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Great game, you'll surely be entertained

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 23, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Im not much of a reviewer like some others are on here but I do take reviewing seriously cause I judge most of my purchases on these. So the best I can tell you with this game from my perspective is you can't go wrong with it. Some people might tell you it has minor flaws, etc. But no dont worry about it. This is a game for all ages, you'll play it and you'll like it. What I like about the game is its scenery. You'll be on mountain tops, in Japan, underground. I really enjoyed this game. I found it to be rather easy and it wasnt so much a long game as others are but theres nothing wrong with that. It will be frustrating as well cause some puzzles will be hard. I had to go online to find out how to get past a couple parts in the game. Im sure you'll have to as well so be aware of that. Unless you want to rack your brain trying to figure it out lol. But this game gives you action, adventure, and puzzles. Lots of fun so go ahead and experience it. Solid addition to your collection at a cheap price.

Legends never die.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 17, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Back in the day, the first Tomb Raider gave was a REALLY big deal. Arguably it was the first of what is now considered a modern adventure game. Instead of cute animals it featured a buxom brunette who shot at animals and people instead of jumping on their heads, and navigated elaborate deathtrap dungeons devoid of any music save in sparse moments. The first game was much lauded for its exploratory fun factor, but the controls were very complex, and based on an awkward digital control system. Still, amazing (for their time) graphics, interesting level design, and a gorgeous hero go a long way. In fact, the protagonist Laura Croft has come to be a symbol of the 32 bit generation of gaming, more so than any other character. Gradually however, the series lost steam as sequel after sequel came out and was progressively less and less fun.

Fast forward to the now. People had almost forgotten what Tomb Raider even is aside from a couple of movies starring Angelina Jolie (but that's another review). When it was announced the Crystal Dynamix was making yet ANOTHER Tomb Raider game, some people feared the worst. But like Prince of Persia, this was not another cheap rip-off. This is the true second coming...

When Prince of Persia Sands of Time came out it pretty much reinvented the wheel in terms of what an adventure game should be, emphasizing easy to pull-off combos, fluid and responsive controls, and levels requiring amazing acrobatics, yet surprisingly almost never frustrating. You could say that Tomb Raider Legend takes these elements, combines them with gunplay, throws in a grappling hook, and integrates some button-press action sequences (where Laura encounters a threat and a flashing button alerts you to press it before something kills her).

The gaming elements aren't perfect. Some puzzles might slow down the action a little (your mileage may vary), the combat sequences are basically just running around and shooting and throwing grenades (hand-to-hand isn't very effective in my opinion), while characters and environments look great, facial detail is a little zombie-looking (I blame the eyelashes), and the whole experience ends rather quickly just as things are starting to get interesting.

On the whole though, this is a game that is definitely worth owning. All cinematics are generated on-the-fly and in general look great, voice acting is adequate (don't really care for Laura's voice all that much this time around), boss battles break up the action nicely, there are multiple difficulty levels, level design keeps you moving forward and rarely stumps you completely (in my experience), and the pacing is excellent. And to me most importantly of all, you are no longer alone exploring the tombs. In the previous games I hated the eerie silence. But now you have two friends Zip and Alistair, who provide commentary as you progress, and throw in some needed comic relief. The only time you won't hear them is when you lose your radio connection (and that means you probably will be hearing some loud music instead), or if you get STUCK on a puzzle. Oh, the music is pretty cool too and really adds to the whole experience feeling more cinematic, and again, less lonely. The story leaves a bit to be desired in some respects and compels in others. The whole King Arthur's Sword aspect I found really cool (especially a level that starts in a silly history museum complete with cheesy voice-overs from the tour and ends up in the real tomb), but just exactly why Laura is obsessed with recovering the sword to the point of killings hundreds of mercenaries and fighting her old friend doesn't really make sense to me somehow (when you are plagued by guilt of someone's death trying to kill them afterwards just doesn't make sense to me).

All in all, this Legend is fast, fluid, and a whole lot of fun. It gives you a lot of interest and excitement for the series as a whole, as we see what new directions it will take and what exciting adventures Laura will take us on next. Definitely worth owning.

