Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend Review

By Robert Purchese Published 7 April, 2006

A return to form, but only just.

Version tested: Xbox 360

Almost three years on from the Angel of Darkness debacle, Eidos knew it had a mammoth task on its hands to restore public confidence in a brand that had suffered the most humiliating critical backlash in years. Only Driv3r came anywhere near close in terms of a public mauling, and the indifferent commercial performance of Parallel Lines suggests that consumers aren't as forgiving as publishers might hope. What are the chances of Crystal Dynamics' debut Tomb Raider offering of turning the tide of ill will?

Wisely, the Californian developer has gone for the 'safety first' policy of taking the gameplay back to basics, back to the late '90s vintage when Lara's improbably proportioned torso bestrode every other magazine cover. Almost everything that made AoD a painful, hateful experience has been ditched, with much of the old-style Tomb Raider II-era globe-trotting, Tomb Raiding that so many of us loved brought back to the fore. Right from the opening section of the Bolivia level, it's immediately obvious how much homage to past glories that Legend pays, but this familiarity largely breeds warm, lasting nostalgia, rather than instant contempt.

No one should expect any kind of gameplay revolution here, though, and rightly so. Legend is full-on old-style Lara adventure, complete with its fair share of levers to pull, pressure pads to activate, traps to avoid and neuter, blocks to push and ropes to swing.

I feel stronger now

'Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend' Screenshot cosy

Lara in rare cosy jumper moment.

But (wait!) it's not the tired, cynical retread of the past you might expect, with the obligatory New Gadgets and Equipment(TM) increasing the interaction with the environment like never before. Chief of these is the Metallic Grappling Device, which not only plays its part in many of the puzzles, but also helps as a jump aid to help you swing across huge gaps, and a means of dragging enemies towards you in combat. To avoid the potential frustration of trial and error, all items you can grapple with have "visually distinct surfaces" (i.e. they look shinier than everything else), and once you've attached it, you can then drag it towards you, allowing you to yank pillars, boxes, switches and the like as a means of getting from A to B. Sometimes it's simply to provide a means to block the slicing blades of death from ripping your limbs asunder, other times to give you a means to avoid being roasted alive, or even to weigh something down. In many ways, Legend would be more aptly summed up as Tomb Raider Grapple, such is its reliance on this new gizmo, but it's definitely one of the better new additions. As a result, there's actually far less switch-pushing and pulling during your adventuring, and much more time spent wondering which cunning way you can use your grapple next.

Elsewhere, Lara's also been kitted out with binoculars and a Metroid Prime-style scanner, known as the Remote Analysis Device which allows you to scan the environment and find weak spots, or whether items can be moved or operated in some way - though most of the time it's pretty self-evident anyway. In addition, you also have access to a Silent Hill-esque chest-mounted torch (a - get this - Personal Light Source), which shows off the lovely dynamic lighting effects rather nicely, but - annoyingly - runs out of batteries if you leave it on for more than about a minute and then quickly recharges, begging the question, why not just let you switch it on and off? Why frustrate the player for no reason at all? Game designers, eh? Cuh.

Another item in your 'gear' is a stock of health packs (up to a maximum of three), which you can administer yourself (with a quick push of 'up' on the d-pad) when you're about to die. It's certainly a useful addition but in terms of New Things About Lara, that's about your lot. Sure, the game also tries its hand at new ideas in other areas, such as punctuating the general action at key points with some short 'cinematic' slo-mo action sequences where you have to press a specific button when prompted, but they're hilariously basic, more than a little bit pointless and not worth dwelling on, to be honest. Even less worthy are the game's two motorbike driving/shooting sections, which come across as a feeble attempt at variation, but merely serve to illustrate that Crystal Dynamics should stick to what it is best at.

Pixel imperfect

'Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend' Screenshot grapple

She'd be stuffed without that grapple.

Aside from silly novelties, though, perhaps the most significant - and welcome -change to the gameplay is that Lara has been set free from the old grid-based control system, which is both a Very Good Thing, and occasionally a Not So Good Thing, as you'll discover. Old hands will notice immediately that her movements definitely feel slicker than ever. Every acrobatic somersault, every ledge shimmy and death-defying leap can now be pulled off with an assurance and a confidence that makes the game instantly feel more responsive and more enjoyable to play. The previous pixel-perfect precision that dogged some of the older games has been replaced by a system that - more often than not - reads the player's intentions. Leaps of faith to and from ropes, for example, work the way you always wanted them to, with a certain amount of invisible 'assistance' from the computer to make sure you connect. No longer does scaling crumbling rock faces and vaulting from one wobbly ledge to another require such a testing degree of "whoops, one pixel out" trial and error, with mis-timed jumps often resulting in a one-handed grasp, where players have to quickly press the Y button to steady themselves. This all makes the game feel a whole lot easier than Tomb Raider veterans might remember. It's certainly more forgiving in many respects, although there are occasions where not having a grid system means you can't just take the required number of steps back and do a run-up like before, but we can't say we missed that approach.

The combat controls certainly make things pretty straightforward for the most part, too, with a simple system that tasks the player with little more than holding down the left trigger to lock-on and fire with the right trigger. Thanks to a combination of generous controls, infinite pistol ammo and some pretty dim enemy AI, the occasions when you're heavily outnumbered pass off without incident at every stage of the game. Enemies obligingly stand around waiting to be killed (sometimes, gasp, moving behind cover), and even the ones that wield riot shields can be dispatched with a single well-placed grenade. As a nod to the past, Legend even throws in a few Leopards (and Pitbulls) throughout the game, but even they can't be bothered to put up a good fight, and the bosses - almost without exception - are unimaginative in the extreme and incredibly easy to dispatch, and only tend to hold you up via some illogical puzzle element. That said, it's just as well the combat amounts to a tiny portion of the overall gameplay - if it was a remotely important part of the experience we'd be more bothered by how utterly useless it is, but we're prepared to be slightly more forgiving than we might be because we enjoyed the main adventuring element.

