The First Lady of Adventure returns!

When the gaming public was first introduced to the adventures of Lara Croft back in 1996 with the release of the first Tomb Raider game, she charmed audiences, garnered critical praise, and was a huge success for its publisher Eidos, and its creator Core Design. Unfortunately with this success a string of sequels followed year after year along with two feature films, all failing to capture what made the original title so great. The result of these failures was Lara Croft’s fall from grace and rapid decent into the depths of mediocrity and rapidly shrinking angry fan base. Realizing their most valued franchise was on the verge of dying, Core Design setout to repair the franchise and make what they promised to be the best Tomb Raider ever for its first Playstation 2 outing. After numerous delays Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness shipped as a complete nightmare of a title breaking all promises. With its release the second film also hit theaters and bombed. The one-two punch of mediocrity seemed to seal the fate of the franchise. Determined to save the franchise, Eidos canned the original creator/developer of the series and handed it over to their proven and more competent development house Crystal Dynamics, giving them the task to breathe new life into the franchise and restore it to glory. The result of this last attempt to save Tomb Raider is now upon the gaming masses in the form of Tomb Raider Legend and fans can all breathe easy as their lady Lara Croft is back in top form and better then ever before.

Features:

• Beautiful graphics


• Engaging story that unlocks Lara’s past


• Fluid movements and intuitive controls


• 8 huge missions


• 7 real world locations to explore


• Unlock tons of bonus content


• Widescreen support


• Dolby 5.1 surround sound

Story
One of the greatest aspects of the Tomb Raider franchise have been the stories each game has presented to players. Well, that is at least true for the first two games until the stories just got lost in the mess they were packaged with. In Tomb Raider Legends players are presented with an engaging storyline that digs deep into Lara’s past and truly helps establish her back story and the reasons for her being who she is. From the beginning of the game until its last moments the storyline is presented in a highly cinematic way that will ultimately leave players on the edge of their seats. Without diving too far into the story, and trust me you do not want me ruining any of it for you, the story revolves around the legend of King Author and his sword. It is not as basic as that as that legend and sword unfold to uncover a mystery and power older then Author and one which has affected Lara’s family and her life since she was a little girl.

The story unfolds sending Lara traipsing around the world to many exotic locations that one would expect to find an archeologist like Lara in of course. Players will guide Lara through tombs, ruins, and more in places including: Bolivia, Peru, Nepal, Ghana, Kazakhstan, Tokyo, and England. In addition to these, Croft Manor returns bigger, better, and more interactive then ever before as a standalone “playground” for players to explore.

Gameplay
When it was announced that Tomb Raider was going to be given to a new developer it was hard not to think that the franchise would never be like it was before. Without its creators, how could it retain the charm of the original? How would a new developer know how to make a game that will stay true to what people liked about the franchise in the first place? Well those fears were completely put to rest with Legend. While the franchise has been given a huge facelift and surge of new life, the basis of what made the original game so appealing remains in tacked and better then before. Legend plays as a natural evolution of the original title, bringing the series into modern times. Some might be quick to knock the game as a wannabe clone of the recent Prince of Persia games, but they would be mistaken to do so since the original Tomb Raider came first and is what brought the Prince of Persia formula into the third dimension. Prince of Persia always played as one would imagine a modern Tomb Raider title should, and finally gamers don’t have to imagine any longer.



While the core gameplay remains the same, mostly adventure gameplay with a side of gunplay action, the largest improvement in the game is how Lara goes about her adventuring. Gone are the boxy limited moves and controls of the past and in are some of the tightest and most intuitive controls available. Lara now moves with incredible fluidity and grace. She is never static but always moving in some way. She can grab onto any ledge with incredible realism, and jump from ledge to ledge with ease. Running, stopping, shooting, and jumping are no longer a chore but instead a pleasure to accomplish. Swimming, another area that was somewhat weak in the past has been greatly improved and is also accomplished with ease. Swimming has also been one of those aspects of control that developers often have trouble implementing, but in Legend it all works well and never results in that disorienting feeling that so many other games provide. Crystal Dynamics should be praised for removing the confines that always held back Lara’s movements and setting her free to truly explore her environments.

Speaking of environments, players will find everything that they would expect to find in a Tomb Raider title. Incredible locations filled with surfaces which Lara can climb, swing, fall, and well, die from. Moving objects such as every action games friend, the generic wooden crate, also make frequent appearances in the game and as one would expect require Lara to push or pull them to wherever she feels the need to take them. This action of moving items is also another area of improvement in the title. Not only are items easier to push, pull, and climb on, Lara can also often move them using her handy new grappling hook. The grappling hook is another one of those great additions Lara’s toolset and can be used throughout the game. Players will often encounter over hangs which will prompt Lara to run, jump, and throw out the grapple providing an Indiana Jones whip-swing like experience. In addition to this she will also often use it to bring objects to her, lower items to climb on, and more. It seems like a simple addition to the game, but it adds significantly to the overall adventuring experience.

In addition to the locales found in the main story, Croft Manor is also available to gamers from the main menu. While in past games that manor acted only as an area to wander around and practice/learn Lara’s moves and abilities, this time it serves as its own standalone level. Lara can explore the house and actually solve a series of puzzles throughout the manor to find and unlock hidden artifacts. These artifacts are also scattered throughout the regular levels and are used to unlock bonus content such as character models, artwork, codes, and a large number of alternate outfits Lara can wear in the manor or when replaying previously completed stages in Time Trial mode. Time Trial mode, new to the franchise, allows players to replay ever level in a set amount of time. Beating the level before time is up will unlock more bonus content for players to enjoy.