Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend

Believe it or not this is the first Tomb Raider game I've ever played. I've been familiar with Lara Croft ever since I've owned a PSone. Although Lara Croft, whose character is mainly inspired by Indiana Jones, Lara is a heroine with her own style and personality. I never played any of the games in the series; this is due to the fact that I've had fairly any interest in the midst of FPS. Having owned an XBox 360, I decided to purchase this game out of curiosity. And by that I'm glad because Ms Croft has made me a new fan of her adventures.

The game has good production values with a stunning, James Bond-esquire intro that details our heroine's exploits across distant lands of the world. The controls are well-made and made playing the game a lot of fun though it took me awhile to get accustomed to Ms Croft's world. But after beating the game, I became more and more anxious to get my hands on the next installment in the franchise. And it's got great graphics to boot though they looked at bit too cartoonish for my liking; this is evident that the game didn't take full advantage of the 360's hardware. Even though I never played TR, I knew the story by reading a detailed synopses online back in the mid '90s. Not a great story per se, but it later on foreshadows future events in the franchise. As for TRL's plot, I say the story is really good, even going into the Arthurian mythology and Lara's past with plot twists and a few dangerous surprises for good effect.

I also liked how Zip and Alister provided useful hints and insights into the story with a dash a comic relief, giving the game a hip attitude to an otherwise dark story of betrayal and retribution. And the voice acting doesn't hurt either with Lara voiced superbly by Keeley Hawes and Amanda Evert played by Kath Soucie(my fave voice actor, BTW) and others as well. And the musical score is another achievement that encompasses rock, techno, and orchestral. It gives the game atmosphere and dangerous tension and excitement. Not one to accuse anything of plagiarism but if you listen closely to some of the music, it sounds a lot like the score in Batman Begins. Not that it's a bad thing, but it does give the game an added punch to some of the action scenes, that are, simply stunning in their execution.

It's true that combat isn't one of the series strong points but I wasn't fazed by it. Not by a long shot. And being a fan of FPS and action games, this is a nice change of pace as violence isn't the only option out of a dangerous situation(which our heroine constantly finds herself in). This game does what it does best: Exploration and discovering/raiding tombs.

Tomb Raider wouldn't be called...well, Tomb Raider, without huge levels. They are HUGE with pits, platforms, and crevices to climb on and jump/swing from not to mention some deadly critters. These levels are the main aspects of the franchise. Ironically, despite it's title character, the levels themselves are the TRUE stars of the show and almost steal the spotlight away from Ms Croft. A combination of brainpower, reflexes, and sheer skill are required to complete them. Some of them can be infuriating but that's part of the fun of it. And after solving them, you feel a great sense of satisfaction prior to what's around the corner.

After the disappointing The Last Revelation and the truly execrable Angel of Darkness, Lara has made a grand comeback as one of gaming's greatest stars. With improved controls, huge levels, more organic (and at times seemingly complex puzzles) and just great fun, Legend is the best out of them all. If your new to the franchise or just want to play a good adventure game, then Tomb Raider: Legend is a treasure worth seeking.

I feel compelled to write something here to counter that ridiculous bad review. Yes, the control is different. That's a GOOD thing. The control in the earlier games was TERRIBLE. I can't believe someone would actually want to go back to controlling Lara like a truck. Yes, you would need a gamepad for the PC version also (just get a 360 pad and plug it in)-but again, this is a GOOD thing. Most ANY game with this type of viewpoint and control will function better with a control pad-so use one! And how many games of ANY type use the keyboard exclusively now? I played the original Tomb Raider DESPITE the control, not BECAUSE of the control… The original Tomb Raider had a great atmosphere and theme, and an interesting character. But it also had a lot of flaws. The control was terrible and unforgiving. The puzzles were frequently arbitrary and too difficult. It was easy to overlook the problems in that first game though, because for one thing it was one of the very first 3D adventure games, and was doing so much new. The problem came when Toby Gard (and I forget the other guy's name) were ousted from Core, and Core then proceeded to remake that same exact game over and over again. The sequels were basically level packs released year after year, without addressing any of the huge flaws the very first game had.