A special mention has to be made about Legend's sensible checkpointing system. Often the difference between a satisfying game and a hugely frustrating one, Legend gets it right here by stopping short of the hideously forgiving quicksave method, and keeps you wanting more by never forcing the player to redo more than a few minutes of gameplay. But with several 'second chance'-type mechanics, and an unprecedented degree of hints and prompts flashing up to remind you which button to press, most experienced players will romp through the seven main levels in no more than 11-12 hours. While this undoubtedly makes the game feel somewhat shorter than previous epics, the payback is that frustration levels are kept to a minimum as a result, entertainment levels are generally high and you might actually feel compelled to see Legend all the way to the end.

Once around the block

If you do, though, don't expect an awful lot in the replayability stakes. Fair enough, there's the Time Trial mode (which is nothing more than the same level again, against the clock), and the temptation of earning more achievement points through completing these (on the 360, at least), or via the Hard Mode. But the various other unlockables (like costumes, art, pistol upgrades, cheats and the like) are pretty underwhelming compared to, for example, games like Resident Evil 4, and at the end of it, you'll wonder exactly why you spent so much time scooping up all those hard-to-reach artefacts.

'Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend' Screenshot memory

Swimming's barely featured in Legend, but it's a nice trip down memory lane when you do.

But as much as we've laboured the point at how straightforward and easy Tomb Raider Legend is, there are a few memorable moments (towards the end) where it feels like the team completely neglected to adopt the same 'always make it fun' mentality. Inconsistencies creep in. Levels suddenly seem chock full of red herrings. Control prompts fail to appear. Suddenly you'll be running around wondering what the hell you're meant to do. You'll try everything. Shoot everything. Leap off everything 29 times. Grapple everything 134 times. You'll swear 97 times. And then, almost by accident, you'll do something that works. Something you swear you tried the very first time you arrived in the room. Something so simple that you feel shame-faced with stupidity. And then the same thing happens in the next room, and then the easy-as-pie boss stumps you for the same reason. It's crushing. The fact that the exact same things happened to a colleague made us feel slightly less idiotic, but even so, it highlights the fact that there's a fine line between forgiving game design and being frustrated to death by the lack of signposting (that appears in every other instance in the entire game) and presence of numerous red herrings (which haven't appeared anywhere else). Just so you know. Maybe the game's delay was to try and make it more accessible? They so nearly got it right, too.

Assessing Tomb Raider Legend's technical merits is a bit of a cloudy issue. If you're expecting its arrival on the 360 to herald some kind of next-gen dawn for Lara, then you'll be sorely disappointed. Much like so many of the early 360 games, it's an obvious port that's essentially been given the next gen 'treatment', for what that's worth. This means that, yes, it's by far the best-looking console version, but one that bears all the hallmarks of 'last gen' game and level design, albeit with the added benefit of some nice lighting effects, and, of course, high definition resolution. There's also the issue that some levels are far better than others, so the quality actually varies quite significantly between downright bland and delightful. Some of the more traditional Tomb Raiding levels seem to work best, with lush foliage, crumbling ruins and nice water effects to admire. Even the Japan level, stood on the rooftops, works well, but then you'll be wondering what on Earth went wrong with the Russian level, with its sub-GoldenEye surroundings. With only eight levels (including the Croft mansion) in the entire game, it's strange that Crystal Dynamics couldn't pull all the stops out for what is, after all, quite a short game.

Cruddy frame

'Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend' Screenshot perv

Amanda in full perv suit. She's not nearly as evil as she needs to be.

But one thing that's simply unacceptable is the sludgy frame rate that seems to follow the game like a bad smell throughout. If the game could be seen to be pushing the mighty 360 beyond its means, then you'd accept that this was a small price to pay. But although the normal mapping, intricate texturing, lighting and particle effects help make this by far the best looking Tomb Raider adventure yet, there's really nothing outstanding or amazing on view to suggest that this should cause the game's frame rate to chug so noticeably for much of the time. It's not as if the levels are exactly epic in scale or ambition. Indeed, for the most part, they're tight, intricate and focused, and there's nothing on the scale of some of the more memorable ones in the original, ten year old Tomb Raider. Not even close.

That said, Lara herself is wonderfully animated, and can now pull off some remarkable acrobatics with grace and style. Climbing, swinging and vaulting around looks incredibly slick, and there's a real sense of foot tingling momentum as you pull off the more improbable feats. However, as detailed and delightful as Lara looks these days, much of the effort invested in her suite of new attacks has been wasted. For example, thanks to the ease of the gun combat, almost all of the new melee moves (slide attack, power kick, aerial attack, grapple attack) are completely redundant, as is the ability to do endless somersaults.

Also, Crystal Dynamics seems to have inherited Core Design's tendency to make all of the enemies look totally generic. So, as great as Lara looks, the baddies you're facing off against look almost identical throughout the game. Yawn. The bosses certainly look quite impressive, but their attack patterns are so limited that any sense of excitement soon dissolves. Overall, there's this lingering sense that the game has been primarily designed with the PS2 in mind, and as such the limitations that places on the game design is really transparent. 360 owners should be advised that they're only getting a shinier version - and one that doesn't even run as smoothly as it should.

