The popular adventurer goes on her first quest, and it's radically different from all that have come before.

Mention the names Lara Croft or Tomb Raider to a gamer and they will likely envision a busty, seasoned adventurer with remarkable shooting ability. That image, however, is about to become an antiquated one.

Crystal Dynamics's upcoming series reboot downplays the boobs and badassery by shipwrecking a younger Lara Croft on a dangerous island where survival is the focus. At least that was the focus of the demo build I played with at a Square Enix event just a few blocks from New York Comic Con.

The demo didn't highlight fighting or shooting; in fact, the opening level takes place shortly after Lara washes up on the island. As such, it serves as a gameplay tutorial. Lara performs dizzying plank walks over pits, rock climbs, and chasm leaps. That may sound like standard fare in the action-adventure genre, but it's the way it's depicted that makes the game special.

Lara is not an adventurer yet, and as such, she struggles with everything she does. Due to the shipwreck, she's dirty, bloodied, and walks holding her side due to a puncture wound. When Lara lands a high jump, she stumbles and catches her balance. When she climbs across a gap hand-over-hand, she loses her grip and needs the player to help her finish the task. Lara's grunts and the game's cinematic camera angles and swelling soundtrack are designed to make players feel her struggle - and you do.

Successfully completing challenges nets ability points used to make Lara a more potent survivor. Hunter's Skill (reminiscent of Detective Mode), for example, helps Lara better spot animals when you you fire it up. The benefit of that? Laura must hunt rabbits, deer, and birds to feed herself in the wild.

I downed several animals with a bow (recovered from a corpse) and arrow, though I was disappointed that the game didn't show Lara digging into her kills. The camera's strategically placed not to not show her dining, which is unfortunate as that would've helped convey her desperate state to a greater degree. That said, Lara becomes visibly disgusted upon engaging in the act, which does hold some emotional weight.

Tomb Raider in this nascent stage feels very much like a fresh start, which is something that the franchise needs to compete with the likes of Naughty Dog's Uncharted series.

The Square Enix-published title will hit the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 sometime in 2013.

For more from New York Comic Con, see the photo blog below.