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Tomb Raider LegendsAs everyone knows it all started off in 1996 on the Playstation, I can't really comment on them and every other sequal since as I only ever played the Demos of 1 and 2. 10 years on and the new Tomb Raider was getting some hype, and that it's gone back to it's roots etc etc. The last releases apparently were a dissapointment and were just milking the franchise dry, but with the hype of this one and wanting to try a change from the ol FPS and racers I thought I'd give it a go, especially as Lara's screenshots were looking might fine.
The opening level reminded me of the demo's I played years ago, and after moving around a bit it also reminded me of Prince Of Persias, which essentially is the same game but with a bloke (though POP came out first in around 1991, even the movement back then looked good on the GG).
Anyway back on track, the rainforesty, mountainy settings looks fab, Lara's erm form looks great which is topped off with a nicer face than jolie! Her movements are very slick and life like. So a good start, great character and nice looking settings.
The best parts of the game are the traditional 'how do I get to that point up there?' Then using a combo of poles, ledges, jumps and her new toy the gapple, you work your way across and up or wherever. Usually these sections build up to puzzle rooms, where there's more of the same but more complex, and a few triggers and pulleys later you have the item you want.
Pretty much each setting level follows that theme, and at the end of each level (of that there is eight) you have a 1 on 1 with a boss. Also there is the odd vechile section to get you from 1 point to another, obsatcles usually include enemies on bikes for you to shoot off while you dodge trees and rocks.
The settings vary, the most out of place being Japan's skyscraper level where you are swinging and climbing building faces. Besides that you have Russian snowy mountain bases, English warehouses leading to Caves, more Caves in more exotic places in the world and more Trees and Mountains elsewhere.
Throughout the game there is of course a story, which starts with Lara as an 8-9 year old who sees her mother in an accident with an artifact which takes place after their plane crash (bad day). The game starts wth Lara going back to this country to finish off, well redo the campaign her mother was doing, and along the way her main rival is her sister to which she thought died on a seperate mission.
This you also play as part of Lara's flash back, which is set in 1996 so you get to see/play Lara in her old turquise top again, it ends in a sequance which shows Lara unable to rescue her and believe she is dead However she survived and grew up very bitter and is now the main enemy of Lara's for this game. Anyway I won't go on as it'll spoil it.
Graphics
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Well I've already stated Lara looks fantastic and throughout the game she has various costumers to match her settings, there's also nice touches such as her skin all glistening wet when shes been in the water. Well that sounded pervy, but it looks good. The settings look great, more so in the outdoor greenery settings, the levels set in the caves (which there are lots of) dont show up the visuals so much, but then again it's a bit hard to show off GFX when the setting is dark grey stone with little to no lighting.
I played the game on full settings at 1280 res, however the button called 'next gen' I didn't apply as I had slight frame rate stutter, according to a thread on overclockers it's due to a technical hiccup and shouldn't be so demanding as it is, and apparently this is fixed in the 1.1 patch, which i'll try out when I get it. Basically this button adds a nice shading effect to the environment and does make Lara's skin more flesh like, well pinker. However looking at screenies comparing there does seem to be a suffering of sharp detail lost to a blurry effect, most noticable on Lara's face. So it improves the settings, but ruins Lara.
Downsides To The Game
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There is some, it's not all spot on. Usually in a game like this I'd be whinging at the saves system (like POP's Sand of Time PC release, I've not tried the two since). But TR save system is frequant enough not to get annoying and redo too much, and they are positioned at the right points, and at the points you expect them to be. If they had screwed the save point spots up then this game could of been ruined.
So the downsides... Is mainly brought on by the camera angles, for the most part the camera is quite intelligent and swings to good angles so you can see where you next want to swing or jump to etc, but there are the odd times where it does get in the way, but it's to be expected in this kind of game so I can't whinge too much. Dumb merceneries, I cant see the point of them being there besides to let you know that Lara's sister has an army behind her wanting you dead, their AI is crap and they are easy to kill, it's an element not needed in the game and they dont provide a challenge, but they arn't about too much so again a slight whinge. It doesn't ruin or spoil the game, but the game would move on just as well without them.
Auto aiming...Is the most annoying aspect of the game, basically you point in the direction you want to fire your grapple (or shoot your gun, but as already said the enemy is easy to kill and they do little damage so makes no odds if it takes 2-3 goes to line them up). But there are the odd level where quick grapple timing is needed, and if it deciedes to aim to another object, ya dead.
This is most noticable at the end of the English mission fighting a snake/dragon, basically you shoot your gun on a bell to attarct it's attention, once it looks at this bell object, you have to press one button to put guns away (G) then press Q to fire grapple (once you lined up or it'll fire it else where) then press E to pull on grapple so a cage lands on its head. You do this four times (four different cages). Now not only does firing the grapple not always work first go because your not quite lined up, you also have to make sure your guns have been put away which sometimes don't on a frantic quick tap on the keyboard, but you have to do all this fast as the snake things attention only lasts a couple of seconds. In a nutshell very annoying!! I couldn't help but think this bit maybe easier on a joypad, rest of the game works fine on keyboard and mouse (mouse moves camera around).
So to sum up its downside its just the auto aiming can be a bit annoyng at times, and the occasional camera angle facing wrong direction (combine both of them though can find some awkward moments). You also find this common problem - running along, camera swings round, you find yourself running the way you just came...doh cliff!
Overall
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Excellent game, apparantly it's a bit short, well I thought it was just right, any longer and it'd get too samey. For completeists there's return value for collecting all bronze/silver/gold items. There's also an extra mission in the Mansion which is just swinging around collecting said items. And repeat main campaign plays can help you find rest of items you missed, therefore unlocking more outfits, guns, game model displays etc etc. I completed game at 86% so a few bronze/silver/gold items missed along the way 
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