Visually the game is mind blowing and will win over even the most jaded Tomb Raider haters. Boss fights (yup, there are quite a few of them here) on the other hand are pretty stupid and while some will make you think others will only make you scream at your monitor in frustration (the fight with the Gem Demon was by far the most annoying fight ever…argh!). One thing I’m really grateful for is the fact that the puzzles in TRL aren’t as tough or annoying as its predecessors, even though they make you exert the little dude (dudette) inside your head at times. You can’t get down from the bike or hi-jack a bike (this isn’t GTA), or jump from bike to bike, but these random segments do provide a certain amount of respite from all the platforming. Perform them well and you’re treated to some John Woo-ish slow mo shots (no white doves though), and if you screw up, well, she dies in pretty painful ways.Ĭrystal Dynamics has also successfully incorporated entertaining vehicular sections in TRL and even though these sequences are pretty scripted and console-ish (and can get a bit monotonous), they’re fun nevertheless.
New to the series is the introduction of God of War-ish context sensitive mini-games, be it for boss fights, cut-scenes (just like Resident Evil 4) or escaping sudden traps. If jumping on people is not your thing, how about tackling them with the ‘sliding tackle’, a move that allows you to catapult enemies in the air and then riddle them with bullets before they land. Running up to an opponent and jumping off him (not on him) will result in some slow-mo goodness during which Lara can take down at least 3 people (including the dude she just jumped off) if she’s wielding the appropriate fire power.
Once aspect that’s been revamped a lot in TRL is Combat and Lara can now pull off quite a few Dante-ish moves with ease. We have some stuff about King Arthur, Lara’s dead mother, Gem demons and a dead friend, who by the way is not dead actually, so pardon me if I totally tuned myself off after the fifth level or so, not bothering about anything or anyone anymore. The Tomb Raider franchise isn’t well known for its plot so don’t expect one here too. One word of caution though if you’re planning on playing the game on the PC, I strongly suggest you try and hook up a controller because the default control scheme (mouse + keyboard) sucks harder than Paris Hilton’s reality show and even though there’s a lot of mapping to be done on the controller it’s worth it in the long run. Sure, she’s no Prince (or princess for that matter) but watching her jump all over the place is like watching poetry in motion.
Now if you thought she was athletic in her previous games, the way she moves in this game will totally blow you away. The first level serves as a tutorial of sorts where you’re introduced to some of the game’s new mechanics like her grappling hook, the new and improved combat system, the GOW inspired mini-games (more on that later) and more. The game starts off with an intro extremely reminiscent to that of Mission Impossible II (remember Cruise hanging from a cliff?) with Lara doing what she does best (no not that sicko), exploring stuff. Eidos (the game’s publisher) on the other hand still felt there was some life left in that franchise and they handed over development of Tomb Raider Legend (TRL) to Crystal Dynamics (the people behind the Legacy of Kain series) and not only have they managed to revive Lara, but they’ve also managed to churn out the best Tomb Raider till date. She rose to stardom with the first two Tomb Raider games, and was the pin-up girl for more adolescent gamers, but slowly her career came spiraling down and by the time we reached Angel of Darkness, she was beyond any help. Lara Croft’s story is similar to that of anyone who’s fallen from grace.