Tomb Raider: Legend
Tomb Raider Legend
Developed by Crystal Dynamics Published by Eidos Interactive Lead Designer: Riley Cooper Original Design: Doug Church Written by: Toby Gard, Eric Lindstrom, Aaron Vanian & Austin Grossman Music by Troels Brun Folmann Platforms Microsoft Windows, Mobile phone, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, GameCube, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, Xbox Release date(s): 7 April 2006 Rating: ESRB: T - OFLC: M / PG - PEGI: 12+ |
Tomb Raider Legend is the seventh game in the popular Tomb Raider series, and is also the first Tomb Raider game to be made by American developer Crystal Dynamics, and not British-based developer Core Design. Once again, it was published by Eidos Interactive.
It was released on 7th April 2006 in Europe, and 11th April 2006 elsewere, and is still available today. As with all Tomb Raider games, Tomb Raider Legend is an Action/Adventure game.
Contents |
Platforms
Tomb Raider Legend has been released for Playstation 2, PSP, Xbox, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, Gamecube, Gameboy Advance, PC DVD and various/compatible mobile phones. Crystal Dynamics directly worked upon the PS2 and Xbox 360 versions. Nixxes and Buzz Monkey Software handled the ports of the other versions.
The Xbox 360 version of the game has higher resolution textures and advanced lighting and water effects which make the game look fairly different in some places.
The PC version of the game has the ability to switch between the standard texture set (PS2, Xbox, Gamecube) and the "next gen" texture set (Xbox 360). Additionally, the PC version can be modded through use of other programs like TexMod. This allows people to retexture the game to give a completely new look to the levels and outfits.
The PSP version of the game has "Tomb Trials" which are small obstacle courses not found in other versions of the game.
General Story
When Lara was nine years old, she and her mother Amelia were involved in a plane crash in Nepal. While looking for firewood, young Lara discovered an ancient dais with a sword sticking out of a stone. When she accidentally activated the device, her mother disappeared in a flash of light. Later on, during one of Lara's university trips to an archaeological dig in Peru, disaster struck and Lara watched as her close friend Amanda got buried under a ton of collapsing rubble. Now, in present day, Lara has discovered clues concerning the sword and dais which caused her mother to disappear. While investigating this, she also becomes aware that Amanda may not have died. Determined to find the answers to both mysteries, Lara sets out across Bolivia, Peru, Japan, Ghana, Kazakhstan, England, and Nepal while searching for fragments of an ancient sword.
Levels
Bolivia
Lara Croft has recently heard about a stone dais located in Tiwanaku, Bolivia via her friend Anaya Imanu. As Lara arrives there, she finds out that this is not the first she has encountered the dais, which takes the player to a flashback from when Lara was in a plane crash in the Himalayas at the age of nine. She also encounters a mysterious man named James Rutland, who confronts her with a mystical sword fragment that he has retrieved. Lara demands to know where he got the fragment from, but Rutland doesn't tell her. Rutland senses that Lara doesn't know anything about the fragment, so orders his mercenaries to kill her, and he enters a helicopter with a mysterious blond woman.
Peru
Lara decides to return to Paraiso so she can visit the dig site where Amanda supposedly died. She meets with Anaya, her friend who informed her of the stone dais in Bolivia. Their reunion is cut short as the pair are attacked by armed mercenaries, sent by Amanda and Rutland. Lara tells Anaya to go ahead and that she will catch up. After successfully dispatching the mercenaries, Lara gets a call from Zip telling her that Anaya has mercenaries chasing after her. With the help of a motorbike, Lara heads in pursuit to help her friend. After a dramatic vehicle chase, Lara finally catches up with Anaya at the dig site. A cutscene takes the player back to when Lara was there before, and Amanda is introduced. The player takes control of Lara in this flashback, and she finds some of her friends murdered by a strange beast. Lara meets up with Amanda in a circular room, and they are trapped as they try to escape from the beast. In an attempt to escape, Amanda tries to pull what she believes to be a key from a wall. The monster lunges at Lara, and as Amanda successfully pulls the stone from the wall the beast disappears into thin air. The tomb then begins to collapse, and Lara and Amanda flee towards the exit. Amanda is caught under a falling rock just as the room being to fill with water. Lara has no choice but to leave, or she would also perish. Back in the present day, Lara finds an underwater entrance to the tomb. While down there, she finds one of Amanda's shoes, leading Lara to believe that Amanda may not have died after all, and actually escaped from the tomb. She also discovers Tiwanaku, the last queen of the civilization and she discovers that the story resembles that of the supposed King Arthur legend. Lara also finds a ceremonial copy of the staff, from which she recognizes from Waseda University in Japan. Unfortunately, it was stolen by a member of the Yakuza, Nishimura Takamoto. Lara then asks Zip to arrange a meeting between her and Takamoto, so she can attempt to retrieve a fragment of the artifact from him.
