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Tomb Raider 7:
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Tomb Raider 7:
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Definitive, detailed & fully dressed TR walkthroughs: - Stella's Tomb Raider Site
I purchased the official Tomb Raider help book for this game. It met my needs for an experts guide with maps completely. So I did not write my own walk through or make any maps.
The best overall statement I can make about Legend is that I do not plan to buy Tomb Raider 8 unless it is released for the Playstation 2 or the 2004 Macintosh iBook. Neither is likely so this is probably the last new TR game I will play for a while. I will play TR7 again eventually and might change my mind but I won't pay $600 for a PS3 or switch to Windows just to play TR8.
The game is short when played my way. When I reached the end I was actually surprised I was already there. The game clock only registered 12 hours. I did not have to replay very many areas either. Even after I finished Lara's home, a semi-bonus level, the clock only registered about 14 hours. Since the game's story does not end completely and is to be continued in TR8, I would have to say they should have included the future TR8 in this installment in order to make a complete game.
My preferred method of play is to use a full health cheat or infinite weapons cheat but to play in one of the harder modes. I also like to explore a lot and getting lost is part of the process - thus the maps I used to make. I don't much like battles and the cheats make them fun while still requiring skill. Extra weapons also often allow a battle to be solved by thinking instead of brute force. TR7 does not have any cheat codes available during the first round of play. If you finish the game 100% there are bonus codes they call cheats. They can be used during replay of the levels but that makes no sense at all. So I played in easy mode, which makes enemies easier to kill and makes the moves easier. As for exploring, Legend is virtually 100% linear. I never got lost and figuring out where to go next was always easy. I pretty much only used the maps after completing a small area to see if I had missed a secret before going on.
The story is back to traditional Tomb Raider and is good though short. The play is broken up into two parts for each level. The first is traditional play with a few less traditional timed runs and a new timed press the button run. I didn't see much point to the latter but they were often fun and were not a problem. After finishing the traditional play of a level, the entire level can be played again as a timed run. Completing the timed level runs is not necessary to finish the game but is necessary to access all the bonus costumes and the so called cheat codes. You also have to pick up all the secrets in a level to access the bonus costumes from that level. (The bonus costumes can only be used in Lara's home.)
One other big problem is the saves. The programmers changed to a check-point method of play. After you pass a check-point, if you die, you return automatically at the check-point. You don't have to worry about saving as often that way. But, although it appears you can save any time, each save reverts back to the last check-point. Experienced players know if they save in the middle of difficult climbs, timed runs or other moves, they don't have to repeat the first part over and over. That is not possible here.
Other problems. The controls are better with the exception of camera tracking. The point of view would shift at very inopportune times making some moves very difficult. They should have just kept the camera behind Lara except when absolutely impossible. The game is outdoors a lot solving the close quarters frustration of TR6 but the just plain FUN of earlier games is lacking. For example in TR2 and 3, Lara rides a snowmobile and a kayak. Both are really fun to just play with and there is plenty of room to do it without affecting the play of the game. In this game she rides a motorcycle. It is reasonably fun to ride but the areas are limited and both runs are timed and she is harassed by villains who must be killed. If you take time to enjoy the ride, you have to start the run over to finish. Each ride is sort of like short conventional a car race game with hazards.
So that's all they wrote. I wish they had done better.
PS: My wife played the game too, including the timed level runs. She liked it better than I, but agrees it is not worth buying a new console just to play TR8.