“Basic etiquette, never arrive at a party empty handed.” - Lara after kicking off her high heels and revealing her twin pistols which were concealed under her black cocktail dress.

It was with great anticipation that I popped the disc into my PS2 to play the latest offering from the makers of Lara Croft. Having first met Lara on my PC, I had developed a certain kinship with one of gamings all time favourite female characters. Some males have a certain disbelief over my fondness of Lara. This is because despite her exaggerated proportions (which most certainly do not represent what a real woman should look like), she has a certain charm to her – there is something about that British accent and the fact that for once a woman is taking the lead role and is not afraid to open up a can of whipass on everyone who dares to stand in her way. Her mannerisms, and of course those famous twin pistols, have an alluring quality which has endeared her to people of both genders and of all ages across the globe.

A little background

For those of you who have not met Lara yet, let me introduce you to this adventurer and archaeologist. Being quite famous in the archaeology business, she is renowned at stopping at nothing to get what she wants. I think a little history lesson about Lara is called for, for nubes and because it is relevant to the plot in Legend. Lara and her mother were involved in a plane crash in the Himalayan mountains when Lara was just nine. Her mother was later killed due to mysterious events in a temple there. After the death of her mother she was raised by her father, also an archaeologist. Her father died when she was eighteen, leaving her Croft manor and the title of Countess of Abbingdon, hence her becoming Lady Croft. You can look forward to meeting team members Zip, Lara’s right hand man, who is a technology expert and is always in contact with Lara on her headset, and Alistair, who is her research assistant, providing Lara with information about where she is or what she finds. For much of the game these two provide a little comic relief as they tease and generally caution Lara.

The low down on Lara’s gadgets

This tale follows a similar format to every other crofty one, some artefact has been uncovered which, if it falls into the wrong hands, could threaten the very existence of the world. The story sees Lara exploring tombs, jungles and mountains covered in snow. However, Lara gets more than she bargained for as a ghost from her past resurfaces and truths about the death of her mother are discovered. Enter Lara to unearth clues and kick butt, and literally save the world! This latest version is no different, but Lara has been suitably equipped with the latest gadgetry that the 21st century has to offer a tomb raider of her reputation. Her new PDA guarantees that her mission objectives are only a click away. It is a wireless communication device which holds data and information about her equipment. She still has her renowned dual pistols but now also has a metallic grappling device which can be used to manipulate objects from a distance, as well as to swing or climb. Lara can store up to three health packs, which allow you to replenish her health while she is fighting. She also has a kinetically charged personal light source, which comes in handy when you are navigating your way through a dark cave or tomb. Another handy item is her binoculars.

These are not just any normal binocs either, they can also be used as a Remote Analysis Device (RAD), which Lara can use to analyse items and provide information about whether they are unstable, movable or a kind of puzzle. Might I add that these items are all very helpful to the Legend player.

Game features

The opening cut scene resembles a 007 film, it sets a very high bar and I found that the standard did not drop once during this absolutely epic game. From the time I started it, I was not disappointed with how one had to play the game, the storyline and the graphics – everything just gelled very well. The attention to detail is fantastic, for instance when Lara gets out of the water you can see the water dripping off her and her hair is wet. A feature which I really enjoyed in this game is the save points. You can save at any point in the game, and as you play you pass through a number of checkpoints. Should you die, the game will automatically start at the last checkpoint or you can obviously load your last saved game. After playing another game on the PS2 recently (I won’t mention any names…yet) where you could only save after reaching certain specified save points which could be anything between three or four hours of gameplay apart, I really appreciated the fact that I could switch my PS2 off and not have to leave it on and worry that someone might bump it leading to me losing the past three hours of my life. Speaking about loading things, I have to mention that the load screens in this game are really short – another incentive to play this game from start to finish.

Another nifty feature which I enjoyed was the option to skip the cinematic. If you happen to die and have to reload right before a cut scene which you have already seen, you can skip it and get right down to the nitty gritty. This means that I was always in a good mood when playing this game because I never had to sit through long cut scenes again and again and again. More games should be designed this way, but maybe they deliberately leave it out so that their sales of the controller go up because I have come close to throwing mine against the wall a couple of times when this happens.

Extras

You can unlock extra content in the game by completing the various levels and collecting bronze, silver and gold rewards along the way. To view these unlocked items simply visit the extras menu to see new outfits (including Ripped Evening, Winter, Biker and Legend to name but a few, and wet your appetite boys), cinematics, pistol upgrades, character profiles, concept art, object models and more. The menu also allows you to visit the Lara Croft Manor, where you can practice your moves and try on the different outfits. As you unlock items, more rooms in the Manor will be unlocked, so you can poke your head into her bedroom, take a swim in the pool or work out in the gym. I must say that you could get lost in time while in this Manor. The graphics in this game are amazing and are carried through 100% to this section of the game. Once I had finished the game I was keen to go back and replay it so that I could collect those rewards which I had missed in order to unlock more items because there is just so much!

Gameplay

“You can’t blame me on knowing how to accessorise.” Lara’s response to being told that people in a village are not keen on visitors because of her guns. Lara mainly makes use of her twin pistols while fighting, but she is also quite handy with the shotgun, or any other gun or grenade lying around for that matter. You can also take control of large guns on top of buildings or on the back of trucks which will help you to defeat your enemies quicker. The music in the game is really good. It changes according to the level and scene, but ranges from Enya-like tunes to Gregorian chants to music that reminded me of Braveheart. I found it added a lot of atmosphere to the scene. In Legend you get to ride a motorbike, and not just any bike either, a Ducati. It takes a bit of getting used to, but once you have it mastered it, it really is fun! Of course, Lara never has things so simple and so players must also learn how to shoot at enemies while retaining control of the bike. While you are involved in high speed chases, the soundtrack is really cool, absorbing almost, making you feel as if you are really there. You get to ramp the bike over buildings and land on trains, which is just plain cool.

As Lara you have to always be on your toes, if you are not you will probably get a few frights during the game, as I did. Like for instance when Jaguars suddenly attack you, or dogs for that matter, not to mention that large monster towards the end of the game! In addition, sometimes a ledge you are gripping onto may crumble and fall into that large abyss that was below you, or a boulder may suddenly hurtle towards you, forcing you to react quickly in order to save Lara – keeps things interesting! Legend has revamped the game controls, making them more intuitive and fluid. Lara once again uses her environment, gear and her weapons to overcome challenges, but players are forced to improvise as they are challenged by physics, fire and water.

Final thoughts

When debating what rating to give Legend, I considered the following: the fact that I could simply start playing this game, the learning curve was probably only a couple of minutes; I could save whenever I chose to, a big plus factor in my eyes, and yet so simple for designers to include in a game; I could play from start to finish without the use of the FAQ (I think that a game is too difficult if you have to use a FAQ to complete it – what’s the point?); I could figure out what to do next in the game by myself - OK, I was playing it on easy mode, but I could actually control Lara by myself and finish this game 100% by myself, which I have not been able to do in a couple of other games which required me to ask more experienced gamers to help me out because mastering the controls was to difficult (I consider this to be a huge fault in today’s games); Everything in the game is well thought out and superbly executed, especially the puzzles; I really enjoyed the plot, the humour, the gameplay and the graphics – basically I had fun the entire eight and a half hours that I was playing Legend. For all these reasons (and more which I won’t bore you with) I give Legend a five star rating for being just plain cool.

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