Tomb Raider: Legend (PC DVD)

Wow it's been so long ago yet this game is still great plus comparing with the infamous Angel of Darkness pure magic! I do not remember having any issues with the DVD itself, etc. Totally recommend it if (for some strange reason) you had not played it before!

I was captivated by the original Tomb Raider game when it came out. It has been a disappointment to me that none of the sequels have recaptured the magic of the original.

This is the closest approach yet, but still has a way to go. On the plus side, returning to the original emphasis on puzzling rather than combat is very welcome. Combat is still there, but not as prevalent as some earlier games.

As other reviewers have mentioned, with all the graphics 'knobs' turned up to maximum, the game is truly beautiful at times, and runs smoothly on my ATI X1900XT / Intel Core 2 Duo rig. One or two of the levels had me gasping as Lara dangled on a rope over some very dizzy heights (my favourite level in the first game was St. Francis' Folly).

Having said all that, this is also, at times, one of the most frustrating games I've played. The most annoying elements are:

1. The 'relative' controls. As others have mentioned, the direction that the forward key takes you changes depending on your view. This caused me numerous falls into deep chasms when it shouldn't have. On the plus side, this does make certain tasks (like moving boxes around) much more fluid than in previous games.

2. An inability to tell Lara to put her guns away. Several times in the boss battles you have to use the grapple, but you can't if Lara's got her shooters (I said shooters) out. And she won't put them away if an enemy's about. You just have to keep going over the same bit (after dying) until she finally does what you want. In the original, you could make her put her guns away. Why we can't do this in the current game I just don't understand.

3. A sometimes very annoying camera, which can restrict your view just as you're lining up for a jump over a huge drop, requiring a leap of faith on your part. This is worse during the frankly unnecessary and poor vehicle based sections. Sometimes you end up not being able to see where you're going and run straight into an obstacle. I found myself shouting rude words at the screen on more than one occasion.

4. Why, or why, oh why, do the bosses repeat the same annoying phrases over and over again during your battles with them? It seems like once very five seconds they say the same phrase with the same intonation. After you've just died for the tenth time in the same battle with the same boss repeating the same phrase over and over you're just about ready to hit somebody. And they say video games don't encourage violence?

As you can see, the negative points mostly centre around the controls. To my mind, the keyboard-based control system of the original game was damn-near perfect. Why they've insisted on changing those key binding in just about every successive game is beyond me. At times, you wonder if anybody play tested parts of the game. Which is strange, as in general it's much more polished and better presented than previous Tomb Raider games.

If they could take this game with its plus points: nice graphics, decent plot, mostly excellent voice acting (the choice of Keeley Hawes as Lara is inspired) and combine it with the controls and camera of the original game (plus lose the vehicle-based sections which have always been poor), you'd have a very, very good game of a calibre approaching that of Half-Life 2, in my opinion.

The game is quite short and the plot is obviously intended to continue in a sequel. I live in hope that the issues listed above will be fixed in that, but I will buy (and enjoy) the sequel anyway.

What I've written above seems very negative and may put you off. My advice is, if you liked any of the previous Tomb Raider games then you'll like this. Buy it and play it, but be prepared for some frustration along the way.

Tomb Raider Legend has been completely changed from the Tomb Raiders before it. No longer is there any of the big long puzzles that would keep you awake at night trying to figure out how to do them. The bosses at the end of levels are more like arcade games where you are stuck in a circle and there is no running away into the corners anymore to get away. All the action sequences where you are not just running around have been gotten rid to be replaced by a sequence of video's where you have to press in the correct direction to go that way so it makes alot more boring. You just have to get it wrong try again and memorise the correct movments and then you get through easily.

The selections of weapons at your desposil has been decreased meaning that you can no longer carry around several sets of handguns and a few bigger guns all the same time.

People who like the games up until the Last reverlation, will be displeased with this game. It is far too linear since there is only one obvious direction to go in.

Thankyou for reading.

I got this game about 2 weeks ago and I've already completed it. I'm not a big gamer but I love the tomb raider series. For me this is one of, if not the best one yet. It took me several days to work out how to play it. I thought the controls were really infuriating until I realised that I was using them incorrectly. Left hand around ASDF area, right hand mouse -- love the new mouse camera thing (don't know if AOD had that as I have that only on my PS2). The only reason I haven't given this 5 stars is that the controls work with the camera, not with Lara (eg. if we see Lara's right-hand side, right is forward and forward is left etc.). This is a little annoying but once you accept that that's the way it is, you soon get used to it. The best thing about this game is the scenery and the game content. At last we are back in tombs solving puzzles! No more rubbish Parisian ghettos and dark cities etc. The game is a bit simpler in structure and narrative than the last few which is also a welcome change. Although many people can't see past the control problem, I think this game has really hit the nail on the head of what tomb raider does best.