It is great to be able to play a game that has so many positive aspects going for it. First of all thanks to Toby Guard Lara Croft is an icon for female game characters that can be admired and always has been. See my article Lara Croft Herstory here (link) She is smart, sexy, sassy and kicks major bad guy ass. Lara has a terrific accent, a mansion to die for and a butler and personal assistants. She has the life that we all really wish that we could have. It has a well written story that takes you back to Lara’s past and explains some things about her origins.

TR : The Angel of Darkness and some of the previous games really suffered from control and camera issues. The games became more and more difficult with each edition. Unfortunately Tomb Raider had started out as a very accessible and became something that only the aficionados could decipher.

Tomb Raider : Legends has benefited from the reunion of EIDOS and Lara’s original creator the Brit Toby Guard. The new union with Tomb Raider and Crystal Dynamics has been a positive step in the right direction. Crystal Dynamics has made some fun games like Gexx the Gekko. They are known for flashy glittering lighting effects.

Game play

This game has qualities that haven’t been the same since the first Tomb Raider on the Mac. Sure the other games in the series had similar features, but that doesn’t mean that it worked well when it was all put together. They were complicated and frustrating.

She has terrific range of motion this time. She can jump up, do flips, and shimmy across ledges. The controls are intuitive enough to get Lara from one precarious hanging position to another with a press of the X button on the PS 2. She can bend down, strafe from side to side and sprint. Her movements are fluid and graceful.

Her gadgets and tools have been upgraded. She’s got a magnetic grappling device. It doesn’t have targeting for it, but it does interact with her binoculars. The set up is that when you use the binoculars in night vision mode you can see the targets lit up. If you find them successfully they will glow and then the grappler with automatically latch on. That way if you are throwing the grappler at something you shouldn’t be, nothing will happen.

For high tech she has a PDA, and wears a headset. As in the Tomb Raider movies, with the headset on she is in contact with her tech team back at the mansion. They make random comments with those terrific funny accents and give some humor to the game. In addition to that they will “patch through calls” and give Lara some guidance by following maps and other geekness.

Another item that she has equipped is a kinetic light. It works almost all the time and burns out at critical moments. It can be re-ignited easily enough, even while hanging from a cliff that it took you 15 minutes to get to. The game does require all ten fingers to play. It’s almost a chinese finger puzzle – almost. I’ve played worse games.

As she goes along she can pick up more health packs, guns and ammo. She has her pistols of course with infinite ammo. Ah, how I wish more games did. Her movements are now much more precise and accurate.

I can’t say that this is a perfect game. It is challenging, at times too hard, and even exasperating. It is still Tomb Raider after all. The controls are similar to where they have been in the past. It feels good to put your finger on the R1 on the PS2 and have it fire. A red circular auto target pops up as you blast away. But shooting baddies is only a small fraction of the game.

The layout of the levels makes the game very interesting and intriguing. It encourages you and rewards your desire to explore more. There are tons of puzzles that will tease your brain. Most of them can be solved with an intelligent use and combination of Lara’s tools. Occasionally it is possible to get stuck though. There are many check points and you do have the option to save at almost any time you want. That is an asset to have in any game.

The biggest problem in TRL has been consistent in every game. It is just too linear. There is only one way to go. Sometimes it is up a narrow cliff or involves complicated sequences of jumping. It is annoying when you can’t get around an obstacle and you have to keep trying over and over. At that point it isn’t fun anymore. The fun of this game is being able to solve the puzzles, shoot up the enemies, and see all the gorgeous art. The developers should have created secrets in the toughest levels that would give alternate ways of getting out of rooms.

The whole game has been overhauled and made to be more refined. Game play switches off between the puzzle-solving and a various other tasks. Doing flying acrobatic tricks, shooting, and even riding a motorcycle are examples of the variety of things to do in the game. There is advanced physics in the game – play which is better than the floppy rag doll physics that I have never liked.

There are some instances of the return of the annoying camera. If she gets too close to a wall or if you need to get a look up above it doesn’t always work. Sometimes it is too hard to see where to go on the fly. The motorcycle riding scenes were pretty tough. Keeping the bike on the road without tipping it and shooting was challenging.

Graphics

The graphics that are the signature of Crystal Dynamics are just as breathtaking as all the hype has said that it would be. The water effects are outstanding when Lara is swimming and diving. She really does explore a true 3D virtual world. There are extraordinary backgrounds. The locations are impressive and diverse. One of the best things about this franchise is that it gives you the feeling that you are out in the great outdoors visiting places that you would never see in real life. The environments are surprising and stunning. It is a fantastic adventure.

Sound and Music

There is great voice acting and music. The music really gets you excited to play the game and sounds spectacular cranked up through the stereo. More sound effects have been added. I always like that sound that the stone doors make as they grind open. You can hear the low growls of the big cats and the guns fire with realistic pops.

There are many aspects tot he game that are good fun. but it still could have been better. Certainly the game has come a long way. Up against other games that aren’t as agonizing the flaws show up more glaringly. There isn’t enough shooting in the game to offset all the frustrating moments.

The striking environments don’t make up for the levels that are too hard to navigate through. The need to repeat jumps over and over again makes you just throw the controller on the ground and shut the game off. It doesn’t make it “challenging”. In a game where the strength is the eye candy, it should be simpler to go through and see it all. Levels that have weird swinging poles don’t need to also include precarious ledges as well. The level design is a bit sadistic. Why not try having a few levels where the character gets to *walk* around. Or even run. There are too many areas where acrobatics are required to get beyond.

Playing this game was like being in love with love. The idea of the revival of a much beloved franchise was more appealing than the actual game experience itself. Lara’s enjoyment value is in her girl power, and the achievement of awards, accolades and attention that this game franchise draws. It is the quintessential girl game. She is our poster child, our super model.

I’ll make a sweeping generalization here that I hope readers will forgive, female gamers don’t have a lot of time to play their video games so there has to be more immediate gratification available than this game offers.

Conclusions

It’s a beautiful game and if you are a fan it is worth the buy or even a rental. It’s a game that has some of the best graphics I’ve seen on the old PS 2. The game is an event in itself, a page in herstory you should see it. It’s a bit like climbing the Statue of Liberty. It’s tiresome, but you’ll be glad that you did it.

If I have to use the word exasperating in a review the game isn’t getting a 10 – or even a 9. I give Tomb Raider : Legend a rather disappointing 8 out of 10.

Replayablity : Good
Girls Point of View – Graphics : Superior
Will Girls Want to Play it? : Yes, or you’ll feel left out.
Purse : $39.99 US for the PC Version, about $49.99 US for the consoles