Tomb Raider Legend (PC) Review

Tomb Raider Legend is a special game for me. Back when the demo was released, over a little over 20 years ago, I remember waiting for hours for the demo to download on my 48Kbps connection. It was worth it. I thought the demo was excellent and that Tomb Raider redeemed itself after Chronicles and Angel of Darkness double disaster.

I did not buy the game at launch - didn’t have that kind of money back then. Tomb Raider fell completely by the way side. My interest in Tomb Raider was reignited in 2019 when I picked up Tomb Raider (2013) on sale. The last game I played in this series was Unfinished Business in 2005. It was good to be back after a 14 year break. Soon after I finished Tomb Raider (2013), I decided to play Legend. I remember loving the demo, so I was excited to try the full game.

Tomb Raider Legend is almost like a reboot - won’t be the first time. The story has something to do with the legend of King Arthur. I didn’t fully understand it, but that’s OK. I don’t need the details to appreciate the gameplay and good level design.

The biggest improvement over the classic games are the controls. This is more like a modern 3rd person action game. You have more control over the camera, Max Payne style. Gone are the clunky controls of the older games. They are very smooth and responsive.

I did not play the game until 2019, 13 years after the release of the game. I never bought the game at launch because I just didn’t have that kind of money. Prior to playing Tomb Raider Legend demo, the last Tomb Raider game I finished was Tomb Raider Unfinished Business in 2005. After this, there was a 14 year gap where I did not play any Tomb Raider games. While I enjoyed the demo tremendously, because I never purchased the game at launch, it kind of fell by the way side, and I came to realize that this was more console centric than I had realized at the time I played the demo. This put a damper on things, and I played other games for a while. Didn’t really care for the follow ups to this game either - Anniversary and Underworld. I have not played Underworld to this day.

Until Tomb Raider (2013) was released. That game sparked reignited my interest in Tomb Raider games. I wanted to get back into Tomb Raider. This series is the reason I got into gaming.

I waited until Tomb Raider (2013) went on sale, and played it in 2019. I felt like I wanted to get back into Tomb Raider after I finished Tomb Raider (2013) and I picked up Tomb Raider Legend.

I thought the game aged quite well. It was very playable in 2019. I did not encounter any technical issues. My problems with the game are more gameplay related.

This game is meant more for action focused. There are plenty of puzzles and exploration, but there is also a lot of combat. There is something about the weapon sounds with this game - pistols sounded hollow for me. I don’t know if this has something to do with my sound card (onboard audio) or if they are meant to sound that way. Everything else sounds fine.

The parts I did not enjoy are the boss fights. They are all boring. The game does not let you be creative in anyway. There is one way to defeat the boss, and often times it is arbitrary.

Visuals are excellent compared to the classic games. Game takes you to different locations - Bolivia, Peru, Japan, Ghana (West Africa), Kazakhstan, England, Nepal. Thats a lot of level variety for a fairly short game. Graphics hold up, even in 2026. Looking back at the gameplay recordings, the graphics still hold up.

Voice acting is good. They did a good job with the character model. It looks and plays well. Animations are very smooth, and they are not as slow as the classic games. This is one of the biggest complaints you hear about the classic games especially when someone plays them now, the controls feel very sluggish. I have to agree with this, but those games were a product for their time. Tomb Raider Legend introduced smooth animations, and platforming is fluid and fun. This is one of the biggest strengths of the Legend. The levels and platforming. Its a lot of fun.

Combat is OK. Nothing excellent, and I think it is better than the previous games. Dual pistols are great - but it always bothered me that some of the enemies are total bullet sponges.

I can’t comment a lot on the story. I didn’t fully understand it, but it has something to do with the legend of King Arthur.

Nepal and Peru stand out from the rest for me.

Its a fun game, and I would recommend buying this on GOG if you can find it for under $2. In 2026, I would not recommend paying more than that. To me, there is not a lot of replay value. Personally, I would not play this game for the story, but the gameplay does hold up, and it is a very solid Tomb Raider game.