"Tomb Raider: Legendary"

Tomb Raider games have always been popular. From the dual 9mm pistols to the swan dive, there are lots of things our hero is remembered for. Good things seem to come in 7's (Final Fantasy 7, 7 Harry Potter books) and this is no different.

Gameplay: 9/10

Fast paced jumping, swinging, shooting and dodging leaves you on the edge of your seat. Puzzles and riddles leave you trying to remember details about the environment that may help. Admittedly, the default computer controls work as well as a chocolate fireguard, but at least their freely assignable. The controls are responsive and set to how you prefer. Lara now has new moves, kicking, sliding under enemies and using a grapple hook to pull the baddie into a spiked pit or off a cliff gives the game that extra special ingredient. New button cut scenes (pressing up, down, left or right when it shows on the screen) are used just the right amount. Not excessively, but enough. Rag doll and the physics can have some very funny effects. The levels are varied and have completely different environments from all over the world. Exotic rainforests and temples, to rainy England. Also the classic "square system" has been removed. Especially in the first two Tomb Raiders, Crates were pulled one square left, right, forwards and backwards at a time, Lara could climb up two squares, hop one square etc. Now crates are freely moved to allow for more complex environments.

Graphics: 10/10

Beautiful. Amazing particle, water and lighting effects. Textures are highly detailed and backgrounds look stunning. Lara looks properly wet after swimming, not just dripping. Lara herself is very detailed and her costumes look stunning.
Story: 7/10

"A legendary artefact with such immense power it could threaten humanities' very existence." Yup, it's your job to find the artefact through raiding tombs and killing people. Lara meets up with people from her past and has flashbacks of her mother and father. The story is enough to keep you interested.
Sound: 10/10

Stunning again. Lots of environmental sounds, speech and realistic gunshots. The music fits in perfectly with the scene. Speech and sounds are very clear.

Replay Value: 7/10

Lots of costumes, character profiles, object viewer and much more make you want to replay levels to get the secrets. Levels are easily replayed by selecting "Replay level" ^_^ Time trials make you rush and take big risks which add to the already fast paced gameplay.

Rent or buy?

Buy! It's a game you can complete, leave for a month or two, and play again

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/13/06