Eidos Interactive has announced today that the Xbox 360 console version of Tomb Raider: Underworld will be benefiting from nearly 6 hours of additional gameplay time in the form of two additional chapters titled “Beneath the Ashes” and “Lara’s Shadow”.

The DLC will be available via the Xbox Live Marketplace, with the first chapter (Beneath the Ashes) expected to hit this Christmas, and the second (Lara’s Shadow) unloading in early in 2009.

Eidos promises that both chapters will provide a unique experience, and Sean Vesce, General Manager for Crystal Dynamics, adds that the “retail release of any videogame is just the start of the player experience.”

It seems that Microsoft has bought into Sean’s philosophy, as they appear to be buying up exclusive content left and right. While it may be extend the life of a game, it remains to be seen whether or not it will drastically improve a console manufacturers bottom line.

You won’t have to hold your breath till December though, in addition to the DLC, it was also announced that a demo of the game will make its way on to XBL in October.

Full press release available after the jump.

EIDOS AND XBOX ANNOUNCE EXCLUSIVE DOWNLOADABLE CHAPTERS FOR TOMB RAIDER: UNDERWORLD

First New Chapter Rolls Out in Time for the Holidays with Game Demo Available in October

Redwood City, Calif. – October 6, 2008 – Eidos Interactive, creator of some of the world’s leading video game properties, today announces an agreement with Microsoft to release two brand new downloadable chapters in the continuing Tomb Raider adventures of Lara Croft. Containing up to six hours of new gameplay and content for Tomb Raider: Underworld™, the chapters will be available exclusively on Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft®. A demo for Tomb Raider: Underworld will also be available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace in October.

Offering entirely new content specifically designed to extend the Tomb Raider: Underworld experience, Tomb Raider: Underworld – Beneath the Ashes and Tomb Raider: Underworld – Lara’s Shadow will deliver two very different single player gameplay experiences. Tomb Raider: Underworld – Beneath the Ashes takes place after the Underworld story has finished and will feature an incredible new environment to explore, additional secrets to unlock and different enemies to fight. Tomb Raider: Underworld – Lara’s Shadow will introduce players to a new kind of playable character and create a unique Tomb Raider experience.

The first new chapter, Tomb Raider: Underworld – Beneath the Ashes, will be available for download exclusively on Xbox LIVE Marketplace this Christmas. Tomb Raider: Underworld – Lara’s Shadow will follow in early 2009.

“We are constantly looking at ways to extend our franchises, whilst developing a deeper relationship with our players. The retail release of any videogame is just the start of the player experience, from there it all depends where you want to take the player in terms of ideas and innovation,” said Sean Vesce, General Manager for Crystal Dynamics. . “With these additional chapters and the online reach of Xbox LIVE, we are able to deliver exclusive content to millions of gamers worldwide.”

“We’re thrilled that Xbox owners will be able to extend their Lara Croft adventures with exclusive Tomb Raider: Underworld episodes,” said George Peckham, General Manager of Global Third Party Publishing for Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business. “We look forward to continue working closely with our great publishing partners to deliver the most robust gaming experiences, only on Xbox 360.”

The new face of Lara Croft, 23 year old Alison Carroll, has been spotted making her rounds at Leipzig. Can you tell which one is Alison?

We know it’s hard, but try anyway. If you guess correctly, you may click the jump and see another photo of the British beauty taken at the show.

If these two photos are not enough to quench your unhealthy Lara Croft obsession, feel free to check out the gallery we published a little over a week ago.

Source: GoNintendo

The new model for Lara Croft, Alison Carroll, recently did an interview with British News Channel Five.  We got the video here, and in addition to the interview itself, you will see some hot footage of Alison in the new yellow and black swimsuit, as well as some of her physical training.  Miss Carroll also does her spokeswomanly duty and slyly drops the Tomb Raider name and release date with a wink and a smile (not quite literally, but whatever).

You can check out more images and another video of Allison in our previous post by clicking here.

Attention nerds: Boobies.

Now that I have your attention, hit the jump to for some titillating pictures of Alison Carroll, the new face of real-life iconic adventurer Lara Croft.

Ok, now that we’re safely off the main page, take a gander at Alison Carroll, a 23 year-old gymnast and the new face of the Tomb Raider franchise.

Eidos is reinventing Lara Croft with a little more realism (in some places, anyway) by making her a more lithe, graceful gymnast type to match her personality as an adventuresome archeologist, so Carroll fits the bill.

“Tomb Raider: Underworld depicts Lara as we have never seen her before with movements and skills reminiscent of a highly skilled gymnast. Sharing Lara’s strength and grace, Alison is an experienced competitive gymnast who has performed and competed across the globe. Her more than 12 years of gymnastics training align perfectly with the game’s enhanced movement set.”

