I feel compelled to write something here to counter that ridiculous bad review. Yes, the control is different. That's a GOOD thing. The control in the earlier games was TERRIBLE. I can't believe someone would actually want to go back to controlling Lara like a truck. Yes, you would need a gamepad for the PC version also (just get a 360 pad and plug it in)-but again, this is a GOOD thing. Most ANY game with this type of viewpoint and control will function better with a control pad-so use one! And how many games of ANY type use the keyboard exclusively now? I played the original Tomb Raider DESPITE the control, not BECAUSE of the control
The original Tomb Raider had a great atmosphere and theme, and an interesting character. But it also had a lot of flaws. The control was terrible and unforgiving. The puzzles were frequently arbitrary and too difficult. It was easy to overlook the problems in that first game though, because for one thing it was one of the very first 3D adventure games, and was doing so much new. The problem came when Toby Gard (and I forget the other guy's name) were ousted from Core, and Core then proceeded to remake that same exact game over and over again. The sequels were basically level packs released year after year, without addressing any of the huge flaws the very first game had.
Well Legend gets a new developer (Crystal Dynamics), with a team headed up by Toby Gard-the guy who created the first game to begin with-and it FINALLY fixes everything that was wrong. The control has gone from being a chore, to actually being FUN on a "moment to moment basis". In other words, the act of just moving Lara around and interacting with the environments is fun now. The game has a solid physics engine, which many puzzles use to great effect. The puzzles seem more "organic" now-more "realistic" to the environments, rather than seeming arbitrary. As a result they're also much easier to figure out (which is a good thing, I think). Between that, the vastly better control, and the frequent restart points (at least on the X-Box 360 version), the game has almost completely eliminated the frustrating aspects of the original.
On top of that the dialog is excellent. Lara's banter with her team is quite frequently funny and well acted. (Lara's voiced perfectly by Keeley Hawes from Spooks.) And Lara comes off like she did in the first game (but better)-she has the same feel, and seems smart, competent, interesting
but with a bit of a crazy drive to her. She's once again a more compelling character than Indiana Jones (at least to me she is).
The plot even rises above the minimum. The title, "Legend" makes sense in more ways than one, and the plot is perfect for relaunching the series.
Lastly, both the graphics and music are very well done. As mentioned, I'm playing the X-Box 360 version (which I believe looks the same as the PC version if you turn on that version's "advanced" content on a high-end GPU). It has tons of gratuitous graphical effects. Most aren't strictly necessary, but add to the atmosphere. The soundtrack is similarly excellent. Almost verging on Celtic-ish at times, it always blends in with the environments well.
In short, this is a 100% successful relaunch of the series, and what Tomb Raider 2 SHOULD have been.
