Tomb Raider: Legend

By Sam Leitch

About ten years ago the original Tomb Raider was released to critical acclaim. The game's hero, a certain Miss Lara Croft, instantly became a videogame icon. At a time where all videogame heroes were muscle-bound, meat-headed blokes, Lara was a refreshing change – disproportioned or not.

I have to admit that personally I was not a fan of the series – the concept and setting was great but I feel the technology at the time let the whole thing down. Glitchy brown and grey landscapes were never my idea of fun I guess. Technology today is much more suited to such ambitious gamescapes, so despite never being a fan I was actually looking forward to the PS2 update. Unfortunately, like everyone else I was disappointed – the technology had caught up but the concept was no longer new and the bad controls, as well as a few glitches, let the game down further. The game wasn’t bad but it could have been so much more!

Enter Legend; Eidos have been doing much soul-searching before starting the development of this game by listening to the fans and scrutinising the reviews for each Tomb Raider game. Legend promises to go back to the series' routes and build on everything that made the first game such a success.

Tomb Raider: Legend will be available on the PS2, PSP, PC, XBOX and XBOX 360. The 360 version of the game will feature enhanced graphics. The PSP version is largely based on the other consoles versions but will offer a couple of exclusive game-modes.

Key Features:
• Lara comes to life - the dual-pistol, wielding adventurer's polygon count and animation set has been increased significantly, presenting Lara in the finest fidelity to date
• Return to the Tombs: Lara's new quest brings her to lost ancient realms that guard Secrets of the Past
• Fluid movement: the revamped control system provides intuitive and fluid character movement
• Dynamic animation system puts focus on continuous motion, giving Lara the ability to seamlessly handle any obstacle and interact dynamically with any surface
• Move and shoot. Lara uses her physical prowess to combine gunplay with unique signature moves
• Variety of player choice - intelligently use the environment, technical gear and weapons to overcome challenging situations.
• Physics, Water and Fire systems bring the perilous environments of Lara's world alive, and challenge the player to improvise solutions to obstacles
• Visit a vast array of cinematic & exotic locations including ancient tombs, dangerous jungles, snowy mountain ruins and numerous unexpected surprises in between!

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