Japan
Lara goes to Japan to meet with Takamoto in order to retrieve a sword fragment that he stole from Waseda University in Japan. She meets with Toru Nishimura, a friend of hers in Japan who warns her of how dangerous Takamoto is, and Lara assures him that she'll be fine. Lara heads to the meeting with Takamoto, who refuses to give up his piece of the sword fragment - meaning that Lara take it by force. Takamoto sends some of his goons to kill Lara, and escapes while Lara takes care of them. She traverses over a bridge and on scaffolding before finally catching up with Takamoto. He reveals that the sword fragment can release bursts of energy that are lethal to a human. Lara shoots Takamoto while dodging the energy blasts until Takamoto collapses and dies. Lara proceeds to take the sword fragment, just as Nishimura arrives in a helicopter, which Lara hastily takes board on. Zip then tells Lara that Alister believe another piece of the sword is in Ghana, and asks her if she'd like to go there, to which Lara replies that she does.
West Africa (Ghana)
Lara travels to Ghana in hope of finding another piece of the sword. She find Rutland and his mercenaries to already be there searching for it, so it becomes a race. After killing numerous of Rutland's goons, she meets up with Rutland again, who has already found it. he then attacks Lara with it, using the same energy blasts that Takamoto used with his piece of the sword. A battle ensues, with Lara ending up victorious. She takes the sword fragment and leaves Rutland on the floor, warning him that he won't like seeing Lara again. She then tries to contact Zip, who informs her that a blonde woman attacked him and Alister at the Manor, in search of a Ghalali Key. The duo insist that they are okay, and Alister informs Lara that she needs to go to Kazakhstan to retrieve one of the final pieces of the sword.
Kazakhstan
Lara arrives at Kazakhstan, where a battle is raging below her, between Amanda's goons and the Kazakhs. Lara uses a parachute to jump down to the roof of a smaller building, and takes out the bad guys. She continues and finds a gate, which needs a code to be opened. Lara enters a medical building and rescues two Kazakhs who are being held hostage by one of Amanda's goons. The Kazakhs, unsure of Lara's loyalties, talk to each other in Russian, not realising that Lara understands their every word. Finally, one tells her the code, and Lara thanks him in Russian and leaves. Inside the gates, on top of a hill, she finds the communication centre with satellite photos of the lab. Zip tells Lara that they have their own map, so she doesn't need the photos. Lara however, finds the lab via a computer, Alister comments that it'll take a long time to walk there, and Lara says that she'll use a train that's going to leave the base soon. Zip concludes this chat by telling Lara that the train is about to leave. Lara hurries back to the train platform, where she finds more bad guys to deal with. The train leaves before Lara is able to board, so she hops on to a motorcycle belonging to one of the mercenaries instead. After a long bike ride alongside the train, hopping over chasms and avoiding obstacles, and shooting mercs who follow her on motorbikes and jeeps, she finally manages to jump on top of some train carriages with the bike. She then continues on foot along the top. A mercenary spots her and tries to kill her, but Lara, to his surprise, presses herself to the ground. As he turns his face, he sees a huge tank with explosives in it. The train crashes into it and spins out of control. Lara's coat catches fire and she has to discard it. She train finally crashes inside the lab, with Lara managing to jump off at the last moment. She makes her way inside. The place is very cold - so cold that she finds the frozen bodies of long-dead Soviet scientists in the corridors. Reading some of their notes, Lara realises that they were a part of an experiment which went wrong. As she makes her way further into the lab, she finds the generator and turns it on. Finally, she comes across a strange piece of machinery in a large room. There she sees someone bending over the machine. As the person straightens up, Lara recognises Amanda. Somewhat surprised at seeing this confirmation of her suspicions and seeing her supposedly dead friend again, Lara approaches Amanda. But Amanda has changed, in both looks and personality. She is not plaeased to see Lara, and taunts her for not looking for her in Paraiso. Then she turns away, telling her mercenaries to stop Lara from following her. He blows up a bridge, which leaves Lara to find an alternative method for crossing the room. Zip draws her attention to the machine, which is apparently a "Tesla Tower" made by the scientist Nikolai Tesla. Lara sets off to find a way to repower the machine. During her efforts, Amanda temporarily hijacks Lara's headset's channel and taunts her. Lara finds a map on a shield, and asks Alister to find out where the location depicted on the map is. She turns on the Tesla Tower, which emits a strong magnetic force, which Lara uses to move a metal platform, enabling her to bridge the gap and therefore follow Amanda. She finds Amanda in a huge circular room, with the hilt of Excalibur clamped above another Tesla machine. Amanda is still hostile, and releases her "pet", the Unknown Entity which attacked everyone in Paraiso all those years ago. Lara uses the Tesla machine to generate a force field to keep the Entity at bay, while she to free the hilt with her grapple. As the room collapses, she sees Amanda fleeing, and she herself manages to get out through a pipe. Alister comes back and tells her the map on the shield indicates that next piece is in Cornwall, England. Lara asks dubiously "Take the M5 to the A30 Cornwall?", Alister answers "As the crow drives."
