A Much better game than it's predecessor (Tomb Raider: Legend (PS2))

Member Name: stephanieasmith

Product:	Tomb Raider: Legend (PS2)
Date:	20/02/09 (36 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: wonderful graphics and abilities

Disadvantages: a weird glow that makes it hard to see sometimes, straightforwardness

Tomb Raider: Legend is the 7th installment of the Tomb Raider series of video games that has spanned way more than a decade and has also spawned a movie franchise. I received this game though one of the game trading websites that I am a member of.

The Story:
As many people who have played the previous Tomb Raider games will know, when Laura Croft was a young girl, her and her mother were in a plane crash in which Laura was the only survivor. This game deals with that story. Laura is searching for certain artifacts that have something to do with her ordeal when she was young. They can be found all over the world, but, as usual, she has to work against someone else's evil plans to get the artifacts. This story takes Laura all over the world in search of her artifacts and answers to her own past. The base story, where Laura searches into her past, is great, and there was one cutscene that both shocked me and made me almost cry (I don't cry for fictional people, but this was gut-wrenching).

The Graphics:
Tomb Raider: Legend probably has better graphics than all of the other tomb raider games combined (though I have yet to play Anniversary and, as I write this, Underworld still hasn't come out yet). A person could get lost in the scenery. There is some diverse scenery, such as jungle ruins, urban skyscrapers, a military research lab, and the Himalayas. The detail in these areas is amazing! One problem, though, everything seems to be giving off it's own little bit of glow and as a result, the scenery looks a little too soft. Because of this, some of the detail can be hard to see except from certain angles.

The Sound:
The sound quality of this game was great. I rarely have any problems with sound, probably because I don't pay a whole lot of attention to it, but even I noticed that every sound I could want was there, from the noises that Laura's movements made, to gunfire sounds, creaking items, and anything that falls (like dust).

Gameplay:
This installment of Tomb Raider was really short, I played it in just a few hours, probably 8 or 9 hours(not counting time I spent stuck on a couple of the puzzles, the good ones always leave me scratching my head for a couple of days), but I lost track of time, so I couldn't tell you for sure. Despite the gorgeous scenery and all of the other great details in this game, it lacked in imaginative enemies. They were all pretty much one type of human shooting at you, even the supposed bad guy, who really was bad, but there was no imagination in him. The only exception was one enemy, Amanda. I cannot tell too much without giving the story away, but what she is capable of is cool.

Most of the traps were pretty much the same thing over and over, but I thought a couple of the puzzles were cool. There was only one really good puzzle, though, where Laura has to hit three pressure pads at once to get out of an area. It took me a lot of time to figure out that one, until after the third day, when I was getting ready to cheat and look up a walk-through, I was messing with the binoculars and found the last piece of the puzzle.

As far as puzzles go, I never got lost in an area while playing this installment of the Tomb Raider series. This is a drawback to me, because I feel that the Tomb Raider series is all about the exploration of various areas and that these areas are not straightforward.

Speaking of the binoculars, as anyone who has played even one Tomb Raider game will know, Laura carries a backpack full of the things she may need on her trip with her. These things include health packs, weapons, and ammunition, just to name a few things. However, in previous games the backpack was seemingly bottomless, I remember having thousands of rounds for one of my weapons and a dozen health packs in Tomb Raider 1 and scrolling through an incredibly long list of things I didn't even need anymore in Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness. In Tomb Raider: Legend, this problem is no more, you have a grappling hook (a very useful tool), the aforementioned binoculars, a personal light source, your pistols, one alternative weapon (like a rifle, grenade launcher, or shotgun), and you can carry up to three health packs. That is all you need.

In previous Tomb Raider games, there were secrets to be found all over the place. These were always just for the sake of finding them, as they were always just some ammunition and maybe a health pack. The secrets are back in this game, but they are different. They are called rewards and they unlock such things as outfits that you can try on in Laura's mansion, development artwork, and other behind the scenes things. some are pretty cool to look at.

One thing that I am still trying to figure out is the action sequences. When I was playing the game and came across the first one, I thought it was just a cutscene, but when the button promt came (it was an X, telling me to hit the X button), I missed it because I was not expecting it. Because of that, I had to watch Laura's legs get cut off! There is no warning that what you are watching is not a cutscene until you get the button prompt. These promts change depending on which platform you are playing, but since I was playing on my PS2, the prompts were as follows: X, circle, triangle, and square, the same as the buttons on my controller. I did not like this part of the game and have never seen anything like it on any other game that I have played.

Overall, this was a pretty good game. it could have been better, but every game I have ever played could have been better in some respect. Tomb Raider Legend deserves a 4.5 on the strength of its great parts. I would give it a 5, but the action sequences, the odd glow that everyting seemed to be giving off, and the too much straightforwardness of the levels keep me from giving it that honor.

Summary: a much better game than angel of darkness,