Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend – PS2 – Review

Poor Lara Croft,
her life was marred by a series of tragedies including the death of her fiancée
in a plane crash, being buried alive on one of her expeditions in Egypt, was
portrayed by Angelina Jolie in two unspectacular movies and then being framed
for murder in a game that nearly ended her series of adventures. Ah, but all is
not bad in the Tomb Raider series because this Indiana Jones with an
impressive bust has certainly made quite a name for herself in an industry
filled with Master Chiefs and mythological god-smashing warriors named Kratos.
In her new adventure, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend for the PlayStation
2, Lara reminds us why we so loved her in the first place.

Legend
begins with one of Lady Croft’s earliest memories that seem to link her past
with her current quest. As a little girl, Lara and her mother had suffered a
traumatic event as their plane crash landed but the real tragedy occurred during
an expedition for a rare item. Not only did Lara lose her mother on that
expedition but several years later she would also lose a colleague searching for
the very same artifact. A trip to Peru suddenly reveals a shocking secret: her
colleague is still alive and hates Lara’s guts to the point that she becomes
Croft’s deadliest nemesis. As the story unravels, Lara must travel to various
exotic locals that take her on a quest that involves Arthurian lore and the
tombs she is known for raiding all these years.

While Lara
Croft Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness had an interesting plot, it was the
deviation from the exploration and tomb-based puzzles that gamers missed the
most. In Legend, I’m happy to report, we see a return to the tombs, its
various interconnecting puzzles and high-flying acrobatics. In short, it’s a
return to familiar yet – thanks to the new creative team of Crystal Dynamics –
there are some new elements that make this an even better experience than the
early games of the series. Consider it a sort of visual and gameplay-mechanic
makeover and you get a game that happily plays in familiar territory while
giving us some new sights to look at along the way.

Among the new
additions are Lara’s gadgets that range from a magnetic grapple hook that can be
used to swing from one area to another or to catch hold of an enemy and draw him
closer for a knuckle sandwich to the face or a bullet to the brain. She also has
her own personal light source (so no need to light up a glow stick like in the
old days) and she also carries binoculars that feature a little gadget that
points out things Lara can manipulate and use. Again she carries with her those
trusty twin guns but she could always pick up any weapon a fallen enemy leaves
behind for backup.

Lady Croft’s
adventures always take her to exotic places and Legend is not any
different. She starts her adventure in Bolivia and moves on to Peru (including a
flashback of Lara in her easily recognizable old outfit), the neon-lit streets
of Tokyo as well as other interesting places that will eventually lead to the
supposed location of King Arthur’s tomb. She’ll be exploring tombs complete with
intricate and not so intricate puzzles, and thankfully this time around she
won’t be doing a lot of backtracking to open doors. The puzzles range from the
simple (using your weight on an obvious early puzzle) to the somewhat complex
(matching a pattern on the ground to open a new location). While the puzzles are
challenging, they’re not difficult and won’t stump you in the very least.

There are even
moments that deviate from the usual action and exploration. At one point in the
game, Lara hops on a motorcycle in a mini-game that has her fending off enemies
on trucks and motorcycles without losing her intended target. She even puts on a
slinky dress to infiltrate a party and then climbs high atop buildings
overlooking the streets of Tokyo. There’s also no shortage of items to collect
in order to unlock extras and you can always take a breather from the game’s
story mode to explore Croft Manor and unlock even more extras.

What doesn’t
work, however, is the combat. The problem is centered on the targeting system
that doesn’t lock on to the enemy directly, often having you shoot round after
round near him. Add the fact that it often takes more than two clips to kill a
bad guy makes matters worse and keeps the gunfights from being any fun or
eventful. I actually went out of my way to avoid confrontations with armed
henchmen or wild creatures but sadly you’re forced into combat.

On the visual
front, Legend looks great on the PS2 but nowhere near as gorgeous as the
Xbox version. Still, we’re looking at a game with sharp graphics, smooth
animated cutscenes and impressive backgrounds. You will find some annoying
clipping issues here and there and the textures look a bit washed out, but this
is a game that will not fail to impress visually. Not only was the gameplay
given a makeover but so was Lara herself, who sports some more natural curves
and more facial expressions. If Lara decides to take a dip in water you’ll see
water drip from her skin and her outfit will have that damp look. This is not a
bad-looking PS2 game overall.

The game also
took a page out of the Angelina Jolie movies in that the soundtrack is just
plain beautiful and wonderfully cinematic at all the right moments throughout
the game. Even the voice acting is good thanks to the good actors and even
better dialogue and when it comes to the voice of Lara, who has no shortage of
action film one-liners, she‘s still a very likeable character. I do wish there
was more in terms of audible detail when it comes to the sound effects. Sure the
tombs sound creepy but gunfire sounds flat and so does explosions. Still, what
is here is not bad at all.

Lara Croft
Tomb Raider: Legend
for the PS2 will make you fall in love with our favorite curvy
adventurer all over again and with better visuals, a great story and lots to see
and do fans new and old will have a blast going through these tombs. Combat
falls flat and enemies take dozens of rounds to die but the levels are exciting
and this adventure makes us glad the series didn’t die. If you’re a fan you do
not want to miss this game.

Gameplay: 8.0
The various
levels in Legend pay homage to the first three Tomb Raider games
and that’s not a bad thing at all but the real treat here is that there are some
new elements tossed in as a refreshing update. Lara’s new gadgets are great and
exploring interesting new tombs in these exotic locales make this worth the
admission price.

Graphics: 8.2
Visually
speaking, Legend looks good on the PS2 although not as detailed as the
Xbox version. Some of the textures could have looked a lot better but the game
still has nicely detailed environments and the lovely Miss Croft looks and moves
more realistically now.

Sound: 8.5
The voice
acting is top-notch and the dialogue works well within the interesting story and
the score is wonderfully cinematic. The sound effects are not bad at all either
but it doesn’t really stand out.

Difficulty:
Medium
The puzzles in
the game won’t stump you but they do provide a nice challenge and a better
distraction from the somewhat dull and flawed combat. Some of the more acrobatic
moments can be a bit difficult to pull off without falling to your death but it
just makes the tomb raiding all the more challenging.

Concept: 8.5
Exploring the
booby-trapped catacombs in Bolivia and uncovering the secrets of the Arthurian
legend make us forget about the bad taste that Angel of Darkness left in
our mouths a while back. There are enough secrets and collectibles to keep
gamers more than busy and exploring Croft Manor is still a fun treat.

Overall: 8.2
Lara Croft’s
return to the PS2 is a good one and thus making Lara Croft Tomb Raider:
Legend a game worthy of our favorite video-game icon. While it’s not a
radically new direction for the series, the return to the familiar elements that
made this series such a joy are back and the action-packed moments scattered
throughout make this a game fans will definitely enjoy.