The Game Dame™

The Game Dame as Lara

When Core Designs and Eidos introduced us to the original Tomb Raider in 1996, we all went a little Croft crazy. Two movies, three theme park rides and five additional video games later, Lara’s back and sassier than ever with Tomb Raider Legend. Although the game does have its quirks with the occasionally annoying camera angle, Eidos added some spice to their Tomb Raider recipe and Legend is one tasty dish.Eidos realized it was going to take more than a new outfit to create a buzz about the seventh Tomb Raider game. Merchandise was moving, but the games were missing something.

“In setting the stage for the Tomb Raider franchise moving forward, we took ourselves back to Lara’s origins, asked ourselves the hard questions and challenged ourselves to think differently,‚Äù said Chip Blundell, vice president of brand marketing, Eidos Inc. ‚ÄúWho is Lara Croft? What makes her tick? How is she relevant today? Only by answering these questions could we ensure that gamers get the experience they deserve with the character they love.”

Giving Lara the fresh start she needed took some restructuring. First up, they hired a new developer, internal studio Crystal Dynamics. After revisiting all of the previous Tomb Raider games and scouring message boards to see what the fans were looking for, the new team presented a more expressive, reactive Lara with better controls and, as always, a beautiful set of… guns.

In addition to a physical makeover, Lara got a new voice from British actress Keeley Hawes (BBC’s “Spooks”). Hawes gives Lara fiery edges with a warm, sympathetic center and it makes us like her that much more. In fact, all of the dialogue is handled well – adding a nice shine to an already polished script.

Lara’s got an arsenal of modern equipment to help her through Tomb Raider Legend including her traditional duel pistols, a magnetic grappling device, binoculars, frag grenades, a personal flashlight and even a P.D.A. that can be checked for mission objectives. Throughout the game, our favorite high-tech hottie uses her anytime minutes to communicate with Zip and Allister via headset. They‚Äôll be on standby, providing Lara with a good mix of tips and quips.

At the beginning of your adventure, you’ll receive some valuable training to help you get used to Lara’s moves. Combine this with some exploration of the Croft manor, and you’ll master all the jumps and gadgets in no time.

Lara‚Äôs main mission has her gathering the scattered pieces to a powerful artifact from Bolivia, Peru, Japan, Ghana, Kazakhstan, England and Nepal. All of the locations in this game are beautiful. The graphics are sharp and vivid. Sometimes, though, you don’t get to choose where to look. Occasionally, the game will show the back of Lara‚Äôs head smack dab in the middle of a potentially breath-taking view. Or you may be in the middle of a long jump with a tricky landing spot and in mid-air, when the camera pans back to show a completely different angle.

If you want to, you can get through the main mission in about 20 hours. If you would rather maximize your quality time with Lara, set the difficulty level to ‚ÄúTomb Raider‚Äù instead of ‚ÄúNormal.‚Äù This won‚Äôt affect the difficulty of the puzzles, but it will make your enemies a little tougher. Check your P.D.A. to make sure you’re collecting all of the treasures as you go and – although it’ll be tempting – only refer to a game guide as a last resort. Also, take time to explore the manor before you get too far into the game, it’ll help get your brain into puzzle-solving mode without having to fight any bad guys.

As you get a grip on the controls, you‚Äôll learn that there’s more to Lara‚Äôs journey than curiosity. This game digs into Lara‚Äôs past and shows you why she got into tomb raiding to begin with. Along the way, you‚Äôll run into some pretty nasty enemies, but you‚Äôll be able to use your equipment and puzzle-solving skills to get by them all.

While it‚Äôs tempting to sit slack-jawed in admiration of elaborate cinematics, don‚Äôt make the mistake of setting down your controller. Instead of giving the player tons of boss fights, the game mixes these more intense matches with focus-requiring mini-games in which the player must hit the buttons shown on the screen in the order they’re displayed requiring you to interact with the cut-scene.

The story is well developed and it ends with a nice, juicy cliffhanger that leaves you wanting more. It may be awhile before we see Tomb Raider 8, but our Lara options aren‚Äôt too limited. Eidos recently announced that ‚ÄúPuzzle Paradox‚Äù and ‚ÄúParty Poker‚Äù will be available this summer for JAVA-enabled mobile phones. To see what else is in store for our favorite fiery vixen, check out TombRaiderChronicles.com. They‚Äôve got the best walk-throughs I‚Äôve found online, a massive amount of downloadable content ranging from screen-shots to soundtracks and all of the latest Tomb Raider news.