England
Lara explores an abandoned tourist attraction which was built upon an alleged site for King Arthur's tomb. Deep beneath the false tomb, she discovers his actual resting place. King Arthur is frozen in a crystalline orb, much like Queen Tiwanaku. Lara is able to break the orb and take the fragment of Excalibur that he holds. She comes to the conclusion that there is a monomyth, which is to say that various cultures had similar myths involving swords, daises, and a monarch being raised to power by an advisor such as Merlin. On the way out of the tomb, she encounters a sea serpent living in the large underground lake she had previously crossed. After dispatching the creature, she returns to the surface to find that Zip and Alister are being held captive by a few mercenaries. She makes quick work of the unsuspecting captors, ensures that her friends are not harmed, and then returns to Croft Manor to plan her next move. While there, she realizes that the sword fragments were designed to be put together and taken apart, and she realizes that the the tool to do this, the Ghalali Key, is in fact the pendant her father had given her mother in Ghana. The pendant had been with Amelia when the plane crashed in Nepal, so Lara decides to return to the site of her childhood accident in order to find the key.
Nepal
Lara arrives in Nepal on the steep Himalayan mountainside near what appears to be the ruins of an old monastery. She tells Zip and Alister that the wreckage of her plane should be just on the other side of the mountain, then starts climbing along snowy ledges, some of which crumble under her weight. She jumps along huge icicles and breaks through a wall of ice to reach a ledge high above the plane wreckage. She seems emotional at the sight, and is reluctant to talk about her experience. As she makes her way down to the wreckage, she sees Rutland’s helicopter fly past, presumably carrying more of his mercenaries. She makes it to the wreckage and kills a snow leopard near it. As she is about to enter the wreckage, Zip warns her that the thing could fall over the cliff at any moment. So she weighs one end down with debris from the wreck. Even so, as she enters the plane and picks up the Ghalali Key, the plane tips over and falls off the cliff, with Lara managing to jump out just in time. Lara investigates further, finding her way to an icy temple, which Alister comments is a find in itself, and finally makes her way to another dais. There she reassembles Excalibur, and tries to put it in the dais, which breaks. She then has to escape the temple as it crumbles. The final cinematic of the level shows Lara exiting the temple, commenting, as Alister asks if she's done in Nepal, "We're going back to Bolivia. Then we'll see.".
Bolivia Redux
Lara, after managing to reforge Excalibur, returns to the dais in Bolivia, where she finds a ton of mercenaries, Rutland, and Amanda. Lara, threatening everyone that if they don't let her pass, she will kill them, swings the sword towards the people after Amanda threatens Lara back. Rutland orders the mercenaries to kill her, and Lara manages to defeat them easily with Excalibur. Rutland apparently dies from Excalibur, which turns Amanda furious, and sad. She cries over his corpse, before turning to Lara, ripping off the stone in which the Unknown Entity is contained. Lara tries to make her do this with her, but Amanda, keen to be the one to open the gates to Avalon, turns herself into the Unknown Entity. Lara defeats her, and, by using drawings from her book she had at the accident in Nepal, activates the stones surrounding the dais. She has a brief, confused talk with her mother, during which Amanda wakes, and makes Amelia pull out the sword, making her disappear, and the looking glass explode. Lara realizes that Amanda killed her mother, enraged, she threatens Amanda that she will take her life if she doesn't explain. Amanda is angry as well, and tells Lara that she should have pulled out the sword, which enrages Lara so much, that she knocks her out cold. Lara remembers her father's work with trying to figure out where Amelia disappeared to, and asks Zip to arrange a meeting with a certain Professor Eddington. Lara also asks Alister to go to the British Museum, and then she leaves the scene.
