Tomb Raider: Legend

I just got hold of my copy of this today.

Is anyone else playing it? What do they think?

I've got the PS2 version and I have to say the graphics are awesome. A bit dark in places but some of the early jungle settings easily rival those seen in MGS3 IMHO and the choice of background music is excellent.

It feels as if they have combined the film franchise with what made Tomb Raider great in the first place. So far it's appearing as a real return to form after the disappointments of Angel of Darkness and the later TR games.

To me it feels as though I'm playing TR for the first time again!

 

Yea I plan on playing it... I picked up the Xbox360 version, but I won't be getting to it anytime soon. I am playing Kingdom Hearts 2 right now, so when I am done with that I'll give you my two cents.

 

I actually finished the game a few days ago so I'll post up my thoughts on it:



SPOILERS AHEAD...






Graphically the game is really beautiful (even on ps2, I'm expecting it'll look nicer on PC/xbox360) and it looks like the team have really gone to town in making things look and feel genuine. Some of the sights and sounds are awesome, kinda like when you bought your first home console and realised "there's a 3D world in there to explore".

There's quite a bit of combat. Actually, I'd say it probably falls 50-50 between combat and plain old exploring. A lot of the exploration is really enjoyable tho and seeing Lara dwarfed by some huge ancient relic or temple is really impressive.

Gone are the pixel perfect "walk to edge, sidestep, turn, jump, grab" type jumps and actions and they are replaced with a much better engine. You still need to time button presses correctly for jumps but it's nothing like as infuriating as it was in the old days.

Lara's animations are cool too, she's animated much better than any of the previous TR games (especially Angel of Darkness).

The story is quite short, yet it's fairly interesting throughot. There's plenty to do once you've finished the game as you can attempt time trials on (nearly) all levels and there are the usual objects to hunt out and find and loads of things to unlock/upgrade.

Overall it's an excellent return to form for one of the icons of the PS era, shame that it didn't last that long, tho thinking about it, I'm not sure how they would have managed to fit many more huge temples and tombs into the game.

If you enjoyed TR and TR2, you'll probably enjoy this, just don't get your hopes up for a huge game.

 

How long did it take you to beat it?

 

Around 11hours and 45 mins but that includes about an hour messing around on the training stage (Croft Manor, some stuff in it is just fun to try) as well as tea breaks where I occasionally just left her stood around LOL.

So in terms of proper game play, probably about 10 hours or so first time thru.

 

Yeah, finished the game twice now, and I must say I think it is a very good game for people who enjoy exploring landscapes and looking for 'hidden shit' in all corner of the levels (like getting on a bike in GTA and driving out to a point that looks interesting on the map just to see what's there).

One point I must make is that there deosn't seem to be must difference in difficulty between the easy and hard modes. As usually, the only things that change are the amount of health and ammo, the power of the enemy's attacks and the amount of damage they can take before they fall. Other than that, the puzzles are the same, the action parts are no harder and the real time prompts don't require faster reactions.
Still, a good game none the less, just felt it was too short (as are 99% of the games that are released nowadays are).

Also, I like the way that she now has contact with other people over that telecommunications device she has. It removes the element of feeling totally alone when you are playing the game, even though most of what they say isn't that helpful, I found that the other games created too much of a feeling of solitude (this can be associated with the MGS series, as it lets you contact people over the 'codec' so you are able to get advice and talk to other characters, even though you are the only actual operative, it would be very daunting (and some times frustrating) if you were totally alone and never had the ability to speak to anyone).

 

[ QUOTE ]
Ev2 said:

Also, I like the way that she now has contact with other people over that telecommunications device she has. It removes the element of feeling totally alone when you are playing the game, even though most of what they say isn't that helpful, I found that the other games created too much of a feeling of solitude (this can be associated with the MGS series, as it lets you contact people over the 'codec' so you are able to get advice and talk to other characters, even though you are the only actual operative, it would be very daunting (and some times frustrating) if you were totally alone and never had the ability to speak to anyone).

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I must say that this feature reminded me very much of playings MGS3 for the first time.

I should point out for those unaware, Tomb Raider: Legend is very much based on the film incarnations of Lara Croft. As bad as you may see these films to be, the game makes clever use of things from them such as remote radio/headset contact with a back up team based in Croft manor, Croft manor actually being a form of replica of that seen in the films, gadgets that allow you to see the hidden details of a tomb or mechanism and of course big action set pieces set against a backdrop of archaelogical digs etc...

There's also quite a bit of product placement in the game that the films so love to drop in.

It's nothing like as long as previous TR games but it's sure an enjoyable ride whilst it lasts.

 

I just gave this game a try today cause of all the good things I've heard about it including this thread. I have to say it's actually a pretty good game. Nice platforming. Tomb Raider fans should definitely give it a try.

 

I have to pick it up soon. I'm was a huge tomb raider 1 fan. That game was incredible for Saturn. The many hours of exploration in that game before completion really was enjoyable. I never played it again, but I'll never forget that experience.

 

The cool thing about this game is the physics based puzzles. Alot of the objects that you interact with are completely physics based instead of on a grid. That makes a really big difference interms of figuring out how to solve different puzzles. This is just the beginning of next gen gameplay.

 

Yeah I forgot to mention that, the puzzles are really enjoyable to solve and make such good use of the physics engine in the game (reminds me of the type of physics seen in HL2).

