New Lara Croft squares up for fight

By Jonathan Blake
Newsbeat reporter

A 23-year-old professional gymnast from south London has been unveiled as the new face of Lara Croft.

Alison Carroll will promote the new Tomb Raider: Underworld game which is due out in November.

Alison told Newsbeat: "It's an amazing opportunity. Lara is strong, athletic, confident and independent so it's a huge responsibility to take on her role."

Lara Croft is an iconic gaming character. She just goes from strength to strength The new face of Lara Croft, Alison Carroll

After quitting her day job as a receptionist, Alison is about to star in TV commercials and marketing campaigns around the world.

She follows in the footsteps of Nell McAndrew who brought Lara Croft to life in the 1990s, and Angelina Jolie who played the character in the film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider in 2001.

As the sexy, clever and fearless adventurer starring in the classic Tomb Raider, Lara Croft was something gamers had never seen before.

Alison added: "She's got everything that a woman aspires to be like and everything that a man would like to meet."

And it's not just the games, Lara Croft has fought her way through comics, feature films and animations, holding the Guinness world record for the most successful human video game heroine.

BY-BBC NEWS