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An awesome game, supported by an talented voice cast!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 29 / 36
Date: April 11, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I was lucky to experience this game a few days early, and I have to say I have not had this much fun in a long time.

Tomb Raider is back, with a vengeance. Forget the used Tomb Raider Chronicles, forget the botched Angel of Darkness. What Crystal Dynamics is giving us here is a completely rethought franchise.

Depending on the quality of your hardware, you'll either be amazed by the graphics, or completely bedazzled. Tomb Raider now actually looks good, and not just the lush curves (and expressive face) of its archaeologist heroine. The environments are masterfully crafted, and (thanks to an game engine completely rewritten since the past episodes) manage to successfully break from the cube-geometry we've all been used to.

But, but, but-Tomb Raider doesn't only *look* good, it also sounds wicked!! I would never have imagined how big a difference the audio voice-over makes. Indeed, Keeley Hawes is excellent (*excellent*!! "I haven't the foggiest."), and gives Lara some added depth and class. I promise you'll come to love the witty banter exchanged by Lara and her faithful geek team.

The obvious aim of the designers was to make this feel as much as a movie as possible-hence the "action sequences", sort of interactive cinematics. While I have to confess they do not always succeed (and, having to play through the same, at the beginning of a checkpoint "interactive cinematic" over and over, is maddening!!), they are none-the-less a commendable attempt to diversify the action. On the other hand, the vehicle sequences were always fun (if sometimes a bit long), and the race behind the Russian built train in Kazakhstan was a memorable one.

Now, as for the controls, they are exceptionally fluid-think Prince of Persia-, and make controlling Lara one of the most exhilarating experiences. Even though sometimes I cursed the complexity of them (in one boss, you have to shoot, then put your gun away, then throw the hook, then the pull-this is not particularly easy, and I was swore quite distinctly under my breath before I finally got a hang of it). While frustratingly, the camera on occasion has a mind of its own, I think you'll find this to be, at the worst of times, not much more than a nuisance (it does a great job the rest of the time). The grapple hook is reminiscent of Indy's whip, and adds an extra element that was much needed to make the puzzles interesting.

The weapons though, are a bit disappointing. Well not disappointing, because I was completely happy using Lara's trademark dual guns. They have unlimited ammo, and are so efficient that there is never really a need to use anything else. The grenades, I found, were particularly useless. (But to be honest, I *never* have any luck with grenades, ever.)

The plot and locations. Well, as I said above, this game is like a movie. Never a dull moment, and the plot motivates you to go along (you'll play the game as much to see what happens, than to shoot down bad guys). Supernatural is very efficiently mixed with real-life myths, ? la Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (in which the designers blended several versions of the myth of the Lost City to produce their own interpretation), to create a believable (well, at the very least, not so far-fetched as most) story.

You begin your journey in Bolivia. This is the tutorial level, that eases you into the game. Then you go to Peru. Peru is good old fashioned tomb-a real tomb, in which you do some digging to discover a friend you thought was dead, actually isn't either (isn't a friend, and isn't dead). You then discover elements that point you to a mafia boss in Japan. Japan in one of the most fun levels, I found, because how often to you get to swing (and occasionally motoride) through the skyscrapers of Tokyo?! (That, and Lara's outfit is pretty smooth!)

Then you go to Ghana in West Africa, in a tomb that is mostly a big giant puzzle (well, it's much more fun than that). The puzzles in this game, by the way, is not the old trademark "Push a bunch of cubes around until you feel like jumping out the window." The puzzles here are actually interesting, never illogical, and never impossible to figure out. In doubt, you can always use the R.A.D. mode of your binoculars to discern what you'll have to move, what you'll to shoot, etc. After Ghana, there's that Kazakhstan level that I *really* enjoyed (I'm a sucker for Soviet experiments awry) ... and then England (in an odd King Arthur museum), Nepal and Bolivia again for the final confrontation. The ending practically announces the next installment! (and yes, perhaps the game is a bit on the short side.)

