Tomb Raider: Lara not far away!

With the franchise having been necessarily revitalised with Legend and Anniversary, the future’s looking bright for everyone’s favourite vault-exploring vixen. Tomb Raider: Underworld promises to retain all the elements that made most of Lara Croft’s adventures such fun, while adding extra gloss to the hi-def images and a few gameplay tricks to her repertoire.

Enemy artificial intelligence has been ramped up to offer a more realistic experience and, for the first time, Eidos has motion-captured an Olympic gymnast, providing smoother animations to Lara’s trademark moves.

The company has also chosen a new real-life Lara Croft. Ex-Team GB gymnast Alison Caroll follows in the footsteps of a host of illustrious models and actresses, such as Nell McAndrew and Rhona Mitra, in representing Lara Croft and she's clearly delighted with the opportunity: 'This is a fantastic opportunity and I am really looking forward to embracing Lara’s world,' she says. 'I still can’t believe they chose me to take on the role of Lara – and I can’t wait to get stuck in. This is my dream job – I have always wanted to be an action hero and hope to be able to use my gymnastic ability to perform all of Lara’s stunts. It is slightly daunting but I am really excited at the same time.'

Tomb Raider: Underworld will be released on all formats, including PS3, Wii and Xbox 360, on November 21.