I've got TR2, 3 and 4 and had Angel of Darkness before trading it in. Some of the puzzles in these earlier games were genuinely frustrating and would sometimes put me off the game. In fact sometimes it was never clear whether you could make that pixel perfect jump to a ledge or grab that rock or shimmy up that wall etc or whether you were supposed to be doing something else. That kind of feeling has disappeared in Legend because you get a fairly good sense of what jumps and moves are possible right from the first mission.

The puzzles in Legend are really well constructed and take full advantage of new moves/ animations/ gadgets Lara has to hand (almost forgot to include the magnetic grappling hook too, that's an excellent addition).

 

The only real problem I found was that most of the action sequences were too easy and too obvious. Whenever you are scaling a building, or climbing a mountain, you can always see exactly where you need to go. There were never any dodgy jumps which needed to be timed perfectly, just to get a one-handed catch on the ledge. I also found that, because of the checkpoint system, it was too easy to try stupid things, 'just in case'. I thought it would be better of there were fewer checkpoints (or something like the Res Evil save idea, where you have to collect something to be able to save), and make it so that, if you attempt a jump and it goes wrong, you can save yourself with the grappling hook, but you would have to be fast, and know which direction to throw it before you jump. I feel that this would give more of a sense of how agile Lara is, and give us a true idea of her physical prowess. It's too easy at the moment to think 'what the hell, I can always reload if this doesn't work', which takes some of the sense of accomplishment away from making those big risky jumps. If you had to think about the consequences of failing the jump, look for alternative routes and scout out any safety holds which would save you incase of a failed jump, it would mean you would probably be more conservative with the way you move, and then, when you have surveyed the whole situation, and found that the only way forward is to dive into the abyss, hands stretched, and hope for the best, when this actually works, there would be a much bigger feeling of satisfaction (at least in my opinion).

A quick question as well:
In the Manor, there is a library, and there is a small bookcase that you can move. I placed it on a stone in the floor, and stood on the other one (either side of Alistair’s desk) and it opens up a door in the wall, but as soon as I move off of the stone I am stood on, the hole closes before I can get there. I've looked round for something else to put onto the other stone, but I can't find anything.
Also, there seems to be some different coloured books on the bookshelves, but when I try to examine them, I get nothing. Just wondering if there is anything to do with them...

 

Yeah, I know what you're talking about in the first paragraph, TR2 had a save system where you could save anywhere at any time. Tho this got a little annoying sometimes as you could find yourself stopping to save at every little point in between complex (or annoying jumps). TR3 had the RE save idea hwere you had to collect save crystals in order to save.

As for your other paragraph...you need to find her pistols, then destroy a wooden blockade somehwere in the librray to find another shelf to move. Then you can use both shelf things on both pressure points.

The coloured books you use when you're looking for the Golden prize on Croft manor. You need to unravel some more stuff first, then follow all the clues you get and eventually at some point you will use the coloured books in a riddle.

 

I just finished this game clocking in almost 6 and a half hours with 87% complete ratio. I guess its a pretty short game depending on how fast you finish the puzzles since the platforming elements are pretty straightfoward. The game reminds me a lot of the recent Prince of Persia series in scale and epic feel to it as well as the control and platforming sequences. It's a pretty solid game that I can tell a lot of effort went into, can I dare to say I'm looking forward to a tomb raider sequel.

Is there any bonuses to getting 100% because the ending was a little bit on the short and dry side for me =/

 

Ok, I'l try shooting up the library and see what happens.

 

Chris, if you can be assed, I wouldn't mind if you told me what to do in order to get the gold award, coz those damned books are really annoying me.

 

Hmm I tell you what I can recall, not sure about the order.

After using the two shelf things in the library, go thru the secret door and smash all the crates there. Read the plaque thing on the wall. I think you then have to go to the swimming pool.

Climb up to near the two big statues and move them to face away from one another. You'll get another riddle thing. I think this may be to do with the books. You need to push them in, in a certain coloured order.

After that you'll get another riddle, think it has something to do with the main hall where the butler and computer guy are. Do something there and the statue of Athena will come out the ground.

Turn it to face the sunlight and you'll get your golden reward (IIRC).

 

playing it now... I have to say the game is great! Finally after years of waiting for another decent TR, the time has finally come. I haven't had this much fun splunking around in Laura's world since TR2.

I don't understand why you guys think the game is so straight forward. I find it kind of hard at times figuring out where to go next. I guess it's because I am looking for secrets first and where to go second. I like to run through any game trying to find all the secrets on the first run, where as most people just run through it and then grab everything else on the second run. I'm at about 4 hours and I am only in Ghana(level after Japan). hehe yea I like to take my time exploring. Makes the second run so much more fun.

As for the puzzles I think their great so far. Like Srider said about them being physics based, I totally agree and welcome the next generation. I can honestly say this will be one of the those few games that I beat over and over and over again.

I wish everyone would stop picking at it and just welcome it for what it is, because there hasn't been a good TR since TR2. I reccomend this game to anyone and everyone who truly enjoys a platformer. If this is what's to become of the TR series then I can't wait for the next installation.

Well, since everyone has a gripe with the game... I'll go on record and say the only flaw I see is that in tight areas, and I mean extremely tight areas, the camera is just not user friendly. I wish they made the cam automaticaly pan out in those tight places. That's my only gripe with the game, but there will always be camera issues as long as they create games. I don't think their is any possible way to get it right!

 

is this game release on Pc

 

Yes. Yes it is.

Still not got around to playing thru the game again yet, been too busy with other stuff but I plan on trying to collect all the secrets in the game.