Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend - Platinum Product Details

Released on 09/03/2007

• Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend Preview

  Sultry, shapely, and once again a Lara Lara fun.

  I've always had this thing about waterfalls. It's not clinical, and I've not let it hold me back in my day to day life, but whenever I see one right in front of me, I just get an urge to stop what I'm doing, take a run-up, and swan dive my way all the way down to the awaiting water.
  In a game, that is. In real life, I flop with all the grace of Jonny Vegas - but with a pad in my hand there's nothing more satisfying to me than standing atop my own personal horizon, taking a breath and plummeting my digital avatar tens of feet towards a plunge in the deep blue yonder.

  It's all Zelda's fault. Ever since Link leapt from the high point of Zora's domain in Ocarina of Time's diving minigame, this strange affliction has taken effect, negating my every sense of in-game self preservation. And it's not strictly waterfalls, either; cliffs, mountains, bridges...anywhere there's a tall summit and a breathtaking blue vista. For me, THAT jump at the end of Galleon's opening island was the defining point of the entire game. Heck, you don't want to know how long it took me to complete Shadow of the Colossus.

  Fully successful analogue movement of the curvaceous tomb-trawling temptress is now a very playable reality for the first time in the franchise.

  From the moment I saw Tomb Raider Legend on my recent trip to Eidos HQ, I knew I'd feel right at home in Lara Croft's well-travelled world. With no Heads Up Display to confuse, controlling Lara feels an immediately absorbing experience that's easy to buy into. The opening environment is a lush outdoor introduction; a stream flows along a rocky ledge at the edge of a cliff, shrouded with vines and home to the odd grassy outcrop and strewn boulder. Likewise, Lara herself is immaculately modelled; looking more lifelike than ever, and even displaying wet patches (steady on! - Ed) when climbing from the water. That may not sound so different to your average action adventure, but trust me, in motion it is: I first saw the PS2 build, and even on Sony's ageing system Tomb Raider Legend looked more akin to a high-end Xbox title.

  Superficial, you may think. After all, Lara's last few adventures were all reasonable lookers, but lacked that imagination and flow which made the first two Tomb Raiders amongst the biggest titles of the PlayStation generation. Thanks to the series' new home at developers Crystal Dynamics, however, the latest Edios-published Tomb Raider also boasts a much-needed update to the series' design and control sensibilities.

  A new Fluid Movement System (patent-pending, one can only assume) leaves Lara's angular movements firmly behind her ample...erm...behind, meaning fully successful analogue movement of the curvaceous tomb-trawling temptress is now a very playable reality for the first time in the franchise. Ms Croft runs, jumps, grabs, hangs, swings, vaults, climbs and rolls with a freedom of movement and ease of control previously reserved for Ubi Soft's Prince of Persia.

  And the good news is that it's all so simple to do. Despite looking interminably tricky, gaps can be bridged by Lara's athletic leaping in a manner so simple that it's astounding the Tomb Raider titles never saw it earlier. Anything Lara can grab, she inevitably will do, without the need for an action button to be held down or any dodgy issues with context sensitivity timing.

  She's got the moves

  Lara leads jumps with an arm, ready to find a handhold on any platform edge, and can dangle from precipices for as much time as she needs. Pressing jump here will see her climb to her feet, while the same button can propel the posh totty acrobatically between trapeze-like bars. Accidentally fall off a ledge and Lara will swiftly turn to catch herself on its edge, Ico style. Meanwhile, shimmying up a vine is a mere case of walking into one, with swift button presses transferring the heroine worry-free between the bright green stems. In all, there's an impressive sense of accessibility that apes Galleon; the other famous game from Lara Croft creator Toby Gard, and some branch-swinging animation that even betters the simian sections of Ubi Soft's impressive King Kong licence.

  It looks great. It controls fantastically. And, even judging by the pre-release code, Tomb Raider Legend also boasts amongst the best old-school style puzzles we've seen in a long, long time. Like Prince of Persia, almost every room in our demo held a grandiose platforming puzzle that impeded progress. Often, a swift camera fly-through would hint at the overall task in hand, then swing back to Lara and leave us to get on with it.

  Thankfully, she's easily able to deal with almost anything thrown her way; alongside the inherent athleticism Lara packs an impressive arsenal of weapons and a nifty lock-on targeting system that works better than in most 3D gun-based titles. Alongside this is a rather handy grappling hook that's good for all occasions: swinging across chasms, hooking walls and pulling herself along on a floating raft, or yanking important stones out of place in order to solve puzzles.

