Review: Tomb Raider: Legend (X360)

I have never been a fan of the Tomb Raider games. I have always found the controls to be poor and gameplay a bit stop and start: shoot stuff then wander around for ages, then shoot stuff,...and so on.

I am a fan of platform and adventure games, particular the high quality titles published by Nintendo (Zelda etc.). The greatest complement I can pay Tomb Raider: Legend is that it has taken the basic "dungeon" crawl elements of "Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" and remastered them in a slick, contemporary and iconic package. The core gamplay remains the same as previous Tomb Raider games. You navigate a series of "tombs" filled with puzzles, traps and bad guys in order to resolve the story. Lara has her "incredible" acrobatic abilities that enable her to swing, climb, roll and leap her way through each area or room within each level. Previous Tomb Raider games had dreadful controls and camera issues, partly due to the poor Playstation controller. Crystal Dynamics, the new development team, have done a fantastic job at re-engineering the game engine to make Lara's controls and moves both slick and silky smooth. There are still the occasional camera issues but, on the whole, the gameplay and controls are extremely well done. There are a couple of vehicle based missions on a motorbike which break up the main action. These are more like a 2D shoot-em-ups with you shooting mercs on bikes and cars, whilst dodging rocks and collecting power-ups (health packs). These driving missions do feel a bit tacked on but are fun never-the-less.

Combat has been improved and the "bullet time" effect is just brilliant when used in combination with Lara's acrobatics. The Combat is also nicely balanced so that it doesn't feel like it is unnecessary or over the top. Lara's guns can be controlled with a lock-on auto aim -which works fine- but also in a pseudo 1st person view as well. Switching views can sometimes be tricky but it doesn't effect the game too much.

The blend of puzzles and exploration is good with hidden rewards strategically placed to increase the puzzle depth and replay value. Most of the puzzles are easy to resolve, although I did find two of them quite cryptic; particularly the "Bell". Solving the puzzles always leaves you with a sense of satisfaction.

The graphics on the '360 look great. I have read some criticism of them not looking next-gen enough, but the use of textures, water effects, dust and smoke are excellent. The draw depth and quality of the textures is also worthy of merit, as is the Lara character model which features some neat animations.

The sound effects are good, and what you would expect. The music is exceptionally good with some catchy "Bond-style" tunes, a good end credits song and some atmospheric background music on each of the levels.

If there is a criticism, and it's of the genre rather than the game, the plot is a bit weak. The basic premise is nice, the the excuses to visit each of the international locations is never really explained. It is a bit like the classic Roger Moore Bond films: he would visit the exotic locations, but the reasons are never really known.

The game offers some nice bonuses for collecting rewards or completing the additional time trials. These include clothing and gun upgrades as well as special features. The XBL achievements are nicely balanced and you should be able to unlock a good 500 just playing through the game once.

Overall this is a highly polished and enjoyable adventure game. If you have never tried Tomb Raider before or, like me, had never liked the previous games you'll find a lot of fun and entertainment here. If you are already a Lara fan, you'll love it!

Forget it's a Tomb Raider game. This is a cracking adventure game with solid production values.

9/10