She's hotter than ever, but can the sultry Lara Croft get back in the good graces of the globe's gamers?
Who said the more attractive you are, the easier life is? Lara Croft has become the whipping girl for the video game industry over the past few years -- and not in the leather and lace sort of way, either. Eidos went overboard in terms of PlayStation sequel frequency, and PS2's Angel of Darkness was an absolute abomination best forgotten altogether. Lara was experiencing breakdown of Anna Nicole Smith proportions, which anyone would struggle to overcome.
Funny thing is, she actually comes roaring back to life in Tomb Raider: Legend. With the jump to Xbox 360, Lady Croft feels right at home in a more beautiful world with better control and the same brain-twisting puzzles and level designs that made you drool over the series in the first place. Oh, and she's still smokin' hot.
The series returns to what made it such a big hit in the late '90s, while adopting some of the better game design philosophies that have surfaced since. As a result, Tomb Raider: Legend will appeal to most anyone with a taste for adventuring. The massive rooms with ledges and poles have returned, but the geometrically remedial way Lara used to navigate them has not. Now, there's a much more free, analogous vibe to everything -- which makes exploring that much more satisfying. You'll thrill to each new area and challenged placed in front of you, as Lara scales unbelievable heights and battles impossible odds.
You don't have to as meticulously set up your jumps or push blocks into place anymore. The puzzles have advanced to include physics, but still have the right amount of challenge to them. Lara moves faster and smoother, and you can speed up things like shimmying or swimming when need be. She's basically leaner and meaner. A grapple wire gives you yet another gadget to play with, and rest assured that it's used often.
The old twin pistols and their unlimited ammo return, and the lock-on targeting is near where you'd hope it would be (it's sometimes tough to switch targets mid-firefight). The helpfulness of manual targeting is negated a bit by the fact that you remain still while using it. Lara's added some up-close attacks to her arsenal; things like leaping off of shoulders or kicking foes. Overall, combat is better, though not as deep as some titles.
Dragon's Lair-style interactive cutscenes are excuses for Lara to earn more cool points doing things that are basically physically impossible. How else could she keep up with protagonists like Kratos and Dante? Riding a motorcycle isn't as effective at doing this, due to some rather weak driving mechanics; it's not horrible, but is one of the weaker portions of Tomb Raider: Legend.
As a nice throwback, you can once again explore Lara's manor. Instead of the tutorial level it once was, it's a clever little exploratory section filled with secret pick-ups and a few roommates. The only bummer is you can't lock your butler in the freezer, a la Tomb Raider II.
Tomb Raider: Legend is most definitely a pretty game, using the 360's muscle to display some breathtaking scenery. These are the types of environments we've always dreamt of exploring with Lara Croft -- with lighting and shaders running rampant -- and it's even better that she's better at what she does now. It is a little surprising that Lara's character model isn't more stunning, however. She looks good, but lacks some of the detail we've seen in other games like Dead or Alive 4, and her famous chest is pretty understated. The lady does look right at home in the real-time cutscenes, though, so there isn't much reason to complain -- unless you're that much of a pervert.
It bears noting that this game may be the shortest in the entire Tomb Raider series. While we didn't expect an 18-level epic, you can complete the whole thing in around eight hours. This is both good and bad. More people will actually finish the game this way -- and you'll definitely want to -- and it's the first TR that leaves the audience wanting more rather than stuffing them to the gills. On the negative tip, when you're spending $60, you want to feel like you got your money's worth. Sadly, some gamers may feel a little gypped. Everyone will welcome the save-anywhere feature and the abundance of checkpoints, though the load times after you die can be a buzzkill.
During its prime, Tomb Raider was in a class by itself. Nowadays, the action/adventure genre is jam packed with great titles. In an ironic twist, Prince of Persia -- which was originally very influential on Tomb Raider -- returned to reclaim the exploring/platforming crown. God of War may rely more on combat, but it too must be considered in the same vein. These are widely considered some of the best games in recent years, and provide some stiff competition for a series on the rebound.
