Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend

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Tomb Raider: Legend
Cover of PC version of Tomb Raider: Legend.
Developer Crystal Dynamics
Nixxes (Windows, Xbox, GCN), Buzz Monkey (PSP), Human Soft (GBA, DS), Fathammer (Mobile)
Publisher Eidos Interactive
Designer Doug Church (Original Design), Riley Cooper (Lead Designer), Harley Baldwin, Steve McManus, Kyle Mannerberg, Jeremy Bredow, Steve Yoshimura, Jesse Johansen, Troels Brun Folmann (music)
Engine Proprietary/Custom
Version 1.2 (May 10, 2006)
Released PS2, Windows, Xbox and Xbox 360
Flag of Europe April 7, 2006
Flag of the United States April 11, 2006
PlayStation Portable
June 20, 2006
Nintendo Systems (GC, GBA and DS)
November 15, 2006
Singapore (PC Version)
2006
Genre Action-Adventure
Mode(s) Single player
Ratings ESRB: Teen
PEGI: 12+
OFLC: M
OFLC: PG (GBA/DS)
Platform(s) Windows, Mobile, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo GameCube, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, Xbox
Media DVD (1), Steam
Input methods Keyboard, Mouse, Controller

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend is the seventh game in the Tomb Raider series. Published by Eidos Interactive, this is the first game in the series not to be handled by British-based Core Design, developed instead by British-owned U.S. studio Crystal Dynamics. The PS2, Windows, Xbox, and Xbox 360 versions were released in Europe on April 7, 2006 and in North America on April 11, 2006. The North American PSP version was released on June 20, 2006, the Nintendo GameCube, Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS versions were released during November, 2006 and the Mobile version was released in December, 2006. The Windows version was released at Singapore's Funan Digitalife Mall in 2006 and it was also made available for download to GameTap subscribers on May 31, 2007.

Contents

Notice: Legend is essentially a reboot of the Tomb Raider franchise and makes very few references to any prior games and the storyline is standalone. There are, however, a few "Easter Eggs" referencing the previous games as well as the two feature films.

When Lara Croft was just nine years old, the executive jet carrying her and her mother crashed into the Himalayas, leaving them as the only survivors. After taking shelter in the ruins of an ancient temple, Lara discovers an ornate stone dais holding a sword. Unwittingly activating the ancient artifact, Lara watches in horror as her mother vanishes in front of her eyes. Devastated, she left the pink book behind, in which the directions of how to open the portal were written.

Years later, Lara, with the help of Zip and Allister, travels to the ancient civilization of Tiwanaku in Bolivia, following a tip from university peer Anaya Imanu. Lara attempts to find an ornate stone dais similar to the one in Nepal. She soon runs into James Rutland and his mercenaries on the edge of Lake Titicaca, where the dais is situated. Old memories are brought back to haunt Lara as Rutland implies that her deceased friend Amanda Evert is still alive. After an intense battle, Rutland as well as most of the mercenaries escape in the helicopter. Left alone, Lara then examines the stone dais and finds that it is similar to the one in Nepal. A sword must be placed into the slot of the dais in order to activate the portal. Desperate to understand what happened to her mother, Lara decides to retrieve the sword.

Lara meets up with Anaya at the village, and after an attack from the mercenaries, who Rutland sent to stop them, they manage to reach the tomb in Paraíso, where a tragedy befell Lara and her friends many years ago. When Lara was a student on an archaeological excavation, a mysterious demon was released which killed most of the team except for Amanda and Lara. Amanda managed to seemingly destroy the demon by removing a mysterious glowing red stone from a wall. This, however, left to a cave-in. In their attempt to escape, the cave was filled with water and Amanda was buried in falling stones and boulders.

In the present, Lara discovers that her old friend had apparently escaped and learns the legend of Tiwanaku's Queen. The Queen rose to power after meeting a shaman with a magical staff and was shortly brought to paradise by a woman in a lake after an epic final battle, the culmination of a struggle for power. Lara realizes that the tomb of the Queen of Tiwanaku is linked to Bolivia, the incident in Nepal when she was a child and possibly even Arthurian Legend. Later on, she learns about the sword piece that is believed to be a part of the Excalibur. To her surprise she realizes that the artifact she is hunting has already been discovered, and is in the 'care' of Yakuza boss Shogo Takamoto, who had it stolen from Waseda University.

Excalibur reforged (left with Ghalali Key in the upper opening) and in its four pieces that were spread across the globe.
Excalibur reforged (left with Ghalali Key in the upper opening) and in its four pieces that were spread across the globe.

