Tomb Raider: Legend Demo
Okay, so Lara looks pretty dern’d good for being in her, what is it, 5th game? Tomb Raider: Legend is due out for the PC and various consoles later this month and replaces the boxy buxom globetrotter with a sleeker looking siren, clearly modeled after her silver screen representation, Angelina Jolie.
Legend is Lara Croft in her natural environment, hanging from ledges, jumping from conveniently placed pipes and flag poles and dodging tigers in the Bolivian mountains. Well, in the demo anyway. I played through the first level of the demo made recently available by Eidos and GameSpot.com and frankly, I’m not impressed. 1996’s Tomb Raider ushered in a new age of gaming by really giving a sense of 3 dimensions in a platforming style game. At the time, gamers easily forgave the often sluggish controls, blocky graphics and horrid camer angles. Today’s gamer though has become accustomed to a higher quality experience and, at least with this demo, this title is very lacking.
Most of the plagues are back. Camera issues make it frustrating to align jumps properly, so you’ll be either falling to your death or running around in circles after missing a gap. Jumping is just as problematic when timing and angle get lost in the shuffle. I will say that Miss Corft looks better than ever, considerably better proportionate than her previous iterations as she changes from daring adventure gear to a slinky black number for high society ventures.
The hottie factor just isn’t enough to keep me coming back though. If you’re an absolute die hard for Lara, it’s worth checking out, but be aware that the 500 megs will take longer to download and install than it will to play through. Full review when the game becomes available later this month.
