|
|
 |
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend (Xbox)
|
|
|
Description:
In a nutshell:
Lara Croft is finally back in the first game to do her legacy justice since the days of the original PlayStation. With updated graphics and gameplay, and a whole new suite of moves and equipment this is the sequel fans have always demanded.The lowdown:
After the disappointment of Angel of Darkness, the Tomb Raider series has gone back to basics with a new developer and even a new Lara. Combat is back to being only around a third of the game with everything else centred on platform jumping and puzzle solving. To help this, there's a canny new movement system that allows Lara to jump onto and grab objects at an angle, so there's none of the awkward grid based movement of the earlier games. This is also the first Tomb Raider to have a proper physics engine, with lots of the puzzles revolving around movement and the use of Lara's natty new magnetic grappling hook. The graphics are also excellent, and with input from the original creator this is a long awaited return to form. Most exciting moment:
The realisation that this is actually a proper update of the original game, as Lara leaps around cliffs like a mountain goat, with graphics and controls that aren't still stuck in 1996. Since you ask:
The new voice of Lara is provided by Keeley Hawes, who also plays Zoe Reynolds in BBC TV show Spooks. The bottom line:
Lara Croft is back in the first decent new Tomb Raider game for a long time.
Harrison Dent
|
|
 |
|
 |
5/5 |
Best TR Game Yet.
(July 11, 2007) |
|
When i first played it took a while to get used to the controls, but when you do it's great!! Before playing i went to Croft Manor, i was a little disappointed when you have to complete the first level in order to open doors. But the assault course is really fun and challenging. All In All I Loved IT!!!! |
|
|
3/5 |
It's like a burst of fun, but then it stops
(June 14, 2006) |
|
I got this as a birthday present on the Saturday, and had completed it by the Sunday afternoon. I'm not really all that great with these kind of games, but even I found it rather easy.
The levels were far too short, I found completing them fairly easy even on Tomb Raider difficulty level. The bosses were quite easy too, although the boss at the end of the England level was really annoying before I got the knack of it and found an easy way. The AI was average, with the same mercaneries doing that they do best i.e. trying to kill you, but they show no superb intelligence. It was also very easy to not fall. That used to be part of the excitment, but not in Legend with 'autograb' it's made it a whole lot easier. It also seems that Tomb Raider has lost its scare factor. Previous Tomb Raiders have been able to scare me... a lot, but because a lot of the game is set in unfrightening surroundings, as pretty as they may be, the game is not scary. A part of the game I found disappointing was the Croft Mansion. There was only an indoors, and even that wasn't very big. The outdoor assault course was replaced by a small indoor one where there are secrets to be found and they are really easy to get to.
However, the game does have strong points, and one of the main ones being the graphics. Everything looks excellent, from the mountains in the backdrop to walls and the floors of the tombs. The big waterfall in one of the levels is stunning. As is Lara. She's been made a lot more lifelike, and every move she makes is awesome. Her acrobatics were very exciting when I discovered them after a bit of button bashing in frustration. The only things that don't look good are the boring mercenaries who all look the same and are no where near looking as good as Lara does, and I know most repetitive people in games never look as good as the main character but this is just dire. I also liked Lara's new headset and her new buddies Zip and Alistair whose banter kept me amused. Although somethings they say make the game too easy as they're basically telling you what to do and taking the challenge out of a lot of the game. Also, the RAD setting on the binoculars is just plain silly. Used it once, realised what it did and refused to use it again.
Despite it being an easy game which can be completed in very little time, the time trial mode and all the secrets make the game a little more meaty, and you can always fill time up with looking at the surroundings and playing around with Lara's flexibility, throwing her off cliffs and the such. |
|
|
3/5 |
Good Game - Bad Bug
(May 01, 2006) |
|
(in reference to the xbox version) I was having a lot of fun on this game until i got halfway through. On the England level at the end of level boss, there is a major bug which means that you cant kill the boss and progress to the next level. Some people have said that starting the game again from a previous save or starting completely from scratch fixes this. It did not in my case. It's a shame because it is quite an enjoyable game. |
|
|
3/5 |
Over-hyped but a decent update
(April 27, 2006) |
|
That's what so odd about Legend - take away the superb graphics, add safer (though not always better) controls and a few bits of window dressing and you have a TR game that could have been made any time in the last 10 years. The gameplay is genuinely TR but simplified, arguably less imaginative, yet clearly out of exactly the same mould as all those other sequels which have attracted so much retrospective and ignorant criticism.I have finished my copy of Legend 100%, unlocked everything and put in many hours on the Time Trials. I found it linear and rather easy, even on Hard difficulty. It is also short (< 10hrs), particularly if you just play straight through not collecting the 'secrets'. It also has it's fair share of glitches too - I recommend saving right at the start of each level and not overwriting it until you've finished that level.It's a decent game that will satisfy the masses and appears to have seduced the critics. Us old school TR fans are less impressed but still recognise a game of undoubted praiseworthy qualities. It's Tomb Raider lite but that's what most people seemed to have wanted - a safe, easy game which looks pretty. Worth playing but far from the massive leap forward some critics are claiming. |
|
|
3/5 |
tomb raider
(April 27, 2006) |
|
At last a tomb raider game comes out on the xbox! Ive been looking forward to playing one for a long time, so now ill tell you about my experiences playing, ill start with the good points.
The graphics are very very good, mountains and waterfalls look very realistic and laras character is done to a high standard, maybe a bit too high if you compare her to all the other characters in the game who look like they have been chisseled out of a block of wood.
Gameplay is very fluid and runs smoothly, i didnt detect any slowdown which I thought would happen due to the high quality of graphics. And also there is very little loading time. The game starts almost immediatly when you turn your box on, and the only loading screens through the game are after you've died, and these are very quick. And croft manor is very attractive and fun to look around.
My bad points of the game :
Firstly, and my main gripe, is that it is far, far too easy, Way too easy. Apart from a couple of end of level bosses which can be hard to kill sometimes, the puzzles are painfully simple. Lara and Zip on your comms system basically tell you exactly what to do in each situation "..ooh I wonder if I could move that crate somewhere..." and pretty much tell you what to shoot in a battle and there is no aiming to do. And she has the lamest throw of a grenade I have ever seen.
And its probably one of the shortest games I have ever played, I did the main game in 7 hours and that wasnt even rushing through, the time trials are a nice touch though and pad the game out a bit more.(it needs it!!) and its left itself nicely open for a sequel, so id expect some news soon.
The jumping and grabbing hold of things in the game are fun to do, even if it is a bit hard to fall off anything. Also, for me anyway, the swimming was hard to get the hang of and frustrating, luckily there isnt a great deal of these to do.
The bikes are easy to use but as soon as you get on it the graphics turn into some kind of early nineties outrun game.
Overall it is a fairly good game, though I am very dissapointed I spent 30 quid on it. The box says its suitable for over 12's only, but I feel the game was designed for much younger people as it is so easy and extremely short. Definatly one for renting and not buying as it can be completed in one long day or two short nights |
|
|
|