IT’S been 10 long years since the milestone known as Tomb Raider was released, and unfortunately the series has suffered from a deadly downward spiral with each new installment. Finally, however, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend, which was released in 2006 to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the Tomb Raider series, not only gives this franchise a serious facelift but returns Lara to her roots while revamping the controls.
Tomb Raider: Legend has come out on the PC, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox and Xbox 360, with portable versions for the Game Boy Advance, PlayStation Portable, DS and mobile phones.
The story is simple enough to follow as Lara strives to solve mystery after mystery revolving around the unexpected death of her mother, which in turn is somehow connected to King Arthur and the scattered fragments of his enchanted sword. This gives Lara an excuse to travel from one exotic locale to another, ranging from Tokyo, England and Peru, to name just a few.
And though most of Lara’s exploration is centered along tombs (yup, Tomb Raider returns to the tombs!), expect her to appear in such locations as skyscrapers, villages and research facilities.
Visually, the game offers plenty of eye candy, especially with Lara’s character model itself. Gone are the titanic curves we’ve grown accustomed to, but drooling fans out there shouldn’t fret since Lady Croft still possesses quite an ample body, albeit a bit more athletic, if not more realistic.
Gone too is the seemingly magical backpack that lets you carry a practically limitless supplies and ammunition. In its place, our heroine gets a handy utility belt where most of her acquisitions can be stored. Our adventurous raider now
has a few in-your-face attacks as well, which range from the rather abused slide tackle to the rather impressive
flip-over-the-enemy’s-head-and-punch-him-full-of-holes-before-you-hit-the-ground move which should make Matrix freaks smile.
You can expect pretty much the same puzzle-solving glee as previous games, though you will notice some variations to your quests this time. Once you manage to acquaint yourself with the way the game works, however, solving these puzzles turns out to be a piece of cake.
As the story continues and you delve deeper into the game itself, you end up mastering the delicate combinations of jumping, shooting and climbing that make the game what it is. Another big change in the game is that Lara’s movements feel more fluid and natural in this title, which makes controlling her that much more enjoyable.
Yet another addition to the game is the much overdue and enjoyable vehicle levels that have you shooting while maneuvering your motorcycle through jumps and bumps. With the arrival of games such as Resident Evil 4 and God of War, interactive cutscenes have been popping up here and there in other titles and Tomb Raider: Legend is no different. Press the right button at the appropriate time and you’ll be treated to an additional action sequence. But just as in RE4, Lara can also meet her untimely demise in various ways.
The game will last you about seven hours on the default setting which can be a bit of a turn-off, but at least the game has collectibles you can acquire by locating hidden items. Additionally, replaying the levels in time trial mode allows you to unlock new outfits, moves, models and so forth. Although collecting Easter eggs in games has always extended its replay value, you’ll pretty much see everything the game has to offer after only the first few rounds.
All in all, Tomb Raider: Legend looks impressive on any console but also shares the same frame rate problems now and then, though not enough to hinder the enjoyment you’re after. Bottom line, the game isn’t that different from previous outings apart from the improvements and unfortunately, you end up completing the game too soon.
Maybe Eidos Interactive and Crystal Dynamics will release some sort of booster pack before the next installment of Tomb Raider comes out.
