Stuff goes boom and Lara gets pissed. "WHERE IS MY MOTHER!"
Given Tomb Raider's British heritage, a game themed around Arthurian legend was probably long overdue. Granted, Legend plays pretty fast and loose with the Arthurian cycle, casting it as part of a common global legend in the same way that multiple ancient cultures have a flood myth, but that sort of syncretic blend of world legends is part of the fun of these globetrotting treasure-hunting narratives.
I probably owe Tomb Raider: Legend a revisit at some later point, once I've better put the Tomb Raider series into context. As of this writing, this is the only mainline, non-Survivor Tomb Raider I've finished. I know Legend is sort-of the start to its own reboot trilogy, but I feel like I'm missing why it was well-received by not tracking the original run of Tomb Raider's decline in quality through Chronicles and Angel of Darkness. As its own thing, I found Legend fine, not really remarkable but not really offensive. But I suspect that sort of game was precisely what Tomb Raider needed at that point in time: a fresh run in a new set of hands several years after Angel of Darkness broke the series' foundation.
Um, game's a bit janky. A lot of the general jumpy climby stuff in what I've played of the original series feels like that, where it's easy to fling one's self off a cliff in a wild direction despite the game's best efforts, so I sort of feel like that's a problem a lot of this genre ran into before Uncharted really smoothed out gameplay feel (or maybe that's just a consequence of my playing on PC?). But there are a few set pieces that feel very much of its era, taking big swings that don't completely connect. Those motorcycle sequences, for example: neat idea, something that you couldn't really do on PS1, barely something you could do on PS2 if this game is anything to go by. That one bit where you're climbing down a tall, tall chamber is surprisingly rough, too, since between the crumbling platforms and some of the jumps down, it was easy to overshoot and wind up taking too big a jump and ragdolling on the next platform. Plus there was that one boss fight against the guy (don't remember his name) who just kept screaming "DAMN YOU LARA BET YOU WISH YOU COULD DO THAT HUH BET YOU WISH YOU COULD DO THAT HUH FINE WE'LL DO IT YOUR WAY FINE WE'LL DO IT YOUR WAY DAMN YOU LARA DAMN YOU LARA BET YOU WISH YOU COULD DO THAT HUH". Like, dude, chill.
But Legend is one of those where jank adds to the experience, so don't read this as much of a complaint. I do think all the ideas the game advances are sound, even if they are rough in execution. Anyway, the times where the game really does come together are quite fun. Not a lot of the game's stuck with me, but that one level, where you start out at a crummy roadside tourist trap about King Arthur that transitions into Arthur's actual tomb, is suuuuch a fun concept. Definitely worth the visit for me all on its own.
I don't know how to wrap this one up, so here's a video I took during my playthrough that I titled "tombraiderlegends.mp4".
I probably owe Tomb Raider: Legend a revisit at some later point, once I've better put the Tomb Raider series into context. As of this writing, this is the only mainline, non-Survivor Tomb Raider I've finished. I know Legend is sort-of the start to its own reboot trilogy, but I feel like I'm missing why it was well-received by not tracking the original run of Tomb Raider's decline in quality through Chronicles and Angel of Darkness. As its own thing, I found Legend fine, not really remarkable but not really offensive. But I suspect that sort of game was precisely what Tomb Raider needed at that point in time: a fresh run in a new set of hands several years after Angel of Darkness broke the series' foundation.
Um, game's a bit janky. A lot of the general jumpy climby stuff in what I've played of the original series feels like that, where it's easy to fling one's self off a cliff in a wild direction despite the game's best efforts, so I sort of feel like that's a problem a lot of this genre ran into before Uncharted really smoothed out gameplay feel (or maybe that's just a consequence of my playing on PC?). But there are a few set pieces that feel very much of its era, taking big swings that don't completely connect. Those motorcycle sequences, for example: neat idea, something that you couldn't really do on PS1, barely something you could do on PS2 if this game is anything to go by. That one bit where you're climbing down a tall, tall chamber is surprisingly rough, too, since between the crumbling platforms and some of the jumps down, it was easy to overshoot and wind up taking too big a jump and ragdolling on the next platform. Plus there was that one boss fight against the guy (don't remember his name) who just kept screaming "DAMN YOU LARA BET YOU WISH YOU COULD DO THAT HUH BET YOU WISH YOU COULD DO THAT HUH FINE WE'LL DO IT YOUR WAY FINE WE'LL DO IT YOUR WAY DAMN YOU LARA DAMN YOU LARA BET YOU WISH YOU COULD DO THAT HUH". Like, dude, chill.
But Legend is one of those where jank adds to the experience, so don't read this as much of a complaint. I do think all the ideas the game advances are sound, even if they are rough in execution. Anyway, the times where the game really does come together are quite fun. Not a lot of the game's stuck with me, but that one level, where you start out at a crummy roadside tourist trap about King Arthur that transitions into Arthur's actual tomb, is suuuuch a fun concept. Definitely worth the visit for me all on its own.
I don't know how to wrap this one up, so here's a video I took during my playthrough that I titled "tombraiderlegends.mp4".
Played one handed.