Tomb Raider: The Dagger of Xian – Beta Demo

Tomb Raider: The Dagger of Xian is an incredibly detailed and highly polished remake of Tomb Raider 2 that recreates Lara’s epic search for the Dagger of Xian in glorious Unreal Engine 4.

Tomb Raider: The Dagger of Xian is a fan made project currently in development by Nicobass. The current build has about one hours worth of gameplay and is a remarkable technical achievement from the lone developer. The game world and character models look fantastic, and the gameplay is a lot smoother (especially as it makes use of dual analogue controls).

One thing that you’ll notice about Tomb Raider: The Dagger of Xian is that the game design is satisfyingly old school and very tough. The climbing isn’t like Uncharted or modern day Tomb Raider games where you just mindlessly point your character in a direction – you need your wits around you in The Dagger of Xian. Very few of the ledges are highlighted, Lara can only drop short distances and you need to experiment to find a safe route through the world – which can often lead to Lara’s brutal death as she ragdolls and bounces off the rocks below.

The gorgeous Unreal Engine 4 powered visuals and the updated control scheme really add a lot to the game, but after playing through, it’s Tomb Raider 2’s classic game design that perhaps impresses the most. It’s refreshing to experience an adventure game that doesn’t hold your hand and allows you to make your own mistakes. It’s tough, but satisfyingly so and each time you beat a section of the game it feels like a real achievement. We’ll look forward to seeing more of Tomb Raider: The Dagger of Xian, as the work Nicobass has done to faithfully recreate this Playstation classic is astounding. Someone at Crystal Dynamics really needs to give this guy a job!

Check Out a Full Playthrough Here (Part 1) and Here (Part 2)

Download Tomb Raider: The Dagger of Xian Here (Windows)