Lara Croft,Tomb Raider. She's a legend. (Tomb Raider: Legend (PS2))

Member Name: butters

Product:	Tomb Raider: Legend (PS2)
Date:	31/10/06 (269 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: :) Gameplay, graphics.

Disadvantages: :( Lifespan

Released far back in 1996 and became a pretty decent Playstation hit, its transfer to the Playstation 2 did not do too well. Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness seemed pretty dull and boring. Personally though, I never got into them because of the control system. One analogue stick to move forwards/backwards and strafe, and one to move left and right. When I heard of the re-vamped control system though, after those months of waiting, reading the previews paid off.
A change of developer also helped revamp the series, with Crystal Dynamics replacing the creator of Angel of Darkness Core Design. A change of publisher always gets me excited because it's interesting to see what else can be done with such a superb idea, and this game has turned out nothing short of superb.

~Story~

At the age of nine, Lara and her mother survive a plane crash. She, at the time of the game, is, as the title says, a Tomb Raider, who, in this particular game is in search for the ancient sword Excalibur, the same sword that she accidentally activated after the plane crash that made her mother disappear.

The story itself plays though pretty well, with the only drawback being the length of the actual story.

~Gameplay~

The gameplay is remarkable. As already said, the game is short, but it does lead you all over the world through temples full of water, to snowy mountains and main cities, including both on foot and vehicle parts. What surprised me most, probably due to the fact I have not played a Lara game at all in years, was how little shooting was involved with the majority of the tombs you are raiding having far more puzzles than enemies, all of which take some thinking...

The 'tombs' are both indoors and outdoors and they will mainly involve working your way through each room of a tomb and trying to get to the next place solving the intricate puzzles. They involve needing to press buttons, transfer items up a floor or dodging sharp items with some flips.
The puzzles do require some thought, but never are you completely clueless for what to do because, since you have a choice of exploring only 1 or 2 rooms at a time, everything you need to get the next room is either on you (weapons), or is around the room so you are never stumped with what to do, more of how to do it.
There are weapons at your disposal, such as grenades, pistols and other types of weapons, which have an auto aim feature. There is still quite a bit of shooting to be done whether it is predatory animal, enemy or to solve a puzzle and the combat is wonderful. When locked on you can dodge by doing a series of flips and that never look stupid. The best weapon is no doubt the grapple which you can use to swing and pull items towards you because it is pretty unique to games (this was out before Just Cause)

All of this is made far better because of the new control system. Out is the old one where turning and running was done separately and controlling her with one analogue stick is far better and you feel more free to run, jump and roll everywhere at ease an the controls are easy. The old control system that put me off Angel of Darkness was dodgy because you had to line up your jumps and a running jump would let you jump a certain difference, with a standing one letting you jump a smaller difference. Now you can jump at ease though because if you're going to fall to your death a triangle will flash up and pressing it will save your life with a last-chance ledge grab. It just gives you a sense of adventure.

Then there are the bike parts of the missions. The bike controls with ease and so does the gun you can fire at the same time. The bike isn't used much and is used for getting away and catching a train and considering how little you use the bike, the controls are surprising and I would not complain if a racing game had the same controls. If only LEGO Star Wars II did the same thing...

One thing I didn't enjoy too much was the bosses. I thought they either seemed the same-being normal people with a speciality that you had to somehow beat, or a huge monster. The majority of them were quite good but one of them I found extremely hard because I didn't know what to do. I went for the obvious thing, it didn't work, so I was left clueless only to find I had done it right but not fast enough. Very annoying but the only annoying bit in the gameplay.

~Lifespan~

The only disappointment in an otherwise perfect game. There are difficulty settings but getting you through the main story once on easy will take you 6-7 hours and medium level doesn't give much of a longer gameplay. It is the sort of game that you will complete more than once because it is so good but completing it again doesn't offer much new, as 8 tombs really isn't enough. There are attempts for the gameplay to last longer but none of them worked for me.

Firstly in dungeons you collect artefacts-loads of bronze, a few silver, and a gold one. Going through the tombs normally will not let you find them so playing through the game again and exploring in a bit more depth will take a lot of time and will add hours to the gameplay. However, you don't really get much for doing it except for a bit higher accuracy and costumes for Lara-with the last one being a bikini. It may get some people to double their gameplay to find, but I don't think I am sad enough to do so just to unlock a costume. Meaning only hardcore gamers and people a bit too obsessed with Lara will be fully completing it. For me it is the main game then and a pretty good exploration in Croft manor, not part of the main game.
Now this does add to the gameplay. Although is still involves collecting the bronze, silver and gold rewards, its fun to just explore. You have to find the weapons and can go to the room to choose a costume out of the ones unlocked and can explore the mansion and find a way how to get from one place to another. This does add a bit to the already wonderful gameplay, and adds a little to the abysmally short lifespan.

There are also time trials. However, I don't see the point in these. Quite a few competitive people might want to race through the tombs but then you wont get to see the wonderful work put into the game, nor find the rewards to unlock items and if I play through it yet another time, I'll want to actually find rewards instead of racing.

~Graphics~

Superb and makes the most out of the power of the PS2. Everything looks almost really, with the water sparkling, the rocks and land with huge amounts of detail and it just looks perfect with not a glitch to see in site, and most of it is explorable. The graphics are even better in the cut-scenes, which have shock moments like Resident Evil 4 when a button flashes up and you have to press it. At least it keeps you focused.

~Extra Information~

Memory on PS2 official memory card: 155kb minimum
Released: April this year
RRP: £39.99
Amazon price: £29.99
1 Player.
Age: 12+
Formats: PS2, PC, Xbox, Xbox 360, PSP. Soon to be on Gamecube, Nintendo DS and GBA.

Although an excellent game I don't think it is worth £30 because of the lifespan and I got it close to release date for £20 when on offer. I'd try to get it for £20 if you want it, just to justify the lifespan of the game.

~Overall~

A superb game and one of the best out there on the PS2, all except lifespan and it's just a shame that it took so much time for her to make her mark on the PS2-it's final year. I'm expecting her jump to the PS3 to be much faster, and am hoping for yet another wonderful game. For now though I will have to stick with the 10th anniversary game coming out which will keep fans happy until a proper new game is released.

If you like any type of action-adventure or are just looking for a great game this is for you. If you have liked the original Lara's but have not got your hands on this one yet, you will be pleasantly surprised.

Summary: Lara back on form.