It's been a full decade since Lara Croft, the grave-looting minx with a gymnast's agility and porn-star proportions, led a generation of button-mashing boys into manhood. But the old bird hasn't aged all that gracefully, having suffered a pair of poorly received Angelina Jolie adventures, a 2003 misfire (Tomb Raider: The Angel Of Darkness) that virtually torpedoed the series, and a gaming world that's borrowed all of its tricks and made the necessary refinements. The hero of Prince Of Persia doesn't have much of a rack, but he can scale walls and swing over bottomless pits with more fluidity and speed than Croft at her best, no matter that he wouldn't exist without her. Yet just when it seemed ready for the boneyard, Croft's series has been rejuvenated under new management, which preserves the icon so confidently that the title alone, Tomb Raider: Legend, all but anticipates canonization.
A crisply executed adventure that alternates among third-person shooting, platform-jumping, and environmental puzzles, Legend doesn't excel at any one in particular, but it rotates the elements smoothly and regularly enough that it compensates in variety. Globetrotting to eight exotic locales, from a Ghana jungle to a sleek Tokyo high-rise to iced-over Kazakhstan, the game doesn't take long to finish, but it's entertaining while it lasts, with plenty more to anticipate than action-Barbie wardrobe changes. Though layered with intricacies, the basic premise has Lara chasing after fragments of an ancient sword that holds untold power when pieced together. Armed henchmen, big bosses, puzzle rooms, and the occasional supernatural baddie swarm each booby-trapped fortress, though never all at once.
Beyond the game: One advantage of having a decade-old icon for a hero is that there's mythology to burn. Legend packs in more associative time-jumps than an Atom Egoyan film. So what if it's utterly baffling?
Worth playing for: Some games have 30 levels that all look the same, but the eight in this one are distinctive and eye-popping enough to prod you ahead.
Frustration sets in when: Lara sure looks good on a motorcycle, but the jerky controls have you smashing into the scenery.
Final judgment: Legend is a fine continuation of a classic series. Unless it inspires another Tomb Raider movie. In which case it sucks.