Great Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 24, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I first played this game on the computer and enjoyed it very much. I do have to admit the graphics are not as good as a computer game, but the game play control is much esier and smoother. I love the way they changed Lara's graphics and the way she handled. If you love tomb raider games this is one of the best I have played.

A good, fun game, with a few minor flaws

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: October 23, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I last played Tomb Raider (the original) on the PC, so after not seeing the game in over 10 years, this is a quantum leap for me.

This sports really great graphics -- the immense levels (caves, caverns, etc.) are endless and really give you a sense of grandness. The detail is amazing, and the locations are beautiful. At times, though, you get the sense that you're playing a last-gen game, because there are things that look 3-dimensional, and you think you should be able to jump onto a ledge, but it turns out to be 2D without any ability to jump or grab onto things. The cinematic cut-scenes are great, and the voice-acting is excellent. The balance of cut-scenes within the game is great, and helps move the story along. Finish a puzzle, and you get a great cutscene.

Lara moves and responds excactly as she did in the first Tomb Raider, and I was really comfortable jumping back into her role. At times, the controls seems a little sluggish, especially when she needs to wind-up when swinging on bars. Her character animations are excellent, though, and I feel the interface between the controller and what you see on the screen is really smooth. She's an easy character to control, but sometimes lining her up in 3D space on a ledge can be tricky. And there are times when you can't judge how far away she is from something, so expect to die along the way here and there.

The load times are acceptable -- when you first start a level. However, if you die, the entire level loads again, which seems odd and slows your progress. You would expect Lara to respawn immediately, but that doesn't happen. If there is a cut-scene at the reload point, you'll start at the cut-scene, which can be skipped. In essence, it's hard to keep the action moving, especially when you want to get right back in and correct your mistakes. You get stuck waiting for the reload.

The puzzles are the best challenge of the TR series. They are hard enough without being frustrating. However, it does get tedious at times trying to do things over and over again, especially if you get close but then die. Figuring out a puzzle without using a guide is very rewarding, however, and in this game, you really feel like you're doing something...you're in the adventure and playing the role of Lara.

This is more than a shooter -- it's a great story with great controls and great graphics, with just enough puzzling to keep your mind going. There really is nothing like Tomb Raider, and this is a good outing for the 360.

Gorgeous game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: October 16, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I've played almost every Tomb Raider since the first one released a decade ago. That first one was brilliant, but the sequels only reached varying degrees of "good" and "OK." This Tomb Raider, however, reminds me why I fell in love with the game in the first place.

First, the entire game -- and not just Lara -- is beautiful on the X360. The level of detail in the locations is astounding. Second, Lara has a decent selection of gadgets and guns to play with. Everytime someone drops a weapon, she can swap out for it. Unfortunately, she can only carry two kinds of weapons at a time, one of which is always her pistols with the unlimited ammo.

Beyond the graphics and gadgets, though, is the game itself. They finally went back to the heart of Tomb Raider -- the tombs! Instead of blasting bad guys through Venice or dodging mummies in Egypt, this Tomb Raider lets you explore tombs and solve puzzles just like the original. There are plenty of bad guys, sure, but they don't get in the way of just wandering around empty tombs trying to figure out the proper series of switches or levers to activate the centuries-old mechanism protecting the god's idol. This is finally the sequel that should have been made years ago -- just good, fun tomb raiding.

Laras back, but is it a good thing?

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: August 05, 2006
Author: Amazon User

In this edition of Tomb Raider, Lara Croft finds herself traveling & exploring one exotic place to the next in order to piece together her past - and more specifically - what happened to her mother with the help of her two pals Zip & Allister.

Its your basic Tomb Raider game with a lot of jumping, flipping, swinging from ropes, sliding down ramps/hills, grappeling onto objectsand shooting things. You get a few weapons like a shotgun, SMG, assault rifle, grenades & grenade launcher, and the infamous dual handguns with the bottomless clip. Also, there are a bunch of "rewards" hidden throughout the levels and if a lot are collected you unlock new outfits and areas in Lara's Mansion. Oh, thats the other thing - you can run around Lara's Mansion.

Whats good though is that this game places you back into ruins and tombs instead of trying to make Lara some special agent (Angel of Darkness anyone?). So you'll find yourself in areas such as Ghana, Bolivia, Nepal, Lara's homeland of England, and many other areas. Each level looks absolutley beautiful - especially the jungle looking stages. The water effects are magnificent, and the lighting is beautiful. The character models are alright, nothing spectacular with the exception of our main heroine herself.

