Graphics
The graphics in the game are truly amazing and in places nothing
short of breath-taking. This comes as no surprise seeing as the game has been
developed by the same people responsible for the Legacy of Kain series which has
always maintained a high level of visual quality. Everything about the game
meets a very high graphical standard from the character models to the
environments. Lara herself looks incredible and thanks to some great animations
, looks very natural while she moves through the environments. I could write an
entire review on how good the animations are in this game, Lara has a lot of
acrobatic movements in the game as you would expect, and they are all animated
superbly and even more impressively Lara always looks graceful, whether she is
swinging on a pole or swan diving off a cliff. The only real animation problems
crop up in the vehicle levels, in particular the motorcycle levels. It's not
that they look awful but the movement does not look as natural and realistic as
the rest of the game so it kind of stands out as noticeable. The rest of the
character-models look really nice too. There are not many weapon models in the
game but the ones that are there look great, one nice little touch is after
emptying a few clips from your machine gun or dual pistols a little wisp of
smoke emanates from the barrel. It's only a small touch but it is indicative of
the great attention to detail in the game.
While all the models and
animations are very impressive it's the environments in the game that are the
real star. With the exception of the odd one or two the environments are
incredibly expansive and hugely detailed. There are two examples in the game in
particular that really highlight this, the first is in the Tokyo level where
Lara has to climb to the top of some skyscrapers via some scaffolding, and the
second is at the beginning of the Ghana level where you begin by swan diving off
the top of a waterfall. Not only do these two environments looks awesome but
they are incredibly expansive and incredibly immersive and create a great sense
of scale and scope. Some of the more action oriented levels have destructible
elements to them such as exploding barrels and oil drums, shoot these objects
and you will be treated to some great explosion effects. With the next
generation of graphics upon us there are still those that believe that graphics
are not all that important but this game is a perfect example of how great
looking and highly detailed environments can really enhance the gaming
experience.
Sound
Not only does the game look great but it sounds
awesome too. The return to roots approach of the series is nicely complemented
by the original theme from the first game playing at the main menu. Elsewhere
the music complements the game nicely, the action sequences like the gunfights
and the vehicle levels have your typical up-tempo fast moving tracks and the
more exploration based areas of the game have a more relaxed soundtrack. Sound
effects are great too and really make the already immersive environments all
that more engaging. Take the jungle levels for instance, all through these
levels you can hear babbling waterfalls, and sounds from the natural wildlife,
create a great atmosphere and being a tomb raider game a lot of time is spent in
tombs and caverns and the sound makes these all the more real with nice echoing
effects and such.
The Tomb Raider games have always been very story
driven so as expected there is a lot of voicework in the game. There are no big
names doing the voices but this is not an issue as the voice actors do a great
job. Lara herself sounds great and like she should sounds eloquent and dangerous
in equal measure. The supporting cast consists of Alistair, The sarcastic
history buff who is Lara's research hound, and then Zip who is Lara's
communications and equipment expert. Rather than just being present during the
story sequences this support team are in constant communication during the
levels and have some great ,sometimes even funny, conversations. Other times
they can be really informative and interesting while filling in the gaps of the
story. The villain's in the game sound great too and unlike some action
adventure games are not overly stereotypical, in that they actually have reasons
for doing all their nefarious deeds, and are emotionally driven.
Gameplay
They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery, and if
that's right then the likes of the Prince of Persia series should be feeling
very flattered right now. It's one of the first things you will notice when you
start playing the game, that the gameplay feels very familiar and borrows
heavily from the pinnacle of the modern action/adventure genre. While this may
seem boring and unoriginal at first, the more you play and the further you get
into the game you realize that the gameplay has a unique flavour all of its own.
The game fuses familiar elements and mechanics, such as swinging on poles, with
a fun and intuitive combat engine and throws in some unique gameplay elements of
its own and the end result is an incredibly fun, intuitive and very satisfying
gameplay experience.
One of the golden rules when making an action
adventure game is that the character must be fun to control, and its surprising
how many games fail to get this right. This was easily the biggest problem with
the previous games but thankfully this is not the case this time around, Lara is
an absolute dream to control. Movement is controlled, naturally, with the left
analogue stick and medikits and items are mapped to the d-pad. The face buttons
are used for the typical actions such as jumping and rolling, and the right
analogue stick rotates the camera around Lara. Much of the gameplay feels
similar to the likes of the prince of Persia games, in that you will enter an
area and have to get from one side to the other using the various movements and
actions at your disposal. There is a lot Lara can do here, you can swing on
poles, climb vines and ladders, swing on ropes etc. While this part of the game
may not feel the most original it's so well executed and the environments are so
well designed that it's a lot of fun. The beauty of the gameplay is how it takes
familiar mechanics and puts its own spin on them. The best example of this is
the grappling hook, while not the most original tool to give a character its the
variety of ways it is implemented that stand out here. It can be used to move
incredibly large objects for puzzle solving, when jumping a chasm it can be shot
out to grab the ceiling and you can then use it to swing yourself across the
environment and it can be used to knock enemies off of their feet, one of the
really inventive sections of the game involves you on a raft travelling along an
underground network of waterways and using the grapple to pull the raft along.
