The original Tomb Raider trilogy is being remastered for release next year

The first three Tomb Raider games are being remastered and re-released. The awkwardly named Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft refreshes the graphics, adds quality-of-life features, and will release next year on February 14th.

The collection contains Tomb Raiders 1 and the Unfinished Business expansion, Tomb Raider 2 and the Gold Mask expansion, and Tomb Raider 3 and The Lost Artifact expansion.

The visual look of all three games has been revised, with crisper textures, a more detailed Lara Croft model, and more interesting lighting. It’s far from modern, but as far as HD revamps go, it looks pretty good by my eye. If you disagree, you’ll be able to switch back and forth between the original and enhanced graphics on the fly.

Perhaps more exciting are the various quality-of-life features. The original Tomb Raider was a relatively early 3D game, created in an era before analogue sticks, and it’s a little awkward to control in modern hands. The remasters include the ability to switch back and forth between “classic and modern joystick control schemes”, as well as camera lock-on for when you’re murdering a jungles-worth of endangered species.

All three games are being sold together for £25/$30 and there’s a Steam page now. If you already own the original Tomb Raider 1, 2 or 3 on Steam, or the original Tomb Raider trilogy bundle on GOG, you’ll get an extra 20% discount when pre-ordering the remaster.

The remaster is the work of Aspyr, in partnership with current Tomb Raider stewards Crystal Dynamics. Both studios are part of Embracer Group, who have spent the past several years hoovering up studios and then in June announced plans to start closing them. Two weeks ago they announced the closure of Volition, developers of Saints Row and FreeSpace.