Beneath the Ashes works as an epilogue of sorts to Tomb Raider: Underworld. Included in the chapter will be a new environment, complemented by new puzzles and a cast of unique enemies. Eidos was far vaguer on the description for Lara’s Shadow, saying only that the chapter "will introduce players to a new kind of playable character and create a unique Tomb Raider experience."

Behind the wheel of Lara’s Humvee will again be Crystal Dynamics. The California-based studio took over development of the series with 2006’s reboot Tomb Raider: Legend, and was also responsible for last year’s 10th Anniversary edition. As detailed in the previous coverage, Crystal Dynamics hopes to marry the action-oriented approach seen in Legend with the franchise’s traditional puzzle-solving in Underworld.

Along with today’s DLC announcement, Eidos said that a demo for Tomb Raider: Underworld will be available on Xbox Live in October. The game proper is expected to arrive for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Wii, Nintendo DS, and PC in November.

Grand Theft Auto IV and Fallout 3 won’t be the only cross-platform games to see exclusive downloadable content on the Xbox 360. Microsoft and Eidos announced today that Xbox 360 owners will be able to download two additional single-player chapters for Tomb Raider: Underworld that will add approximately six hours of content. The first chapter, titled Beneath the Ashes, will arrive on XBL Marketplace around the Christmas holiday, with Lara’s Shadow slated to follow in the first part of 2009.

By Tom Magrino