Lara's journey takes her to Japan, where her media mogul friend Nishimura assists Lara in finding Takamoto so that she can negotiate. Nishimura arranges a party for them to meet. Takamoto, however, ruins the party and refuses to negotiate, since he bears grudges with her over an incident some years ago. He then escapes. Dressed in a ripped dress and armed with weapons, Lara is told by Nishimura that the only way to get him is through the construction site. He advises her to be careful and gives her the elevator pass to the roof. Lara ascends to the roof and swings over to Takamoto's apartment. Takamoto refuses to let her see the sword and leaves Lara to deal with his men. Lara eventually tracks Takamoto down to the roof of his penthouse, where she witnesses for herself the terrifying power of the sword fragment. Nonetheless, she manages to overcome Takamoto and retrieve this first artifact.

After being rescued by Nishimura, Lara proceeded to Ghana to chase Rutland, since he possessed a sword fragment. It was unknown where this sword fragment was found. She soon tracked him down to a mysterious, ancient temple hidden behind a spectacular waterfall. Strangely, her father had been here, since he had left a pendant behind. When she finally found Rutland, he told her about something called the Ghalali Key, believing it to be in Lara's possession. The Ghalali Key was probably found in this temple. Lara has no idea what he was talking about and this frustrated him. Rutland then attacked her using his sword fragment. Retrieving his sword fragment, Lara hastily left and received news from Zip and Allister that Amanda had searched her manor for the Ghalali Key whilst she was in Ghana. Both of them were alright, though.

Lara came to a military base in Kakhastan near the Soviet lab, where Rutland's men were quickly killing off the soldiers so that they could have control of the entire place. From there, she travelled in a motorcycle, and then on top of a train to an abandoned Soviet lab in Kazakhstan where experiments on a sword fragment led to its closing down fifty years ago. Lara caught up with Amanda, who is clearly still angry about being left behind in Paraíso. Lara quickly went after her and found her doing experiments on the third sword fragment. To Lara's horror, Lara realized that Amanda had become insane and she had used the stone to control the demon which killed their friends in Paraíso. She also realized that Amanda wanted to use the sword for her own selfish purposes. Lara fought it off and recovered the sword fragment from the Soviet machinery, destroying the entire lab in the process. Amanda managed to escape from the laboratory before it fell apart.

Following a map on the back of a shield also recovered from the Soviet lab, Lara's adventure surprisingly brings her home to England. She discovers the real King Arthur's tomb in Cornwall hidden under a tacky and now-derelict King Arthur tourist attraction, along with the fourth and final sword fragment. Lara realized that Arthur and his knights brought the fragments of Excalibur to locations across the world influencing the destinies of various civilizations, and that the entire court of Camelot actually existed. After battling a sea serpent-like creature, which was probably assigned to protect the place, hundreds of feet underground, Lara returns home to figure out how to put the sword back together. Lara realizes that the previously unknown Ghalali Key was in fact a pendant given to her mother by her father. It is also the one that her mother had with her when their plane crashed into the Himalayas.

Lara was thus forced to return to her past once again, as she tracked down the wreckage of the plane she was on in Nepal and recovered the Ghalali key before the plane fell off the cliff. She then returned to the temple where her mother lost her life, reassembled the sword, Excalibur, and using its awesome power to escape. Determined to use it onto the stone dais in Bolivia, she quickly returned with the sword.

Lara returned to the stone dais in Bolivia, where Amanda, Rutland and their mercenaries were waiting for her so that they could steal the sword away from her. In an effort to stop them from blocking her way, Lara cut through Rutland's men and unintentionally killed Rutland himself. Amanda rushed over to him, and he passed away in her arms. Feeling sorry for what Lara had done, she tried to patch up the things between both of them and suggested both of them to use the sword together. Furious, Amanda refused to listen and released the demon once again, this time merging with it. With the help of the Excalibur, Lara defeated the creature once and for all.

Following the directions from her book (It was again unknown how she got it) and opening the portal once more, Lara understood what happened with her mother, as she looked into the mirror of light and saw her. Lara realized that the mirror spans time and what she is seeing is her mother just moments before she was gone by removing the artifact. Her mother told Lara (not recognizing her) to leave her daughter alone and that she "meant no harm". Amanda wakes up and shouts at Lara to pull out the sword or it will explode. As Lara's mother heads this, she pulled out the sword, the same as she did all those years ago and the dais exploded. Lara, to her utmost shock, realized that Amanda was the one who 'killed' her mother.

Furious, Lara shot around Amanda to get answers, and Amanda gave in and said that her mother was in Avalon and not dead, where Amanda had wanted to go. Amanda then decided that since Lara would not believe her, she is wasting her breath. Lara knocked Amanda out, saying "From this moment, your every breath is a gift from me." Lara then left the place, feeling sorry for what her father thought and was extremely determined to make sure that she was able to get to Avalon and save her mother.

