Amazon.com: Tomb Raider Legend: Playstation 2: Video Games

76 Reviews

5 star:		(22)
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3.9 out of 5 stars (76 customer reviews)

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39 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A lost star for length, May 4, 2006

By	A. Griffiths "Adrian" (London) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars

I feel short changed.

Well, so this is the new Tomb Raider....after all those sequels which were derided for apparently lowering the quality of the game every time (I actually quite enjoyed most of them, with only a few exceptions), Tomb Raider Legend has been lauded as the return to form. Well in my opinion, it's more like an expanded demo of a potential return to form. However it looks great, and as I started playing, I was hoping for the thrill of the very first game to come back to me. I played the original PS1 Tomb Raider game again recently and I couldn't believe how well it had aged. The levels were long, the explorable areas were huge, and the puzzles were multi-layered, often built out of smaller component puzzles. The game as a whole had a good solid length and satisfying difficulty curve. This is a game that is now a decade old, and I'm still impressed by it.

So how far have we come? Well, Tomb Raider Legend has definitely played true to the original spirit. It has enhanced the character of Lara Croft, as well as re-invented the control system. I'm very happy about the former update (Lara is still beautiful, upper-class and indomitable), but not so keen on the latter. It came as quite a shock to me to find that the definitive control system had been completely re-worked and, with no option to customize it, I was initially bewildered. X is now jump? Triangle is action? No walk button? No sidestep or sidejump? No backstep for those tricky jumps? It took some getting used to, and I'm not sure whether it's an improvement or not. The grid of jumpable distances and calculations that all TR fans will surely recall has been dumped, and instead Lara behaves like all other platform game protagonists...if you want to jump across a gap, just run at it and leap when you think the time is right. The game does the rest...in fact here it does a bit too much. If the gap is deemed as passable, the game will compensate for any small miscalculation on your part and make sure you end up on the other side. This seemed a bit odd to me, and I found that I missed the feeling of knowing whether I had accomplished anything or not. This new scheme also allows you to perform acrobatic tasks like jumping directly upwards from hanging off a ledge to another ledge about 6 feet above, which is surely physically impossible! As are sideways and backwards jumps from ledges and poles that magically dump Lara safely on another ledge or platform if the game deems that that was the way to progress. Does this sound picky? I know that in the past Lara could do cartwheels while firing her guns, and do a backwards somersault to land on a platform higher than her own head, but I didn't seem to mind that as much! I think it's because the game does not present enough physical challenges anyway that I felt further hand-held throughout the exploring phases by this new scheme.

Another thing, is that the weapons mode is a real let-down. The old auto-aim has been replaced by a targetting mechanism that only stays locked on target intermittently. This is very obvious on the final boss, where Lara's aim is constantly lost when she runs to dodge any long range attacks. I would have liked a way to lock-on, and then strafe while firing, but this is seemingly no longer an option - unless I missed it. But in bizarre opposition to the boss fights, regular gun fight sequences are incredibly easy, you only have to run around wildly firing non-stop and the enemies will all drop. I never came out of a hugely out-numbered fight (say Lara against 6 or 7 goons) with damage more than about one medipack's worth, and that's when I wasn't being the least bit careful.

I've got still more gripes - you can't stockpile anything. One additional gun at a time is all you get, and a maximum of three medipacks!! Thats just criminal. Mind you, with the game this easy, arriving at the last boss with 20 stored medipacks would be a pushover! Oh well, Lara's previously bottomless rucksack was always a bit far-fetched, I suppose.

Ok, I've left the worst till last, and that is undeniably the games length. I finished it in about 4 days, and that's unheard of for a TR game. Short levels, few puzzles, not enough secrets, not enough booby traps or variety of enemies. Every level is like a taster for what the development team are obviously capable of. They just needed to make them all 3 times as long. At least. The levels look great (time for some praise at last, now!)...they are leafy and organic, dank and spooky, or full of ruined temples as and when required. I could have done with some larger and more awe-inspiring architecture, though, and the sense of immense scale has not been maintained. I don't recall many of the towering structures and giddying drops that made climbing so perilous in the earlier game. Fans of TR1 will surely recall the Atlantis level - a constant climb through a kind of giant floorless shaft ending up on a platform where the boss appeared - one slip off the edge meant a fall down through the entire level to a final sickening thud on the floor. There's nothing like that in this game, and I think what I miss the is the sense of realism you get when you can see where you've been climbing from and it's dizzyingly far down. Tomb Raider Legend doesn't play with layered or cyclical environments, and all the levels are pretty standard: start travelling from Point A and keep going as far you can and you'll get to Point B. There are two motorbike riding leves but they are very arcadey and almost impossble to lose.

Tomb Raider Legend is a wonderful taster, passed of as a full length game. A lot of care went into design and execution, but it's still a bit glitchy (although with nothing like the game-halting problems of Angel of Darkness, thank god!). I look forward to another game from this team, and let's hope it's a biggun next time.

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29 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, beautiful, addictive... and short., April 18, 2006

By	Review Lover "ReviewLover" (At a place...) - See all my reviews

Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars

Tomb Raider: Legend is an amazing game.

It's beautiful to look at, it controls like a dream and it's got an excellent plot. Seriously, if you made a list of all the things that you loved about former Tomb Raider games, then Legend will almost definitely fulfill all of those criteria - as well as coming up with a few new ones for you to enjoy.

