Lara Craft: Tomb Raider – Legend (PlayStation 2)

Legend is the seventh major game in the Tomb Raider series, now for the first time developed by Crystal Dynamics, along with the original character designer of the game’s protagonist Lara Croft: Toby Gard.

Heroine Lara is searching for a South American relic, but her adventure takes a different course when rogue anthropologist Amanda Evert shows up. Presumed dead along with a team of graduate students after an accident in a tomb in Peru, where Lara was the only one to escape, Amanda is back with a score to settle as they both race, along with the shady James Rutland Jr., to obtain an ancient artifact. Many other characters, both friends and foes, will stir things up. The story takes Lara through locations all over the world, from the Himalayas to Ghana, Kazakhstan, Bolivia, Japan and England, including her famous mansion filled with secrets and collectibles. Aside from current events, Lara’s past is also revealed, through flashbacks. Among other things, you will get to know how she lost her mother and why it is such a burden.

The typical third-person action-adventuring exploring is still present. Lara can move more freely, and is no longer limited by specific jumps. As you travel through rough environments, you will need to run, dive, swim, climb on poles, ladders, roofs, use zip lines, shimmy and vault, with acrobatic actions such as somersaults and flips. You need to cross difficult terrain, solve puzzles to advance or open up new areas, and engage in combat. New tools include a grappling hook, not only used to move around but also to haul enemies Scorpion-style, binoculars, a PLS (personal light source), flares, a PDA and a headset to keep in contact with tech support Zip.

Enemies are still rather scarce. Both humans and animals will attack you, and the game retains the auto lock-on mode, but now with a slide attack and close combat with both kicks and punches, plus bullet-time actions to get behind enemies quickly. Lara carries her trademark dual-wielded pistols, but can also pick up new weapons along the way, such as a shotgun and grenades. Missions take place in both indoor and outdoor environments, with arcade motorcycle and jeep sequences in between. As usual, Lara has a fancy outfit for each location.

The PSP version includes the full game and adds a multiplayer mode: Tomb Trials. You can race another player through tombs to see who comes out first, or go on a timed scavenger hunt for artifacts.