Almost nearly there

Panning back to the bigger picture, there's no doubt that Tomb Raider Legend is, overall, a pretty entertaining game that long-term fans of the series will be reasonably satisfied by. The way that Crystal Dynamics has, on its debut for the franchise, managed to recapture a large chunk of what made the game such a hit in the first place is truly commendable. The adventuring, exploration, atmosphere and puzzling essence that we've been hankering after makes a stylish return, and with a control system that's - for the most part - slick and well implemented. After the shock of Angel of Darkness, getting the series anywhere close to being back on track feel like a victory.

But let's be realistic: Legend is not all that it could have been. It's justifiably irksome that the combat is so utterly lame from start to finish, and that there are some truly awful driving sections and pointless slo-mo action sequences that boggle the mind with their spellbinding rubbishness - and were it not for their fleeting appearances, the game could have easily been a disaster. There's no doubt, too, that the game could and should have been much more impressive on a technical level. In 2006, on a machine as powerful as the 360, we should absolutely not have to put up with creaking frame rates and silly clipping issues (where metal jaws can apparently go through giant fish monsters and Lara can walk on air). It's fairly obvious that Legend game wasn't designed for the 360, but even against the best action adventures of recent times (like God of War or the Prince of Persia trilogy) it falls some way short of matching the standard we've become accustomed to in recent years - both on a gameplay and on a technical level.

Tomb Raider Legend is not the stunning return to form we were hoping for, but is certainly a leap in the right direction that clings on by its finger tips to being generally solid, and mostly very entertaining addition to the series. Legend bodes well for future releases, and the Welcome mat may be out for Lara this time, but there's only so long Eidos can trade on past glories.

7 / 10

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Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (138) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Lukus #1 6 years ago

    and so it begins

  • krudster #2 6 years ago

    Add a nine for talking nonsense!

  • InfiniteFury #3 6 years ago

    Seems a balanced review, haven't played it will probably pick it up second hand.

    Incidentally *is* there any limit to the size of the ignore function?

  • MrAtheist #4 6 years ago

    Add a 1 for red hair.

  • petebritish #5 6 years ago

    Well the demo on the 360 nearly had me down the shops this morning. Now might wait a while until fed up with GRAW then trade in. Good review though explains flaws clearly.

  • Furbs #6 6 years ago

    Thanks Kristan, reviews just confirmed my intention to purchase. Like you say, not really exploiting the 360, but fun nonetheless.

  • Dr Strangelove #7 6 years ago

    That's interesting... Who removed my comment??

    "add 5 for ps3"

    Twas meant to be ironic/sarky in response to the first 2 comments (Though I guess that slurpy was also being ironic/sarky as this is the 360 review)

  • reality_cheque #8 6 years ago

    @IF: How many people do you have on your ignore list? Before I decided to give people another chance I had something like 15 without any problem.

  • ecureuil #9 6 years ago

    I thought it was a brilliant little game. Flawed in places, short, but oh so sweet. Platforming is better in this than in POP.

  • DoctorApricot #10 6 years ago

    Reads like a fair appraisal to me. Watched someone play it this morning on the 360 and while some of it looks real nice, it doesn't really push the machine that much. The fighting also does appear to be atrocious - if this is artificial intelligence it could be outthought and outfought by an infant.

  • smelly #11 6 years ago

    +5 for the improvments they'll inevitably include on the obviously superior cube version.

  • Pac #12 6 years ago

    Liked the 360 demo but the minor flaws mentioned in the review mean it's probably not worth stopping what you are playing (Oblivion, SOTC) and shelling out 50 squids.

    I'll wait for trade in (easy, as it will sell bucket loads).

    Glad to see they havn't made a complete hash of it though.

  • thehat #13 6 years ago

    @Krudster: Would you score the same for the ps2 version?

  • UncleLou #14 6 years ago

    I pretty much agree with the review - although it is so enormously entertaining for some reason that I'd give it an 8 so far.

  • Hicksy #15 6 years ago

    SEE B+ I was right!!!!one!1eleven

    /tumbles

    /is glad has ordered PC version!

  • thehat #16 6 years ago

    @blizeH: All i think, but psp is out later iirc.

    And not ds.

  • Yossarian #17 6 years ago

    add nothing for nothing you dullards

    good review

  • ilmaestro #18 6 years ago

    Good stuff, doesn't sound like there's anything that will stop me enjoying it, but I'm not going in expecting to be overly wowed like I was after the EDGE preview. Could be the best EG review I've read in weeks.

  • ecureuil #19 6 years ago

    In a way it's a little frustrating because it's SO close to being amazing. I loathe the combat, I wish they would do away with soldiers completely.

    I don't want to be fighting commando's in the middle of a damn tomb.. I want to feel alone out there, like I'm the only person to see that area in thousands of years. When you go in to a cavern and there's army jeeps, spotlights and guys with machine guns, it really jars with the isolated experience I want to be feeling.

    Imagine you're running through the first few levels of the original Tomb Raider, and, instead of there being a T-rex in the Lost Valley level, there's a bunch of army guys shooting at you. How shit would that have been?

    They got so much right with this game, but abundance of enemy soldiers, terrible bike riding stages, and some bizarre stage choice design limit this to being just very good, rather than a classic. I enjoyed it immensely however, and since there will be certainly be a sequel, let's hope they listen to the negatives and put them right.

  • RedPanda #20 6 years ago

    Post deleted at 14:31:59 28-01-2012

  • neilka #21 6 years ago

    The last screenshot and caption is a spoiler :(

  • Freek #22 6 years ago

    It's not, everybody already knows about her, they made a big deal about it, press releases, trailers and everything.
    Edited by 1 at 07/04/06 @ 13:19

  • morriss #23 6 years ago

    A nice detailed review, cheers. I expected a 7, it got a 7, so no qualms here. I've only got a 360, so it's the only format I'll be playing it on. I'll wait a while though and when it's around £30, I'll nab it.

