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Personally I’m not really familiar with the Tomb Raider series, having not played any of the previous games, though I have seen them on the shelves of all my favorite software stores. For the most part I had avoided the Tomb Raider games as I thought they were all hype and that people were only getting them for the bouncy babe called Lara Croft. Now, after having played Tomb Raider: Legends I see that the game actually has some substance to it and are quite a bit of fun to play.

The single player game will take you on an adventure in search of your lost mother who disappeared during an archeological dig. From the ruins in Bolivia you will travel through Tokyo, Kazahstan and Peru in search of the truth. Throughout the game there will be flashbacks to Lara’s earlier life and events that had occurred. During these flashbacks you will learn a little more about who Lara Croft is and then have an opportunity to interact with her past when the game goes from telling the story to the interactive mode.

Lara, of course, is well equipped with her twin pistols, which she uses with deadly accuracy. Well, as deadly as you the player can make them. On occasion she has the opportunity to acquire other weapons from fallen foes. When battling the four legged critters she must be nimble and move to higher ground if at all possible since, fortunately, they don’t shoot back. When battling the two legged critters cover and surprise are always good choices. One thing that bugs me, though, is the fact that in the game Lara wantonly guns down people and critters without any remorse or hesitation. For me at least that just seems wrong for who she is.

The game play is good, though my one big complaint is in the manner in which the game handles viewing the world. The camera does not follow Lara, nor does it adjust itself automatically. You have to continually hit the view button to return the camera to behind her head, which makes combat very difficult, especially when fighting Tigers who are low to the ground and move fast. Controlling Lara is fairly easy and she does have a number of modes of play including running, jumping, fighting and swimming.

Some of the puzzles require the manipulation of objects in the game, like large blocks that are moved to cover switches in the floor. Some of the puzzles involve hitting objects to cause them to move and set up other objects, etc. Basically, at times in this game, you will have to think about what you need to do to advance.

The graphics and sound qualities are excellent. Some of the places that she visits are absolutely magnificent, its almost like watching a movie. The developers put a lot of attention into the details of the environment as well.

In addition to the story mode the game has some Tomb Trials that you can perform, including a Treasure Hunt where you search for hidden treasures before the time runs out, Raid N’ Seek where you hide an artifact and then go in search of your opponen;ts artifact and try to discover it before yours is found. In the last Tomb Trial, the Master System, you race to the finish line through various obstacles before the timer runs out.

Unfortunately I can’t comment on how good a Tomb Raider game this is. I can tell you that if you want a fun puzzle action adventure to take with you on your PSP, this is a good one to choose.