I have to confess I've never been as much a Tomb Raider fan as I am now. This is one of the most enjoyable and gripping games I've played in the past two years, and I highly recommend to all action game fans (regardless of whether they've enjoyed the previous instalments).

[PS: the disk space requirements for this PC version are unheard of, but well worth it--I promise.]

Fun gameplay, but far too short for its price

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 39 / 45
Date: April 15, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Lara is certainly back in top shape in this newest game. Tomb Raider: Legend may be the best in the series outside the original game, returning the focus to exploration and puzzle-solving, although there is certainly some gunplay. But it's far too short, with a story that literally ends midway without resolving major plot elements, leaving you feeling a little cheated once it's all over.

First the positives: The graphics are gorgeous even without the next generation content turned on -- the tombs themselves are very well realized -- and the game will run well even for those of us that lack a supercomputer. The voice acting is terrific, and the story is involving. The gameplay also is top notch, relying less on quick reflexes than on brains, with smart level design.

But there are several negatives that detract from the game. The levels are short and not nearly as large as in some of the other TR titles. You'll find yourself often saying "That's it?" The game itself can easily be beaten in two or three quiet evenings, even at normal difficulty, with not much replay value after that. The controls are clumsy, lacking the fluidity and responsiveness of the Prince of Persia games. Many times you know what you want to do, but can't do it because Lara won't respond the way you want her too. The bosses are unimaginative -- with the exception of one encountered outside a medieval castle -- and there are too many of them. And, in what may be the worst sin of all, the story ends without any sort of resolution to the mysteries it raises. Legend is obviously meant to be the first chapter in a larger story, like the first Lord of the Rings film, but when you've invested so much time (and money) in a game title, you're entitled to a well-rounded story experience.

The plus for PC owners is that Legend is cheaper than its console counterparts at $40, although $30 would be more reasonable given how short it is. If you own a console, this is a renter. Too bad the company didn't spend a little more time investing in a longer gaming experience - I suspect poor sales will finally spell the doom of Lara Croft, which is a pity.

Beautiful graphics, but...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 6 / 18
Date: April 16, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I was at first very impressed with the great graphics, and the interaction with the beautiful scenery.

But the main problem with this game is the 3rd person camera view. You are stuck with it. After an hour of playing I got tired of the unreliable camera angles. So many times, you try to make your character (Lora) make certain smart moves, only to wind up with the dumb camera engine deciding that it is best for to view a close-up of Lora's hair. I only wish that was a joke. Other times, it is ok, but only because I'm a guy. For example, I'll figure out a puzzle then almost complete it when the dumb camera engine decides that it is best to view a close-up of Lora's [...]. Yeah, it's a nice one, but it ruins the flow of the game.

I hope next time they give a first person camera engine to this game.

BY THE WAY: WHAT IS THE DEAL WITH HALF OF THESE REVIEWS THAT GIVE THIS GAME 5 STARS?? THEY SOUND LIKE THEY ARE JUST PROMOTIONS FROM THE COMPANY THAT MADE THE GAME. IF YOU WORK FOR, OR HAVE A VESTED INTEREST IN THE COMPANY THAT MADE THIS GAME, THAT IS ONE THING. BUT IF YOU ARE TYPING IN AN ADVERTISING SALES PITCH IN YOUR REVIEW, CUT THAT OUT. The graphics in this game are great, but the game play is just average... or below average. The camera angles are so random that it ruins what would otherwise be a great game. Oh, that, and the AI of the enemies that just stand there while you shoot at them. The AI is also way below average.

TERRIBLE game!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 5 / 15
Date: April 25, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I am a fan of the TR series, but this game is absolutely HORRIBLE!! The controls are terrible, and you spend alot of time looking at the back of her ponytail! You cannot adjust the camera angles and the controls are VERY sluggish and I have a Bad-A machine with the latest hardware. The puzzles are almost impossible to solve unless your timing is A-1 PERFECT!!! Once you pass the introductory level, the game is short and is over before you know it. If you must buy this game, wait awhile until it goes on sale, unless you just have money to waste! EDIOS needs to get it's act together if they have a sequel because it can't get much worse!