Characters
Rewards
Secrets make a comeback in this game, after being absent from The Angel of Darkness, but this time they are called "Rewards". These are of three types throughout the game: Bronze, Silver and Gold. Every level, including Croft Manor, but excluding Bolivia Redux, has a number of Bronze and Silver rewards, and one Gold one. Collecting rewards is optional, in that one can complete each individual level without collecting all or even any of the rewards, but one cannot achieve 100% completion of the game without collecting them all (and completing the Time Trials). Collecting the rewards unlocks all sorts of extras, like outfits, concept art, biographies, etc.
Bronze rewards, as their name suggests, are the easiest to find in any level, and are often simply sitting out in plain sight. Silver ones tend to be hidden, or place out of reach. The gold reward in each level is usually quite tricky to find, and is finding it is often a part of an elaborate puzzle.
The rewards themselves are shaped differently for each level, depending on the theme of the level. For example, the rewards in the Japan level are shaped like small Buddha statues, the ones in Nepal like Prayer Wheels, the ones in England like Crosses, etc.
Easter Eggs
There are several Easter Eggs relating to the Legacy of Kain Series, also developed by Crystal Dynamics. These include the symbol for Raziel's clan on the Goth jacket in next gen mode, Kain's symbol on the belt of the Goth outfit, the Sound Glyph on the shoes of the Sport outfit, the painting of human Kain from Defiance hanging in Lara's manor, and finally the unlockable Soul Reaver sword which is awarded for 100% completion of the game.
There are also crates with Natla's logo on them in the final level of the game (although the name of the company is marked as Natla Industries and not Natla Tecnologies), perhaps hinting at the Anniversary remake of the original Tomb Raider game. Some also believe it could be hinting a connection with the upcoming instalment in the series, Tomb Raider Underworld.
There is also, in the England level, in Arthur's tomb, a small easter egg. The inscriptions in the room, after a closer look, say "Crystal Dynamics Rules".
Demo
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 downloadable demo was available for the Nintendo DS via the DS Download Station for a short time.
In the demo, Lara can't collect any awards, she also doesn't meet any jaguars in the level. The level finshes when Lara completes the pressure pad puzzle and leaves through the door at the end of the room.
Reception
Tomb Raider: Legend was released to mostly positive reviews by the media, and from many Lara Croft fans. Many herald it as a tribute to the classic gameplay of the original Tomb Raider. The game topped the UK game charts at number one and remained there for three weeks. As of June 30, 2006, the game has sold over 2.9 million copies worldwide, has become the fastest selling Tomb Raider game in the series, and has helped the series sell over 30 million units.
Although commercially successful, the game received plenty of complaints from fans, mainly concerning Zip and Alister, as they gave away vital clues to puzzles, taking away from the satisfaction of working out a puzzle. Other factors such as lack of exploration, repetitiveness, linear gameplay and one track levels were also criticised. However it should be noted that there is very little consensus about the problems and improvements that can be made. Inevitably discussion over Tomb Raider Legend has created two very distinct camps - those who appreciate the updated, technologically savvy Lara Croft with fast-paced gameplay, and those that want a more classical experience involving uninterrupted exploration and a character that is less reliant on others to complete her goals.
Early version
- Missing levels - Early footage and screenshots indicate an entire level was removed from the finished title. It appeared to be a level set deep in the rainforest of Central America and featured three pyramids, possibly from a pre-Colombian civilization. Images of a puzzle room have also been mentioned. These feature a large chamber including large stone faces set into the walls and a large platform with rope bridges in the centre. Part of what appears to be a puzzle is situated on the far wall, consisting of three rotating stone plates. It's possible that the player was required to crack a combination with these plates or something much more elaborate. According to Tomb Raider: Legend producer Morgan Gray, this level was taken out because they felt that there were too many levels set in South America and by cutting this level they had space for the Kazakhstan level. Also, there are images (partly sketched) that suggest that there were more levels intended to be made. These include an image of Lara diving from a rooftop, with one of the Petronas Towers clearly visible on the right-hand side; a picture showing an assault inside the walls of a castle (Carbonek?); Lara running along a small walk-way above water, leading to the entrance of an impressive tomb or temple. The original concept art depicted areas unlike those in the final game. However, these images may just have been inspirational to the developers and there is no evidence they were intended for production. There was also a rumoured additional chase scene spanning across an English Motorway.
