Lara Croft in my Pants

I finally went and bought a couple of new games for my PSP, so I finally have other things to play aside from Tekken: Dark Resurrection and MP4-encoded videos.
One game is Untold Legends: The Warrior’s Code, which is basically a Diablo-esque dungeon crawler. You choose from one of five playables and go on one monster-killing quest after another in the struggle to (shades of Oblivion) put the rightful heir of the emperor on the throne. The game looks good and the animation and action is solid, plus there’s that addictive factor that games of this type always has- how you just want to keep getting stronger, getting better gear and more powerful attacks. It looks to be a good title to just whittle away at downtime so I got it.

The other game I got is the PSP version of Tomb Raider: Legend, which makes a grand total of FOUR versions I have of the latest Lara Croft adventure (Crystal Dynamics and Eidos should give me a prize). Like all the other versions, Legends for the PSP puts you into the skimpy outfits of Miss Croft as she races across the world battling mercenaries and the odd wild animal to put together the pieces of an ancient relic of power.
Despite being on a portable, the PSP game is pretty much the same game as the other versions, albeit not as gorgeous as, say, the Xbox360 game. However, there are cutbacks- primarily on the controls. Moving Lara around is done primarily on the analog knob of the PSP (a smaller version of the Playstation controller’s analog sticks), and it can get a bit tricky, especially when you need to be VERY precise. Plus, you usually have to move the camera yourself (or constantly press the L trigger to re-center it) to see if you’re lined up correctly for a jump. Even with these minor control issues, the game is quite fun to play and the sounds are all here (though there are some delayed sound effects here and there) from the cool music to the excellent voice acting.

Overall, it’s awesome to have what I consider to be the best Tomb Raider game totally playable and intact on a portable. That, along with Tekken makes for an excellent way to battle boredom anywhere.
Since I have consigned myself to getting only legit games for my PSP (apparently, my PSP cannot be ‘modified’ to use downloaded game ISOs), I’m already thinking of other additions to my library. Maybe Streetfighter Alpha 3 Max or Valkyrie Profile Lenneth may be in order. We’ll see once I get some cash flowing again. If only Streetfighter III: Third Strike and Soul Calibur was coming to PSP. Then again, who knows? Maybe. One can always hope…