Xbox 360 Game Reviews

This offering from Crystal Dynamics is the seventh installment in the Tomb Raider series, and it's hard for fans to explain the franchise's appeal - mostly because they're too busy watching Lara's breasts bounce up and down. For those less interested in mammaric polygon development, Legend is a great game with plenty of other things to enjoy.



Somebody seems to have noticed what the game's predecessor, Angel of Darkness, did wrong. Legend goes back to the tried and true for Lara, and there's nothing wrong with that. There's a stylish but minimal back-story about Lara's missing mother and - shock horror - an artifact in pieces scattered across the world that needs reassembling. So it's off to Peru, Tokyo, Kazakhstan, Ghana, etc, to jump, run, and swing your way through tombs and ruins. The game makes full use of the Xbox 360's higher graphical quality, and especially in HDTV it look stunning. The exotic locations play up the 360's strengths, but the game throws in a bit of variety, too, such as an abandoned research facility. The level of detail in the backgrounds makes it well worth just standing and looking for a couple of minutes - as does Lara's lovely stretching 'idle' animation.




Generally, the game is easier to drive than some of its predecessors. There's no more pixel-pushing to get a jump just right on the fifteenth try. As long as you're pointed in the right direction, Legend makes it easy for you, even if you end up clinging by your fingernails. Lara has something called a Remote Analysis Device which lets you know which bits of an environment you can interact with, so actually finding the puzzle is easier. Gun play is completely simplified: left trigger aims, right trigger fires, keep firing until everything falls down. Some people will find the lack of finesse annoying, but the trade-off is a very shallow learning curve. There are still odd problems with camera angles and not being able to get a good look at a jump, but you wont be spending too much time stuck looking at Lara's beautifully-rendered shorts.

Crystal Dynamics have added a grapple tool to Lara's arsenal which does add a different dimension to the gameplay. They do get their mileage out of it, though, and the novelty wears off. Likewise, you have the ability to leap off an enemy's head and shoot him in loving cinematic slow-mo, which everyone should do at least twice and not many times more - it's painfully slow. There are a couple of motorcycle sequences too, which is the only place where the game physics get seriously dodgy. Lara also has a chest-mounted torch, because... erm... a girl needs her hands. Yeah.



The biggest problem with the game is that there simply isn't enough of it. There's unlockable content in Croft Manor, and a Beat the Clock version, but even with all that, it's still just a weekend's play. Partly, that's because with more save points and less pixel-pushing, you're repeating yourself a lot less. And while the game is visually sumptuous, there are a few times when the frame-rate drops to a frustrating crawl.




Still, overall, Tomb Raider: Legend is an experience worth having. Whether you're awed by vast jungle panoramas or the way Lara's skin glistens when she pulls herself out of the water, Legend makes it worth having all that grunt in your console. Lara might even be worth buying that new wide-screen for.



Get Tomb Raider: Legend right now before Lara goes off to the monestary to become a nun! Nahhh!! ;)

NBA Street is one of those series that EA Big came out with a few years back that took apart a popular game series and made it bigger, badder, and more exciting. Besides SSX, it was probably their best outing in the lineup and with the NBA Street Homecourt, they bring the fourth volume in the series to the Xbox 360 on February 20th.

Basketball has generally never looked so good. With careful attention to the character models especially, it's never been so easy to see the details in your favorite players' faces. As a EA Big game, the details are not what their mainline NBA series does but they're still incredibly impressive, and with a typical EA soundtrack of familiar and heart thumping tracks, the presentation is as slick and entertaining as ever.

You won't lack for eye candy when playing Homecourt, and if you have the proper audio/visual setup to show it off, it's even better.

As for the game play, if you've played NBA Street before, you know what you're getting here. It's the same, high flying, acrobatic basketball action that has always filled the games, along with familiar NBA players in classic 3 on 3 street ball action.

The crew at EA has upgraded the trick sequences to two button combinations, allowing for enhanced dribbling techniques and some of the most entertaining, high flying dunks you'll ever see. The ability to launch from the backs of your teammates and dunk the ball as many as three times makes it more entertaining to watch the results of your game than actually playing at times.

The game breaker feature, a power-up mode familiar to fans of the EA Big series is perfectly tuned, making it possible to charge up and knock home incredibly dunks for massive amounts of points, or to hold the ball and go in for the easy two points.


The familiar story mode returns as well with massive street court (all from real life) support and a massively deep series of game play that allows you to go from zero to street superstar. Of course, you're also presented with the option of following your favorite NBA stars like Carmelo Anthony from their first street balling roots all the way to their NBA superstardom.

The multiplayer is the best though, as you toss the ball off of your friends and school your opponents as best as possible. The game offers the standard online mode which just as well as offline multiplayer, but the lack of a lobby system makes it a bit hard to find your actual friends or stay in touch with people you might meet while there.
Aside from mildly sloppy online presentation, NBA Street Homecoming is a perfect street ball game, a great upgrade from Volume 3, and a perfect advancement in the series after a two year break. For basketball fans this is as much fun as you're likely to have with a video game, if you're willing to overlook the basics of realism.


Get your hands on NBA Street Homecourt and score a slam dunk!