With the exception of the excellent downloadable Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light which changed up the gameplay style and added co-op, Eidos must be a bit distressed by the dwindling interest towards the Tomb Raider franchise. They’ve got something big in the works though, and are banking on a younger, perkier Lara Croft to pull you back in.

Here comes Tomb Raider (again).

‘After a brutal storm destroys the boat she was traveling on, a frightened young woman is left washed ashore on an unknown beach.  On her own but not alone she has only one goal, to survive’

Eidos released a press release today that confirmed that the new game will reveal the beginnings of Lara Croft as we know her, and included that first image of her, which certainly suggests it’s leaning in a darker direction.

“Forget everything you knew about TOMB RAIDER, we are exploring things that have never been done before in this game,” said Darrell Gallagher, Head of  Studio, Crystal Dynamics. “This is an origins story that creates Lara Croft and takes her on a character defining journey like no other.”

There are many rumors that the game will feature more of an open world environment, which when combined with the idea of exploring ancient temples full of traps sounds quite cool. Game Informer will have the first details on those things in their January issue. There’s an official site up now that’s fairly empty, but it does have a larger image from that GI cover that shows that Lara Croft is carrying what appears to be a makeshift bow.