Tomb Raider Legends Review

[carl]

Pros: new game engine, new story, very nice Xbox graphics

Cons: Xbox360 graphics would have been better, voice acting is nothing special, it's not very epic.

The Bottom Line:
What it really comes down to is the fact that while Tomb Raider: Legends has not exactly revolutionized the genre, it has finally taken a step in the right direction.

There was a time when the name Lara Croft commanded respect. A time before Lucazade commercials, when dodgy Angelina Jolie vehicles were considered fantasy, and everyone's favorite Brunette found herself spending more time raiding ancient tombs than she did posing for tacky lads magazines. I am of course referring to the ancient days of the 1990's when the entire world was blown away by the first release of <b>Tomb Raider</b>. The following 5 years saw 5 increasingly lackluster sequels to a game that had originally taken around 4 years to develop. Things were looking bleak, and as the consoles power grew larger the situation just grew bleaker. Lara's first entry into the (at the time) next generation; <b>Tomb Raider: The Angel Of Darkness</b>, was hampered by a development team who wanted to upgrade the series, but didn't seem to have any idea what had made it so popular in the first place.

This is where Crystal Dynamics enter the fray with <b>Tomb Raider: Legends</b>. Core's lazy approach of simply rehashing the same old game engine with a new poorly scripted story has come to an end. Crystal Dynamics have scrapped the more RPG aspects of <b>Angel Of Darkness</b> and restored the series to it's Indiana Jones esq. roots, but at the same time they have taken the innovative to rebuild the dated game engine from the ground up.

For a start they've set out to actually tell an interesting story with <b>Legends</b>. They start to explore Lara's past, and the reason's behind her thrill seeking life style. It opens with a brief cinematic of Lara's childhood as the plane carrying both herself and her mother crashes into the Himalayas. After taking shelter in a nearby cave Lara's mother is killed in an explosion after the young Lara touches a strange sword that she finds stuck in a mysterious stone dais. She has spent her entire life since searching for answers. The game takes place in the present day after Lara discovers a second, identical, dais in Bolivia, and must traverse the globe hunting fragments of another mythical sword in a stone if she is ever going to find those answers.

Of course if <b>Angel Of Darkness</b> tought us anything it's that Lara needs a lot more than a decent story if her games are going to find acceptance. Even I, who has enjoyed all of the games to some degree, will admit that the grid based control scheme had worn out it's welcome by the second game. That's why Crystal Dynamics have scrapped the system in favor of a similar engine to that of the <b>Prince Of Persia</b> series. Lara no longer moves about in the same rigid manor (a hop back was the exact same distance as 2 running steps forward) as before, leaving you, the gamer with a greater sense of control over her platforming antics. This does mean that the old tactic of walk to the edge of a block, hop back, then perform a pixel perfect running jump, is no longer required. Lara no longer needs to jump from a specific pixel in order to survive, but rather if you find yourself jumping slightly early she will stretch out her arms and grab the ledge. All you have to worry about then is hitting the Y button in time to restore Lara's balance, and as a result the game flows much smoother, and becomes much more fun to play through.

In line with this new engine comes a fresh approach to the level designs too. Again the poor level design of the sequels (<i>at this point I would just like to note that I do actually love <b>Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation</b> too, but that remains the exception rather than the rule</i>) that contributed to the series waning sales. Crystal Dynamics have, once again, taken note of the <b>Prince Of Persia</b> school for fantastic level design. In <b>Legend</b> every room you encounter is a puzzle unto itself. Among the levels you visit will be everything from the old abandoned tombs, the icy peaks of the Himalayas, a dangerous Yakuza office block, and even a quick trip down the M5 from Glastunbury. Like the good Prince Lara has to utilize the different aspects of these environments if she is ever going to find her way out of a level. So sometimes she may be required to scale a series of rooftop signposts in order to reach a ladder that she can jump from to reach the exposed wires she needs to swing on if she wants to reach the door at the top. A long sentence perhaps, but one I feel perfectly captures the frantic nature of Lara's new style, which in itself feels much more intuitive than the old 'fetch the rusty key, that opens the rusty gate hiding the shiny key' type of puzzles that littered the older games.

That's not to say that all of the games puzzles are directly ripped from <b>Prince Of Persia</b> though. possibly the best innovation the game makes is in a selection of James Bondish gadgets that Lara is now geared out with. Most, such as Lara's waterproof PDA are purely aesthetic. However 2 of these gadgets are genuinely integral to the games puzzle solving. The smallest of these items is a set of military grade goggles with built in scanning features. If you're just planning on playing the story then you may not use this item, however if you want to discover all of the games hidden rewards then using these goggles at least once on every level is essential. The other item is Lara's new magnetic grappling hook. Throughout the game this can be used in a number of ingenious ways that I don't want to spoil here. What it does though it attach itself to any magnetic surface (surfaces that glint) and allows you to swing, pull, or otherwise manipulate these surfaces in ways that bridge the gaps between 2 puzzles.