Plus, she has the “essential characteristics…” giggity!

“Featuring the essential characteristics at the core of Lara Croft’s personality — brawn, brains and beauty — Alison Carroll particularly compliments this iteration of Ms. Croft.”

I can just see the meeting where they wrote that press release:

PR Writer 1: Hey… um… what are the essential characteristics of Lara Croft?

PR Writer 2: Dur. Boobies man. Everyone knows that.

PR 1: No, I mean beyond that. We can’t just come out and say “ZOMG BOOBIES!!1!”

PR 2: Why not?

PR 1: … Good question.

PR 2: Ok, well lets see. She kicks ass, solves puzzles and is every nerd’s wet dream.

PR 1: So… brawn, brains and beauty?

PR 2: Perfect. Now let’s head down to that photo shoot. Bring your camera phone.

In addition to being completely and utterly sexy, Carroll is flexible, personable, has eyes you could lose yourself in, and to top it all off, a British accent. Check the video interview, but be wary, you may fall in love enough to actually buy the game.

DO WANT.

New Lara Croft Gallery

15 Photos

 

The new Lara is part of the marketing for Tomb Raider: Underworld, due out November of this year. You can read our preview of Tomb Raider: Underworld here.

Update: Another Alison Carroll video interview has surfaced. Click here to check it out.

I love it when developers take the complaints of reviewers and the requests of their fans and deliver a sequel that addresses every one. It looks like Eidos Hungary is prepared to do that with Battlestations: Pacific, the follow-up to last year’s Battlestations: Midway.

Battlestations manages to be both a real-time strategy game and an action/simulation experience. While you are in charge of commanding different task forces, it’s possible to take on the role of one of the troops and save the day. Pacific picks up right where Midway left off, but packs double the campaign of the previous game — one “historically-based” version, where things unfold as you would expect, and one “historically possible” version, where you play as the Japanese and kick America’s ass. Twenty-one new vehicles; cockpit views for the fighters, torpedo bombers, and dive bombers; Kamikaze attacks; and the new Island Capture system (as well as improved graphics, since they were developing strictly for 360 rather than worrying about the original Xbox) round out the new features.

The first mission we saw was the invasion of Port Moresby, which didn’t actually happen. In the real world, we beat the Japanese back at Coral Sea so they never got to Australia. Instead, in this mission, you’re playing as the Japanese and three initial goals are to take the radar station, take the airstrip (one of those islands to capture), and take out the Americans.

The command screen shows a color-coded birds-eye view of the action as it’s happening, but now includes extra data, like exactly how captured the radar station is (in percentage form) and the health of every unit on the screen. Another example of this more data push — which is something the fans have been requesting — is the way your cruiser weapons now have a time indicator while they transition from yellow reloading to green and at the ready.

You can go about your objectives as you like, but flexibility is key, since you can’t be sure how your AI-led units will fare. If you’re doing well, there is an assortment of random secondary tasks to complete to boost your high score, good for achievements and straight-up bragging rights.

Jon Zungre and I both took a turn on another level where shooting three targets proved more difficult than our non-flight sim trained thumbs were capable of handling — it’s definitely not an arcade-y experience. Mostly we just enjoyed watching details like the little guys running around on the decks of the boats or the convoys rolling across the island as you advance.

Battlestations: Pacific is set to ship in Q1 of 2009, and we’re betting fans of the original will be quite pleased.

The official site for Tomb Raider: Underworld has been launched by Eidos this weekend, bringing with it conformation that the title will be released this November across all current-gen platforms as well as the PS2 and DS.

Packed with podcasts, forums, theme tunes and screen shots, the new site provides more Lara than even the keenest action-archaeologist could want. There is also a brief outline of the new quest you will be undertaking, which from what we can tell contains swimwear and the Norse underworld.

With E3 just around the corner and Eidos promising to let us have a look at the brand new title at the show, it looks like the hype wagon is slowly beginning its long journey into November.

Check out the new site here.

Skepticism aside, both Bioshock and Fallout 3 are paving the way for old, fallen PC gaming series to experience a renaissance. Maybe there’s room for a new Deus Ex, as well. Eidos Montreal’s policy of “long development cycles” bodes well for a quality threequel, even if it means we’re going to have to wait even longer for it to manifest.

In the time being, they’ve been kind enough to throw up a teaser trailer, with the camera circling around an augmented fetus. “What makes us who we are?” seems to be the driving concept and it certainly falls in line with the series’ classic focus on genetics and making important, story-changing choices. There’s not much else to glean, but the ambient background music taken from the original Deus Ex really brings back memories.

Now if we could only get Fox and WB to kiss and make up so Monolith could get to work on the next Kate Archer adventure.