Tomb Raider: Legend

Pros

• Eye-catching level design
• Interesting cutscenes
• Excellent soundtrack and sound effects

Cons

• Some puzzles are dull
• Relatively short storyline
• Limited replayability

Tomb Raider: Legend is an action-adventure game that follows Lara Croft as she attempts to investigate the death of her mother. Even though this game isn’t as polished as many other Tomb Raider titles, it does have a few unique features that help it stand out from the pack. Throughout the game, you will need to fight off grave robbers and solve complex puzzles if you want to figure out exactly who murdered Lara’s mother.

While there are quite a few action scenes in Tomb Raider: Legend, you will primarily focus on switch puzzles. Those puzzles force you to move boxes all over a dungeon or an ancient city in order to trigger various switches. Once you have triggered the right set of switches, the next area is unlocked. In between those puzzles, you can explore the area with the acrobatic Lara Croft. Using her physical prowess, you can hang from mountain ledges and swing over deadly gorges.

The storyline is this game’s biggest drawback. Tomb Raider: Legend starts with a vague cutscene that implies Lara’s mother was murdered. You then travel all over the world in an attempt to find clues regarding her mother’s death. This story eventually leads to a grand conspiracy involving King Arthur. Unfortunately, all of the levels are loosely tied together, and the game seems to randomly take you to exotic locations for no reason. That being said, all of the locations are eye-catching and well-constructed.

In addition to some of the switch puzzles and action scenes, there are also a few motorcycle levels. During those levels, you will drive a Ducati as a team of goons chases you down. At various points, the game will switch over to a cutscene that requires you to press certain buttons as well. If you don’t press the right combination of buttons, then Lara will die in a spectacular fashion. The death scenes are particularly thrilling without being too gruesome.

Even though this game is quite engaging, it can easily be beaten in a few days. Once you have completed the game, changing the difficulty settings won’t add any new challenges. All of the puzzles remain the exact same no matter what difficulty you are playing on. If you would like to further challenge yourself, then you can try to beat all of the puzzles as quickly as possible. Every puzzle has its own par time for completion, and beating the par time will unlock new outfits, characters, and movies.

Tomb Raider: Legend doesn’t add anything new to the franchise, but it is a fun title with some excellent levels. The cutscenes give the game some variety without being obtrusive. The ambient noises, background music, and sound effects also give this title an incredible amount of personality. If you are a fan of the Tomb Raider series, then this game is for you.

Pros

• Eye-catching level design
• Interesting cutscenes
• Excellent soundtrack and sound effects

Cons

• Some puzzles are dull
• Relatively short storyline
• Limited replayability