Well Legend gets a new developer (Crystal Dynamics), with a team headed up by Toby Gard-the guy who created the first game to begin with-and it FINALLY fixes everything that was wrong. The control has gone from being a chore, to actually being FUN on a "moment to moment basis". In other words, the act of just moving Lara around and interacting with the environments is fun now. The game has a solid physics engine, which many puzzles use to great effect. The puzzles seem more "organic" now-more "realistic" to the environments, rather than seeming arbitrary. As a result they're also much easier to figure out (which is a good thing, I think). Between that, the vastly better control, and the frequent restart points (at least on the X-Box 360 version), the game has almost completely eliminated the frustrating aspects of the original.

On top of that the dialog is excellent. Lara's banter with her team is quite frequently funny and well acted. (Lara's voiced perfectly by Keeley Hawes from Spooks.) And Lara comes off like she did in the first game (but better)-she has the same feel, and seems smart, competent, interesting…but with a bit of a crazy drive to her. She's once again a more compelling character than Indiana Jones (at least to me she is).

The plot even rises above the minimum. The title, "Legend" makes sense in more ways than one, and the plot is perfect for relaunching the series.

Lastly, both the graphics and music are very well done. As mentioned, I'm playing the X-Box 360 version (which I believe looks the same as the PC version if you turn on that version's "advanced" content on a high-end GPU). It has tons of gratuitous graphical effects. Most aren't strictly necessary, but add to the atmosphere. The soundtrack is similarly excellent. Almost verging on Celtic-ish at times, it always blends in with the environments well.

In short, this is a 100% successful relaunch of the series, and what Tomb Raider 2 SHOULD have been.

I bought Tomb Raider the day of the UK release, I finished the main story 2 days later. But I'm still hunting for the rewards which is a week later and I'm almost done!

Brilliant game, nice and simple storyline (more or less), which plays on one of the best legends of all time, King Arthur etc.

The levels could have done with being longer, and it would have been better if they're were more. But what was there was brilliant (except for the motorbike bits, a little dull and repetitive). There are plenty of Tombs, my favourite being in Africa. There is a nice change of pace in the Japan and Russia levels that are more modern. All have great puzzles and secrets along the way.

Lara has more to say for once and is voiced perfectly by Keely Hawes of Spooks fame. All the dialogue is perfectly executed for the character of Lara, the scenes with Rutland and Takamoto are excellent and show she is capable of more than making big jumps! A fine role model for young women. Her movements fit her dialogue in the cutscenes, and in the game play she flows like an eagle on an up-drift! Lara is aided by Zip (her tech guy), Alister (her history/research guy) and Winston (butler, minus the hump from the old games). Winston doesn't get much of a look-in but the other 2 provide comic relief, and insight into the story. The weapons are OK, but you only really need her Pistols, which are upgradable.

The only serious problem i have with this Tomb Raider is the mansion. Its crap compared to previous efforts. You can only go outside into a courtyard and apart from that there are 5 rooms. There's a lot to find, but it just lacks the spark of running around the huge house, with the butler slowly strolling after you. It doesn't compare well. A mixture of the two would be perfect.

All in all a good game. Minor flaws in comparison to other Tomb Raider games, but they weren't perfect either. A mixture of the game play and story of Legend with the length and mansion of previous games is all we need. There will clearly be a sequel due to the huge cliffhanger at the end of the game that leaves you wanting more, but hopefully you won't have to wait too long! 8.5/10

P.S She looks great! Real for once!

I've just joined the legion. And it's not just because the character redesign is absolutely beautiful (less about Lara's famous chest and more about her appearance as a whole). Lara Croft also has that sexy British accent, plus, she's clever, funny, and physically strong while still being totally feminine. The type of gal you take home to mom.

