It’s been a long time coming for a good Tomb Raider game. Back in 1996, the original Tomb Raider was a landmark title that showed how the platform/action genre could translate into the third dimension with incredible 3d environments, good puzzles, and really memorable situations, It was one of those games that had everyone gamer on the block running out to buy the new 8mb Voodoo2 card for their PC just to play it in full glory. But then, as what also happens with successful franchises, the legion of sequels came. Some were good, but overall as the yearly installments continued onward, the quality of each game began dropping and gamers were left apathetic about anything calling itself Tomb Raider. But now the winds may be changing, as ten years after the release of the original, Tomb Raider Legends (headed by the original developers Crystal Dynamics) is here, bringing the series back to its roots while at the same time taking the game to the next generation. After so many disappointing sequels does TRL bring back the light?

The most eye-catching aspect of TRL is likely to be the outstanding visuals that Crystal Dynamics have managed to achieve on the Xbox 360 hardware. Straight from the opening level, players will think “hmm, this must be a cg intro” only to be surprised when everything becomes controllable in real-time. Lighting casts the opening area with a realistic daylight glow, water effects pours down steams in a way that would have been CG only years ago, and rocks and surfaces leap off the screen in their clarity. While its true that the framerate is fairly uneven and the almost cell-shaded Lara Croft model doesn’t quite fit in with the environments, as players head onwards through the palette of unique environments that make up the game, those issues will become less noticeable as players find themselves immersed in the world around them and in awe of the incredible texture and lighting work that Crystal Dynamics have managed to fit into the game.

This appreciation kicks into an all time high later on in the game when players reach an abandoned museum. This museum, presents everything that gamers have hoped for in the next generation of visuals and looks so real it almost approaches that feeling of photo-realistism. By using all sorts of next-gen shaders, excellent texture work, and very well thought out lighting, the game provides a CG feel that is really beyond almost anything on the market to date. Playing TRL, one can’t help but feel that rather than having to wait and be excited for games such as Gears of War or The Darkness in order to see a “true-next-gen game” they’re playing that experience right now, at this moment, on the Xbox 360 with Tomb Raider Legend.

Adding to the wonderful visuals is an incredible score that outdoes any X360 game to date and is one of the best scores so far this year. The tracks are atmospheric and beautiful, both adding an aura of the unknown while exploring and giving intense beats for the action. The music in TRL is the music Perfect Dark Zero wanted to have but failed incredibly in doing so.