USA
Date 2006-04-30
Today's Rank 2
UK
Date 2006-02-24
Genre Action -> Adventure
The last Tomb Raider game was of such an awesomely poor quality it seemed quite likely it would bury the once mighty franchise once and for all. Creating a sequel to that can have been no mean feat but from what has been so far it looks like new developer Crystal Dynamics (they did Soul Reaver 2 and Project: Snowblind) might have pulled it off. Legend is very much a case of back to basics, with no wandering round deserted European capitals engaging in inane conversations and having to earn experience points before you can kick a door down. Instead it looks and plays much more like the first few games, and indeed has been created with input from one of the original creators – who has never had a hand in a sequel up till now. 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 that awkward grid based movement of the earlier games. This is also the first Tomb Raider to have a proper psychics engine with lots of the puzzles revolving around movement and the use of Lara’s natty new magnetic grappling hook. Even Lara herself has been revamped so that she looks more up-to-date and yet still reminiscent of the old angular design. Assuming they can keep things interesting for a whole game this should see Tomb Raider regain its place as one of gaming’s most important titles. -- Harrison DentThis preview is based on an incomplete version of the game; features or problems mentioned above may not appear in the finished game.
Features:
- Visit a vast array of cinematic & exotic locations including ancient tombs, dangerous jungles, snowy mountain ruins and numerous unexpected surprises in between
- Dynamic animation system puts focus on continuous motion, giving Lara the ability to seamlessly handle any obstacle and interact dynamically with any surface
- Lara uses her physical prowess to combine gunplay with unique signature moves
- Variety of player choice - intelligently use the environment, technical gear and weapons to overcome challenging situations
- Physics, Water and Fire systems bring the perilous environments of Lara’s world alive, and challenge the player to improvise solutions to obstacles
