Tomb Raider Legend

Crystal Dynamics bring the much-loved franchise back to life.

Following the release of the original Tomb Raider in 1996, the game's protagonist, Lara Croft, became a cultural icon. A number of successful sequels followed and the franchise continued to grow at a rapid pace, producing spin-off novels, comic books and even two Hollywood films starring Angelina Jolie.

However, the video game series struggled to move into the 21st century, with 2000's Tomb Raider Chronicles performing poorly from a commercial perspective and 2003's Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness receiving mostly negative reviews. As a result, Crystal Dynamics took over from Core Design as the franchise's developer.

Their first release, 2006's Tomb Raider: Legend, became a huge commercial success, selling more than 4 million copies worldwide. So how does it compare to the other Tomb Raider titles?

Gameplay

Like previous entries in the franchise, Tomb Raider: Legend is a third-person action adventure, which allows players to explore, solve puzzles, battle enemies, swim, climb and much more. As you would expect, the player is placed in control of Lara Craft, an acrobatic and fearless explorer, who uses her trademark twin pistols as weapons.

Movement feels far less rigid than in previous instalments, with Lara Croft no longer feeling as if she is stuck on invisible rails, and this greater freedom makes for a much more enjoyable experience. Response to button presses is faster, combat has been improved in subtle but significant ways and animation looks much better.

In addition to improvements to controls and gameplay itself, the plot is more ambitious and features a number of flashbacks to Lara's past. These do an excellent job of enhancing her character and clarifying her motivations, ultimately giving her a far more rounded personality.

Presentation

Graphically, Tomb Raider: Legend marks a step forward for the series, with clear improvements over its predecessors. Moreover, the PC version benefits from exclusive 'next generation' effects, which can be toggled on or off and which ensure the character models and textures look better than on console versions of the same game.

In terms of audio, the voice acting has moved forward considerably from earlier Tomb Raider titles, with Lara Croft now able to demonstrate more wit and emotional depth.

However, the game is not perfect; the single biggest flaw being that it is far too short. Additionally, while it is a better game than earlier instalments in the franchise, some of the subsequent releases have made it feel somewhat dated. Nonetheless, Tomb Raider: Legend marks Lara Croft's first major success story of the new millennium and the beginning of Crystal Dynamics' widely praised resurrection of the popular series.

Pros

• Movement is far better than in previous instalments
• PC version has exclusive 'next generation' graphics
• Lara Croft's character and dialogue are much improved

Cons

• Game is a little too short
• May feel dated to those who have played more recent Tomb Raider games