These sections are animated and executed so well that it is never boring. The
game also makes use of quick time events, i.e. buttons and directions flash up
on screen and you have to match them, and again while this is not exactly a new
idea it's the execution that makes it so good, It is probably the best use of
this mechanic since resident evil 4. A typical example would be the floor under
Lara would begin to collapse and you have to quickly enter a series of commands
to save her from a fatal plunge. The game successfully captures that feeling
that all great action adventure games have, everything feels so natural and
intuitive and is rarely boring or repetitive.
Now this being a Tomb Raider
game there is a lot of gunplay in the game and like the rest of the game the
mechanics of the gunplay are not anything you haven't seen before but it plays
so well and is a lot of fun. You lock onto enemies with the Left trigger and use
the right analogue stick to cycle targets, the right trigger then fires your
selected weapon and while locked on jumping and rolling become tactics for
evading enemy fire. There are also two little matrix-style moves you can do in
the game, one involves jumping at an enemy and jumping again when you are close
to him which causes Lara to somersault over him and the game slows down
bullet-time style allowing you to take him out much easier, and the other
involves you sliding at an opponent when close to him and Lara kicks the enemy
into the air and bullet time again gives you the advantage. These movements are
a lot of fun to do but can make the combat somewhat easy. And alas this is the
biggest problem with the gunplay and the gameplay in general, it is very, very
easy. The enemies typically stay in the one spot and don't take many shots to go
down, and some levels have an abundance of explosive objects which can be used
to clear several guys in one go and the game gives you a healthy supply of
grenades. Another problem is that after every gun fight the area will be
littered with medipacks, gun-clips and grenades, so you never really have to
worry about conserving ammo or health packs. The game also does not have many
weapons apart from the pistols and machine guns, the likes of shotguns and uzis
are either non-existent or very hard to come by.
The final piece of the
gameplay puzzle is the driving missions, which typically involve Lara on a
motorcycle chasing after somebody or something, while trying to fend off chasing
enemies with her trusty pistols. These sections are fun but are quite short in
places and pretty easy to get through, plus the handling of the vehicles does
not feel all that great and they tend to snake around a lot. Now as we all know
camera control is a big deal with a game like this and far the most part its
never an issue albeit the game is missing the now expected function of resetting
the camera to behind the character with a single press of a button . It's a
feature we have come to expect and I'm surprised at its omission. Like any
action/adventure game the game has its share of boss battles and most of these
are not bad per-say they are just not as much fun as the rest of the game. They
pretty much stick to the variety of evading the enemies special attack and
returning fire and repeat. One or two of the battles are memorable but most
aren't.
Lifespan/Story
Unfortunately it is these areas of the
game that let the game down and for me is all that's stopping the game from
being truly "Legendary". Not only is the game very easy but it is also very
short. If you play a lot of these games you can easily get through the game in
around 8 hours. Now action adventure games don't tend to be the longest of games
but this one is especially shorter than most. The story in the game is extremely
well written and very engaging but follows a trend in games today that annoys
me, put simply the story does not have enough closure and seems more focused on
setting the scene for the next installment. If you are one of those people that
was annoyed at how Halo 2 ended, then you will probably be just as miffed here.
Now there is nothing wrong with spanning a story across multiple titles but
games like the Prince of Persia trilogy manage to do this while still bringing
each individual chapter to some sort of satisfying conclusion. It is a real
shame here because the story is deep and engaging with so many different angles
that it just leaves you wanting so much more.
The game starts off with a
flashback to Lara's past and shows a young Lara on a flight with her family and
their plane crashing into a remote mountain range and then switches to today
with Lara exploring some ruins in Bolivia looking for her latest trinket and
encounters a billionaire named James Rutland who has beaten her to it and it
comes to light that he is working with a woman named Amanda from Lara's past
that was believed dead, and they are trying to find all the pieces of a mythical
sword, and we also learn early on for the first time in the series how exactly
Lara's mother lost her life in the mountains they crash landed in. Lara hates
being bested and loves to dig up the past so she makes it her mission to find
the sword fragments first. The story then proceeds to explain how this woman is
alive and her relation to Lara, what is so important about this sword and how
this all ties into Lara's past and the death of her mother. The story gets
really interesting towards the end and the game hands on such a critical note
that knowing it will be a long time before the next installment is very
frustrating. Thankfully there are some decent extras in the game, which are
unlocked by collecting hidden items throughout the levels, the extras include
unlockable costumes and upgrades for your pistols, so there is definite
incentive to play through at least a second time. Lara's mansion also doubles up
as another level within itself containing hidden items and areas and its own
environmental puzzles.
Conclusion/ Closing Comments
Tomb Raider
Legend is a great game and is a triumphant return to form for the series. The
Gameplay is a perfect balance of action and exploring/puzzle solving and
executes familiar elements with its own spin to make the game immensely fun to
play. The graphics are great and has some truly outstanding environments and the
sound, in particular the voice-work is top notch. There is some decent replay
value to the game and the story while left on a cliff hanger is terribly
engaging and interesting. Apart from the ending, or lack therof, to the story
it's only the games length that drags the score down. If you are a fan of the
original games or action/adventure games than you should give the game a try and
if you have never played an action/adventure game then this is a great place to
start. And to Eidos I would like to say, don't mess up this series again,
because you won't get a third chance
