Lara Croft is reborn for the new generation and boy is it done with style and finesse, but can she be taken seriously?
However, after playing the demo, I realized that Tomb Raider Legend plays a lot like Prince of Persia. This realization caught my eye and my interest (I love Prince of Persia!). I picked up Legend and began raiding tombs immediately.
Again I have no Lara Croft reference point here but Legend's story explores Lara's past with her Family and lost friends. The story is interesting and you will easily be able to follow it, but that's not what kept me playing the game. The game play is what did it for me. Lara traverses the levels like a pro climbing on ledges and platforms while taking on as many enemies out as she can. There are some button combos mixed into the game and you have a fair amount of collectible treasures. The visuals (at least on Xbox 360) are stunning and the water effects are outstanding. What I'm trying to say is that everything is Tomb Raider Legend is solid and fun. Most of the game won't disappoint you.
What Legend is missing is length, polish, and combat. Legend is very short and sweet. With this short of a length, it hard to recommend a player pick it up for $60…$30-$20 seems more reasonable. Some of the jumps while on bars or ledges can be erratic and/or unpredictable but it doesn't ruin the whole experience. It just makes the player over think the jumps Lara has to make. This lack of polish is evident in the Croft Manor bonus level. Also, the puzzles aren't as obvious as they are in some of Legends' counterpart franchises (GOW, POP, and Uncharted). I spent a lot of time on a handful of puzzles simply because there were no clues at all to help guide me through them. Finally, the combat is fun and easy but outside of the main bosses, most of the enemies are weak and easy to take out.
I plan on playing Tomb Raider Anniversary and Underworld and I am very curious to see how the older titles stack up to this reinvention of the TR franchise games. Not many games can change my perspective on a franchise like TR Legend has.