Unfortunately, while you're busy enjoying all of these things, you'll probably not notice the game's extremely short lifespan creeping to a close, and before you know it, you'll be finished, and mad as hell that there's not more of this excellent title to enjoy. But while you're in the middle of it, 'Tomb Raider: Legend' is an almost-compulsory title for you to own.

GRAPHICS: 5/5
FINALLY, this is one Tomb Raider game where the secondary characters look as good as Lara does! Bye bye, Bouchard and Mme. Carvier, with your big square hands and lousy textures - Zip, Alistair, Amanda and others are here to take your place! Top marks must go to Visuals here, with the developers are squeezing every last ounce of power from the seven-year-old PS2 technology to create a world for Lara that's as clever in its level design as it is jaw-droppingly beautiful to look at. Leaping about on rooftops in the Japan level, dispatching mercenaries in Bolivia and unlocking huge temples in Ghana all made me sit up and go "Wow! ". Lighting effects, animation, colours - you can't appreciate it from screen shots: this is an incredible-looking game.

SOUND: 5/5
Again, top marks to the wonderful aural atmosphere that the music, voice acting and sound effects create in 'Tomb Raider: Legend'. From the remix of the original TR theme at the title screen, to the really cool bike chase level music, the tunes in TR compliment the game's environment and add atmosphere like no other Tomb Raider game before it. The West Africa and Japan levels are awesome to listen to, too, with ambient city and jungle sounds pouring out of your speakers to lend real depth to the already-amazing visuals. And voice acting, happily, is some of the best in a videogame since 'Second Sight'.

PLAYABILITY: 5/5
What, top marks again? Yup, Lara's got a completely new and redesigned control system, and it's amazing. She is now totally, completely analog - and it works. No more Walk button, no more tapping back once to make a running jump, and no more auto-lock for super-easy combat: it's all changed for the better. Now, moving boulders and crates is a joy, and Lara goes through her animation cycles much faster than before, so it's far easier to stomach when you do something wrong. Puzzles are of a usual mix, but there are several that bear the hallmark of the excellent TR design we've come to know and love. Combat is changed: now, enemies can *gasp* knock Lara over, and the auto-lock feature of former games is gone, meaning you can no longer take out bigger enemies with just your pistols and a backflip, but to counterract this, there's a whole host of hand-to-hand combat moves to learn, and a really cool grappling hook with which to tag and hurt the bad guys. All in all, this game is a dream to play.

LASTIBILITY: 2/5
And here's the problem: 'Tomb Raider: Legend' is just too damn short. Compared to most other contemporary games, it's not too bad - around eight to ten hours play first time through - but for a Tomb Raider title, the insanely short nature of the game is a real disappointment - particularly since the actual gameplay is just so damn good.

Now, it isn't all bad news - you can replay each level multiple times, and unlock new outfits, cinematics, concept art and costumes for Lara as you do, as well as expand on the excellent Croft Manor sub-level - but I know I speak for all TR fans when I say that I'd rather have more levels to complete one time than fewer multiple rides through the same levels - however pretty they might be.

OVERALL: 4/5
If this game was longer it would stand alongside Final Fantasy 9, Silent Hill 2 and Shenmue 1 as one of my all-time favourite games. As it stands, it's a beautful-looking, brilliantly-executed game that's just too damn short. A real shame, but you should get it anyway: EVERYONE needs to play this at least once. Welcome back to the top of the pile, Lara, we missed you!

Totally recommended.

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better than AOD but not meeting expectations!!, April 15, 2006

By	wwgrl "Staci" (ALABAMA) - See all my reviews

Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars

O.k. don't get me wrong I did like Legend but there are some flaws with this game. I thought all the previous flaws from AOD would be worked out but sadly not all of them were. A BIG improvement yes!! but not perfect by any means. Here are the flaws with this game.
1. Some of the camera angles were bad.
2. The button sequence parts got annoying after awhile.
3. Blasted grenades! Yeah you got them but so do the enemy and they love to use them!!
4. Tigers & leopards. Annoying plus how many bullets does it take to actually kill a leopard. Too many if you ask me.
5.Sound wise sometimes it was hard to hear Lara talking to Zip and the other guy. This lowered my enjoyment of the game since I didn't really know what they said to each other half of the time.
6. THE MAJOR FLAW WAS IT WAS MUCH TOO SHORT!! THE ENDING WAS VERY GOOD BUT MUCH TOO SHORT!!!
7. NO replayability much like KINGDOM HEARTS 2.

The stuff They improved:
1. The detail in this game was awesome!! From the smoke coming from her just fired guns to when she gets out of the water she actually looks wet(her hair, her clothes, her skin), realistic shadows, her breath coming out when it's cold.
2. Love Lara's new moves!!
3. Love the motor bike parts in the game.
4. New Personal Light Source Yes! so much better than flares!!
5. Plenty of health packs
6. plenty of ammo and weapons
7. Cool outfits (what can I say I'm such a girl)
8. Sound wise (music) pretty good.
9. Binoculars (RAD mode) pretty dang helpful
10. Excaliber oh yeah!!
11. The ending though short was good!! Pistol whipping Amanda was priceless. She So deserved it!!
All in all good game but still kinda of disappointed with it. The shortness factor. If it would have had a longer ending it probably could have redeemed itself.

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