Tomb Raider: Legend

"Seeing is definitely believing."

It's not often that it happens, but somehow, some way, Crystal Dynamics, the new developer in charge of the Tomb Raider series, was able to turn this dying franchise around after it was run into the ground by Core Design. This isn't just one of those 'this game is better than the recent crap that has been churned out, but still not up to snuff with classic Tomb Raider,' either. Legend is realizing Tomb Raider in the way it should have been from the start, but obviously couldn't due to technical limitations. It's new, it's fresh, it's revolutionizing what we've come to know about Tomb Raider, and the result ends up being pretty much the best Tomb Raider ever.


The first, and most profound, change in Legend is re-imagining how Lara Croft functions, and even looks. Gone are the days of moving around on an invisible grid, feeling like what you were controlling wasn't a sexy chick with dual-pistols but instead a clunky, unresponsive tank. Seeing Lara in action is amazing: she vaults up from a cliff, shimmies quickly across a ledge, leaps from said ledge, and then whips out her brand new magnetic grapple to latch onto a metallic surface and swing across a ravine. It's all incredibly fluid, responsive, quick and, perhaps most importantly, really fun. Controlling Lara has never been this good. Combine that with the more realistically proportioned body -- smaller chest, but still ever large! -- and new threads, she's got the looks to go with the moves.


If that weren't enough, though, Lara has gotten even better in combat, now deadlier than ever. Still equipped with her trademark dual-pistols, Lara can auto-lock-on to any enemy of her choice by simply pressing a button. From there, she can flip, jump off of enemies, slide underneath them to avoid their gunfire while simultaneously knocking them into the air, and even shoot things like telephone poles or explosive barrels to take out her enemies.


If that weren't enough, she's also able to pick up the weapons of the soldiers she kills. They carry everything from SMGs to Shotguns. Although she can only carry one extra weapon at a time that aren't her pistols, which she always has, you can switch the secondary weapon with anything you see lying around at any time. So if the shotgun is out of ammo, just pick up that SMG from the guy you just killed and keep firing! The combat is simple; it's effective, and always a blast. Pumping lead into the baddies and beasties that you encounter has never been so fun.


And while you're putting Lara's new repertoire of moves to the test, you'll be treated to some great conversations. Thanks to her new headset, Lara is able to communicate with two of her specialists back at Croft Manor -- Zip and Alister. Zip is a reformed hacker helping Ms. Croft on all her technological gadgets, and Alister is a fellow archaeologist giving her useful advice and tips. The banter among the three while Lara is in the middle of getting through a deadly trap, or solving some ancient puzzle left by a dead civilization, is great. The best parts are when she jumps in to make a witty remark about their talking, or telling them to shut up because she needs to concentrate. It really makes the game that much more enjoyable, even if it does sacrifice the isolation aspect that the series has had for so long.


But, even without the isolation, Lara is still ever the globetrotter, going everywhere from Peru to Russia to the Himalayas. The locales she visits are so varied that you get a piece of everything. She'll go into abandoned old factories, deep into dark, dreary tombs, to the peaks of mountains, to the top of skyscrapers, into the jungle -- you name it, and she's there. The areas all look fantastic, too, being very scenic at times. But it's the level design of each environment, and the puzzles found within, that really give this the Tomb Raider feel.


Every area you go into has all sorts of booby traps, puzzles, and hidden artifacts to locate and find. The puzzles are new and different for every level, never making you feel like you've solved that puzzle before and keeping the game fresh. There are standard switches, pressure switches that require some kind of weight, large spheres to roll down hills and onto a switch in the distance, huge screens to shoot down, and a mess of physics-based puzzles that you need to solve. They all make sense, and almost all of them have multiple solutions, which make things more satisfying after you've figured it out using your own method. It's classic, exploratory Tomb Raider at its finest.


As always, however, there is motivation for why Lara is traveling abroad. It's all about discovering her past, digging up the old memories and piecing everything together. What, exactly, happened to her mother on that day their plane crashed in the Himalayas so many years ago? Was her father, who dedicated most of his life trying to find out, just out of his mind, or onto something? She's out to find the answers. It's a compelling story, much more on the personal level for Lara, and pretty gripping, even throwing a bit of the supernatural and Arthurian myths in there.


Lara being at the focal point of it all, though, makes the experience that much better because she's such a well-written and endearing character. You get to see that strong, self-reliant, no nonsense attitude in full force. She doesn't care to put up with anyone's crap, especially if they're trying to get in her way, and she'll go the whole nine yards to get what she wants. She's pretty much a total badass. A large part of that is because of her new voice actor, who really brings the character to life. She can be upbeat and sarcastic around Zip or Alister, and then have that edge when she's talking down her enemies. It makes for a great lead character.


The only real issues that there might be to bring up are that the game is short. It probably won't run you more than 5 - 7 hours to finish up the main story of the game. But Legend has some pretty sick replay value: there are artifacts to find, time trials to see how fast you can complete each level, tons of unlockables, and the shortness of the game makes it great for playing it multiple times just for the sheer enjoyment. With Lara's new acrobatic moves, and new gameplay mechanics, you just can't go wrong with Tomb Raider Legend. It's the total package. It took some time, a new developer, and bringing back the original creator of the series, but the world's sexiest archaeologist is back -- and she's never been better.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/26/07, Updated 09/04/07

Game Release: Tomb Raider: Legend (US, 04/11/06)