  One tricky set piece I saw involved jumping onto a dangling rope and swinging into a pillar to knock it over; just one example of the kinetic puzzle solving in the game. Other types include your traditional block puzzle; in one instance using one grate to jam open two moving walls and make it through to the other side; another necessitating the use of a stone see-saw and some pretty sophisticated physics in order to propel blocks to a higher level, where a set of floor switches (they just get everywhere in ancient Tombs, don't they?) awaited.

  Could be easily the most fun we've had in dark places with a buxom brunette in nearly a decade.

  The best part of all of this? Like Lara's movement control, it's no longer an angular experience; she can drag blocks in all directions and position them intuitively without any of the traditional momentum-sapping rigidity; an aspect that only emphasises the gap in quality between this and the other recent Tomb Raider efforts.

  Which just leaves that waterfall, really. Watching an Edios representative play a later stage in the game, I could barely contain my excitement as the lime green hills gave way to an epic open crevice lined with gallons of wondrously frothy cascading liquid. A run. A leap. A swan dive: this was undoubtedly the hand of Toby Gard in evidence - back where he belongs affront his biggest and best gift to videogaming. There were other areas too - from a gob-smackingly scenic temple entrance to an awe-inspiring Japanese cityscape, giving just a small insight into what to expect from the final game's globe-hopping adventure. Seeing it all again shortly after on Xbox 360 was the icing on the cake, exhibiting a simply astounding degree of texture detail, lighting effects and overall ambience that could well make this one multiformat title for which the better looking version justifies extra expenditure.

  I'm excited. Eidos are excited. The whole game.co.uk team are excited. We all feel there's something pretty special about to happen here; that Tomb Raider Legend could be easily the most fun we've had in dark places with a buxom brunette in nearly a decade (Speak for yourself! - Ed). It's certainly shaping up to win the aristocratic adventurer a whole world of new admirers - and, who knows...those that decide to experience Lara's new beginning may even understand my waterfall thing a bit better by the time they're done.

  Well...maybe not.

  Preview by: Mark Scott
  Preview Published: 23.03.06

  Published: 23/03/2006

• Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend

  Jonny drops the bombshell...

  I have a bit of a confession to make. I never played Tomb Raider.

  When Lara Croft's first adventure appeared back in on PlayStation back in '96, I turned my back on her. A devoted (or perhaps, blinkered) Nintendo gamer, she represented everything I hated about the changes that were taking place in the world of games at the time. Cool people calling themselves gamers? This had to stop!

  My beloved Nintendo, and even the more streetwise Sega were left reeling by the PlayStation revolution, and, flanked by the likes of WipeOut and Ridge Racer, Lara Croft became a sort of symbol for PlayStation sass and sex, and of course, sales success.

  The timing was impeccable - with The Spice Girls burning up the charts and Buffy about to hit weekly television screens, the thirst for "girl power" was at its height, and helped catapult Lara (and anyone associated - such as Nell McAndrew) into the stratosphere of magazine covers, Lucozade sponsorship and big-budget movies.

  But as Lara cemented her status as the world's first true synthetic celebrity, cracks began to appear in her very foundation, as each successive game release saw a serious decline in quality, and when 2003 saw Lara star in both the most horrific game (The Angel of Darkness) and film (The Cradle of Life) of the year, it seemed high time to put the old girl out to pasture.

  One very welcome addition is that of Shenmue-esque cinematic events to get Lara through a dramatic situations.

  Publisher Eidos vowed that Lara would be back, and commissioned acclaimed developer Crystal Dynamics (responsible for Soul Reaver) to rethink Tomb Raider from the ground up...which brings us to 2006 and Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend.

  The first victim of this radical rethink was Lara's movement. Gone is the mostly-detested "grid-based" movement of earlier games (another reason I steered well clear) to be replaced by what the developer calls a Fluid Movement System. Translated, this basically means "We played Prince of Persia a lot" and it really makes an immense amount of difference, both in increasing its accessibility and lessening the frustration apparently so often engendered by Lara's clunky old style.

  Lara now moves with an assured grace over all types of terrain. She's a very capable climber and can find a way to scamper up just about any monolithic obstacle that might be in her path, inching round ledges with only her fingertips carrying her weight. The way she jumps with her arms outstretched is very effective, always giving you the split-second impression she won't make it even though you know she's got it under control. The only thing they've not really cracked is her underwater movement - something few games if any have made work.

