Tomb Raider: Legend

"Lace Up Your Climbing Boots..."

I suppose I should start this review off by saying that although I've played a couple of the Tomb Raider games in the past I've never been a huge fan of the series. With that off my chest the rest of this review will go based on this title alone and will have no comparisons to the past entries.

When I first booted up my PS2 and started Tomb Raider the first words out of my mouth were "WOW". Right off the bat the graphics just caught me as they were very well done. Lights would bounce and reflect realistically and jumping into the water would even leave Lara dripping wet (get your mind out of the gutter). The more I played the more it wowed me as it took me to exotic locales around the world with stunning rendering of all the environments.

The controls were also a treat. The button layout is simple to learn, L1 locks on to a target while R1 does the shooting. The face buttons can also be used as combat modifiers. When not taking down armed thugs you have at your disposal a magnetic grapple which you use to pull objects towards you or swing across gaps. Gameplay is made up of environmental puzzles that you'll need to solve, as well as many Prince of Persia platforming segments. My one gripe with the controls was that Lara's movements didn't seem to be as fine-tuned as they could've been. They were several instances where I wanted to make a jump towards a ledge but Lara did not want to cooperate, thus becoming a real pain when all you want to do is finish the level. It wasn't too bad though because navigating through the game's stages were a real treat.

I suppose if the game had one problem it would have to be it's length (and the incredibily anit-climatic ending). Clocking in at a mere 6-8 hours an average gamer will have no problem going through it over a weekend. There are many unlockables though, such as new outfits for Lara as well as conceptual stuff, but unless you're a perfectionist there will be no real incentive to find everything.

Tomb Raider: Legend was to be a return to form for Lara Croft and in many ways the developers succedded and I can defenitely see the sequal taking home some awards. At the end of the day though, TRL was an awesome adventure that felt more like an appetizer to the main course.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 05/09/06