Tomb Raider: Legend Critic Reviews

Whether this is your first or ninth adventure with Lara, it is one you won’t soon forget. With perfect controls, intuitive gameplay, stunning graphics, majestic music, and a totally engaging story, this is the type of adventure game Legends are made of.

Between the plotting, level design, and gameplay, Tomb Raider: Legend does an admirable job of rescuing the franchise. Crystal Dynamics have torn down the franchise, consulted with the creator, and rebuilt it from the ground up as something significantly different…Something great.

Every second of this game screams skillful design and the result is a liberating game world that feels open and responsive. Nearly every object in the game reacts to Lara's influence, and this applies to the gamer holding the control pad as well - it's impossible to play this game and not fall under its tempting spell.

Tomb Raider: Legend is about as good as games get right now.

Tomb Raider fans finally once again have that must-have.

Tomb Raider: Legend is the definitive sequel/prequel/quadquel to the Tomb Raider series. It's hard to imagine where it can go from here.

Incredible controls, solid gameplay, beautiful graphics, and an engaging storyline.

If there were a few more hours here, it would’ve been a really A+ title, but as it stands it’s still a good purchase.

I wouldn't complain if they'd given us a little more, though, but this is definitely a stellar start.

A challenging game that takes a lot of mental ability. It can be frustrating at times, but is always engrossing. I found that I could not wait to see what secret was lurking behind the door I'd just opened.

Tomb Raider: Legend fails to be a reinvention of any genres, but succeeds in every way at reinventing itself.

The biggest knock against the game is the length. The single-player game is only seven hours long. You’re able to unlock movies and outfits, which are fun, but may not be worth a play through.

While it has modernized the gameplay mechanics, Legend feels like a walk down memory lane, recreating the feel of the original games. This is somehow comforting; no matter how many times Lara misses a ledge, is crushed by a boulder or dies in a hail of bullets, you feel she will always be there for you.

It might not be the same sort of revitalization that "Resident Evil" got last year, but make no mistake, this is a very good game with plenty of thrills, twists, turns, and thanks to some great stages and tons of personality, Legend doesn't just bring TR back, it will make you forget everything about those old, dusty PlayStation games as well.

While the gameplay is serviceable, fun and current, the art design and visual production are head and shoulders above similar games in many respects.

While Lara's adventure this time around is pretty short, the exploration elements, great visuals that the Xbox 360 can produce, and even the surprisingly interesting story all come together to make a pretty solid game anyway.

If they continue to deliver this caliber of game I really don’t think the fans will miss Core Design too much.

A wonderfully crafted videogame that chooses to retrace fonder times should shame the critics into waves of apology.

If you can ignore the sloppy motorbike sequences and often unsatisfying combat, you'll have no trouble fitting into Lara's skimpy outfits and immersing yourself in the most enjoyable action-adventure on the Xbox 360 to date.

It’s combat may be unoriginal and the game may not be revolutionary, but it’s a truly solid adventure, with a good story, good controls that leave you with a yearning for exploration, and also discovery that is yet to be achieved by any other Xbox 360 title.