Tomb Raider: Legend

"A tomb worth raiding, but is it treasure? Mostly yes."

Tomb Raider: Legend

So it's been a while since you've played a Tomb Raider game has it? Maybe it hasn't and you've played most of them and are thinking about skipping this one. Either way, this is one title that should be worth a play through for the person in either category.

Tomb Raider: Legend once again has you take on the role of the wealthy Lara Croft, with a thirst for adventure and yearning for exploration, off she goes on another adventure. This time though it's an adventure worth sharing.

Story-wise, the game is very engaging, keeping you involved throughout the campaign. What it boils down to is in the beginning of the game, you're treated to an in game video of young Lara Croft and her mother flying in what looks a private jet across some very tumultuous weather over the ocean. The plane crash lands and we find the pair in some ruins after they take shelter. After some exploration they come upon a strange artifact, without giving too much away, the end result is the mother mysteriously vanishes before young Lara's eyes.

Cut to present day, and Lara is finally hot on the trail of something that could potentially lead her back to her mother. And so the adventure begins with Lara doing some mountain climbing up to an ancient civilization's long abandoned ruins, ravaged by the forces of time and nature.

Graphically the game is pretty good, though they are not top notch by any stretch of the imagination, there is definitely an appreciation to be had for the lush presentation. The characters, and Lara Croft herself are well rendered, though you can see an occasional polygonal edge sticking out here and there, though this doesn't do much to detract from the overall experience.

The levels are pretty diverse, giving you lot's of settings to show off Lara's finesse and move-set in. From verdant jungles, to gloomy underground ruins, and one of the best obligatory video game “ice levels”, a frozen arctic tundra.

Lara's set of skills is very impressive this time around. With moves that are not only fluid and acrobatic, are fun to and intuitive to use, and fun to watch. They flow very well into one another, and it's important to note just how natural they feel. Though they are not perfect. There will be times when you plunge to your death because the game clearly didn't understand the next object you were jumping to, and sends you off in a completely incorrect direction, even when it seemed perfectly evident you were aiming for the next ledge. These moments are thankfully not very common, and thanks to the excellent checkpoint system, never really make you backtrack more than a few moments.

In between the action stages, the story unfolds. And how I mentioned earlier that the game keeps you involved, one example of this is a “flashback stage”, where the game takes you to a point in the past to unfold the story, however instead of merely letting you watch it, they let you take control. Also usually at the end of one section, a kind of “QTE” event, a term I use because that's what Shenmue coined them back on the Dreamcast, if you've played those games then you'll know what I'm talking about. What happens is the game goes into a cut-scene, but instead of merely playing it out for you, you again get to take control. During the cut-scene, various button icons show up on the screen, you have a very short window to press the corresponding button, or you are greeted with your ultimate demise. They break up the action, and are actually quite fun and entertaining, as it's here where you get to see some of the cooler death's that await miss Lara Croft. My only gripe about these is they are far too short and far too simple.

With all of the great level design, and work that went into the creation of these fabulous locations, you would hope there would be a reason to explore them. And this game does not disappoint in that respect. Throughout the levels you will find various bronze, silver, and gold medals. They are actually pretty well hidden for the most part. There's a nice mix of obvious ones, semi hidden ones, ones that are obvious but out of the way, and ones that are so hidden it will take all of your cunning and intuition to find them. I still couldn't find some of them even after multiple play through's. Not only are these fun to look for, but they unlock things on the main menu, most notably, outfits. Lara has a veritable cornucopia of outfits to select from in this game, ranging from the classic iconic short shorts and tight shirt, to functional winter clothes, to a sexy little black dress, and everything in between. There are also other things to be unlocked though, such as character bio's, and models and objects found in each stage, as well as a few other miscellaneous items. One nice touch is that the medals are different for each and every stage, so you're not always looking for a static “hidden package”, though the shape change has no effect on game-play other than aesthetics.

Once you've taken in all the scenery, you might wish there was some great music to accompany you as you venture through this harsh and hostile environment, and again the game delivers. You won't find anything here so amazing you just can't believe it, but for the most part there's a fine mix of music here, and many of the tunes are actually quite fun to listen to, as well as diverse. When you're exploring dark underbelly of a dusty tomb, the music seems to become dark and foreboding, and when you're jumping from icicle to icicle in the chilly arctic winds, the music is quick and compelling. Sound effects are also pleasing, with powerful sounding gunfire effects, and the sound of crumbling rock, which you'll be hearing a lot, is deep and dangerous.

This games weakness may be it's length, but it is also one of it's strengths. The game clocks in at around 10-12 hours if you don't look too hard for the medals, but at the same time, if it was any longer, you might find yourself getting bored. It's a conundrum that is worth pondering for yourself, as this is one platforming / action / adventure title that is definitely worth checking out.

All told, I had a lot of fun with this game, and there is a modicum of replayability if you choose to search and find all of the medals the game has stashed away in it's most secret of hiding places. But unless you care searching through every nook and cranny, just to unlock some more outfits, to play through the game even more in said outfits, then this is probably worth only a rental, or picking up once you find it in the cheaper used game section. The outfits as I said, are really the only reason to collect the medals, the character bio's are laughably short, and browsing through level objects is only entertaining for the fleetest of moments. It's most assuredly no reason to miss out on this fine title though, as you will undoubtedly have a great time with this game if you're either a fan of Lara Croft, or the action / adventure genre.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/27/07