld, offering some six additional hours of raiding tombs, or at least what passes for tombs these days.

The first bit of DLC, ominously titled Beneath the Ashes, will debut this Christmas, adding a new area and enemies as well as a continuation of Underworld's story. The second, dubbed Lara's Shadow, promises "a new kind of playable character," leaving us wondering if Lara been drinking from the Phazon pool again? Eidos bills the new content as "exclusive" to Xbox Live Marketplace, though we'll at least try to feign surprise should similar content make its way to other platforms as well.

Inspiration seems to be cyclical in the games industry. Well, at least in the case of Tomb Raider Underworld. Many of the improvements we saw in the latest preview of the upcoming Lara Croft adventure seem to come directly from last year's Tomb Raider-inspired Uncharted. Considering the wide accolades Naughty Dog's title received, that's certainly not a bad thing.

There are a lot of elements which make us think back to Nathan Drake's quest for treasure. Perhaps it's the environment: the lush jungles of Thailand, with their deserted, decaying ruins reminding us of that other lush, ruin-filled jungle. But there are other similarities to note here, as well. Crystal Dynamics' creative director, Eric Lindstrom, told us that the team was trying to make Lara more human in regards to her abilities. She'll interact with the environment, by pushing foliage out of the way. She'll stumble when she makes large jumps. For the first time, Crystal Dynamics is working with motion capture, to make sure Lara feels a bit more believable.

We've heard this pitch before, no? Lara will be holding off ledges, and she'll look towards the direction of a place she can grab on to. We saw Lara jump from one pillar to another, but before jumping, she reached out her arm towards the next pillar to indicate the potential action. Then we saw her approach a narrow walkway, cautiously, lifting her arms for balance as she crossed. We watched her stumble a bit too, struggling to make her next jump.

Despite having her franchise rebooted a la Batman Begins, it saddens us to see acrobatic archeologist Lara Croft give in to her old, animal-killing habits. Sure, there's a modicum of guilty pleasure to be derived from watching her kick tigers in the face, but the above shark-slaying video simply lacks ... finesse. If watching the lithe leading lady go all Richard Dreyfuss on the wonders of the deep is something you find upsetting, we'd advise you to skip to the video after the break, where she runs around Mexico sticking poles in holes.

Oh, don't even start. Tomb Raider: Underworld is out on November 18th.

Ever since Tomb Raider: Legend plumped up the character of Lara Croft -- narratively speaking -- and sent her gallivanting across the globe in a quest for vengeance and maternal closure, we've been dying to see what lies on the other side of the cliff the franchise reboot left us hanging from. According to a new behind-the-scenes video for Tomb Raider: Underworld, we can expect to encounter a god in need of a good pounding from Thor's hammer.

Though brief, the clip delves into the franchise's ever-sprawling mythology, as well as the research trips developer Crystal Dynamics underwent to capture the look and feel of Cambodia and Mexico. The informative voices you'll hear belong to creative director Eric Lindstrom and cinematics director Toby Gard -- the latter of which shouldn't be confused with the cinematic director, who barks orders through a megaphone whilst leaping from exploding helicopters.

The renowned adventurer and acrobatic grave robber, Lara Croft, finds her lithe self on the wrong side of a PETA protest yet again in November's Tomb Raider: Underworld. Though her abhorrent antics, which include mowing down exotic panthers and posing akimbo on the perforated corpses of fuzzy bears, have been widely witnessed before, these latest anti-animal maneuvers still leave our jaws agape. Or dislocated, if you're a marauding tiger who's just been introduced to the leg-end of Lara Croft.

We're so jealous of Lara Croft. Not for her frequent adventures, or her physical fitness, or her swanky pad, or even her loyal manservant -- with the lifestyle and wages of a professional video game blogger, all of those things become readily available. There's one aspect of her life we still manage to covet, however -- her international travels. Sure, we occasionally get to head to the west coast, or Germany, but in her latest title, Tomb Raider: Underworld, Ms. Croft manages to hit up Mexico, the Arctic Sea, and in the above video, the lush jungles of Thailand.

The sneak preview features some excellent shots of the second level of Underworld, not to mention a fantastic look at Lara's beautiful ... platforming animation. Considering the unlikelihood of the Thailand Video Game Expo ever existing, we regret to admit that it's probably the closest we'll ever come to The Land of Smiles.

The new flesh-and-blood Lara? Pretty. Cool. But it's the texture-and-polygon one in Tomb Raider: Underworld – the proper, next-gen sequel to the series-reviving Tomb Raider: Legend – that we're really excited about. This first full gameplay trailer for Underworld is a jaw-dropper, showcasing ruins in a new locale (Thailand) and offering quick glimpses of action in other parts of the world (and underworld).

We're pretty sure we see the first location from the game to be revealed – rain-drenched Mayan ruins – and a tease at a return of the nefarious bad-girl, Natla, from Tomb Raider: Anniversary in there. Also: giant spiders, giant octopus, and giant statues of Norse Gods, the mythology of which (Thor's hammer, in particular) factors heavily in the game's plot as Lara continues her quest to find Avalon.

