Forever proving their status as 'better than us', the lucky folks over at IGN, Gamespot and 1UP were supplied copies of the Tomb Raider: Legend PS2 demo disc which features a short portion of the second level based in Tiwanaku, Bolivia. As can be expected, before playing the demo all of these online e-zines were skeptical about Lara's ability to return to her former glory. However, it would seem that after playing this demo several times over..the reaction is surprisngly..very positive for an early demo code. While certain e-zines were better at playing the demo than others, each one agreed that if the demo was any indication of the final product, that Legend would mark Lara's triumphant comeback this spring. 1UP Quotes: "The demo that landed in our office last week was met with no small amount of curiosity and anticipation. Everyone gathered around to see if, after all the hype and all the skepticism, Crystal could pull it off. If the demo is any indication of the final game, the answer would seem to be a resounding yes." " Not only is Legend the first time Tomb Raider has felt fresh in the better part of a decade, it also gives Ubi's Prince a run for his money. As before, Lara runs, jumps, shoots and solves puzzles. But now she's much more agile, moves far more fluidly, climbs poles and makes dazzling leaps, edges along the sides of cliffs and more. But make no mistake; this is still Tomb Raider through and through." "Not only is Lara animated well, she also moves naturally. When dragging a block or box, you're not limited to moving in cardinal directions but instead can pull or push it freely in all directions. The game world is no longer divided into a grid, and lining up jumps is no longer a matter of backing up, taking five running steps and pressing jump half a block before the edge." " Based on this one-hour demo, Tomb Raider Legend looks great (even on the humble PS2), and it plays extraordinarily well. Unless something goes horribly wrong with the final version of the game, this will absolutely be the follow-up that fans have been waiting for since the original. For now, be sure to check out our fresh new footage and join us in looking forward to the game's April release date...." Gamespot Quotes "The irregularly shaped, movable objects and the freedom with which you'll be able to move them are certainly a huge improvement over the stone cubes and checkerboard maps of old. It's also noteworthy that all of the movable objects in the game have something resembling realistic physics now, so if you don't move them to a flat location, there's a good chance that they'll start to roll or slide without any further assistance from you." "Lara's most exciting new close-combat abilities are undoubtedly her rebound and head-stomp attacks, which are both performed using the jump button. Neither of these spectacular-looking attacks actually does very much damage, but they do stun the target for a few seconds so that Lara can shoot at them as she backflips through the air in aerial assault mode--which is bullet time, essentially." "Lara's other new gadgets include a personal light source (PLS), which is essentially a shoulder-mounted torch; a PDA that holds information on current objectives, gear, rewards, and such; and a high-tech pair of binoculars that double as a remote analysis device (RAD). When in RAD mode, your view through the binoculars is tinted green and any object of interest is highlighted. You'll analyze objects of interest simply by steadying your binoculars over them, at which point you'll have to wait a few seconds before being told if the object is, for example, movable, part of a machine, or flammable. Lara's PLS and binoculars are accessed using the directional pad on your controller, which can also be used to access any medikits you're carrying and to switch weapons." "Finally, the documentation that we received with our demo included a list of the controls that will be used to drive vehicles and to shoot your pistols while doing so, although no vehicles were actually present in the demo. We'll bring you more information on Tomb Raider: Legend--which we're now officially excited about--just as soon as we get our hands on a more complete version of the game." ---- I chose not to quote IGN as they didn't seem to be as impressed as the other e-zines. However, dont let that sway you, as from the videos it is clear that the IGN man reviewing the demo sucked at playing it . While Gamespot and 1UP flew through it with ease, the IGN guy caused Lara to die at one point and didn't protect himself well during the gunfight (Durrr!). Videos: Gamespot 1UP IGN Each site has different views of the demo and thus different ways of playing it. I would advise you to watch the videos on all 3 sites, to get a fair idea of Tomb Raider: Legend. Furthermore you can find out more about Legend at http://www.tombraidercentral.net It is speculated we will get to play the PS2 demo in OPM's April issue (March) although at this time, anything is possible.