- Extended or replaced level - This is believed to be an extension of Kazakhstan level or the original Nepal level. Early footage and pictures showed a large chamber covered in stone debris and ice. The deep blue colour to the room indicated a cold climate. Objects in the room included shelves which swayed when Lara ran on top of them, boxes with Japanese calligraphy and, the most prominent feature, a large statue of a many-armed warrior demon.
- Bike sequence in Tokyo - At about 00:33 into the original trailer, released in May last year, a very promising motorcycle sequence where Lara was required to jump from one roof to another in Japan is shown. She jumps off the bike, notably a more futuristic bike, and up-ending it. Lara lands in a man-made pond, probably part of a rooftop garden, and the momentum causes her to fall backwards and slide across the water. The motorbike strikes a wall, exploding, sending a tire flying, which narrowly misses Lara. This was possibly part of the immediate action sequences which appear in the finished game, where the player is required to press the correct sequence of buttons to save Lara from immediate peril. However, no such scene appeared in the game. It seems it was replaced in favour of a much shorter, less elaborate roof jump scene.
- Cutscenes in Ghana - There were several videos showing her swan dive into water in the level, Ghana. She did it more smoothly, and slower, just like in the previous sequels. Whereas in Legend, it was faster, and it wasn't part of the cutscene. After her dive off the cliff, Lara needs to solve a mechanism to part the waterfall, and at 00:20 into the second trailer, Lara was featured jumping onto the mechanism, remaining there momentarily and jumping back off it and landing on her knees. In the final version, Lara swings and kicks it before the parting cutscene starts.
- Missing weaponry - One known weapon that was excluded from the finished game was the rocket launcher, videos and images of Lara being attacked and attacking with a rocket launcher were shown. Recently, a code for Action Replay has allowed the rocket launcher to be used in game. Old pictures from the Ghana level show Lara using a revolver.
- Also in the second trailer, Lara had the ability to crouch and shoot at the same time, like with previous games, however Lara can't in the final game.
- Alternate item setup - Early images show a different item setup in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen. The items were largely the same as in the finished game but had different appearances and a different controller configuration. However, it should be noted that Lara was intended to have flares throughout the entire game and not just in the flashback section of the second level.
- There was a light blue icon of Lara shooting, located at the bottom right of the screen. It appeared 4 times in the game. The manual hadn't mentioned what the players were supposed to do when that icon showed up. When this icon appears, it means that the the player has regained control (i.e. the cutscene's over) and Lara must escape whatever immediate peril she is in very quickly, such as when a helicopter is destroying the bridge she is on or when a boulder comes at her.
- A trailer featured The Prodigy's Spitfire. Originally, the game was going to feature some music from The Prodigy (not original), however this has seemly been dropped. [1]
Cheat Codes
Enter codes while playing the game. These codes only work after they have been unlocked
| Effect | PS2 Cheat Code |
|---|---|
| Bulletproof | Hold L1, then press X, R1, Triangle, R1, Square, L2. |
| Gives the ability to drain enemy health | Hold L1, then press Square, O, X, L2, R1, Triangle |
| Infinite assault rifle ammo | Press and hold L2, then press CROSS,CIRCLE,CROSS,L1,SQUARE,TRIANGLE |
| Infinite Grenade Launcher Ammo | Hold L2, then press L1, Triangle, R1, Circle, L1, Square. |
| Infinite Shotgun Ammo | Hold L2, then press R1, Circle, Square, L1, Square, X. |
| Infinite SMG Ammo | Hold L2, then press Circle, Triangle, L1, R1, X, Circle. |
| One Shot Kill | Press and hold L1, then press TRIANGLE,CROSS,TRIANGLE,SQUARE,L2,CIRCLE |
| Textureless Mode | Press and hold L1,then press L2,CROSS,CIRCLE,CROSS,TRIANGLE,R1 |
| Wield Excalibur | Hold L2 and press Triangle, X, O R1, Triangle, L1 |
| Wield Soul Reaver | Press and hold L2. Then press: X-R1-O-R1-L1 |
In Game Credits
References
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lara_Croft_Tomb_Raider%3A_Legend&diff=140857647&oldid=140651141 wikipedia.org's Tomb Raider Legend Page on 01:18, 27 June 2007.
