Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend

Several years ago creator Toby Gard brought to life a beautiful female adventurer with impossible curves and a thirst to explore the deepest reaches of ancient tombs. She has since made her return on the original PlayStation (let’s not forget the Sega Dreamcast) as well as a forgettable return on the PS2 and, of course, made it to the big screen twice. While her adventure began to lose steam long before it reached the fourth chapter, it was Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness for the PS2 that made fans believe that the series was now way off course.  Ah, but thanks to Crystal Dynamics, Lady Croft is back doing what she does best in Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend. Not only is the game good but now she’s on the Xbox.

Legend’s story is an interesting one that takes Lara Croft across the globe as well as deep into her past. We learn in the beginning of the game that Lara and her mother were in a plane crash and later, while accompanying her mother in an excavation, watch her die. Now Lara finds herself searching for the very artifact, the fragments of a stone sword that is connected to her mother’s demise. Her search brings her to Bolivia, Peru, Himalayas, Japan and even Kazakhstan. The story also recounts an expedition to a tomb where Lara’s friend Amanda seems to have perished. Add a connection to the legend of King Arthur and we have a story filled with mystery and adventure. The sad part is that the game is on the short side and thus cuts things when it’s just getting interesting.

Much has changed under the care of a new team and while a few of the better elements of the flawed Angel of Darkness have been used here, the changes are certainly for the better. The new additions, though, come in the form of newer moves as well as additional new gadgets and items. Instead of the flares she used to carry back in the early games, Lara now carries a personal light source. The best new gadget, however, is the magnetic grapple that Lara can use to pick up collectible pieces, swing to another locale or drag enemies closer to you. While Lara still packs her twin pistols, she can pick up weapons dropped by the enemy. Using the D-pad to access each item, you can switch weapons and gadgets on the fly.

Lara’s other new moves make her a more acrobatic character. Aside from returning features like swinging, mid-air back flips and pole sliding, Lara can climb certain areas as well as manipulate unstable objects, move crates and topple physically unstable objects. Control-wise, moving Lara is handled nicely as is her combat moves. She can unleash a set of interesting combos that have her leaping off the bodies of her enemies or performing sliding attacks that knocks them to the ground. There’s a manual aim and it works perfectly when you want clean headshots and the manual targeting isn’t bad either. What is bad, however, is the fact that it still takes more than a dozen bullets to bring down your enemy both animal or man. This, unfortunately, makes for fierce one-sided battles that get even more brutal if Lara is outgunned by multiple enemies.

As I mentioned above, your quest takes you to various exotic locales and has you exploring those tombs that brings back elaborate puzzles and dangerous traps. The puzzles are the familiar open-door-to-next-area-by solving-the-door-puzzle variety and many of these puzzles are actually well conceived and quite challenging at times. While the puzzles won’t have you completely stumped thanks to Lara’s new RAD device that examines the area and gives you an idea of what to manipulate, the real fun comes in coming up with your own way of solving the puzzle.

Yet the good news is that you won’t just be spending most of your time in a tomb, you’ll be facing off against enemies in a Peruvian village and then attempt a rescue mission while driving a motorcycle. There are also events where you’ll have to press certain buttons on time much like in the Quick Time Events in Shenmue or Resident Evil 4. You’ll even get to relive Lara’s old days complete with her original Tomb Raider outfit. Making its return is the ability to visit Croft Manor, although this time Croft Manor is less a training ground and more an area to unlock extra outfits and find new items to use when you want to replay certain missions.

Visually speaking, Tomb Raider on the Xbox looks fantastic. Long gone is the cartoon-like quality that made Lara seem like an unrealistic caricature. Caricature or not, Lara still became an iconic figure so it was good to see that Crystal Dynamics didn’t give her a completely dramatic new look. Sporting a softer look with realistic curves, our hero looks and moves more naturally. The Xbox version of the game just adds plenty of details in the environments. Unlike the PS2 version, the Xbox sports better lighting effects and less of a framerate problem. The cut scenes look great as well. 

As for the game’s sound, the game’s soundtrack, voice acting and sound effects make this a satisfying cinematic experience. The eclectic score, for one, changes with each situation and area. In Peru, for instance, the score mixes in pan flutes fitting of the region’s music. The dialogue, thankfully, is well written and thanks to the solid voice acting it makes the story all the more better. Detailed sound effects just add to the overall audio experience.

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend is not only a return to the classic form we have all loved from the beginning but it’s also a much deeper adventure that is engrossing from start to finish. While there are some small sore spots here and there, Legend succeeds where Angel of Darkness has failed. With gorgeous visuals, plenty of extras, a solid story and interesting new features, this is a Tomb Raider long-time fans of the old girl will certainly enjoy.  

Gameplay: 8.2
As far as the controls are concerned, Lara is a dream to control and her moves come off as more natural and more acrobatic. The puzzles are not too difficult to solve, which might be good or bad depending on how challenging you like your puzzles. The new gadgets are great and so is Lara’s manual aim but why does it take two fresh ammo clips to kill a jaguar?

Graphics: 8.5
Much emphasis has been placed on making Lara look more natural and realistic and the result is a character that looks great in action. From Lara’s expressions to the way water drips off her slender yet still curvy frame looks mighty impressive. Even the environments look amazing.

Sound: 8.5
The game’s soundtrack is wonderfully cinematic and more eclectic and the sound effects are beautifully detailed. The voice acting, particularly when it comes to Lara, is handled well thanks to good acting and even better dialogue.

Difficulty: Medium
The puzzles aren’t incredibly difficult to solve and the good news is that many of them are actually quite clever. Combat leaves a lot to be desired, especially when it comes to the damage you deal to the enemy both animal and human. Really, you will have a harder time killing just one well-armed enemy than solving a trap door puzzle.

Concept: 8.5
Legend adds various secrets and collectible items to unlock various features you can use when replaying the game. The game mixes vehicles, shootouts and puzzle solving perfectly and the story is actually good. The only major downside is that the game is a little too short.

Overall: 8.5
Having had taken a detour for the worst for quite sometime now, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend for the Xbox is certainly a step in the right direction. It’s good to see Lara back in top form and while her adventure is a bit on the short side and combat could have been handled a lot better, it’s hard to say no to a pretty girl that still has what it takes to show us a really good time. Fans of the series will certainly not want to miss this one.