She's also incredibly athletic, something that comes in handy during the game-play of "Tomb Raider: Legend." As this is my first Tomb Raider game, I have no way of comparing it to the other games in the series. As it is, game-play consists largely of performing gymnastic feats while scaling mountains and hanging from cliffs. This actually takes a lot of thought, as it sometimes requires process of elimination to plan Lara's next move as she hangs from a ledge, possibly leaping to her death several times before finding the next foothold or handhold.

Battles with enemies also make use of Lara's gymnastic abilities. While locked on to a target, Lara can perform cartwheels, somersaults, and flips through the air to dodge bullets while returning fire with a series of weapons. But most of the game consists of wall climbing, cliff diving, and solving puzzles based on moving objects and manipulating items. Even certain bosses require more thought than simple running-and-gunning.

Anyone who still isn't convinced that this is more than a simple actioner merely has to enter "Croft Manor", a bonus game available through the options menu, and try to solve the riddles there to give their brain a workout.

Lara also has a series of tools to assist her. These include a pair of special binoculars and a magnetic grapple hook. The binoculars can be used to analyze the environment and provide hints to solve the puzzles, while the grappling hook can be used to swing across chasms, move distant objects, or even attack enemies. Of course, the similarities to Indiana Jones' whip make it obvious where the material is drawn from, but fans of the genre shouldn't mind.

Lara even has a headset that allows her to communicate with two sidekicks. Of course, this is part of the recent video game convention of having someone hiss orders at you the whole time, but here it actually works. Lara has two sidekicks, a hip American gadget expert and a whiny British historian. Rather than boss Lara around, the two sidekicks offer encouraging hints, but mainly provide someone for Lara to exchange witty banter with and serve as comic relief.

Several sequences also require the player to interact with cinematics, pressing buttons as they flash on the screen to save Lara from terrible fates. These are somewhat exciting, but overall a little too easy, and if they remain a feature in future games will have to be better perfected. There are also a couple of motorcycling levels that add some variety to the game-play.

The graphics are glorious, and not just the new Lara Croft design. Environments are eye-catching as well. The voice acting is also very well done. Keeley Hawes' voice suits the title character very well, while Kath Soucie, of "Rugrats" fame, plays the antagonist, a blonde, American ex-colleague of Lara's gone bad. The orchestral score and camera angles also add to the cinematic feel of the game.

Lara's main quest throughout the game is to collect shattered fragments of Excalibur and solve the disappearance of her mother that took place when she was a young girl, but with extra effort Lara can also uncover artifacts which will unlock special features and new costumes for the Tomb Raider. Levels can be returned to at any time to recover more artifacts. Once a level is completed, there's also an option to replay it with a time limit. This provides the game with at least a small amount of re-playability.

As much fun as the game is, it, like so many games, falls apart at the end, and not just because the storyline is left open for a possible sequel. The last couple of missions and puzzles and the final boss fight are far too easy, even anticlimactic. However, as my introduction to Lara Croft, Tomb Raider, "Legend" was well worth playing.

First off I'm happy as it seems most people are that this game completely ignores Angel of Darkness. The past two games before Legend didn't speak to well for the TR franchise.

Finally Eidos gave it to a new developer for a fresh look. While I started to think that anything would've been acceptable after AOD. That's not the case with this game.

This game is good and makes sure to stand out. It does bring back a lot of the good stuff that we missed from the TR games. Tombs galore for this game. That's a good thing since the game is called "Tomb" Raider. There are a few city levels, but they are done better than AOD's city levels.

The only flaws I have with the game is there is virtually only one vehicle in the game and it's plays very linear. Also the fact that there are only two main types of enemies excluding bosses. The humans are abundant. There is not a lot of variety with animal enemies in this, but at least they are in it.

There is one thing I kept feeling while playing the game though. It feels as if Crystal Dynamics made this game to draw back in the hardcore fans of Tomb Raider and show they there is hope yet for the struggling franchise. It's almost experimental in a way for something bigger to come and I can't wait.