Poor Lara Croft has had some pretty dismal games as of late. We had our hopes up for Angel of Darkness only to be crushed after countless delays. This time around Lara is starting off fresh with a new developer, Crystal Dynamics, and they have been able to breathe new life into the dying franchise.
First off, Legend looks great. Lara looks fantastic, and her numerous animations are smooth. Her skin glistens when wet, and you can even see creases and folds on her clothing. The outdoor environments are vibrant, filled with ancient stone ruins, flora, fauna, and spectacular waterfalls and lakes. The game takes place through various locals including the jungles of Brazil, the skyscrapers of Tokyo, and the Himalayas of Nepal. Also there is Lara’s mansion; while Lara’s mansion has been in her other games, it’s not just a training ground this time. For Legends, her mansion feels like a bonus level, with secrets all its own that you can collect for unlockable content.
The indoor environments are dark, dreary, and tomblike, but all in a good way. There are some undergrounds lakes, with some very good water animation, and the stone statues and architecture are magnificent, and awe-inspiring. There are beams of light entering through cracks in the ceiling, but don’t gawk for too long or you may find yourself walking into the occasional death trap.
Speaking of death traps, the puzzles in this game are cleaver and challenging. The game defiantly leans towards the adventure genre, instead of action tiles, the ratio being about 75% to 25%. And the puzzles are not just “jump of tiny platforms all the way over there, get the key, then come all the way back” type of puzzles, they actually require thought as well as nimble fingers. Think Prince of Persia or ICO for an idea of what to expect from the puzzles. As for the action, there are motorcycle levels and gunfights as well as the occasional boss fight. The boss fights generally differ from regular combat and usually involve interacting with the environment to help you defeat the boss while trying to stay alive.
Fortunately, you will not need superhuman nimble fingers to control Lara as the controls are very responsive. Lara is much more acrobatic than in previous installments, and you can control all her new tricks with ease. Whether it is swinging, jumping, running, swimming, rolling, shimming, or swan-diving off a cliff into a lake, Lara controls superbly. Also the inventory of the game is very well streamlined only requiring a press on the directional pad to bring up your various items. To accompany Lara on her journeys is a rechargeable LED light, a set of binoculars complete with a feature that can help when you’re stuck on a puzzle, health packs, a grappling hook, and her trusty duel pistols, which have unlimited ammo by the way. You can also pick up weapons from enemies, but there are only a few different weapons in the game.
Lara borrows some tricks from other hit games, and they are implemented surprisingly well. First, you’ll notice that Lara’s new moves resemble those of our good friend the Prince of Persia. She swings around polls, does cartwheels and summersaults, vaults, shimmies, and climbs. Also climbing and shimming can be sped up with timed presses of the triangle button, which is a simple addition but makes those usually boring activities quicker and a little less tedious. Another borrowed trick is the quick button pressings required during some cutscenes ala Resident Evil 4. However, don’t think that Lara is just simply a copy of other games, she has a style all her own, with unique additions such as her grappling hook, which is used to grapple enemies, maneuver around levels, and solve puzzles. Also, she is not as acrobatic as the Prince, so controlling her feels a little more realistic. There is also an added since of drama at the death defying jumps because there is no rewind button.
The story is interesting and dives into Lara’s past, particularly how she lost her mother. The voice acting is particularly well done; Keeley Hawes does an excellent job as Lara. The dialogue is well written; Lara is witty and calm, complete with British accent, in the face of almost certain death, while her support team back in the mansion is on the edge of the seat each time she makes a last minute catch on a cliff’s edge. While the support team does take away some of the isolation the series is known for, it certainly makes it easier to figure out what you’re supposed to be doing as well as keep you interested in the story. The music helps keep the mood, but it is not spectacular; it does help retain a feeling of isolation and wonder. The sound effects are pretty weak overall, with gunfights sounding particularly quite.
The combat is fun, but rather simple: Auto-lock onto the enemy (sometimes the wrong enemy) fire, continually roll to avoid bullets, repeat. The game does mix it up with the ability to shoot environmental hazards, exploding barrels, fragile cliff walls, ect, as well as being able to use a grappling hook which can pull enemies toward you. You can also use grenades, which seem to be made of rubber the way they bounce off the floor and walls. Also fighting animals is ridiculous as they take around a dozen shots to kill. Also, the animals and the humans are not very intelligent or dangerous so they really are not any sort of a challenge. Fortunately, the combat in boss battles does a better job. Boss battles, except for the first one, are hectic, requiring you to keep the enemy off from you while trying to perform some task so you can beat the supernatural enemy. In one boss fight you have to make sure to destroy machines that regenerate the boss’s health, while fighting the boss.
There are certainly a lot of good things about Legend but it does have some problems. The camera doesn’t follow the action very well. However, it follows well enough and it’s not the throw-your-controler-at-the-wall-and-smash-it-with-a-sledgehammer problem it could have been thanks to the ability to rotate the camera around at any time using the right analog stick. However, there are still times, usually when hanging off cliff ledges, when the camera cannot be rotated enough to be able see where you need to jump, but these instances are few.
There are a couple of action-oriented motorcycle levels spread throughout the game to help break up the pace. While it’s a good idea, and I would like to see it in future versions, I just hope that the developers do a better job with them next time. At first they seem like they will be fun and exciting, drive a motorcycle while shooting and being shot at, but in reality they just aren’t that entertaining. First, they are boring and tedious. Fighting enemies only requires locking onto them and holding in the fire button, that’s it. There really aren’t even any obstacles to avoid while driving, all you have to do is stay to the left of the road and you will rarely have to move. And the levels drag on far longer than they should, with nothing to keep you interested. Fortunately, there are only two of these levels, so they don’t hurt the game too much.
In the visual department Lara’s death animations are practically non-existent. While I understand that this is a “T” rated game, it looks weird when Lara is killed by spikes coming out of the side of the wall and then to just fall on the floor like she fainted. Also sometimes when you fall to your death, she just gently slides down the wall screaming, and then she dies.
The limited amount of weaponry may throw some gamers off, but I didn’t mind so much as combat is not the main focus of this game. The only weapons that I encountered in the game were Lara’s pistols, a shotgun, two types of very similar machineguns, and grenades. However, there are some mounted guns, which are fun to use. What I did mind was the lock-on system that frequently targeted the wrong person, and the previously mentioned simple combat.
You’ll probably find yourself playing through this game a few times. It’s short if you don’t search for all of the hidden items; it will probably only take you 6 to 8 hours to complete it the first time. It obviously won’t be quite as fun once you already know how to solve the puzzles, but they are several hidden objects in each level that you most likely won’t find the first time through that you might want to back for. These will unlock new things like character bio’s, character models, pistol upgrades, and even costumes for Lara. There is also a time-trail mode, where you can unlock even more stuff.
Bottom Line: Lara is back, resurrected anew. Gone is the stale gameplay of old, Lara is a jumping, swinging, shooting, tomb raiding machine. The puzzles are well designed and challenging, the graphics are fantastic, the voice acting is wonderful, the combat is ok, and the story is engaging. Lara’s back, what more do you need to know? It’s time to start raiding tombs again.