  • RedPanda #24 6 years ago

    Post deleted at 14:31:59 28-01-2012

  • Fatfish #25 6 years ago

    Ta for the review - (unfortunatley?) it matches my expectations of this outing for Miss Croft.

    Had hoped for so much more from this, but after playing the demo and reading the review, I think I can safely say I'll be waiting for a cheap 2nd hand copy. Shame, I miss the giant caverns, cautious exploring, complex puzzles and precision jumping of the originals.

  • neilka #26 6 years ago

    "It's not, everybody already knows about her, they made a big deal about it, press releases, trailers and everything."

    Ah right. Well I'm up to the third level and didn't know about it, so I would've preferred to find out for myself. I did watch the Marketplace trailer and didn't see anything about it.

  • Xerx3s #27 6 years ago

    "Incidentally *is* there any limit to the size of the ignore function?"

    Why would there be a limit? All you need to do is make a table called 'ignoreTwats' with the userId & ignoredUserId (& some other stuff). You could fill it endlessly*.

    *Theoretically.

    Played the demo last night, was smooth & well presented. Very nice to play. Its low on me to-buy-priority-list though, ill buy it when it drops to 30 E or something...

  • Talha #28 6 years ago

    I was about to buy this when I read a line in the IGN review, stating that this game, while good, was not as slick or asthetically pleasing as POP.

    Really then, what's the point? Oh well, there's Lara...

  • IAmBatman #29 6 years ago

    "Hilariously basic"

    How long did you laugh for?

  • krudster #30 6 years ago

    A good, basic, 14 second chuckle. From the belly.

  • Blerk #31 6 years ago

    I didn't notice any serious frame-rate issues with the PS2 demo version that I tried. Are the shonky bits restricted to the 360 version?

    Nice review, anyway. I'm almost certainly going to pick this up, although I'll probably wait a couple o' months 'til it's a bit cheaper. Because I'm a tight git.

  • Furbs #32 6 years ago

    krudster from what you've played so far, are there any jawdropping set pieces (I'm thinking like the T-Rex, appearing at the top of the Sphinx and the level with the water puzzle where you got vertigo in the first one)?

    Oh and you didnt mention the miniskirt and suimsuit unlockables. That surely adds an extra point for sad tossers like myself who really should have stopped being aroused by Lara in 1998?
    Edited by 1 at 07/04/06 @ 13:54

  • Zuiyo #33 6 years ago

    Sounds like a honest, decent review.

    However, I have never played a Tomb Raider game and doubt very much so this is going to make me approach, let alone purchase.

  • krudster #34 6 years ago

    From what I gather, the frame rate issues on the 360 are specific to those of us running in 720p or 1080i.

  • funk #35 6 years ago

    ...still laughing

  • Stickman #36 6 years ago

    What's the longest fall you can make her do?

    /leaps of Sphinx, goes to make cup of tea.











    *crump*

  • krudster #37 6 years ago

    As for "stunning set pieces", no, there really isn't anything remotely approaching those.

  • onyxbox #38 6 years ago

    I'm glad EG are pointing out which games are Current Gen game with a little extra sparkle (This, Top Spin etc.).

    To pay £20 extra for the developer to move the 'texture qulity' slider up a bit before hitting the re-compile is not on IMO.

  • RedPanda #39 6 years ago

    Post deleted at 14:31:59 28-01-2012

  • Beano #40 6 years ago

    "From what I gather, the frame rate issues on the 360 are specific to those of us running in 720p or 1080i. "

    Correct - many games on Xbox 360 even runs differently in 480p vs. 720p... shame :(

  • Milbe #41 6 years ago

    ecureuil, good thoughts, that is _exactly_ what most of us want to see in TR, just like it was in the first one.

  • Blerk #42 6 years ago

    From what I gather, the frame rate issues on the 360 are specific to those of us running in 720p or 1080i.

    Okay... perhaps a noddy question but... why are you running at 720p or 1080i if that's the case? Why not drop it to 480p and forget about it? :-)

  • ecureuil #43 6 years ago

    krudster from what you've played so far, are there any jawdropping set pieces (I'm thinking like the T-Rex, appearing at the top of the Sphinx and the level with the water puzzle where you got vertigo in the first one)?

    There is one such point in the game.

  • krudster #44 6 years ago

    Well, would you shell out for a giant flat HD screen and run stuff in block-o-vision?

    Predator review coming next week - ran out of time, sorry!
    Edited by 1 at 07/04/06 @ 14:02

  • Furbs #45 6 years ago

    Then less posting, more reviewing!! We dont click all these ads so you can sit around on forums all day. Thats what we all get paid for.

  • malarky #46 6 years ago

    Lovely tits though innit

    :p

  • BBIAJ #47 6 years ago

    Has everyone at EG taken a stupid pill or something!?

    I was only stumped at one point, on one boss, apart from that, the whole game was a breeze, and I totalled it in under 8 hours.

    I'd love to know where you guys are getting fantasy numbers like 11 to 12 hours from.

    Oh, and I 89% completed it first time through too, looking for pick ups as I went, so it was no rush job.
    Edited by 1 at 07/04/06 @ 14:10

  • Stickman #48 6 years ago

    Can I have your babies BBIAJ?

  • BBIAJ #49 6 years ago

    Sorry Stickman, but no.

    My fiancée and I don't plan on having kids.

    Ever.

  • Blerk #50 6 years ago

    Well, would you shell out for a giant flat HD screen and run stuff in block-o-vision?