Awesome but...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: April 25, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This isn't going to be a long essay of a review because let's be honest, who has time to read 5 paragraphs worth of stuff? This is a great game, but my biggest problem with it is that it's too short. The rest of the Tomb Raider games all had somewhere between 15-20 levels. And this one has...8? That's it? BUT they are very good levels that require a bit more thinking than the last few games, although AOD had some good thinky stuff too.

And my last gripe is for all of you who can't pronounce a name properly...It's LARA Croft. NOT Lora, NOT Luara, but L-A-R-A. It's phonetic. Read what you see. Ok, that's it for me.

A Return to Form That's Great While it Lasts

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 32 / 36
Date: April 26, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I have been a Tomb Raider fan since the beginning. I fell in love with Ms. Croft the second she unsheathed those dual pistols, just as many other gamers did back in 1996, and followed her to her ungainly demise. After Tomb Raider III, I sat back and lamented the fall in quality, silently hoping Eidos would either just kill the series altogether or find a way to make it work.

Tomb Raider: Legend (the seventh iteration) finds itself in the hands of Crystal Dynamics. Thank god for them, too; they take what was great about the original and revamp it into a good, if not necessarily brilliant, game.

We gain more backstory for Lady Croft in this game than we have in the past. When she was a small girl she and her mother suffered a plane crash in the Nepal. While trying to reach safety, they come accross an artifact that whisks Lara's mom into some strange portal, never to be seen again. It's not consistent with the previous games, but given their lack of interest in a cohesive storyline, that's not a bad thing.

The voice acting is usually quite good, especially on the part of Ms. Croft. To her benefit ( or detriment, depending on your personal prefference), she is alwasy in contact via an earpiece/camera with her comrades back home, so there is always dialogue being delivered. It helps to keep the mood light, and the writing can be funny at times, but it sometimes comes off as corny. Based on various reviews, it's bound to be a love-it-or-hate-it kind of device. Personally, I think it helped flesh out Lara as a character (let's face it; irregardless of her physical form, we don't know much about her, really), but I understand why others might not have.

The graphics are all very good, sometimes bordering on gorgeous. The PC version may look either the best or the worst, depending on your system. For me, it looked great, but on lower-end systems, it might look like a first generation PS2 game. There were slowdowns at times, but nothing that broke up the gameplay.

Thankfully, gameplay can really be a lot of fun. Thanks to the new physics engine, what might have been a typical "insert key in slot A, after backtracking through three levels, then move X number of boxes onto switches" kind of game, the environmental puzzles are much more interesting. The game borrows very heavily from the Prince of Persia games in terms of control and platforming, which is a great thing. Controlling Lara no longer feels like driving a tank, and the mouse-and-keyboard combination is standard. It's not all that original, and Lara isn't as capable a gymnast as the Prince, but it's certainly a step in the right direction.

The downside to gameplay are the now legendary god-awful motorcycle levels. There are only two of them, thank god, but they are absolutely terrible. The graphics get a major downgrade, control is wonky, and they are much too long for their own good. They aren't enough to make you stop playing, but they should have been omitted. Clearly Crystal Dynamics were sold on their "hot chick on a bike" stereotype. The gunplay needs work, too. While it's certainly an improvement on the original's, it's very easy. There is a nifty bullet-time effect you can activate, but it gets old after the 80th enemy you kill using it.

The game is also over far too soon. If it were about ten hours longer than it is, I would have given the fun factor a five, but as is, it simply isn't long enough. It only took me five and a half hours to complete the first time through, although other reviewers have quoted even double that time. Perhaps it's because I'm a Tomb Raider veteran (as well as Prince of Persia veteran), but I simply couldn't imagine it taking anybody, even on the hardest difficulty level, ten hours to complete. The Croft Mansion makes a return, too (with the design of the movie's mansion, rather than the original one we're all so used to), and it is a lot of fun to search through. It might not take too terribly long, either, to discover all the secrets, but it's a nice distraction.