The music was superb. I can't really explain it.. it was just really good. Each stage has it's own song which fits beautifully with the level's culture and design..sso for instance in Nepal - a really empty & voide of life snow stage - it has gegorian chants which help intensify both the beauty AND the lonlieness of the level. You just have to hear it for yourself. The voice acting was GREAT and there are some really interesting and funny conversations between the characters at points.

So whats Tomb Raider: Legends' downfall? Well for starters its extremley repetitive - you'll be doing pretty much the same thing in every stage. Secondly, its a pretty easy game. Thirdly, its very short; its only 7 missions long come on!, and lastly the gunfights are kind of lackluste r. The guns don't sound powerful, nor are they - I literally had to empty a clip with my assault rifle into a Jaguar before it keeled over - and they ae terribly inaccurate. Thankfully the targetting system is pretty right on.

The ending to this game was interesting to say the least. You wind up at the stone dias after beating Amanda in her beast form. From there you place the ancient sword into the stone, the dias starts up, and you see your mother in a parallel universe doing the exact same thing you are. Amanda awakes and begins screaming to your mother for her to pull the sword out so the dias explodes while Lara tries to silence Amanda. Anyway, the mom pulls the sword out, the dias explodes, and Lara loses a chance to re-unite with her long lost mom.. so in a rage she threatens to kill Amanda at gunpoint. Amanda reveals that Lara's mom is in Avalon, Lara is so heated she begins shooting basically right next to Amanda to freak her out.. then she pistol whips her so hard she KOed Amanda. Then Lara says a great line, "every breath you take from now on is a gift from me.", and proceeds to make arrangements to see if she too can get to Avalon.

To finish it up, Legend is a decent platforming game but really not worth the $50 price tag it carries. It's definitley worth playing, even with it's flaws. I suggest you rent it first.

Good and very fun, but why can't Tomb Raider rock like I know it could?

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: July 31, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I am a huge Tomb Raider fan. I was hooked by the first game, and enjoyed the next few titles. However, with every game on PS and then PS2 this series has been going down the tubes to the ultimate bottom in "The Angel of Darkness." This game (I got the Xbox 360 version) is definitely a step in the right direction. It reminds me of the fun I had with the first game. I solved the game quite easily on the hardest setting, "Tomb Raider," and I didn't find any complicated puzzles that took me a while to decipher. That was disappointing. I loved some of the first games creative puzzles, and I don't think they were quite improved upon with any of the sequels including the newest title. I enjoyed this game, and I hope that Crystal Dynamics does do a remake of the original for the 10th anniversary of the game. I also hope that this series will get back to the days of the first game where I played it over and over and over, because I loved it so much. I can dream...I just don't think it's going to happen...

Not bad, but not great either.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 5
Date: July 26, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The short and sweet of it: Great graphics, very nice looking, but too short. The mini games are silly, the motorcycle also silly. What could have been an awesome game feels under developed and misguided. If you are more than a casual gamer, rent this one, you'll beat it in several hours. I really wanted to like this one, what a shame...

LOOKING FOR HER MOTHER

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: July 14, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Lara Croft the pistol wielding somersault shooting fanboy fantasy is back for a new adventure in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Legend for the XBOX 360 and the result is an enjoyable but at times frustrating game. Lara Croft opens in the jungles of South America at the ruins of an ancient civilization, but the relic Lara is after has another taker, James Rutland, a rich spoiled brat who's used to getting whatever he wants. Lara will find out that the piece connects into a larger picture that involves the long ago disappearance of her mother through a strange Stargate looking portal. Lara will have to travel around the world through many different environments trying to put the puzzle together of what really happened to her mother.