    Well... yeah. If it got all wonky in higher resolutions. You hardware whore, you. :-)

  • justsomeone #51 6 years ago

    "some short 'cinematic' slo-mo action sequences where you have to press a specific button when prompted"

    did they put those in so that they could make screenies and demo movies of rendered stuff containing "in-game" footage? gets around the new ITC rules i guess. cheaters.

  • krudster #52 6 years ago

    BBIAJ - well done you. For being the first poster here to boast about your elite gaming prowess. Can I have your babies too?

  • BBIAJ #53 6 years ago

    Do you all just want my sperm in a jar or something!?

  • ecureuil #54 6 years ago

    did they put those in so that they could make screenies and demo movies of rendered stuff containing "in-game" footage? gets around the new ITC rules i guess. cheaters.

    Everything in the game is done in real time, including the QTE's, there are no FMV's apart from the splash intro screen for the logo.

  • Talha #55 6 years ago

    @LeDil: But then, you NEVER found anything wrong with ANY Xbox game, did you? I haven't played the game on 360, but chances are that when a reviewer dedicates a whole paragraph in his review to highlight a problem, he is telling the truth.

    @BBIAJ: Never mind the babies - just let me have your assorted spittings and excrements. That will help me through Oblivion!

  • Artemus #56 6 years ago

    Sounds like a point was knocked off for not being 'next gen'. Fair enough but a tad unfair when looking at the other versions. This is an 8 on PS2 no doubt. It's one of the most technically impressive games on the machine.

  • Fatfish #57 6 years ago

    "From what I gather, the frame rate issues on the 360 are specific to those of us running in 720p or 1080i.

    I'm running the demo in VGA 1280*768. No problems there. Then again I never saw any glitches in GR:AW."

    Funny, coz I'm running in VGA 1280*768 on a decent 17" LCD PC monitor and I am getting the glitches. However, in the same mode on GR:AW, I had very few, except for when there was a lot happening on screen - helo landing with dust, large gunfights etc.

    Curiouser and curiouser said Alice......

  • krudster #58 6 years ago

    A game is a game is a game. It doesn't really matter to me what machine I'm playing it on or whether it's "next gen enough". This would have still scored 7 on PS2 because that's what the *game* is worth.

  • Fatfish #59 6 years ago

    @ Krudster - and that's the way it should be done. Completely agree with you. However, I would allow the extra point if the *next gen* improvements really were deemed worthy of it. Shouldn't be a case of add an extra point just because it's on a *next gen* machine though.
    Edited by 1 at 07/04/06 @ 14:38

  • Feanor #60 6 years ago

    "Do you all just want my sperm in a jar or something!?"

    If you can wipe it up off your keyboard.

  • tengu #61 6 years ago

    I'm waiting on the PSP version myself. I say waiting, but I only realised it wasn't out today yesterday evening somehow. I might just grab the PS2 or Xbox versions if I can find them cheap enough instead now.

  • beep #62 6 years ago

    Funny, coz I'm running in VGA 1280*768 on a decent 17" LCD PC monitor and I am getting the glitches. However, in the same mode on GR:AW, I had very few, except for when there was a lot happening on screen - helo landing with dust, large gunfights etc.

    Further proof that you shouldn't take anyone's word for anything until you've tried it yourself. Some people can spot slowdown while some people seem oblivious to it.

    It's a weird world.

  • Furbs #63 6 years ago

    :-O

  • Smcdermo #64 6 years ago

    Anybody picked up the PC version?
    Interested to hear what the Next-Gen content added (that was disabled in demo)..
    Ran brilliantly compared to the 360 demo, so would love hear what they've added over the demo

  • trousers #65 6 years ago

    "I'm surprised everybody seems to mention frame rate issues on 360. I've noticed none in the demo level."

    Even the wife remarked on how crap the frame rate was on the demo. This despite her reckoning most console games look the same even though she can tell the difference between 46 shades of pink.

  • Artemus #66 6 years ago

    @ Krudster - I'm not convinced. The thing is, I think it does matter what version of the game it is, in this case. Especially during the transitional period where 'last gen' and 'next gen' can get blurred. This is evidently a 'last gen' game designed for PS2 ported to 360. Expectations of a 360 game are higher and that I believed that was reflected in your review.

    You said...

    This means that, yes, it's by far the best-looking console version, but one that bears all the hallmarks of 'last gen' game and level design, albeit with the added benefit of some nice lighting effects, and, of course, high definition resolution.

  • Furbs #67 6 years ago

    Smcdermo - it adds higher res textures, some awesome shadow effects plus normal and bump mapping. It looks VERY VERY nice, although it does appear to break the "wet skin" effect that they've implemented (which is fantastic).

    Your card will need to support Shader Model 3 though, and it comes at a massive performance hit, even on high end systems (although they are sorting this out with a patch).

    If you want to test it out, I think they are adding the NexGen content to the PC demo at some point today or maybe over the weekend. They left it out since it adds a huge amount of data to the file size that not everyone needs.
    Edited by 1 at 07/04/06 @ 15:03

  • Furbs #68 6 years ago

    So why the over the top rant against Talha?

  • kangarootoo #69 6 years ago

    @LeDilettante

    Jesus dude, What the fuck is your problem. Talk about over-reaction. So full of fury were you that you couldn't even spell your FOAD acronym properly. Have a glass of milk or something and count to ten.

  • Furbs #70 6 years ago

    Truth hurts huh?