I also get the feeling that this is a test for Eidos to see whether or not to greenlight development on a sequel. The story ends on a cliffhanger, and as a whole it feels episodic. I wouldn't mind seeing a sequel, though, as long as those darned bike levels were removed. At last a Lara Croft game worth its wait in cardboard!

Pros:
Great graphics
Fun gameplay
Better storyline than in the past
Great return to form

Cons:
Terrible motorcycle levels
Far too short
No incentive to replay
Gunplay is weak

Hopefully the next Lara game (we all know there will be one) will utilize the great things this game does, and improve on its weaknesses.

PC controls ruined the whole game.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 13
Date: April 28, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I really think that new PC controls are really a bad idea and I hope Eidos comes up with a patch that can restore to traditional controls. It is important to remember that controlling camera angles using a mouse only works for some games but for TRs.

Pretty darn pathetic

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 10
Date: April 29, 2006
Author: Amazon User

JeSUS! Who designed the control system for this game? Anybody?

It looks pretty, I'm sure it's even interesting, but you find yourself repeating parts over and over and OVER again so often because the control system is so cock-eyed that it sucks any fun out of it that you might have been having!

And the camera sticks to the reverse angle so many times that you have no idea where you're running to! Congratulations Eidos, you've created the first Second Person shooter! Experience everything from the point of view of the target!

DANG! .....was it that bad for some of you

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 11
Date: May 01, 2006
Author: Amazon User

My problem with it is that its short and she runs too slow and a few littl minor stuff but nothing really to coomplain about...

I like that strategy, puzzles (didn't really find them puzzling) riding the bike and others things...

At the end of the day i enjoy myself, they didn't do a bad job they did an OK job know won't know what you think of they game until you play it

Tomb Raider Convert

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: May 01, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I have to say that I've never played the first Tomb Raider games, or any of the sequels, save for this one. And after playing Legend - I've become a Lara Croft addict.

I'll admit that the game is short - but I don't really have any issues with that. For those of you who like a little variety in their gaming experiences, then this is good fun. The puzzles are interesting, and once you've got the hang of one, you ought to catch on to the rest.

One thing that did amaze me is the fluidity of Lara's movements. I've played a couple games where jumping from one place to another becomes an issue when it shouldn't be - you're not going to have that problem here. You will, however, take a short while to become accustomed to the camera angle (I'm assuming this is only in the PC version), which requires the movement of the mouse to manipulate. The first level where Lara explores a temple in Bolivia allows you to familiarize yourself with her movements. There are instructions that pop up during gameplay, helping you to get from one location to another.

Lara comes equipped with a PLS (personal light source), 2 standard handguns, binoculars (which can be turned on to RAD mode, in which you can view which objects can be moved, are flammable, are part of a mechanism to a puzzle or are fragile) and health packs (she can only carry 3 - max). When you kill enemies, you have the option of getting a better weapon in addition to your 2 handguns. You can also carry a maximum of 4 grenades.

The graphics are terrific. Installation of the game takes up a lot of memory (even more than SIMS 2!), so be sure you have enough space on your hard drive. The disk space use-up is justified, though. They have paid a lot of attention to detail in each level.

The two things that seriously annoy me is that you can only save at certain "checkpoints" and cannot skip previously viewed cutscenes. When playing the game and advancing to different locations, a pop-up appears indicating that you've reached a checkpoint. That way, if you die, you won't have to replay that level from the beginning. It's all well and good, but you cannot save BETWEEN checkpoints. Due to this reason, I cannot find a way to skip cutscenes I've already seen. E.g. Lara meets with a bad guy, they chat, bad guy gets mad and they fight. If Lara dies, you resume the game while playing through the scenario over again.

To sum up, if you're a flexible gamer who likes variety and a little challenge (play this game using the HARD difficulty level!), then go for it. If you're the kind of person who's into more of a specific kind of experience, stick to your thing.

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