Unfortunately once you've gotten over the spectacle of the games new engine you begin to notice a key flaw. There's just no sense of scope any more. For a start the levels themselves are far too small, with fairly frequent check points throughout. On top of that is the fact that combat has been simplified beyond belief. Lara can carry 3 medipacks, and 2 weapons (one of which has to be her trusty pistols) but can easily dispatch a group of enemies without any of these, and most of the time they will only appear in one or two locations a level. It's the same thing that happened with the first <b>Prince Of Persia</b> title, Crystal Dynamics have spent so long on the puzzle solving, platforming aspects that the combat has been thrown in as an after thought. It's never boring combat, but still it's never all that exciting either. Even the bosses are too easy, and as a result the sudden panic of being charged by a Gorilla, or the underwear staining fright of a T-rex attack, is an aspect of the series that has been excised. It was this epic feeling of exploring dangerous locales that made the flawed series so much fun, and now that feeling is just gone.

Still it's at least a step in the right direction. If Crystal Dynamics can just open the levels up a little more, and implement the combat better, then the promised sequel could potentially be even better than the first <b>Tomb Raider</b> game.

Aesthetically it's not an easy judge. As an X-box PS2 title the game looks absolutely stunning. There are some amazing water effects, and any of the out door locations look stunning. The levels set in the modern world don't look as good, but for the most part it's hard to imagine a better looking game on these consoles. Unfortunately this is the Xbox360 port, and we're used to a little more in these parts. The water effects are nice, but not quite as nice as we've come to expect. There's not much of a draw distance, and as nice as the textures look at a distance they do tend to get a little blocky on closer inspection. Also Lara's facial features are a little hard, looking like a distinct step down from the crisp look of her new outfit. In the end it really comes down to the fact that <b>Tomb Raider</b> is either a stunning Xbox game, or a good looking Xbox360 game. it depends on what you're used to.

The audio is a different matter entirely. The music was quite good, building up the levels nicely, and adding a very different feel to the different levels. It's just that the voice acting, outside of Lara, ranged from passable side characters, to 2 extremely irritating partners who converse with Lara over her mansions radio system. I just really disliked them, both because they were annoying at the best of times and only proved to further reduce the sense of isolation the Tomb's should have invoked.

What it really comes down to is the fact that while <b>Tomb Raider: Legends</b> has not exactly revolutionized the genre, it has taken a step in the right direction. The series is finally growing up, and I have high hopes for the next game.

It's also worth noting that, while the main game is quite short, the X-box live achievements do add to the replayability. Each level hides a number of secret items that add a bit of exploration to the game. The hard difficulty setting was a disappointment since there's so little action to make harder, but doing every level on the time trial added a whole new dynamic to the game. In the end, getting all of the achievements added up to around 17 hours of play (give or take) which for a game of this genre is not that bad at all.

4/5

[aS!Dz]

yup i totaly agree!!

putting the flaws aside i did think this game was absolutely brilliant.. and i must say that i was playing this game while i was meant to be revising for my university exams and stuff... but i originally just put this game to test it out.. but i found myself to be totaly addicted to the game. Ive played all the previous games (not completed them - was too young back den ) but im no tomb raider fan... and yet this game did totaly please me! if they carry on making seqeuls like this wid da adjustments that carl jus pointed out... im sure this tomb raider will increase its fan base by double!

the interactive cut scenes (like farenheit) was a very good touch!!

[the_Web_Slinger]

I personally enjoy the Tomb Raider Series, I was a fan of it from the very begining. I didn't really enjoy Angel Of Darkness as much as the others in the series but I was excited to play this. The only 2 problems I really had with Tomb Raider: Legends is that I missed the auto targeting where if there was a bad guy or a blood thirsty creature Lara would automatically aim at the enemy and all you had to do was shoot because in the middle of a fire fight it helps not having to line up shots. Now secondly I found that in Legends Lara can't really jump worth a damn especially if you want her to jump stright up, in the previous games when you want her to jump she did a good upward vault with her arms stretched upwards above her and that was ideal for grabbing higher ledges that where just slightly out of reach but now in legends its more of a hop then a jump and she has her arms to the side insted of above her head and while playing I cursed that a bit and I know people can argue "her jumping is more realistic now" and well all I can say is "realisms doesn't put me on the ledge now does it!" but other then those 2 things I though the game itself as a whole was perfect and I enjoyed playing it and will probably buy it when i have the chance.

[Jake]

Anyone know where Lara buys her shirts and shorts? I'd sure like to give them as a present for my girlfriend's birthday, ;-)

[the_Web_Slinger]

Anyone know where Lara buys her shirts and shorts? I'd sure like to give them as a present for my girlfriend's birthday, ;-)

Actually try the Tomb Raider website. you know http://www.tombraider.com/ the last time I was there which was a while ago they had all kinds of jackets and shirts and what not for sale. maybe they still do and have a "offical Tomb Raider: Legend Shirt" that is the same as in the game.

[Jake]

haha, while I was unable to find Lara's shirt hmmm I came across this design, the PERFECT gift for the woman in your life