    I didnt notice the personal insults in his post. I guess like the framerate issues though, if you dont notice it, it must not exist.
    Edited by 1 at 07/04/06 @ 15:32

  • rauper Verified Managing Director, Eurogamer Network #71 6 years ago

    LeDil: Personal attacks such as telling people to FOAD is enough to get a ban so consider yourself warned!

  • alexg #72 6 years ago

    Anyone know what the xbox version is like? With regard to slowdown etc.

  • kangarootoo #73 6 years ago

    @LeDilettante

    Man, your response was not even close to proportional to his post. What he wrote was a cheeky sideways slight about your platform objectivity (and only alongside defending the integrity of the staff of this site). What you posted in return was an unconstructive foot stamping anger fest.

    I don't mean to get on your case and this is very last thing I will say about it, but take another look and see if maybe your expletive count was a touch out of place. Its the bigger man that will admit he was wrong you know, thats what makes us adults instead of children.

  • morriss #74 6 years ago


    I didnt notice the personal insults in his post. I guess like the framerate issues though, if you dont notice it, it must not exist.

    Exactly.

  • Stickman #75 6 years ago

    Over the top LeDil, over the top....

  • Furbs #76 6 years ago

    Nothing to see here...

    So Lara eh? Anyone know what other unlockables there are?

  • chavatar #77 6 years ago

    Personal attacks such as telling people to FOAD is enough to get a ban so consider yourself warned!

    There's a policy? I thought if you were going to ban people for gratuitous personal insults, the comments section would be deserted by now ;)

  • Smcdermo #78 6 years ago

    Cheers for the response Furbs..
    I liked what I saw of the PC one..........silky smooth at 1920x1200 on a 7800GTX..
    The 360s frame rate though killed the game for me after seeing it on the PC. Can only imagine later levels running same or worse.............so I may plummet for the much cheaper/better PC one..

  • Furbs #79 6 years ago

    His argument being that you might have a biased perspective on the 360 and that given the reviewer described it at length (along with others) meant that even though you may not see it, it doesnt mean its not there?

    Yeah thats an absolutely disgraceful argument. I'd be just as mad as you. No really.

    And if suggesting you are biased towards the 360 is an attack on your character, then you really have self esteem issues, not least because you've admitted you are in the past - self abuse is never a good thing unless theres a pile of kleenex to hand.
    Edited by 1 at 07/04/06 @ 15:49

  • kangarootoo #80 6 years ago

    From a "saucy female character" point of view, the evil woman get more brownie points in my book. Thats kind of my thing though. That bonkers club owner sister in "Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines" is the finest depiction of a strong female character in any game ever IMHO (Jade in BGaE ebing a close second) as I'm sure I said in a previous thread. Not dim or bimbo'ish at all, smart, foxy and more than a little bit bonkers :)

    So, on a lighter (and somewhat superficial) note. Hands up for Lara or mad evil nemesis woman. I think my vote has already been cast.

    Oh yeah, and some game related stuff like what is unlockable, like Furbs said.

  • Furbs #81 6 years ago

    The evil one is probably kinkier. Gets my vote.

  • kangarootoo #82 6 years ago

    @Furbs

    Lets let it go now. An apology was given. Either way, lets get the thread back on track please.

  • kangarootoo #83 6 years ago

    "Naked Laura flask of coffee patch on Xbox Live market place 1200 points"

    Hehe, that poxy Oblivion horse armour would be put royally in its place.

  • Blerk #84 6 years ago

    Eight games in and people are still calling her Laura. :-(

  • Stickman #85 6 years ago

    Yeah, lets not all get carried away, fun as it would be for a Friday afternoon! So, Lara's got big tits then, eh?

  • Furbs #86 6 years ago

    Yes, she does

  • gamesb*tch #87 6 years ago

    my review:

    same shit, different day

  • morriss #88 6 years ago

    If there's an argument, blame Furbs. It's always his fault. In fact, I say we ban him.

    Aaaaanyway, who's playing it atm? Good fun?

  • Furbs #89 6 years ago

    Its not my fault. I'm just like John McClain. Wrong place, wrong time.

    But yeah, bannage is in order.

  • morriss #90 6 years ago

    Yipee-ki-ay!

  • justsomeone #91 6 years ago

    quick - put your shoes on. really - you'll thank me in about an hour or so.

  • Derblington #92 6 years ago

    "Aaaaanyway, who's playing it atm? Good fun?"

    Me, and not really.

  • Dizzy #93 6 years ago

    Good review. 7 seems fair.

    I got this to keep me a bit busy between long Oblivion sessions. Perfect for that. Sadly it never touches the best action game of them all... Ninja Gaiden 2 where are you?
    Edited by 1 at 07/04/06 @ 17:38

  • kangarootoo #94 6 years ago

    "Ninja Gaiden 2 where are you?"

    LOL, I simply can't read that without thinking of Scooby Doo.

  • Helios #95 6 years ago

    "Ninja Gaiden 2 where are you?"

    That can wait until NGB is completely fixed on 360. Then I can work my way through to Master Ninja again. And get my arse kicked again. And again. And...

  • neilka #96 6 years ago

    Has anyone else tried the PC version with Next Gen turned on yet? I'm seeing problems with it - not frame rate per se, more that it pauses for a second every 5-10 seconds like it's having a little rest... This is on a 7900GT on an AMD 4200+.

  • wizbob #97 6 years ago

    @neilka : I fixed a similar problem in Doom3 by turning off sideband addressing for my card, as recommended by sundry google results

    as for morriss, good fun playing ATM, eh? Disgusting...

  • UncleLou #98 6 years ago

    Has anyone else tried the PC version with Next Gen turned on yet? I'm seeing problems with it - not frame rate per se, more that it pauses for a second every 5-10 seconds like it's having a little rest... This is on a 7900GT on an AMD 4200+.

