It’s been ten years since globetrotting Lara Croft vaulted into the gaming world with a resounding bang. Saddling the curvature to bring men to their knees with brains, determination and a penchant for the daring has endeared the back-pack-adorned Brit to the hearts of many. In fact, it’s likely down to the immense popularity of Ms. Croft that the Tomb Raider games have remained a gem in the public’s eye for so very long.

Tomb Raider: Legend sees a return to the roots of the series, distancing itself from the ambitious elements of Angel of Darkness that ultimately signaled the death-knell for Core. What with original Lara Croft co-creator Toby Gard working on a Tomb Raider game for the first time since the original, he and the rest of the Crystal Dynamics team prove that the basics need to be concretely in place before loftier goals seep into the groundwork. As such, Legendproves to be the accessible creation many were hankering for, married to an improved camera and superb visuals.

Legend’s boxart bodes well for the ensuing game, depicting a sultry, husky-faced temptress with the form of a backpack in the background. You realize it’s Lara, but she’s looking wholly more lifelike than before. In game, she sports a fairly realistic mug too with tinges of anime, while moving like the athlete we’re accustomed to, with the opening cutscene dually depicting the adventurer dangling from a cliff-face. In time-honored fashion, we’re drip-fed all the characteristics of the Lara we know and love, with the suitable voice and confidence emanating from the heroine.

Legend sees Lara in familiar explorative mode as she searches various archeological sites in the quest to unravel the weaves of mystery shrouding the King Arthur “myth” which, if the game is to be believed, may not be a myth at all. Do away with those snide smiles and rolled-eyes however, for the story is a gripping one and is a testament to the fact that action games need not solely concentrate on the aspects cited in the genre’s title.

The plot unfolds via cutscenes and in game dialogue between Lara and her couplet of informers, Alistair and Zip. These two live in the Croft manor and occasionally accompany Lara on an expedition. No matter their positioning though, they’re always on hand to relay pertinent information and you’ll be given full exposure to the dialogue between the informers and the adventurer herself. In logical terms, it all works thanks to a headpiece and microphone attached to Lara’s head, and this simple gameplay mechanic effectively translates the characteristics of the trio across to the player. Despite the one-dimensional nature of the threesome (though Alistair seems to be particularly concerned for Lara in times of trouble…) you’ll likely enjoy the notion that you’re not solely alone during your treks.

If anything, Legend succeeds in assuaging frustration. Puzzles never encroach on the aggravation of yester incarnations due to a RAD (“Remote Analysis Device”) that identifies objects of note. It’s reminiscent of Grim Fandango in the sense that you’re not left to hunt around wildly for the key elements in a conundrum. That said, even identifying the role-players in a brainteaser doesn’t ensure an easy passage, with climbable crevices obscured from the unwary eye. Thankfully, acrobatic trickery is less fraught with danger as the game often reads your intentions, and ill-attempted jumps can still be rectified at times. The gist of what we’re saying is this: you don’t need to get the jump perfect to be successful. Most pleasing of all is the way Lara subtly shakes her when instructed to interact with an object that is unable to have the heroine’s hand hoisted upon it.

 

Aside from the RAD, Lara’s now able to administer health-packs, suitable in times-of low-health scenarios and activate a torch, slyly named a “Personal Light Source”.

 

Should Crystal Dynamics have been a writer penning the final novel in a trilogy after the untimely demise of its creator, you’d be impressed at how fitting it is. In short, this is a Tomb Raider game through and through and its set apart from its forebears through the inclusion of worthy, feasible features rather than an underlying feeling that it simply doesn’t “feel right”. Because it does feel right – It feels like a worthy increment in a long-standing, highly popular series and proves that a new team repeatedly breathes life into a series of games verging on the mundane.

That’s not to say that Legend is entirely on the mark, with every version of the game suffering from camera difficulties. Depending on your familiarity with the mouse, it might be a good idea to invest in the PC version since operating the camera with this device is a simpler task provided you’ve worked with the tool in past years. The console controls are adequate themselves though and in comparison to Lara’s previous outings, the game handles positively well.  

Legend’s gunfights certainly seem suited to the Xbox, Xbox 360 and PS2 however. Sadly, the eventual shooting is no more interesting than with a mouse in hand. Across the board Legend lacks the ability to deliver exciting shootouts, and they’re usually a case of stabbing away at the trigger whilst locked-on. On the Xbox 360 version, for instance, the left-trigger is held down to initiate a lock-on of the nearest, most convenient enemy whilst the right-trigger is used to shoot. Sadly, the game often makes a bad choice of who to lock-on to, and this can result in many a frustrating moment.