I guess I'll address the positives about the game first, and there are a lot. First, the environments are breathtaking, especially the first level, where you encounter steep cliffs, and real-life beautiful flowing waterfalls. Even when you use the binoculars to zero in on faraway horizons, the picture is crystal clear. No corners were cut in terms of the graphics. You can see around yourself in a 360 degree angle which really makes you feel as if you're really there. Jaw-dropping to say the least. In terms of Lara, her model is juse as sexy as always and the ragdoll effects when she gets hurt are great, and she always moves in a sleek and elegant manner. I don't know, but she seems motion captured. Another thing that reminds me of the old games is the sense of exploration you get from the game, as if you ARE the only one exploring the ruins in the game and are the first human to walk there in centuries. I also liked the fact that the game is not that difficult. It's more for a casual gamer than for someone that ones to memorize every move for hours before they can advance to the next level. I thought the storytelling in the game was a notch above previous incarnations and the fact that she's looking for information about her lost mother really makes it personal.

Now, for what I didn't like about Legend. There are scenes in the game where the game takes a bit to load up because of the Dragon's Lair type mini-games where you have to get through a sequence that requires pushing certain buttons. The problem is that the first couple of times, you die and then you have to wait for the long loading time over and over again. These semi-passive sequences, while exciting to watch, are not that exciting to play. Another aspect of the game that got on my nerves were the "boss" battles. Boss battles just seem out of place in a game like this that works more on atmosphere and feel and should be reserved for Mario Brothers. Especially when you cannot concentrate on fighting your enemy. As the boss is basically slaughtering you, Lara has to be flipping a switch or shooting a jewel or pulling a lever to keep the boss from continually healing themselves. Instead of making it essential to the story, these distractions come off more as a gimmick to make killing the boss more difficult. Which brings up the sorry targeting system of your firearms, which makes it very hard to divide your attention, especially when you have multiple enemies. Any time you have more than one target, it's very hard to select the one you want on the fly. Lara also drives a motorcycle in parts of the game which was enjoyable in some of the earlier Tomb Raiders but here it makes you feel like you're playing an old Atari game. It just doesn't FEEL like you're riding a motorcycle as you pick off the bad guys. And if you try to avoid the villains, then the motorcycle levels just repeat in an infinite loop until you kill them off.

Tomb Raider Legend has a lot going for it. I know that some fans believe that Tomb Raider before this was on its last legs, but I beg to differ. To me, all of the Tomb Raider games were pretty much the same and didn't suffer from a serious decline in terms of quality: Except for Last Revelation which required a lot of backtracking. So to me, the only difference here in Legend is the improvement in graphics. Most of the positives and negatives of the old games are still here, including a camera that even with improved control is still a little limited. It just looks better. So don't buy this game thinking you'll see a Tomb Raider you've never seen. Why does a game have to continue to "improve" anyway and what does improve really mean? If it's only as good as the last game, which was great, why change things? As far as length, Yes, if you sit for hours a day for several days, it won't take you long to finish Legend, but I'm more casual and just played a little each day and it took me about a month. The game is meant to run on HDTV 480p/720p. There were some small framerate problems running it on 1080i, but hardly noticeable except in the beginning level where you had the highest graphic content.

On the right track....

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: July 09, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Having played the original Tomb Raider when I was about 9 and loving it (but hating almost all the rest) I was very excited when I purchased this game. I missed the old Lara and the tombs...after all it is TOMB raider so why in "Angle of Darkness" etc. was there not a single TOMB???

This game lived up to my expectations....except for a few things:

1. The combat is not fun, it does not feel real at all and you fight more humans than you do anything else. They should have things like Tigers and snakes in Tombs not machine gun weilding men!

2. The "Croft Manor" portion of the game was not as fun as I remember it being in the original. In the original there where MANY more rooms AND an outside. In this game there are only a few room's that you cant do anything in at all except get Lara's guns and things (not like she need's them for praticing, you basically just run around and stare at the wall and your butler who never moves nor talks). I loved being able to go into the kitchen in the original game and have the butler (who always followed you) go into the frezzer and then lock him in there.

3. I dislike the "push this button right now or die" cutscene's they are not fun and you end up missing the cool things Lara does after you push the button because your paying to much attention waiting for the next one.

4. This game is WAAAAY to short. I hardly ever beat game's because they are to long but I beat this one in about 2 day's (not as bad as the game "Deamon Stone" though, beat that in one day...never buy that game).

Other than those thing's this game is great, but I would reccomend renting it before you buy it...because chances are you'll beat it before you have to take it back to the store anyway, no point in spending $[...] to own it when you can pay $[...]and just beat it.

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