    Exactly the same here, and it seems to be a common problem - from what I've read, the "next gen" option is just a straight (well, as straigt as you can port something over, no idea) port from the 360. There are rumours they're going to fix it in a patch. Happens independently from the resolution or the rest of the options, too.

  • drumbaby #99 6 years ago

    PC/ PS2/PSP versions...? Still deciding.

  • UncleLou #100 6 years ago

    Patch 1.1 is out, helping with "next gen" performance, though Eidos says Nvidia are already working on a new driver to fix the problems.

    German link

  • Nikanoru #101 6 years ago

    I haven't heard any mention of the control method. Have they kept the traditional turn-on-the-spot controls? If not, have they at least included an option to use them as an alternative?

    Because I can't imagine playing TR with inferior camera relative controls. That would destroy the precision. Then again, reading the review I get the feeling it's not as precise it used to be, anyway, and instead has become what almost all 3D games are: vague, wobbly, slightly random approximations of what we used to know as "gameplay".

    the hideously forgiving quicksave method

    Finally someone who says it. I'm surprised that there haven't been any PC wussies coming to defend their save anywhere function.

  • captainrentboy #102 6 years ago

    Wasn't Blackdog insulting someone the other day on here,saying they were trolling?The cheek of it,the very few occasions i'm on here he's always there spouting off trolling,caps locked shite,9 times out of 10 dissing the 360.Todger!
    Anyway i'm loving this game so far,just been playing around 4 hours non stop,and it certainly is one of the more instantly enjoyable 360 titles out there.I'm using it on a Samsung hdtv with a component connection,and have to say I've seen very little if any slowdown,or framerate issues:/Certainly nowhere in the realm of Oblivion's.Maybe i'm justy not as picky as everyone else,and don't have the special eye for picking out these faults.So far i'd give it an 8 out of 10,but i'm a bit easily pleased and even liked the motorbike section.
    Ohh and to the poster above,yes that rediculous turning on the spot control method is out the window,and the game is all the better for it.I couldn't stand any of the other Tomb Raider's for that reason,so this one must be doing something right.

  • captain-future #103 6 years ago

    krudster: Well, would you shell out for a giant flat HD screen and run stuff in block-o-vision?

    it depends, has it fun gameplay? ;)

  • UncleLou #104 6 years ago

    Finally someone who says it. I'm surprised that there haven't been any PC wussies coming to defend their save anywhere function.

    Oh, please. Games without quicksaving are for people with too much time on their hands At least TR has a very decent checkpoint system, but usually, a silly save system has nothing to do with difficulty, and a lot with frustration. Where's the skill in having to play the same section again and again (without failing), and then dying at the same spot again and again?

    It's just inferior games that need to rely on the tension of a stupid save system.

  • oldfruit #105 6 years ago

    Game too short? I spent the first 4 hours just standing her close to a wall so the camera would swoop in nice and low as it panned around. beautiful. Haven't done that since original Buffy on the Xbox. Mind you, Buffy wasn't a top class ventriloquist like Lara - it's not all progress is it?

  • Derblington #106 6 years ago

    "If all you care about is whether the game is fun or not why invest in a 'next-gen' console?"

    To get the next generation of fun games? The ones that aren't released on the old consoles.

  • Derblington #107 6 years ago

    If you knew the answer, why ask the question?

  • Feanor #108 6 years ago

    "Eight games in and people are still calling her Laura. :-("

    There's an epidemic of this in the States. Drives me nuts when I hear even videogame TV show hosts who should know better talking about the new "Laura Croft" game coming out. They're two different names, FFS.

  • BartonFink #109 6 years ago

    @Derbs If you knew the answer, why ask the question?

    Cause he likes to troll.

  • BartonFink #110 6 years ago

    Tuesday

  • Derblington #111 6 years ago

    lol

    One of them's out already.

  • Nikanoru #112 6 years ago

    Ohh and to the poster above,yes that rediculous turning on the spot control method is out the window,and the game is all the better for it.I couldn't stand any of the other Tomb Raider's for that reason,so this one must be doing something right.

    No, controls that sway around with the camera angle are ridicilous, at least they are in a game like TR. From the sound of it you're just one of those people who fail to grasp a game and then fumble around with it like a 10 year old before dropping the controller and exclaiming the game sucks. Funny to watch, really. To people who do get it, the controls as they were are far superior.

    Oh, please. Games without quicksaving are for people with too much time on their hands At least TR has a very decent checkpoint system, but usually, a silly save system has nothing to do with difficulty, and a lot with frustration. Where's the skill in having to play the same section again and again (without failing), and then dying at the same spot again and again?

    It's just inferior games that need to rely on the tension of a stupid save system.

    Ah, there you are, I wondered when one of em would show up. Go back to playing Tetris on an emulator with savestates, wussy.

  • Furbs #113 6 years ago

    LMAO
    I love the easter holidays! \o/

  • UncleLou #114 6 years ago

    Ah, there you are, I wondered when one of em would show up. Go back to playing Tetris on an emulator with savestates, wussy.

    :D

    If you somehow planned to sound cool, let me assure you that went horribly wrong.

  • BartonFink #115 6 years ago

    Oh god frod mentioned Metroid and save system in the same sentence.
    Grrrrrrrr

    /head hexplodes

    Oh and sorry B_G.
    Edited by 1 at 07/04/06 @ 22:14

  • UncleLou #116 6 years ago

    Oh Barton, you're not some kind of wus... I mean wussy, are you?

  • BartonFink #117 6 years ago

    If you mean I detest games that have really stupid save systems then yes I will have to admit I am a wussy!

