Tomb Raider: Legend

I downloaded the demo for Tomb Raider: Legend from Xbox Live last night and played through most (I think) of it. I have fond memories of the first two installments of the series. I remember playing the first time in Trent, with the Rolling Stones "Sympathy for the Devil" playing as I ran around the first level of the game. This was one of the first 3d accelerated games I played as well, putting that old 3dfx card that I bought for Quake to a little extra use. My absolute favorite part of the game was jumping off cliffs and swan diving into water - and occasionally into the ground.

Anyway the series has fallen on some hard times and this is Eidos Interactive's latest attempt to reinvigorate it. They handed it off to developer Crystal Dynamics, who worked on the Legacy of Kain series. I've played parts of that series and really liked it. The demo and full game are getting some really positive buzz.

The demo is fun, and definitely looks next generation. Water and lighting effects are excellent; in general things really look spectacular. Lara moves well and is easy to control for the most part. I am not thrilled with the camera but it's not bad. It is really reminiscent of the last few Prince of Persia games, but that's the problem...the platforming controls in that series are just so amazing and so effortless that it is hard to compare anything else favorably. I like the demo (even if I am stuck on the puzzle you see here), and the combat in particular feels much improved, but I'm not completely blown away.