Poor Lara Croft, her life was marred by a series of tragedies including the death of her fiancée in a plane crash, being buried alive on one of her expeditions in Egypt, was portrayed by Angelina Jolie in two unspectacular movies and then being framed for murder in a game that nearly ended her series of adventures. Ah, but all is not bad in the Tomb Raider series because this Indiana Jones with an impressive bust has certainly made quite a name for herself in an industry filled with Master Chiefs and mythological god-smashing warriors named Kratos. In her new adventure, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend for the PlayStation 2, Lara reminds us why we so loved her in the first place.

Legend begins with one of Lady Croft’s earliest memories that seem to link her past with her current quest. As a little girl, Lara and her mother had suffered a traumatic event as their plane crash landed but the real tragedy occurred during an expedition for a rare item. Not only did Lara lose her mother on that expedition but several years later she would also lose a colleague searching for the very same artifact. A trip to Peru suddenly reveals a shocking secret: her colleague is still alive and hates Lara’s guts to the point that she becomes Croft’s deadliest nemesis. As the story unravels, Lara must travel to various exotic locals that take her on a quest that involves Arthurian lore and the tombs she is known for raiding all these years.

While Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness had an interesting plot, it was the deviation from the exploration and tomb-based puzzles that gamers missed the most. In Legend, I’m happy to report, we see a return to the tombs, its various interconnecting puzzles and high-flying acrobatics. In short, it’s a return to familiar yet - thanks to the new creative team of Crystal Dynamics - there are some new elements that make this an even better experience than the early games of the series. Consider it a sort of visual and gameplay-mechanic makeover and you get a game that happily plays in familiar territory while giving us some new sights to look at along the way.

Among the new additions are Lara’s gadgets that range from a magnetic grapple hook that can be used to swing from one area to another or to catch hold of an enemy and draw him closer for a knuckle sandwich to the face or a bullet to the brain. She also has her own personal light source (so no need to light up a glow stick like in the old days) and she also carries binoculars that feature a little gadget that points out things Lara can manipulate and use. Again she carries with her those trusty twin guns but she could always pick up any weapon a fallen enemy leaves behind for backup.

Lady Croft’s adventures always take her to exotic places and Legend is not any different. She starts her adventure in Bolivia and moves on to Peru (including a flashback of Lara in her easily recognizable old outfit), the neon-lit streets of Tokyo as well as other interesting places that will eventually lead to the supposed location of King Arthur’s tomb. She’ll be exploring tombs complete with intricate and not so intricate puzzles, and thankfully this time around she won’t be doing a lot of backtracking to open doors. The puzzles range from the simple (using your weight on an obvious early puzzle) to the somewhat complex (matching a pattern on the ground to open a new location). While the puzzles are challenging, they’re not difficult and won’t stump you in the very least.

There are even moments that deviate from the usual action and exploration. At one point in the game, Lara hops on a motorcycle in a mini-game that has her fending off enemies on trucks and motorcycles without losing her intended target. She even puts on a slinky dress to infiltrate a party and then climbs high atop buildings overlooking the streets of Tokyo. There’s also no shortage of items to collect in order to unlock extras and you can always take a breather from the game’s story mode to explore Croft Manor and unlock even more extras.

What doesn’t work, however, is the combat. The problem is centered on the targeting system that doesn’t lock on to the enemy directly, often having you shoot round after round near him. Add the fact that it often takes more than two clips to kill a bad guy makes matters worse and keeps the gunfights from being any fun or eventful. I actually went out of my way to avoid confrontations with armed henchmen or wild creatures but sadly you’re forced into combat. 

On the visual front, Legend looks great on the PS2 but nowhere near as gorgeous as the Xbox version. Still, we’re looking at a game with sharp graphics, smooth animated cutscenes and impressive backgrounds. You will find some annoying clipping issues here and there and the textures look a bit washed out, but this is a game that will not fail to impress visually. Not only was the gameplay given a makeover but so was Lara herself, who sports some more natural curves and more facial expressions. If Lara decides to take a dip in water you’ll see water drip from her skin and her outfit will have that damp look. This is not a bad-looking PS2 game overall.

The game also took a page out of the Angelina Jolie movies in that the soundtrack is just plain beautiful and wonderfully cinematic at all the right moments throughout the game. Even the voice acting is good thanks to the good actors and even better dialogue and when it comes to the voice of Lara, who has no shortage of action film one-liners, she‘s still a very likeable character. I do wish there was more in terms of audible detail when it comes to the sound effects. Sure the tombs sound creepy but gunfire sounds flat and so does explosions. Still, what is here is not bad at all.

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend for the PS2 will make you fall in love with our favorite curvy adventurer all over again and with better visuals, a great story and lots to see and do fans new and old will have a blast going through these tombs. Combat falls flat and enemies take dozens of rounds to die but the levels are exciting and this adventure makes us glad the series didn’t die. If you’re a fan you do not want to miss this game.

Gameplay: 8.0
The various levels in Legend pay homage to the first three Tomb Raider games and that’s not a bad thing at all but the real treat here is that there are some new elements tossed in as a refreshing update. Lara’s new gadgets are great and exploring interesting new tombs in these exotic locales make this worth the admission price.

Graphics: 8.2
Visually speaking, Legend looks good on the PS2 although not as detailed as the Xbox version. Some of the textures could have looked a lot better but the game still has nicely detailed environments and the lovely Miss Croft looks and moves more realistically now.

Sound: 8.5
The voice acting is top-notch and the dialogue works well within the interesting story and the score is wonderfully cinematic. The sound effects are not bad at all either but it doesn’t really stand out.

Difficulty: Medium
The puzzles in the game won’t stump you but they do provide a nice challenge and a better distraction from the somewhat dull and flawed combat. Some of the more acrobatic moments can be a bit difficult to pull off without falling to your death but it just makes the tomb raiding all the more challenging. 

Concept: 8.5
Exploring the booby-trapped catacombs in Bolivia and uncovering the secrets of the Arthurian legend make us forget about the bad taste that Angel of Darkness left in our mouths a while back. There are enough secrets and collectibles to keep gamers more than busy and exploring Croft Manor is still a fun treat.

Overall: 8.2
Lara Croft’s return to the PS2 is a good one and thus making Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Legend a game worthy of our favorite video-game icon. While it’s not a radically new direction for the series, the return to the familiar elements that made this series such a joy are back and the action-packed moments scattered throughout make this a game fans will definitely enjoy.