  • Derblington #118 6 years ago

    "I am not going to explain any further, if you don't understand my original post eat more brain food."

    I understood the post, thanks (hence writing replies). I don't understand why you asked a stupid question that you already knew the answer to, unless you're just stiring for the sake of it.

  • Teeth #119 6 years ago

    "unless you're just stiring for the sake of it."

    Heh... have you been away? Derbs, meet Bored_Gamer; B_G, Derbs. :)

  • Derblington #120 6 years ago

    How am I "bringing it up"? I'm responding to YOUR posts.

  • BartonFink #121 6 years ago

    As much as it pains me to say this Derbs on this occasion I don't think B_G was actually trolling. He really does have a point.

  • Downside #122 6 years ago

    Just played the demo of XBL - very old school feel to it which is hreat, controls relatively easy, though quite a few random backflips off chains cos I thought the controls were a bit fiddly.

    But this grabbed me like the first one did on the PS1. Just looked a bit hazy cos it's got AA turned on, but it ran like a dream, 720p into a projector.

    But the soldiers do suck. It's not GRAW, they shouldn't be there.

  • Nikanoru #123 6 years ago

    :D

    If you somehow planned to sound cool, let me assure you that went horribly wrong.

    Hah, well I would certainly hope you didn't seriously read it like that, or I might have gravely overestimated my audience. There was, however, a point hidden in there.

  • admir #124 6 years ago

    let Lara die

  • Helios #125 6 years ago

    Again?

  • captainrentboy #126 6 years ago

    Nikanoru:ohh and to the poster above,yes that rediculous turning on the spot control method is out the window,and the game is all the better for it.I couldn't stand any of the other Tomb Raider's for that reason,so this one must be doing something right.

    No, controls that sway around with the camera angle are ridicilous, at least they are in a game like TR. From the sound of it you're just one of those people who fail to grasp a game and then fumble around with it like a 10 year old before dropping the controller and exclaiming the game sucks. Funny to watch, really. To people who do get it, the controls as they were are far superior.

    Wow Doc,you got me in one,you got that big analysis of how I play games just from me saying the original Tomb Raider control method sucked,which it did bigstyle(Take a step foward,no no too far go back,step forward again,no not quite enough this time,again,too far whoops I've fallen off a cliff.God help you if you needed to jump anywhere).Anyway to get to my point you my friend are some kind of genius.

    Edited by 2 at 08/04/06 @ 13:03

  • Pablo2k5 #127 6 years ago

    PC version 17.99 on Play.com ;) Bargain.

  • Mho7276501 #128 6 years ago

    has anyone managed to play this with the next gen content turned on? It looks fantastic but is totally unplayable on my machine, which runs oblivion everything on max at 1290x960!

    sorry, just gone back a page and seen previous comments!
    Edited by 1 at 08/04/06 @ 15:41

  • Furbs #129 6 years ago

    Have you got the 1.1 patch? It apparently makes it alot more playable.

    Yay for release day patching! :)

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #130 6 years ago

    "Leaps of faith to and from ropes, for example, work the way you always wanted them to, with a certain amount of invisible 'assistance' from the computer to make sure you connect."

    In a chimp's fucking arse they do.

  • krudster #131 6 years ago

    Hi Stu, I have that chimp right here...

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #132 6 years ago

    I'll give him a banana if he can show me how to make the stupid bint stop jumping right past a rope that I've missed the centre of by 0.02cm, falling into a canyon and having to trek all the way back up again.

  • Blerk #133 6 years ago

    Funny you should say that. When I played the demo I kept looking for the 'rewind time' button. PoP has spoiled me.

  • I_Have_The_Power #134 6 years ago

    11 - 12 hours?

    6 hours first play-through! - Rock On! \oo/

    4 hours second, and on Hard! - Killer! \oo/

    yes - i have been playing too much Tomb Raider and Guitar Hero this weekend :)

  • Nikanoru #135 6 years ago

    Wow Doc,you got me in one,you got that big analysis of how I play games just from me saying the original Tomb Raider control method sucked,which it did bigstyle(Take a step foward,no no too far go back,step forward again,no not quite enough this time,again,too far whoops I've fallen off a cliff.God help you if you needed to jump anywhere).Anyway to get to my point you my friend are some kind of genius.

    "Bigstyle"?

    Anyway. See what's happening there? You're fucking around like a retard with something that you don't get. I don't need a big analysis, anybody can see it right away. The early Tomb Raiders were thinking games. Not action games. Anybody who tries to play it like an action game (instead of thinking and observing) is, of course, going to look rather stupid while playing it. The problem is you. You're just doing it wrong.

    Here's something I wrote somewhere else:

    And how people oh so hated the old turn on the spot controls.

    Camera was a non-issue back then, since the controls were completely independent from it. TR1 was, to me, a sort of spiritual sequel to the old Prince of Persia games. Very precise and calculating, allowing for some insane level design.

    But the kids wanted camera-relative platformer controls, and now they've got them.

    There is no more insane level design, like the reviews mentioned, because the camera issues make it impossible. The levels are all softened up now, nice and easy for kids like you. Boring as hell.

  • Vin #136 6 years ago

    Well decent little game, this.

  • the_dudefather #137 6 years ago

    why are there propane tanks on the train tracks?

    pity the ememies were so dull, oh boy evil goons with helments, wheres the trex, apes and bears from TR1?

  • [maven] #138 6 years ago

    The 360 version has an annoying bug (running in 16:9 via VGA) where the black-bar overlays for the cinematics MISS the top-most row and the left-most column of pixels. Writing a decent clipper (or just correctly setting the viewport) isn't THAT hard...