To coincide with the video reveal of Tomb Raider: Underworld's Thai locale, Eidos has released a new batch of screens showcasing the level's sheer jungle-y, ruin-y, tiger-y splendor. Check them out in our updated gallery below.

Yesterday, Alison Carroll was revealed as the latest promotional Lara Croft flesh-model for the Tomb Raider franchise. Today, there's a couple videos of Carroll talking (boring) and doing flips in short-shorts (wheee!). OK, before the feminists have a freak out, we're totally semi kidding. To her credit, Carroll used to be a gymnast, so she actually can do some of Lady Croft's more stylish moves.

If hearing Carroll's British accent ups the Tomb Raider heroine's sex appeal and gets you to buy Underworld this November, then the girl's done her job. The videos of Carroll's meeting with the press can be found after the break.

[Thanks, jkaccnt]

Her real name is Alison Carroll, but for the purposes of your fantasies you may refer to her as Lady Croft. The Sun has some pics of the 23-year-old, who was revealed today as the new public body of the polygonal heroine. The model will now travel the globe, hunting for her next paycheck, as she meets fans and swallows her pride "acting out stunts from the game."

There's a few more details about the model/actress in The Sun story, but the only important thing to know is that she's single and ready to mingle. Yes boys, slather on some Drakkar Noir and work some extra-stiff gel through that greasy hair because Ms. Croft is available. For those who actually care about the game that Carroll will be promoting, Tomb Raider: Underworld will be available Nov. 18 in NA and Nov. 21 in Europaland.

The room is stuffed with a handful of game journalists. It's dark. Drifting from the (very nice) speaker system are the sounds of ocean waves lapping against a boat. On screen, Lara Croft stands on the wooden deck wearing scuba gear. Thrifty girl that she is, it looks like Lara didn't want to spring for a wetsuit with legs in it. Apparently not worried by the deep cold of the ocean, she dives into the water. It's time for me to play Tomb Raider Underworld.

Based off of our explorations of the Croft manor in previous Tomb Raider installments, we can say with absolute certainty that Lara Croft has a pretty sweet pad. Or, rather, had a sweet pad -- in the latest E3 trailer for Eidos and Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider: Underworld, the titular adventurer, now sans hot pants, apparently lays waste to her extravagant dwelling.

The two-minute, gameplay-less trailer is visually impressive, though our minds are racing with questions surrounding the top-heavy historian's act of residential sabotage. Is she trying to collect on her homeowner's insurance? Is she attempting to quash a rather formidable termite infestation? Perhaps she's trying to earn a visit from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition? We'll be finding out when Underworld explodes onto store shelves November 18.

Eidos has announced it'll be showing at least four titles at E3 this year, including Tomb Raider Underworld. IGN reports that the other titles expected to be in attendance are Battlestations: Pacific, Just Cause 2 and Monster Lab.

Sadly, we don't see Agent 47 on this list, which would break the company's trend of releasing a new Hitman every two years, but hopefully that's something Eidos is just saving to announce later.

There are not many developers who can boast having given rise to both a vampiric anti-hero and an anthropomorphic lizard, but over the last three years San Francisco-based developer Crystal Dynamics has become more well known as the studio that single-handedly breathed new life into the dying franchise that was Tomb Raider and its top-heavy icon Lara Croft.

2006's Tomb Raider: Legend took the series that Core Design had unceremoniously driven into the ground and reminded us all why we fell in love with the franchise a decade prior. And for those still left unconvinced, Crystal Dynamics revisited the 1996 original a year later with Tomb Raider: Anniversary, demonstrating that anything Core could do, they could do better.

Now the studio is at it again, this time taking Lara Croft on a new adventure in Tomb Raider: Underworld. Currently in development for multiple platforms, the game marks the eighth outing for the series, and while the game was recently pushed out from its previously expected third quarter 2008 release until the following quarter, creative director Eric Lindstrom told us that when it comes to this project -- "quality" is the team's ultimate deadline. We recently spoke with Lindstrom on the game, and he opened up to us about the project, how he feels it measures up to Naughty Dog's Uncharted, and why he finds next-gen development troubling.

Hit the jump for the complete interview.

Lady Croft may be the first true comeback kid in gaming with a return to form in recent years in Tomb Raider Legend and Tomb Raider Anniversary. IGN got its hands on a demo of Lara's latest adventure in Tomb Raider Underworld and it appears the series will continue its upward trend.

A pre-alpha build of Underworld showed enemy AI actually going for cover and using squad tactics instead of just suicidally staying in the open to get picked off (which doesn't sound like much, but it's revolutionary for the series). Lara has also been given new melee abilities, including the use of a pole to whack jaguars and send them scampering. Not riddling creatures with bullets should make the animal rights people happy.

Check it out and prepare yourself for the inevitable question, "Who is the cooler tomb raider? Ms. Lara Croft or Mr. Nathan Drake?"