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Lara
Croft; Tomb Raider: Legend was hailed
by most as the triumphant return of the franchise. Gone were the
horrendous controls and cartoon-like image and in was a new
gymnastic  Lara and wealth of fresh ideas, at least for the series
anyway. Almost ever since Lara
Croft; Tomb Raider: Legend was announced, so was its
portable incarnation and finally, after a small delay, Lara
Croft; Tomb Raider: Legend for the PSP has arrived. By now alarm
bells may be ringing, yet another slap-dash port? Or a game
utilising the strengths of SONY’s portable to bring a unique Lara
Croft experience, complete with all the bells-and-whistles you would
expect from a title in development two months longer than its home
console counterparts?
The
main Story Mode of Lara Croft; Tomb Raider: Legend for the
PSP is exactly the same as the one found in the home console
editions. Lara must travel around the globe finding several
artefacts that will help her unravel a mystery from her past. The
game takes the form of Third-Person Adventure, a standard for the Tomb
Raider series, and all the features, such as the Personal Light
Source and Magnetic Grapple, from the home console versions are
present, as is the good Level design. Being such a straight forward
port of the home console versions, PSP owners can rely on Lara
Croft; Tomb Raider: Legend to provide an engaging, although
slightly short, adventure on their handheld. As an added incentive, Lara
Croft; Tomb Raider: Legend also features the Tomb Trials. The
Tomb Trials are a series of time  restricted objectives that take
place over in a few custom made Levels. Although not particularly
varied, either a race to a certain point or the collect several
artefacts, these extra modes are fairly well designed and offer
quick bursts of decent gameplay, something that suites the PSP well.
These Tomb Trials can also be played in local Multi-Player, although
it is hardly an engrossing experience compared with the more
Multi-Player orientated titles available for the PSP.
One
of the reasons that Lara Croft; Tomb Raider: Legend was
praised was because of its rejuvenated control system. Gone were the
days of clunky, grid-based movement and in was a fluid movement
system comparable to Super Mario64. Unfortunately the PSP’s
Analogue Nub is unable to offer the same level of control as even
the PlayStation2 Dual Shock Controller, which means that while 
control in Lara Croft; Tomb Raider: Legend for PSP is still
clearly better than some of the other Tomb Raider titles, it
is not at all preferable to the home console versions. The button
orientation has been inexplicably changed also, resulting in you now
having to select the Magnetic Grapple, an unnecessary and ultimately
frustrating decision given the frequency of the Magnetic Grapple’s
use. Also, something that is becoming more and more an issue for the
PSP, a lack of second Analogue Nub mean that the Camera can not be
as easily manoeuvred, an issue that is likely to frustrate most
gamers.
Thankfully
the top notch presentation from the home console versions is still
present and in general the game features graphics comparable to the
PlayStation2 release, however there are few exceptions. The
compression to UMD has taken its toll on the water effects and some
textures, which now feature much less  detail, although this does not
really adversely affect play. Unfortunately one graphical issue that
does harm gameplay is the below par lighting. All of the tombs seem
darker than they really should, which wouldn’t be an issue if it
was not for the fact that the Personal Light Source has lost a lot
of it’s functionality. Instead of lighting the path before you,
the Personal Light Source now just seems to make the scenery
slightly grayer. This can become a real problem in some tombs and is
an issue that really should have been resolved before launch. The
Lara Croft character model still looks very nice though, as do the
in-game cut scenes. Lara Croft; Tomb Raider: Legend for the
PSP also has all the good dialogue and music from the home console
versions although to really get the same experience you will need
headphones.
Lara
Croft; Tomb Raider: Legend for the PSP
is decent conversion of a game in terms of the level of detail that
the developers have squeezed onto a UMD, but it has suffered in the
transition. Although the puzzles and Levels are the same, the
arguable best part of Lara Croft; Tomb Raider: Legend, the
control, has been damaged through the design  of the hardware, as has
the Camera use. Despite this the Lara Croft; Tomb Raider: Legend
adventure is still fun and engaging, and the PSP version adds the
Tomb Trials into the mix with good results. If you already own Lara
Croft; Tomb Raider: Legend, there is little point in playing
this inferior conversion, other than if you are busting for some
more Lara action and want to give the Tomb Trials a go. For PSP
owners who haven’t played the original version, Lara Croft;
Tomb Raider: Legend will provide an above average adventure in
the palm of your hand, and if that’s what you are looking for, you
could do a lot worse.
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