a great comeback from a seemingly bottomless pit
Boy, was I happy too. Legend is fun! Graphically, the game is fairly good, I ran it with "next generation content" on and it looks pretty good. Don't expect modern FPS but why would you, this is Tomb Raider. I did have some strange graphical anomalies in places, but nothing game breaking. It's a fun game, Lara has some new moves and she jumps, dips and clings better than ever. The level design is also quite good, a bit samey with ledge variety but nearly always convincing. The controls are easy to use and work well for a PC port of a console game. Great work. The challenge is spot on, but the puzzles rarely (if ever) leave you stumped.
Only a couple of issues, one is the camera which at times can be frustratingly placed, especially in combat. The actual combat is dull and bland. I felt that there were too many human enemies, plus each level seems to end with you leaving the level but with enemies to shoot at. The motorcycle levels are very out of place, boring and pointless. The bike itself feels like it's driving on ice rather than tarmac road. But, I'm an adventurer, so combat in Tomb Raider never really worked too well for me.
All in all, Legend is a very enjoyable romp through a rather intriguing and quite gripping story. I thought it was the perfect length for an adventure game. It's a huge improvement from AOD and hopefully a good indication of what Anniversary has in store.