Tomb Raider: Legend

Written by James Dauer  on December 08, 2005

First Impressions: Now with 10% less polygonal bosom.

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Ah, Tomb Raider, the little game series that could. Who could forget blocky, bosomy Lara Croft and her adventures through an even blockier series of complex dungeons? The series had always been plagued with it problems, be it the trial and error game play, the haphazard gun fighting mechanics, or the downright obnoxious grid movement system. The setup generally looked like the following algorithm:

* Enter room.
* Look for route out.
* Find nearest possible route and attempt to leave.
* Repeat ad nauseam.
* Quit the escape attempt, only to find out the exit was right behind you all along.
* Head for exit.
* Die unexpectedly due to a trap hidden the floor.
* Rinse.
* Repeat until game crashes due to a bug.
* Open nearest window.
* Throw disc.

This isn't to say the games weren't any fun. It was certainly a rewarding experience to finish a particularly difficult string of puzzles, but more often than not, Lara would trip up somewhere down the line and be forced to do the entire process over again. Let's face it, though, there were only two primary reasons to play Tomb Raider in the first place- Lara Croft.

Fast forward to today and the promise of a better Tomb Raider experience. Boasting a new design team, new engine, and even a new character model for the ever sexy Lara Croft, who I might add is still pretty darn hot despite the noticeable reduction in her shirt area.

The good folks at Crystal Dynamics seem to have been paying attention to the faults of Tomb Raider. While taking the game back to it's ancient landscapes, Crystal Dynamics has made quite a few must-needed changes to the old archaic tomb raiding formula. First and foremost, Lara will no longer move in the infamous grid pattern anymore. With Lara being more fluid in motion, it will be very easy to pull the many acrobatic stunts required to complete each perilous stage. On that note, Lara now has many new animations for things such as wall-jumping, vine-swinging, and shimmying. This opens the door to all sorts of new and exciting environmental puzzles, the likes of Prince of Persia or ICO.

Another much needed addition to the series is the ability to restart from the last major puzzle. Gone are the days of being inches from the stage exit, dying a pitiful death, and being forced to do it all over again. In Tomb Raider Legend if you get down to the final steps of a stage, accidentally step on a trap and die, you will automatically restart back to the end of the last major puzzle.

One helpful feature Crystal Dynamics implemented was an auto falling prevention. If Lara gets too close to a hazardous edge, instead of just taking the plunge, she will automatically stop moving forward. This will allow the player to worry less about those annoying small obstacles and focus instead on the bigger challenges.

Gun fighting has also been tweaked in Crystal Dynamics' hands. In the heat of battle, Lara can whip out on of several new guns which will be mentioned later, and fight back using a new targeting system. Lara will be able to focus in on points of interest and shoot them with a specially mapped button. She can also cycle through her targets using the right analogue stick. If that wasn't enough, the developers even included a first person aiming mode for more accurate shooting.

Peppered throughout the adventure are a few other types of gameplay styles. At certain points in Lara's quest, cutscenes will play, and prompt the user to press a series of buttons in order to get Lara free from danger р la Dragon's Lair or Indigo Prophecy. Also, during the trailers Lara can be seen driving a motorcycle. Crystal Dynamics won't say for sure that players will be able to drive the cycle, but the footage looks as though Lara will get her fare share of burning rubber in before the adventure is through.

The gameplay isn't the only thing that's changed since the big dev team switch, though. Most noticeably Lara's appearance has radically changed. Her face is set to more realistic proportions as is the rest of her body. Well, most of her body anyway. The things that made Lara popular in the first place are still a littleЕ done to excess, but I guess you could call it excess in moderation. The character redesigns were made to supposedly give her new acrobatic animations a more believable look. Personally, I always thought Lara look a bit like a cross between a baboon and a trashy stripper, so her redesign is very much welcomed by this writer. While Lara now sports a different look and more polygons, she also is able to visibly show the wear and tear of her journey. Lara's clothes will get dirty throughout the game, as will they get wet (don't get too excited) and dry off over time. These are small features, but they show just how far Crystal Dynamics will go to make a believable environment.

Of course, Lara can't go raiding tombs with only her short shorts and small overcoat. To complement the new redesign, Lara also sports new equipment such as a grappling hook to swing over chasms, a GPS to help her find her way out of a tight spot, and flashlight, handy for seeing in the dark- thank God we don't have to use those sad disposable flares anymore. Lara will also be able to pack seven kinds of heat ranging from her dual pistols to shotguns, to assault rifles, to even RPGs and grenade launchers. Needless to say, she'll be one tough cookie to mess with.

As far as the story goes, Crystal Dynamics and Eidos are being tight lipped about the whole affair. They claim that they are taking Lara Croft back to her roots and starting over again fresh.