I'm sure glad Lara is back and better than ever!
I eagerly awaited the arrival of TR: Legends and immediately headed over to the store to grab a copy. I certainly wasn't dissappointed as Lara and Co. have evolved superbly in an excellently crafted game. My initial reaction was "wow...this is one beautiful game, Lara included". I will note here that I did not activate the "next gen" technology since my pc doesn't have that capabilty.
Moving forward, I will outline the positives of Tomb Raider: Legend. First, the story was immersive and interesting. I found myself always eager to find out what will happen next. In short, the story revolves around the discovery of King Arthur's sword Excalibur - or is it King Arthur's? One may be a tad confused at times by the story, but it is fascinating nonetheless. Lara travels to several exotic locations, such as Bolivia, Peru and Nepal, and more urban environs such as London and Tokyo. It goes without saying that the graphics are excellent, even without the next gen turned on. At times, I (Lara) just found myself standing in place as a looked around the environment in amazement. As I said above, this is one gorgeous game. The gameplay in Legends is better than ever. It's quite reminiscent of the earlier TR games with better controls and camera functionality. There's some added features like a PDA and grappling hook, which is used quite frequently in both maneuvering and solving puzzles. Also, there's a couple of extended gamplay scenes on a motorcycle which everyone should enjoy. Lastly, Eidos and Crystal have added what essentially amounts to a bonus mission with the Croft Mansion. The mansion is not part of the main storyline, but does provide a whole new environment to explore and puzzles to solve.
As for negatives, I really can only come up with a couple. The main disappointment which I think you'll find mentioned often, is that the game is quite short in comparison to earlier games. In fact, it almost seemed like the missions became shorter as the game progressed. The last mission in Nepal, before the final boss fight/mission, went by in a flash. The game does end in an obvious cliffhanger, so I aspect the developer to release another TR in the near future or hopefully and expansion pack. I'm not sure if expansions have been released for Tomb Raider games before, but this one surely warrants one. The game is immersive as usual, but I thought it was less immersive than AOD, which contains some levels that seem to play for hours. Another small aspect of the game that I didn't care for were a few "cinema-like" action sequences. Essentially, at some point in each mission, a short sequence occurs in which the player must simply press the arrow button displayed to progress her through a difficult situation. Personally, I would rather just play Lara normally in these scenes and thought they only served to shorten a rather short game. Regardless of any negatives mentioned here, the game is still highly enjoyable.
In closing, Tomb Raider: Legend should appeal to all the old TR fans jonesing for some more Lara, as well as turning on new fans to the series. I've heard some mention that Tomb Raider and it's style of gameplay is a thing of the past and should be retired. Tomb Raider: Legends proves that this is far from true. Long live Lara Croft!