  Combat has drawn concern from some quarters but it's hard to see why, as it's always fun especially considering it's one of a broad range of play styles in the game. Lara can pick up a respectable amount of weapons throughout the game, while environments are packed with opportunities for causing enemies damage by shooting out the correct strut or good old explosive barrel. I'm not wholly sure I like the fact that this is a woman that will shoot a Jaguar in the face and then make a quip about it, and in fact the animal encounters do tend to annoy, but where she's fighting mercenaries (as is mostly the case) there are no particular complaints here.

  Fresh and captivating

  Environmental puzzles are a major part of the Tomb Raider repertoire, and here the developer has achieved something that's rare nowadays - puzzles which feel remarkably fresh and captivating even if they are merely new takes on established conventions. And thankfully the physics in the game are just right, with objects on the whole behaving as you'd expect them to, rather than the exaggerated physics we've come to expect from many games in recent times. The addition of a grappling hook helps with puzzles as well as movement and again adds a fresh perspective to what you may have experienced before.

  One very welcome addition is that of Shenmue-esque cinematic events, which require timed pressing of highlighted buttons to get Lara through a dramatic situations. These are particularly entertaining when you screw it up, as some of the resulting death animations are hilarious (swinging smack into a floodlight before crashing to the floor in a twisted heap is particularly funny).

  A special mention has to go out to what's been achieved, graphically, on the old PS2. It looks absolutely stunning, far beyond what anyone would have guessed it would have been capable of - the downside of which is that the Xbox 360 version looks less spectacular in comparison.

  Surprises and delights more often than we expected it to, and returns the series to that which so appealed to people ten years ago.

  Legend's main problem is that it doesn't seem to know what to be. It's striving to be a massmarket IP which even your Mum will get into, to return Lara to her multimedia glory days, yet it's every inch a proper game, with like, challenges that any seasoned gamer will relish. The result is a bizarre difficulty curve, punctuated equally by moments when even the best will get completely stuck (oh so grenades don't blow up doors apart from that one?) and over-the-top hand-holding in the form of repeated on-screen help, which seems like a panicked reaction to discovering that perhaps it is too difficult for the kind of person that doesn't play many games.

  At the end of the day Tomb Raider: Legend is best described as an enjoyable action-adventure romp, suffering from the odd design flaw which is just about the right side of acceptable, and punctuated by regular moments of pure brilliance. Seriously, when the game gets it right it does so with real class which matches Lady Croft's obvious good breeding.

  Whether you're riding a motorcycle across high-rise rooftops, swinging from building to building Spider-Man style in a ripped cocktail dress, swan diving gracefully over the edge of a towering waterfall, or generally larking around with ancient puzzles guarding priceless treasures, Tomb Raider: Legend surprises and delights more often than we expected it to, and does a fine job of returning the series to the majestic locales, exploration and acrobatic movement which so appealed to people ten years ago.

  Eidos sadly seems desperate to re-establish Lara as a valid cultural icon, not realising that (much like Buffy and The Spice Girls) her glory days are gone, and that it was this focus on those extraneous aspects of her phenomenon that was the reason the ball was dropped so badly in the past with the actual games - which to be fair is all we really care about. Forget the movies, the soft drinks, the Lad's Mags which are still stuck in the 90s, and all that other tosh - this here is a darn fine game and will place Lara back among the upper echelons of the medium simply because it deserves to.

  Welcome back.

  GAME's Verdict

  

  • A compelling mixture of styles that work well together.
  • Some gorgeous exotic locales to explore.
  • There's a moment where Lara...uh...alters her slinky black dress to allow for better mobility. It's good.

  

  

  • Swimming sections are not fun.
  • Fighting animals tends to annoy.
  • Losing two hours of gameplay on the X360 version because "Checkpoint" doesn't actually mean it's saved...

  Review by: Jonny Austin
  Version Tested: Xbox 360, PS2
  Review Published: 06.04.06

  Published: 06/04/2006

• Tomb Raider going open world?

  Tomb Raider going open world?

  This sounds weird, as rumours go, but perhaps it?s just weird enough to be true. PC Gamer is hinting on its website that Eidos? next title in the Tomb Raider series will be going open world.

  According to the PC website, the developer is ditching the idea of linear levels and dungeons in order to set players free on a huge Japanese island which will act as a kind of sandbox, filled with hundreds of different things to do.

  It sounds pretty enticing ? particularly since the publisher has already shown it can deliver on sandbox experiences with the excellent Just Cause 2, which is currently available for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

  But Lara in an open world? That?s something to get really excited about.

  We?ve not heard much about the latest game in the series, except for a confirmation that Crystal Dynamics is hard at work on it. That?s the team that handled the recent run of titles, including Tomb Raider Legend and the brilliant Tomb Raider Underworld, both of which you can still pick up in stores.
  

