Tested on:
Intel Pentium 4 3.0GHz with 800MHz FSB
Intel 865GBF
XFX GeForce 6200 256MB RAM
1 GB DDR RAM @ 400MHz
80GB Seagate Barracuda hard drive
17” LG monitor
Creative SBS 5.1
Played with standard keyboard and mouse; as well as with Saitek rumble force game controller.
After waiting for almost 3 years since the release of Angel of Darkness, most gamers finally get to play the official demo of Tomb Raider Legend.
Even before I go ahead with my review, I will say that Crystal Dynamics have done a great job, and judging from the demo, we have a very solid game on our hands here. So yes, my verdict is the game is very good.
I was quite excited to try this game, and I downloaded from Action Trip’s FTP overnight. I got a decent 30k download speed through out, and I was able to finish the download in about 4½ hours.
The into video sequence is pretty good, showing a lot of different locations in which the game is set, very polished.
The menu isn’t the traditional passport anymore; something I hoped would make a return but didn’t however it’s not a complaint, just an observation.
Now for the game itself, I played the game on 1024*768 resolution with 2x Anisotropic filtering enabled, and shadows turned off. I had no problems whatsoever. The demo doesn’t have the next generation content enabled, so there was no way I could test that. But I would think it would be rather painful to watch this game with the next generation content on my computer, I am quite convinced that my GPU will struggle to keep up if at all.
The game play is still quite similar to the old Tomb Raider games with a lot of emphasis on exploring, and solving puzzles, and a bit of action thrown in here and there. However, the this isn’t the traditional 3rd person Tomb Raider we knew.
Prince of Persia 3D, released in 1999, was modeled after Tomb Raider, now Tomb Raider Legend is returning the favor. The control is just like the later versions of Prince of Persia. And frankly, I would have preferred the old style, but I don’t think it would have been possible to perform those insane stunts with a stationary camera. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that the camera isn’t good, it’s just that I am used to the old style of gaming.
Getting used to the new controls and camera isn’t all that difficult. Sure, there will be these odd times when you go wrong, but that doesn’t happen too often; not unless you are a particularly bad gamer.
The moves of Lara Croft are much better, not like the old games, where the response time of the character is pretty slow. The engine is quite easy to control, and I never got any feeling that it was sluggish, it was very smooth and easy to control once you get the hang of it.
The learning curve isn’t high at all. It wouldn’t take more than 10-15 minutes to get used to the game. It’s very intuitive, and easy. However, I had a lot of problem controlling the movement of the camera with my game controller. I guess I am just not good at it. I could never set the camera the way I wanted it to be, something I could easily do with the mouse. However, whether or not this game is good with the game controller, I don’t know. I am not a console gamer, and I use my controller only play racing games.
Now for the best part – graphics. I don’t know if a lot of people would share my sentiments about this, but the way I would describe the graphics in the demo level would be pretty, very pretty.
The demo level starts with a cinematic of Lara hanging on the ledge of a mountain, Mission: Impossible 2 style. After doing some really ‘impossible’ stunts to get to the rock platform, the game begins.
The location is very picturesque, with really excellent water effects. This is the best looking Tomb Raider – undoubtedly. And it does require a powerful GPU to enable all the eye candy. While I turned off the shadows, I didn’t really miss themJ. The game was looking that good. And Lara is glistening wet when she gets out of the water, with water dripping off her clothes. Very sweet. The particle effects are really good, and there was no drop in frame rate at all. So all in all, graphics are top notch, and while doesn’t require a 512MB 7800 to run this game, it does require a GeForce 6 series card at least. FX cards would struggle to keep up.
I am yet to test this game on my 5500, but I will do so soon enough.
The sound is pretty good, no complaints there. The effects are well done, and the voice acting is good, and clear, unlike in Tomb Raider 3, where I had to strain to hear what was being said.
I had a feeling that the AI isn’t all that good. The enemies don’t always react instantly. There were two guards standing next to each other turned away from me. I started firing at one of them, and the other one didn’t react for a while. I don’t know if this is going to be the case in the full version of the game, I hope it wouldn’t.
The puzzles are extremely good. I have to say that. Without giving away too much, the demo does have a very unique puzzle right at the very end of the game, and this is something that was never done before in any of the Tomb Raider games. And then of course, there are these standard puzzles, moving blocks, rolling stones off the ledge etc. It’s those physics puzzles as I wish to call that have impressed me the most.
The traps aren’t all that tough to negotiate, but they do spring a surprise. And often it requires the use of the grappling hook to get out of a tough spot. Once again in where it requires the use of different actions quickly, the intuitive controls make the passage very smooth. It does take a little learning though, little mind you.
And the end of it all, I am a very satisfied person. I am glad that Tomb Raider has returned as a solid game with great visuals, and sound; and most importantly with better controls.
Well done!
First published on GameSpot