The Legend That is Lara

Lara Croft, more notoriously known for an over sized chest rather than her heroic adventures in some quarters but with Lara there is one thing for sure, heads will turn.

Back when the game was released in 1996 the gaming public were treated to something that wasn’t present at the time, that being a female heroine that beats the bad guy and saves the day.

Despite the somewhat raised eye brows over the larger than normal chest size, Tomb Raider delivered an adventure game that sealed the player away and took them on a journey where they would have to use their wits, cunning and brain to succeed. The many puzzles dotted within the games levels brought a somewhat welcomed change from the traditional kill bad guy to succeed level.

Saying that the game was all puzzles would be wrong, as anyone who’s ever picked up a copy of Tomb Raider will clarify. Armed with her now iconic twin pistols Lara travels the levels of the game using any means at her disposal to get rid of that pesky bad guy, or dinosaur in some cases.

After the success of the first game many sequels followed and while some were of the quality we had all come to expect from Lady Lara, as of late the Tomb Raider series has been below par. With the last few games not meeting the expectations of fans many have questioned whether the series has what it takes anymore, luckily the next instalment of the game is shaping up very well from all accounts, and that’s a good thing as one or two more terrible performances would no doubt see the series in very deep trouble.

Some will argue that Tomb Raider is not at the top of its game, I would be inclined to agree with them. With a series like Prince of Persia producing quality titles it will be hard for the team behind Tomb Raider to reclaim their spot at the top.

As for what lays in the future, well the new title, Tomb Raider: Legend will be released on the Playstation 2 early into 2006 while a port has also been announced for the Xbox ‘360. Here’s hoping Legend will have what it takes to once again grab the audience and throw them into an epic adventure.

The two films that have been released based on the games have been very good as far as game to movie ports go, and both have been recognised by fans as a job well done, at least the film side is going well at the moment.

So, nine years on since the first release and despite things going a bit pear shape there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Let’s hope that the future delivers or as stated above, the series will be lost amongst the quality titles of the same genre.

Tomb Raider, you are a legend but you have a bit more to prove in some quarters.