Not great, but not bad. A bit short but satisfying.
In a nutshell, Legend finds Lara Croft digging into the past as she has always been known to do, but this time it's personal. It deals with her mother's disappearance after she and young Lara survived a plane crash in the Himalayas, and also a long-lost friend named Amanda, who supposedly died in Paraiso. Sadly, the story is rather short (only eight missions), and ends on a disappointing cliff-hanger.
Like I mentioned earlier, the game looks and sounds great. Lara visits a number of different locales, and you'll be treated to many breathtaking views. For the GameCube, the graphics are far above average. The voice talent is top notch too. The music is good, though it's often more ambient than active. Nothing wrong with that, though, as you won't want too many distractions to get in your way.
Legend missteps in it's controls and difficulty. You'll notice I indicated difficulty was "Just Right," but that's me being fair. What happens is that the action in Legend is very easy, but the Adventuring is not so much. Obviously, Lara is not an action heroine; she is an adventurer. As a result, when you find yourself pressed into combat in Legend, you won't be too challenged. You'll lock onto your enemies with the L-trigger, and then fire at them with the R-trigger. About the only challenge will be to find cover while you're reloading.There are a few different secondary weapons, but more often than not you'll stick with your pistols by default (they come with infinite ammo). I will say that since general combat is so simple, boss battles might throw you off for a second or two, since you can't just run-and-gun them. You'll need to take cover and take your shots when you have them. Other than that, combat is pretty straightforward.
Adventuring is a combination of platforming and puzzle solving. You'll need to pay close attention to your surroundings if you're going to traverse the many natural obstacles and dangers you're presented with. The difficulty here is notably higher than the combat portion of the game, so it's nice to have that balanced out.
For the most part Lara controls smoothly.Frustration can abound when trying to move quickly from one ledge/pole to another and you end up jumping the wrong way into the abyss. Pay quick attention in case your jump wasn't perfect, because if it wasn't you'll be prompted to hit another button when you make contact to catch yourself from falling further.
Minor complaints aside, Tomb Raider: Legend is a solid all-around game. Another nice addition to it is some interactive cutscenes where you have to react quickly to keep Lara alive. Much like the protagonist, you need to be on your toes the entire time. Not a bad game at all.