As we all know, Tomb Raider is a gaming legend. Tomb Raider: Legend is easily its finest iteration in almost a decade. It puts up a fight against the genre's best, but remains faithful to the reasons it was so huge back in the day. The story will even keep you intrigued. That's really all that you can ask for, so why not give Lara Croft another chance? You may fall in love with her all over again.
By: Justin Leeper
Funny thing is, she actually comes roaring back to life in Tomb Raider: Legend. With the jump to Xbox 360, Lady Croft feels right at home in a more beautiful world with better control and the same brain-twisting puzzles and level designs that made you drool over the series in the first place. Oh, and she's still smokin' hot.
The series returns to what made it such a big hit in the late '90s, while adopting some of the better game design philosophies that have surfaced since. As a result, Tomb Raider: Legend will appeal to most anyone with a taste for adventuring. The massive rooms with ledges and poles have returned, but the geometrically remedial way Lara used to navigate them has not. Now, there's a much more free, analogous vibe to everything -- which makes exploring that much more satisfying. You'll thrill to each new area and challenged placed in front of you, as Lara scales unbelievable heights and battles impossible odds.
You don't have to as meticulously set up your jumps or push blocks into place anymore. The puzzles have advanced to include physics, but still have the right amount of challenge to them. Lara moves faster and smoother, and you can speed up things like shimmying or swimming when need be. She's basically leaner and meaner. A grapple wire gives you yet another gadget to play with, and rest assured that it's used often.
The old twin pistols and their unlimited ammo return, and the lock-on targeting is near where you'd hope it would be (it's sometimes tough to switch targets mid-firefight). The helpfulness of manual targeting is negated a bit by the fact that you remain still while using it. Lara's added some up-close attacks to her arsenal; things like leaping off of shoulders or kicking foes. Overall, combat is better, though not as deep as some titles.
Dragon's Lair-style interactive cutscenes are excuses for Lara to earn more cool points doing things that are basically physically impossible. How else could she keep up with protagonists like Kratos and Dante? Riding a motorcycle isn't as effective at doing this, due to some rather weak driving mechanics; it's not horrible, but is one of the weaker portions of Tomb Raider: Legend.
As a nice throwback, you can once again explore Lara's manor. Instead of the tutorial level it once was, it's a clever little exploratory section filled with secret pick-ups and a few roommates. The only bummer is you can't lock your butler in the freezer, a la Tomb Raider II.
Tomb Raider: Legend is most definitely a pretty game, using the 360's muscle to display some breathtaking scenery. These are the types of environments we've always dreamt of exploring with Lara Croft -- with lighting and shaders running rampant -- and it's even better that she's better at what she does now. It is a little surprising that Lara's character model isn't more stunning, however. She looks good, but lacks some of the detail we've seen in other games like Dead or Alive 4, and her famous chest is pretty understated. The lady does look right at home in the real-time cutscenes, though, so there isn't much reason to complain -- unless you're that much of a pervert.
It bears noting that this game may be the shortest in the entire Tomb Raider series. While we didn't expect an 18-level epic, you can complete the whole thing in around eight hours. This is both good and bad. More people will actually finish the game this way -- and you'll definitely want to -- and it's the first TR that leaves the audience wanting more rather than stuffing them to the gills. On the negative tip, when you're spending $60, you want to feel like you got your money's worth. Sadly, some gamers may feel a little gypped. Everyone will welcome the save-anywhere feature and the abundance of checkpoints, though the load times after you die can be a buzzkill.
During its prime, Tomb Raider was in a class by itself. Nowadays, the action/adventure genre is jam packed with great titles. In an ironic twist, Prince of Persia -- which was originally very influential on Tomb Raider -- returned to reclaim the exploring/platforming crown. God of War may rely more on combat, but it too must be considered in the same vein. These are widely considered some of the best games in recent years, and provide some stiff competition for a series on the rebound.
As we all know, Tomb Raider is a gaming legend. Tomb Raider: Legend is easily its finest iteration in almost a decade. It puts up a fight against the genre's best, but remains faithful to the reasons it was so huge back in the day. The story will even keep you intrigued. That's really all that you can ask for, so why not give Lara Croft another chance? You may fall in love with her all over again.
By: Justin Leeper
posted by Javier at 12:38 PM
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