Despite her legacy being sullied by some questionable installments of the series that brought her into being, Lara Croft is certainly a legendary gaming icon. As such, it's a good thing that the appropriately titled Tomb Raider: Legend turned out as it did. Things have changed a lot since the series was birthed in 1996, and what the original developers at Core seemed unable (or unwilling) to realize in the more recent Tomb Raider installments, Crystal Dynamics has delivered with aplomb. Tomb Raider: Legend represents Lara Croft's first solid foray into modern gaming, and has made the series relevant again.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the team at Crystal Dynamics has taken cues from a great many games when crafting Tomb Raider: Legend. When it comes to the mechanics and design of the platforming sequences, you'll notice that Prince of Persia: Sands of Time was a prevailing influence. Meanwhile, the game's puzzle elements resemble something you'd see in a Legend of Zelda or Metroid Prime game, and the interactive cutscenes are straight out of Shenmue or Resident Evil 4. Yes, despite the series' PC roots, Tomb Raider: Legend is a console game through and through. It looks and plays like one, and if you have a USB control pad, you're going to want to use it for the PC version.
Minimum system requirements are: Microsoft Windows 2000, XP, Pentium 3 1.0Ghz or Athlon XP Equivalent, 256MB RAM, 100% DirectX 9.0c -compatible 64MB 3D Accelerated Card with TnL (GeForce 3Ti / Radeon 9 series).
Microsoft Windows 2000/XP compatible sound card (100% DirectX 9.0c -compatible), Quad-speed (4x) DVD-ROM drive, 9.9GB free disk space, 100% Windows 2000/XP compatible mouse and keyboard.
Recommended system requirements are: Pentium 4 2.0Ghz or Athlon XP Equivalent, 512MB RAM, 100% DirectX 9.0c-compatible 256MB 3D Accelerated Card (Nvidia GeForce 5900 / Ati 9800XT), Microsoft Windows 2000/XP compatible sound card (100% DirectX 9.0c -compatible), Eight-speed (8x) DVD-ROM drive or faster, 9.9GB free disk space.