Tomb Raider: Legend is the seventh major game in the Tomb Raider series, now for the first time developed by Crystal Dynamics, along with the original character designer of the game's protagonist, Lara Croft. It serves as a reboot of the franchise, with a new incarnation of Lara Croft. The typical third-person action-adventure exploring is still present, and Lara can move more freely because specific jumps no longer limit her. As players travel through rough environments, they will need to run, dive, swim, climb on poles, ladders, and roofs, use zip lines, shimmy, and vault, with acrobatic actions such as somersaults and flips. Players need to cross difficult terrain, solve puzzles to advance or open up new areas, and engage in combat.

Lara is searching for a South American relic, but her adventure takes a different course when rogue anthropologist Amanda Evert shows up. Presumed dead along with a team of graduate students after an accident in a tomb in Peru, where Lara was the only one to escape, Amanda is back with a score to settle as they both race, along with the shady James Rutland Jr., to obtain an ancient artifact.