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Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend
XBox 360 Review
If you're the type who loves storylines,
Tomb Raider: Legend should be one of those games you'll keep near your
system, ready to play for a while. With numerous cut-scenes, the player
gets to see a chunk of Lara's childhood. From surviving a plane crash
with her mother to finding something that obviously shouldn't have been
found, this game fully immerses players into Lara's world with clarity.
In older games, Croft Manor was a place
that had many areas to visit at the player's leisure, and a lot of
roaming room. In Legend, certain levels have to be completed to unlock
rooms and such at the Manor. Doing this gives players something to
strive for, to unlock secrets of the mansion.
The game itself starts off in Bolivia, and it's sort of like the
"tutorial level." In the beginning, the player learns the controls, and
gets a little taste of what kinds of things to expect in different
areas: Multiple ledges on various levels in a certain location, what
kinds of animals are around, and the "press this button now! Aaand THIS
button! Now. this button!" sequences. If one is caught off-guard a lot
and it doesn't connect on what the heck to do, expect Lara to meet her
doom quite often. There are certain trap sequences throughout the game
when a button will show up on the screen, indicating that the button
must be pressed at that certain time. This may take a while to get used
to, especially if one mixes up the buttons all the time.
Well, now that the general information is out of the way on what the
game is all about let's talk a bit more about the over all game itself.
Including the interface. The menu controls are pretty simple and run of
the mill. Nothing here will confuse anyone unless you have never played
a consol game before at all.
The in game menu can be accessed during game play by pushing the start
button. Simple lists such as new game, load a game and replay level are
all here as expected. Then of course for those that like to explore the
Croft Manor house you can go here to by way of the main menu. Areas of
the manor are unlocked only as you progress in the game.
Lara Croft really kicks some butt in this games go round. So much so that
even for me the level of difficult is a welcome thing. Difficulty levels
include Explorer (Easy) Adventurer (medium) and of course tomb Raider
(Hard).
During game play, Lara will meet her demise often, even on the easy
setting so you will be reloading a bit through out the adventure. Every
game level has checkpoints; it's the checkpoints that load. Sorry folks
there are no save any place. When reloading a game, Lara always starts
at a recently saved checkpoint.
The games controls make use of every button and stick on the Xbox 360
controller, it is advised to read the manual and take full advantage of
the tutorial level. I know, we have said this before for a few other
games. It seems as if this would be common sense, but I too am guilty of
just jumping in and seeing what the buttons do in the middle of the game
without even giving the tutorial a first look. In Lara Croft Tomb Raider
Legend you will be glad to go through the tutorial. It makes the crazy
action that comes later a bit easier to handle and also to survive.
Playing a game title that the character harkens back as maybe half as
old as I am, is really kind of strange. But the character seems just as
popular as ever. I think that Angelina Jolie's depiction of the
character in the two Tomb Raider films sky rocketed the characters over
all appeal to the masses. The games after the movies just.well kind of
sucked. It's a real pleasure to see the series come out with a bang up
game that may well rocket Lara Croft back up to the level of game play
and visuals that it deserves. Lara Croft Tomb Raider Legend wraps up
some incredible visuals with an interesting story, lots of combat and of
course acrobatics and puzzles, top it off with some awesome sound and
you have real winner of a game.
Lara Croft Tomb Raider Legend is the pinnacle of the series; it's going
to be a hard act to follow up on. I look forward to Eidos and Crystal
Dynamics trying. This time around the character Lara Croft has even more
personality; she has a past that has helped forge the person she is. The
games story line enables the players to get a glimpse into what has
shaped the kind of person Lara Croft is today. Even better and big
thumbs up to the design team and story creators, you actually find
yourself caring about the character. Not an easy task in a game.
Moving the character around seems a lot smoother than past games. I used
to get really frustrated when I could not get Lara to move the way I
needed her to and then fall to her death or what have you. This time
around the movement and the controls are very smooth and manageable.
The games third person perspective works well here, making combat really
rather fun. All animations are a real bit of eye candy in this game. It
makes all the exploring and testing out what Lara Croft can do a real
fun experience. Lara Croft Tomb Raider Legend is a top notch game and a
real welcome breath of fresh fun for most of the gaming platforms. For
the Xbox 360 the visuals are incredibly crisp and just down right jaw
dropping.
Say it with me fellow girl gamers, and all you Lara Croft Fans. Lara
Croft is back and all is good.
Kick back, relax, let's play.
Shael Millheim |