• New Tomb Raider film on the way?

  Well, it looks like videogames' leading lady is getting another chance on the silver screen, as Square Enix has announced that there's a new Tomb Raider film on the way.

  According to a report in Variety - thanks for the spot, Eurogamer - the film will be released in 2013, although no cast, writers, or directors have been announced yet.

  The film will be produced by GK Films, who made Ben Affleck's movie The Town, and The Tourist, which starred Johnny Depp and the original Lara Croft, Angelina Jolie. "We are very excited to be rebooting what is already a hugely successful film franchise and continuing the Tomb Raider phenomenon," said GK Films' boss Graham King.

  If you can't wait until 2013, the game series is currently undergoing a reboot, too, with the next game in the franchise - just titled Tomb Raider - depicting the adventures of a very young Lara Croft as she struggles to survive on a mysterious island where she's been ship-wrecked. It's a much grittier take on the character, and with its vicious enemies and environmental hazards, almost seems to head into survival horror territory.

  We'll keep you posted on the film and the game - particularly the game - as we have any more news.

• New Tomb Raider movie 'will be a character piece'

  New Tomb Raider movie 'will be a character piece'

  Tomb Raider fans can expect the next movie based on the classic videogames to be a much more character-driven experience than previous big-screen adventures.

  Graham King, the producer of the forthcoming flick, told ComingSoon.net that the new Lara Croft film will be a totally different beast from the Angelina Jolie-starring efforts of the early 2000s.

  This time around, the story will focus on how Lara became the fearless adventurer fans know and love, meaning audiences can expect a focused "character piece" with plenty of action and fun.

  "I've not really done a movie like that before, but I really gravitated to rebooting this franchise and we're going to give it a shot," he said.

  The new Tomb Raider movie is due out in 2013 and is being written by hotshot scripting duo Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, whose credits include Iron Man and Children of Men.

  Meanwhile, SquareEnix and Crystal Dynamics are also set to reboot Lara's story in the world of videogames with a gritty new "origin story" coming to Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC next year.

  Published: 23/11/2011

• New Year Revolutions: The games of 2012 that we want to play now

  New Year Revolutions: The games of 2012 that we want to play now

  Towards the end of last year, we saw veritable avalanche of amazing games roll over us, leaving us swamped but happy with top-notch titles such as Modern Warfare 3, Batman: Arkham City, Skyrim, Super Mario Land 3D, Assassin's Creed Revelations, Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Saints Row The Third and, oh, you get the idea.

  Surely that's more than enough new games to leave even the greediest gamer feeling stuffed and satisfied? Well, yes, but don't pretend you can't hear that little voice whispering in the back of your mind. What's next? it says.

  Here's the answer: our guide to the big games of 2012 that we can't wait to play.

  GTA V (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

  The genre-busting open-world crime caper makes its long-awaited return, with an all-new tale set in the pseudo-L.A. of Los Santos. Details are limited to one cryptic trailer, but where Rockstar is concerned it's safe to set expectations high.
  

  Mass Effect 3 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

  Bioware brings its grand space opera to a cataclysmic finale, as the world-devouring Reapers declare open war on Earth. The game adds optional multiplayer modes, as well as Kinect voice features for Xbox 360.
  

  Halo 4 (Xbox 360)

  Who seriously thought that Halo 3 would be the last we saw of Master Chief? He's back for the start of a brand new trilogy, which will find the Spartan super soldier confronting his own destiny as well as an ancient evil poised to destroy the universe. No pressure then.
  

  Bioshock Infinite (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

  Swapping the bottom of the ocean for the top of the world, this continuation of the smartest sci-fi shooter in recent memory casts you as a Pinkerton agent in 1912, trying to escape a dystopian city in the clouds. Expect gorgeous views and gruelling terror in equal measure.
  

  Borderlands 2 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

  Return to Pandora for another round of co-operative role-playing mayhem. The game promises more dynamic quests which will alter the path of the story, as well as smarter enemies and more independent non-player characters. Bring it.
  

  Hitman: Absolution (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

  It's been five years since Agent 47 last graced our joypads in Blood Money, and his latest adventure will take full advantage of the updates in technology since. Expect to be able to set up more elaborate assassinations, as well some form of multiplayer.
  

  Max Payne 3 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

  Rockstar's other big game for 2012 finds the dual-wielding anti-hero cop disgraced and working as a bodyguard in Brazil. Of course, it all kicks off when the family he's guarding are targeted by gangsters, and slow-motion shooty-diving is the only way to settle the score.
  

