The Post-Game: Tomb Raider Legend

Tomb Raider Legend is a story-driven platformer that is fun to play, but a near-game-breaking bug and some awkward mechanics belittle the overall positive experience.

The story is decent, if a little disconnected. Lara is searching for an artifact that killed her mother years ago. A great excuse to send Lara to a variety of diverse locations, from a sleepy South American town to the frozen mountains of Nepal. Zip and Alistair provide some snarky commentary as she proceeds through the levels – some of it almost breaking the fourth wall. It helps keep the proceedings light-hearted and fun, even if what is happening is quite serious. Lara herself is keen, quick-witted, whip-smart, and always ready with a snappy come-back. TR: Legend was actress Keeley Hawes first time voicing Lara, and she does an absolutely fantastic job.

The platforming is well-executed and slick, with timed movements (move quickly before the platforms collapse) and required momentum (remember to HOLD the spacebar to jump in some places, or Lara won't jump far enough). Gun-play just feels odd; lock on to a target, use the arrow or WASD keys to switch the lockon from target to target. While doing this, Lara can run, jump and dodge. There is a free-aim mode, but once engaged Lara cannot move at all, so the lockon mode will be the one used most often. I rebound the keys to what I wanted, so there is that. There are no waypoints; not really an issue in a game this linear. The climbing puzzles are generally well done; remember to use Lara's binoculars first to scan an area for hints before trying to solve a puzzle. Some bosses can only be defeated with the help of the environment, so if a boss seems like it is taking no damage, start looking around for switches and levers (and things to grapple). Nothing is handed to you in this game, though once you figure out a puzzle or boss, it will be solved or defeated in a matter of seconds.

Now for the issues, and there are more of them than there should be. Lock-on would sometimes result in strange camera movements, and the camera doesn't immediately auto-rotate to the forward direction when riding a motorbike. The platforming direction controls aren't always intuitive. A similar issue plagues the QTEs; the onscreen arrows don't always indicate the correct direction, resulting in multiple fails until finding the right button-press. Disable Next Generation Content in the graphics settings; TR: Legend looks better with it, but this will eliminate nearly all crashes. And there is the near-game-breaking bug in the Nepal temple level. A cutscene, then Lara needs to run to a door, hit it (I won't say with what, because spoilers), the door will open, triggering another cutscene and a platforming section. But hitting the door doesn't always make it open, meaning progression through the game is blocked. Just keep re-loading a save until the game works the way it is supposed to (it took me seven tries the last time I played it). Ridiculous, but there it is.

The saving grace through all of this is Lara Croft herself. Unlike more recent versions of Lara, this one has no lack of confidence. You never hear Lara telling herself, “I can do this.” She already knows she can, and can worry about other things. I still highly recommend Tomb Raider: Legend despite the game's issues, because there is nothing truly game breaking, and this remains one of my favorite “older” versions of Lara. If story-driven platforming and puzzling is your preference, or you just want more Lara Croft, absolutely get this one.