Okay, so I might be a bit late to the 25th anniversary of "Tomb Raider," just by nearly four months...
"Tomb Raider: Legend" released in 2006 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, mobile phones, PlayStation Portable, Xbox, Gamecube, handhelds, and PC. "Legend" was developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Eidos Software. Crystal Dynamics would go on to be the main developer for the "Tomb Raider" games going forward.
"Tomb Raider: Legend" is the seventh "Tomb Raider" title and acts as a reboot of the series following the critical failure of the sixth "Tomb Raider" game, "Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness."
"Angel of Darkness" was rushed to coincide with the "Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life" movie and was developed by the exhausted Core Design developers, the original creators of "Tomb Raider." By this point, they were sick of making "Tomb Raider" games. Unfortunately, seven years after "Angel of Darkness," Core Design shut down.
I played "Legend" as a young child for the PlayStation 2. However, I remember so little about the game that I hesitate to call this a retrospective review. I don't even remember my opinions on most things in the game. I was more focused on the parts that scared me to tears, and even those I ended up forgetting until now.
This time around I played on the Steam version, which for some reason didn't let me take screenshots, so oop.
Review
"Tomb Raider: Legend" is about Lara Croft searching for the artifact(s) that caused her mother's death. While searching for these artifacts, she'll face off against James Rutland, who's seeking the artifacts too, and potentially her former friend... Which you can see at the end of the first mission... The game isn't good with plot reveals.
For what it is, the story is enjoyable. The characters gave me a few chuckles which is also thanks to their great voice-acting, but only Lara Croft stood out among the cast of characters. This is by no means a character-driven experience, most characters are funny, just unmemorable... As in I forgot most things about them.
The antagonists have it the worst as despite having interesting personalities and motives, they're barely explored. One antagonist's motive for wanting to kill Lara is only ever brought up once. Which is weird because it's a motive of resentment, villains usually love talking about their resentment towards the hero. It's up there with explaining evil plans.
The main draw of the story is the mystery behind why Lara's mom died and uncovering the truth of the artifact(s). It's an engaging mystery that surprised me with the answers.
However, to get these artifact(s), Lara must scale mountains, cross gaps by jumping, climb up ledges & poles, wonder if caves are natural formations, and more. The climbing has a great flow to it, having a good sense of speed. There are parts that are a bit too slow, but it still feels great all around.
[Credit: Kawaii Games]
Players can mash Y (for Xbox controllers) to climb and swim faster. These help to keep a good flow during climbing and swimming sections.
Lara can also push and pull items herself. Alternatively, Lara has a handy grapple that can pull items from a distance to solve puzzles or just cause property damage.
[Credit: Kawaii Games]
You want to solve puzzles because... Well, how else will you progress? Lara can't do astral projection. The puzzles are enjoyable, being great fun to solve. They give a good challenge too, although sometimes that challenge comes from me overthinking things.
[Credit: Kawaii Games]
For example, I thought this chain was on a time limit when all pressure plates were pressured. If it was too low, I wouldn't be able to reach the ledge. It wasn't... Which means I made it harder on myself... Which I did eventually figure out! A-After I beat the game and replayed the first level...
However, no matter how long you get stuck on a puzzle, the presentation will always leave you in awe. The visuals look great, especially for 2006. The environments nail the atmosphere they're going for.
[Credit: Kawaii Games]
The music is fantastic too. Back when I was a kid, it was just white noise, that's one of the few things I remember. However, as an adult, the music hits hard. The atmospheric tracks of ruins, the music in combat is catchy, and the main theme is beautiful.
Speaking of combat, guns! In combat, Lara shoots at mercenaries and sometimes jaguars, it's always jaguars, with her guns using a lock-on system. Lara can perform acrobatics to dodge bullets, kick enemies to stun them, pick up guns from the ground like a grenade launcher, and even use grenades.
[Credit: Kawaii Games]
Lara basically goes on a murderous rampage and its fun as h*ck, if a little too simple. There's barely any enemy variety and the player doesn't need to change up their combat strategy much. It's still satisfying to shoot at mercenaries while dodging bullets, it makes me feel cool. Could it be better? Absolutely, but for what it is, it's great fun.
Unfortunately, the combat system doesn't translate well to bosses. Every boss is underwhelming with little need to strategize. The final boss is the worst, with the lock-on system not cooperating and constant stun locking.
Lara, like the bosses, has a health bar too. Her health can be refilled by health packs, which are dropped by enemies or found in levels. Lara can keep up to three in her inventory.
However, quick-time events (QTEs) look at your health bar and slap it. If the player misses a QTE prompt, Lara instantly dies. However, the checkpoint system doesn't make death too punishing unless you're going for the collectibles.
The deaths can even be funny because of the ragdoll physics, both in and out of QTEs.
Lara also has a flashlight and binoculars to zoom in & identify objects. These can be handy but are also a bit too situational.
There are also vehicle sections where Lara drives a motorcycle, shooting enemies on their own motorcycles. The sense of speed is amazing, and it feels awesome to control, but the combat leaves little room for strategy.
If Lara isn't close to the enemy, she won't do decent damage. However, Lara becomes easier to hit if she's close and there's no way to really dodge when close and personal. While driving the motorcycle is fun, fighting enemies on a motorcycle isn't.
The game also has multiple collectibles, with artifacts of varying values from bronze, silver, to gold. Collecting the artifacts can be done by picking them up by exploring or using your grapple on them. Ah yes, the proper reaction to get an ancient artifact... Grapple and likely scratch it!
Collecting collectibles unlocks extra items such as concept art, character profiles, and so on. The most important bonuses you collect though, are the outfits.
The different outfits are the coolest bonus item to unlock as they change Lara's appearance. Each outfit looks wonderful and gives a new visual flair that works for Lara. Honestly, collecting the artifacts is fun, rewarding exploration.
There are also time trials to complete, unlocking more outfits, even of another character. I love the inclusion of other character models for the player to play as, it's so cool.
[Credit: KillerZ]
Also, to motivate completing every time trial, players DO get a bikini outfit for use in the Croft Manor. The developers knew what they were doing.
The time trials are insane fun that rewards knowledge of the game. They are also well-balanced in difficulty, so one or two errors won't cost the entire time trial to fail. The only exception is the final mission, due to the unfortunately janky final boss mechanics.
The addition of collectibles and time trials encourages replaying the game to find worthwhile rewards. It can turn "Legend" from a roughly eight-hour experience, to one that can last longer assuming you don't use a walkthrough.
The combination of gameplay mechanics, differing visuals, and collectibles makes for well-designed and memorable levels that are so much fun to play. Out of the nine levels, none of them are even close to bad.
Overall (A)
"Tomb Raider: Legend" is overall an extremely fun game to play. The climbing mechanics are excellent, the combat is simple but fun, the replayability is great, the presentation looks & sounds nice, and the story has a great mystery.
Unfortunately, the bosses are underwhelming, the combat is a bit too simple, the final boss is janky, and the story leaves a lot to be desired. However, look past the flaws, and you have an extremely fun game on your hands.
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