Lara Croft is back !!!. After a long absence from the gaming world, due in no small part to some abysmal games in recent years, everyone's favorite heroine is back. Gamer's can rejoice in the knowing that those responsible for those abominations,(Core Design), have been given the boot and Crystal Dynamics now have the reigns. Rather than try to fix the previous games they have gone back to the roots of the series and have tried to recapture what made the series great, and thankfully they have done a great job.
Intro
There is an adage in modern society that everybody deserves a second chance, that those who have done wrong in the past are given an opportunity for redemption and make amends for their mistakes, this philosophy also holds true in the gaming world. If a games company with a great reputation loses its way and releases a series of awful games, they always have to chance for redemption if they can get a series back on track. In this particular case Eidos are the ones seeking redemption with their most well known franchise Tomb Raider. Since the glory days of the series on the PS1 the series has been victim to some very poor and uninspiring titles. But full credit to Eidos they saw what needed to be done to make things right and they truly have earned their redemption. Tomb Raider Legend recaptures that magic formula that has been missing from the series for so, so long, great and imaginative level design, built around fun and intuitive gameplay.
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.
She's back, and looking better than ever
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.
Look Familiar!! But TR still has a nice balanced mix of gameplay
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.
I'm 25 years old and I have been playing video games ever since i was old enough to hold a joystick. I started out with a Commodore 64 and had a variation of systems from the Master system to the snes to gamecube and Playstation2. I love video games in all their forms, if a game entertains me then thats all i want, be it pokemon red or Madden or Killzone. I love games with interesting characters and intriguing stories, so naturally i play a lot of rgps. I have seen gaming come a long way and im very excited about its future. I respect all companies and systems and dont get into fanboy console wars, the games are all that I care about, a Great game is great regardless of the hardware it runs on.