The locations of Lara's latest adventure are in order of play:

  • Tiwanaku, Bolivia - A pre-Incan civilization currently in ruins. Lara arrives there by scaling the rocky cliffs of Bolivia. Lara is in search of a stone dais, very similar to the dais where Lara's mother mysteriously disappeared.
  • Paraíso, Peru - Lara meets an old friend, Anaya, in the town square, but they soon find themselves under enemy fire. They then revisit the dig site where Lara once lost many friends and she uncovers the secret they had been searching for all those years ago.
  • Tokyo, Japan - A piece of the sword, stolen from Waseda University, is in the hands of the Yakuza boss and Lara wants it back.
  • Ghana, Africa - Another piece of the sword is in the hands of James Rutland, who is currently in Ghana. Lara uncovers a phenomenal temple, set in a lake and hidden from sight by roaring waterfalls.
  • Kazakhstan - Lara's search brings her to a secret KGB testing facility called Project Carbonek, abandoned since the 50s - or is it?
  • Cornwall, England - "As in take the M5 to the A30 Cornwall?" asks Lara dubiously. Could King Arthur's tomb really be hidden beneath a tacky tourist attraction based around the Arthurian legend?
  • Himalayas, Nepal - The artefact that can re-forge Excalibur lies in the plane wreck where Lara and her mother once crashed. Lara revisits the crumbling Buddhist monastery where her mother disappeared.
  • Bolivia Redux - The final confrontation between Lara and Amanda and the truth is revealed about Lady Croft's death.
  • Croft Manor (training level), England - Croft Manor contains a number of puzzles in the form of hidden passageways, lyrical codes and concealed switches. This level can be played at anytime for as long or as short as the player wishs, however they need to complete the first level to unlock the doors of the manor.

  • Lady Lara Croft: Countess of Abbingdon and archaeological wunderkind. In Legend, Lara searches for fragments of a mystical sword that may hold the key to the disappearance of her mother.
  • Lady Amelia Croft: Lara's mother. After surviving the crash with her daughter, Amelia mysteriously disappears in an incident in a Himalayan temple and is presumed dead.
  • Lord Richard Croft (unseen): Lara's father and Earl of Abbingdon. After his wife's death he taught his daughter archaeology and raised her alone. In the context of the game, he disappeared in Cambodia when she was 15
  • Anaya Imanu: A South American civil engineer and university friend of Lara's. She was with Lara during the tragedy near Paraíso.
  • Amanda Evert: An old friend and archaeology colleague of Lara's. Her apparent death was witnessed by Lara at Paraíso, but harnessing the power of the Paraiso demon brought her back to life. Amanda re-appears in the Kazakhstan and the Bolivia Redux missions as an enemy.
  • Kent: One of Lara's university peers. He and his team were mysteriously killed during the Paraiso episode.
  • James W. Rutland Jr.: The son of a senator and a West Point graduate, Rutland also grew up in a bubble of wealth. His motives, however, are a little more self-centred, and he is romantically linked to Amanda.
  • Winston Smith: Lara's butler. He has served the Croft family for generations. He became a live-in servant after his wife died.
  • Alister Fletcher: An archaeologist who provides advice and allows for Lara to bounce ideas with via her headset.
  • Zip: A reformed computer hacker who aids Lara on her journey from her mansion in England and, alongside Alister, works in her mansion
  • Shogo Takamoto: A ruthless Yakuza Kamicho and black market dealer, easily identified by his large number of tattoos. His past encounters with Lara have been unsavory.
  • Toru Nishimura: One of Lara's friends, once a daring investigative reporter and now a wealthy media mogul. He is glad to offer Lara help when she so needs, but has become more cautious as a result of his new found responsibilities.

This is the first game in the series that has been available for the several other platforms rather than just the PC (and Mac) and the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 consoles. Following the success of Lego Star Wars: The Video Game on the Nintendo GameCube, Eidos announced their decision to port Tomb Raider: Legend to that platform, marking Lara Croft's first appearance on a home Nintendo console[1]. Legend is also the first game in the series available on a Microsoft console: Xbox (and later on the Xbox 360).

The original Xbox version does not include the introduction movie with the opening titles. According to Xboxic,[2] the manager of the Xbox development team genuinely forgot to include the intro video on the final build disc when sending it off for the final game testing with Microsoft's Quality Assurance team. When the mistake was discovered, the QA department told Eidos they would need to resubmit the game for re-testing from scratch. Due to time restrictions, Eidos chose to release the Xbox version without the intro movie.

Lara climbing a cliff in Ghana.
Lara climbing a cliff in Ghana.