  The Last Guardian (PS3)

  The latest game from Ico and Shadow of the Colossus creator Fumito Ueda follows a young boy attempting to escape from a grim castle with some help from his friend, a giant griffin-creature called Trico. Action, puzzles and beautiful loveliness ensue.
  

  Tomb Raider (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

  After drifting out of the spotlight, the first lady of gaming returns with this series reboot which follows a more vulnerable teenage Lara Croft, as she grows into the confident adventurer we all know and love.
  

  PlayStation Vita

  Sony's incredibly powerful handheld drops in February, bringing next-gen muscle to the portable gaming market. With 3G and Wifi-enabled models available - and boasting exclusive Uncharted, Wipeout and Call of Duty games - it's the console to watch in 2012.
  
  

• Heroes Reborn!

  
  

  2012 sees the return of four iconic heroes to our screens - Master Chief in Halo 4, Lara Croft in Tomb Raider, Agent 47 in Hitman: Absolution, and Max Payne in, er, Max Payne 3. But why is this exciting? Read on...

  

  Max Payne

  
  

  In a nutshell: Vengeful cop turned vengeful vigilante.
  Last seen in: Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne (2003)
  Returns in: Max Payne 3 (May 18th 2012) on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC

  Why this excites us: The man who really puts the "Homicide" into "Homicide Detective", Max has been missing in action for nearly a decade (unless you count the Mark Wahlberg movie. We don't). The series was famed for its film noir elements and its use of bullet time action, and for Max's own increasing inner darkness.

  When he returns in Max Payne 3 he's still just as miserable; the years have not been good to Max, who's now working private security for a less than scrutable employer in South America. Needless to say, a certain substance soon hits the fan and Max finds himself smack in the middle of criminal wars, teaching them all a lesson in his own brand of angry justice. And we couldn't be happier.

  

  Agent 47

  
  

  In a nutshell: Bald-and-barcoded clone built for assassination
  Last seen in: Hitman: Blood Money (2006)
  Returns in: Hitman: Absolution (TBC 2012) on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC

  Why this excites us: Gaming's best-dressed killer has always been cool, calm and genetically superior, and this year he's back to remind everyone just how this assassin thing is done. He's famed for his increasingly ingenious methods of eliminating his targets, from poisoning punch, to pushing off balconies, to sneaking about in disguise, to plain old shooting, with a real emphasis on tactics, planning and skill.

  Betrayed by the agency who built him, and those he's gone on to trust, Hitman: Absolution sees 47 on the run once more and at the heart of a dark conspiracy, and on a journey that's more personal than professional. The developers are promising big technological advancements to enhance your instincts and abilities - and those around you, too. Just remember, it's not just about killing, but killing outside the box!

  

  Master Chief

  
  

  In a nutshell: Silent Spartan super-soldier. John-117 to his mates.
  Last seen in: Halo 3 (2007)
  Returns in: Halo 4 (6th November 2012) on Xbox 360

  Why this excites us: The UNSC may not like him, but we sure do. It didn't matter that he didn't really get a personality until Halo 3, this intergalactic badass has been doing his job and saving the Earth from alien conquests (with no showboating or stopping for, ahem, conquests of his own) since the launch of the Xbox. The responses to Halo: ODST and Halo: Reach showed that it was really the Chief that we wanted to see, and Cortana's cry of "I need you! Wake up John! Chief!" in the Halo 4 trailer echoed the sentiment of Halo gamers the world over.

  Halo 4 promises to delve further into who Chief is and what makes him tick, as well as his relationship with Cortana. Getting to know the Chief a little better can only further our relationship with him, especially as his new armour seems to only further his relationship with badassery. November can't come soon enough.

  

  Lara Croft

  
  

  In a nutshell: Posh British adventuress with enormous... skills
  Last seen in: Tomb Raider: Underworld (2008)
  Returns in: Tomb Raider (TBC 2012) on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC

  Why this excites us: Lara Croft is one of THE icons of modern gaming. She arrived in time to launch the original PlayStation and drew mainstream press to gaming like none before her. Since 1996 she's raided many a tomb, fought tigers, sharks and dinosaurs, and survived more than one reboot - as well as more than one subpar movie. But now she's back, younger than ever in a Batman Begins-style reboot (minus, we hope, the gravelly voice).

  In this year's new Tomb Raider Lara is 21, fresh out of "the academy" and shipwrecked on an island. This game promises not only a back-to-basics setting but more challenging gameplay than recent outings, with the stress on exploration to survive over exploration for kicks. A reboot like this is a little risky - and we'll miss Keeley Hawes' voice acting - but Lara has certainly proved she can endure pretty much anything.
  

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