After trying Tomb Raider Anniversary and enjoying it I decided to get
into Legend. In terms of controls it's much the same, although various
strangely situated buttons may need to be reassigned it won't be long
before things are familiar. Now Legend does look nicer than Anniversary
thanks to the next gen content, this is basically better textures, bump
maps and unified lighting/shadow system. It's not the best running game
and still has fairly low polygon environments but it looks ok. The role
of Lara is straightforward, you perform various platforming moves at
various locales including Japan, Bolivia and Africa. The story centres
on one of Lara's old friends who was trapped in a cave in, it unravels
some of Lara's own past and leaves it open for the continuation in Tomb
Raider Underworld.
There are familiar puzzles, many platforming events this time rely more
on quick action rather than a pre-thought process. Most of Legend is
very straightforward, there aren't many open puzzles like in
Anniversary and you will usually know the direction of travel, you just
need to perform the jumps correctly and on time. Legend also features
an excess of action, rather generic, extremely dumb enemy grunts are
placed ahead of you at various points in the game. These combat areas
are uninteresting and feel out of place in the game, the ability to
throw grenades grants some interest. There are also a few motorcycle
rides, one in particular sees Lara chasing down a train, you travel
beside it and take out more generic, stupid grunts on motorbikes, its
poorly implemented with only passable vehicle physics. Most of the game
is still linear platforming, with the occasional stunt or puzzle to
solve. The more difficult and non-linear aspects arrive in collecting
the various treasures throughout the levels, some take a bit more
thought or a slight journey off the linear path. The croft manor is
also quite open and there are some nifty word puzzles that aren't too
hard along with the usual scavenger hunt.
The story is quite intriguing in some respects, and the dialogue is
both witty and consistent in helping to keep you motivated for the next
task. The absence of difficult open layout puzzles and the short nature
of the story punish this otherwise good game. The boss battles are not
particularly hard but feel unnecessary. The music is quite good,
fitting with some of the locales well enough to warrant a mention.
Anniversary will give you a more challenging, lengthy and satisfying
adventure. Legend will give you more action and the continuation of the
platforming experience.