PlayStation Portable players have received some exclusive extras. While the textures and polygon count were significantly reduced to run on the portable, some new gameplay modes were introduced. The Tomb Trials, three multiplayer modes and six additional outfits were not available in any other version of Legend. The Tomb Trials put the player against a series of traps and acrobatics to be dealt with before the assigned time is over, based on locations of the regular levels. Note: On the last level "Bolivia redux" the "Natla industries" crates are not present, and you can not destroy the statues scattered around the level.

The Nintendo GameCube version has had a couple of cuts, most likely due to disc space. The rolling demos that would normally play if the game was left inactive while in the title screen have been removed, and the Unfortunate Mishaps video is also missing. The game runs at a slightly smoother framerate than the PlayStation 2 version, and it also loads faster. But at some specific points there are some noticeable framerate drops (such as in the train chase, in Kazakhstan). The many filters used for explosions and motion blur are also gone, rendering the game with sharper textures but less remarkable explosions.

The versions for Nintendo handheld consoles are different. Despite following the same storyline and featuring all the levels and key moments from the bigger counterparts, the game is a sidescroller on the GBA. The levels have been broken down into several smaller segments, probably due to technology limits, and feature a lot more platforming than the original versions. The progression of the storyline is told via comic-strips during key moments. The rewards are also present and they unlock simple minigames. Lara also changes outfits in this version, though she's limited to only three - the regular outfit, the Tokyo dress and the Winter suit.

The DS version uses 2.5D for gameplay. The game does not follow the PC, PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360 and Nintendo GameCube versions of the game exactly.

The Mobile version presents a compressed version of the story, featuring only three levels (Tokyo, Ghana and England) based on the original levels from the consoles version, and has a far more limited gameplay style. It features, however, three gameplay modes: corridor combat, room combat and platform exploration.

The PlayStation 2 demo was made available in some regions in the Official PlayStation Magazine, as well as on Jampack Vol. 14. A PC demo was released on March 31, 2006 and an Xbox 360 demo was released on Xbox Live Marketplace on April 5, 2006. A demo will be downloadable to the Nintendo DS via the DS Download Station.

Tomb Raider: Legend was released to widely positive reviews by the media and from many Lara Croft fans. Many herald it as a return to the classic gameplay of Tomb Raider. The game play of this new title is unrecognisable from that of the 1996 original. That said the game was on the whole a commercial success leading to a re-envisioning of the original game with the new gameplay.

  • The game topped the UK game charts at number 1 and remained there for three weeks. [3]
  • As of June 30, 2006, the game has sold over 2.9 million copies worldwide,[4] has become the fastest selling Tomb Raider game in the series and has helped the series sell over 30 million units.

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • On the unlockable costume Goth, the symbols on Lara's vest and belt buckle are from another Crystal Dynamics/Eidos series, Legacy of Kain. They are the symbols for Raziel and Kain's respective clans. Also, in the main hall of Croft Manor, a painting can be seen of the human Kain, the same one that Raziel sees in Kain's Mausoleum in Defiance. Lara's blue sport outfit uses the Soul Reaver symbol of the sound glyph on the shoes. The unlockable Soul Reaver weapon is also a nod to these games.
  • In the last level, Bolivia Redux, the crates bear the Natla Industries logo. Jacqueline Natla was the main enemy in the original game, and Natla Technologies was her company.
  • The main hall of Croft Manor is nearly identical in layout and ornamentation to its counterpart in the first movie.

  1. ^ Lara Croft Somersaults to GameCube. Retrieved on 2007-09-06.
  2. ^ Xboxic. Xbox not getting a Tomb Raider Legend intro. Retrieved on 2007-09-06.
  3. ^ Tomb Raider Chronicles. LARA CROFT SCORES THIRD WEEK AT TOP. Retrieved on 2007-09-06.
  4. ^ Tomb Raider Chronicles. SCI ENTERTAINMENT PLC TRADING UPDATE. Retrieved on 2007-09-08.

v • d • e
Tomb Raider series
Video games
First Continuity
(Core Design)		 Tomb Raider • Unfinished Business • II • The Golden Mask • III • The Lost Artifact • The Last Revelation • Chronicles • The Angel of Darkness
Second Continuity
(Crystal Dynamics)		 Legend • Anniversary • Underworld
Game Boy Games Tomb Raider • Curse of the Sword • The Prophecy
Film/Animation Lara Croft: Tomb Raider • The Cradle of Life • Re\Visioned: Tomb Raider Animated Series • The Action Adventure (interactive DVD)
Characters Lara Croft  • Jacqueline Natla  • Larson  • Pierre Dupont  • Lord Richard Croft  • Werner Von Croy  • Kurtis Trent  • Minor characters
Music & Scores Games  • Tomb Raider (film)  • The Cradle of Life
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lara_Croft_Tomb_Raider:_Legend"
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