Forget what you know about Lara Croft. As of today, all that is changing.

In our world-exclusive cover story, we uncover a brand-new Lara Croft. Rebooting the Tomb Raider franchise through an origin story wasn’t so much a choice as an act of necessity, according to Crystal Dynamics. Drastic measures were needed. To build an entirely fresh Lara – a culturally relevant hero worth of the attention that once came so effortlessly – they must break her first. In this new adventure – simply titled Tomb Raider – a younger and inexperienced Lara Croft must endure both physical and emotional trauma to survive.

Make sure to check out the Tomb Raider hub (via the banner below) throughout the month of December for more exclusive details about Lara Croft’s rebirth.

We've got two logo treatments for the new cover – a collaborative effort between Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix studio Visualworks. You can see one in the front cover image below, and the other in the full wraparound spread that's a little further down the page.

In addition to the ten exclusive pages of Tomb Raider details, we’ve got a full book of other compelling content. Jeff Cork takes a look at gaming on the other side off the world, diving into policy and practices in Iran. Additionally, Annette Gonzalez broke a sweat by rounding up and breaking down all the current Kinect fitness offerings at retail. Also, don’t forget to check out our previews of Dead Space 2 and L.A. Noire.

The January issue of Game Informer will start arriving in subscriber’s mailboxes this week, and will hit newsstands the 11th of December.