Lara is back

The seventh Lara Croft game, Tomb Raider: Legend is coming out on the 7th April in Europe (11th in US). In gaming terms Lara is a veteran and, much like the latest Stones or Dylan comeback, there will always be those, normally the PR, claiming a return to form. This isn't a particularly arduous challenge considering that the last Tomb Raider game was the truly shocking Angel of Darkness (a game so bad that the code shown at the launch demo in Central London was riddled with bugs and "features" that would supposedly be fixed prior to the imminent release - obviously they never were). I saw Legend at last year's E3 and it looked solid enough without really shining, although the apparent back-to-basics theme that sees Lara actually raiding tombs is to be applauded. But the question remains - in gaming terms is Lara Croft/Tomb Raider still relevant in 2006?