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(More customer reviews)I know, I know, nowadays the kids have been spoiled by open-ended RPGs that can take 70+ hours to complete, and you hear a lot of unfair complaints about the relative "brevity" of standard action-adventure fare.I'm not some video game shut-in with no life, so I couldn't spend 70 hours on a game even if I wanted to - and anyway that's not the point of an action game, nor should it be.When I hear people complaining about "short" games, I tend to take it with a grain of salt.
That said, "Tomb Raider: Legend" IS short, by any standard."Leave 'em wanting more" was apparently the developers' philosophy here.If you ask me, that's preferable to the philosophy of the last TR installment, "Angel of Darkness," which was apparently "Frustrate 'em till they give up."Everything about "Legend" feels right, from the moment you take control of the newly-designed Lara as she scales the cliffs of Bolivia in the first level.It's actually fun rather than merely grueling to perform the various acrobatic stunts required to ascend the mountainside; and when you encounter enemies (the traditional generic bad guys and endangered cats), the ensuing battles are fairly satisfying, if not very difficult or technically sophisticated.Gone is the rigid grid upon which all prior TRs were based; gone is the clumsy control scheme that made navigating the grid such an unforgiving experience.Lara is finally a contender again in the world of game heroes.Of course, the fact that "Legend" is such a pleasure to play just means that you'll reach the end even faster.
"Legend" is essentially a 6-8 hour game.That's the bare-bones time to get through all the levels including the Croft Manor.If you really want to find all the "Rewards" (you knew them as "Secrets" before), you can probably tack on a few hours of replay; but there aren't any "extras" beyond that - no online, no mini-games, no unlockable "Tomb Raider" arcade or what-not.A lot of people will have a problem with that, and practically everybody will wish there was more here.But on balance, I have no qualms recommending "Legend."For me, what with my actual life and all, a 7 hour game is really a 7 day game at least; and I'm the type to replay a game I like over and over again just for the fun of it.
I mentioned the Croft Manor, which is one of many motifs from previous TR games to make a reappearance in "Legend."The developers - Crystal Dynamics rather than Core this time around, since the latter so conclusively botched "Angel of Darkness" - have truly done their homework, and "Legend" is packed with homages to classic moments from the series.Bolivia, for example, is like a wish-fulfillment version of Lara's very first Tomb Raiding excursion in Vilcabamba, while Ghana recalls TR3's South Pacific levels, and Kazakhstan brings up memories of Antarctica from TR2.But whereas before it took a definite act of imagination to believe in the blocky, pixelated environments, the sets in "Legend" are practically flawless.This is one of the most impressive games on XBox, graphically speaking.The levels are typically huge and exotic, the textures look great even close up (in most cases), and ambient effects like sunlight and mist are handled beautifully.
Gameplay is also leaps and bounds over the old titles, as should be expected; but considered against the backdrop of all the other excellent action games on XBox and PS2 (and now 360), it's nothing really exceptional.Enemies, as always in TR, are few and far between, and the combat segments are just convenient ways of breaking up the exploring and puzzle-solving sequences.When she encounters them, Lara can blast away at enemies with her trademark pistols or a single alternative high-powered firearm (shotgun, assault rifle, etc).She can also perform a special maneuver in which she vaults off an enemy's head and then litters him with bullets in slow-motion (a la Max Payne); and she has a grappling hook that occasionally comes in handy for some BloodRayne-esque snaring of foes from a distance.But that's pretty much all she wrote as far as combat.The "puzzles" themselves still revolve around pushing blocks and dodging rolling balls, but they're neither as difficult nor as tedious as they used to be, and you'll have no problem figuring out what to do next.Rope-swinging and pole-climbing are back, but fortunately with vastly-improved mechanics.As for wall climbing, let's just say Lara's taken some notes from Prince of Persia.She's much nimbler, and you can even make her "double-time" it by hitting Y in sync with her movements.Swimming also comes into play in a few of the levels (nothing as "involved" as those abysmal underwater portions of London in TR3), and the mechanic is simple and intuitive.To top it off, there are a few segments in which Lara takes off on a Ducati just to add some variety to the gameplay.All in all, she's a lot of fun to control - the only problem is that she feels like she could handle a lot more punishment than she's ever dealt in this game.
Basically, what we have in "Tomb Raider: Legend" is a beautiful game that finally brings the franchise up to date while remaining close to its roots.True, TR fans are used to MUCH harder games than this, and it's so short you could miss it if you blink.Still, it's nice to finally be able to say "Lara's Back!" - and mean it!
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Tomb Raider: Legend X360
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