Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
See Lara Croft like you've never seen her before: Overhead!
Posted October 8, 2010
I still remember when the first Tomb Raider came out on the original Playstation. Sure, we all ran out and bought the game because of the buxom Lara Croft, but what kept is around was the gameplay, which was a nice mix of adventure and puzzle solving. Oh, and a dinosaur. Can't forget that. Since that auspicious debut, Lara Croft has gone through many memorable adventures (and a few less memorable feature films), and returns in a new downloadable game, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light.
Almost immediately you'll notice a difference from other Tomb Raider games. Things start with static images instead of 3D renders, narrated by Ms. Croft. It appears she's accidentally let out some evil spirit from an artifact and vows to defeat him. With that out of the way, the game begins, showing you an overhead view of the action. Yes, that's right, this game eschews the traditional camera position behind Lara, giving you a bird's eye view of the action.
Now, you may be saying to yourself, "This isn't the Lara Croft I know and love!" But rest easy, as while the game may offer a new perspective, the developers remembered to retain all of the fun of the better titles in the long-running series. Each level is comprised of a series of self-contained rooms, which require either villains to be defeated or a puzzle to be solved before you can move on. The game moves at a quick pace, but each room has something worth stopping to notice. Graphically, there's plenty of detail, even if the character models do look a little stiff at times.
The game also throws multiple optional challenges at you, ranging from speed runs to collecting artifacts to more difficult goals. These challenges give the game a nice level of replayability, as there's no way you could do all of them in a given level (the speed trials alone mean you'd have to ignore the remaining challenges), and they do break the rhythm of run, fight, run, solve puzzle, run, fight, etc. The developers also encourage multiple playthroughs by offering a lot of unlockable content, including different weapons and artifacts that can boost your abilities.
Of course, the other big draw is co-op multiplayer. And almost immediately the big drawback rears its head: No online multiplayer at launch. While this will be addressed with a patch, it's poor show to have it missing at launch. If you do have another controller and someone willing to game in the same room as you (perish the thought), you'll find that the gaming experience is definitely heightened by going co-op. The game was clearly designed for this, and while you can still do it all by yourself, it cannot top the fun of beating it with a friend.
Lara Croft is her usual peppy self, but not all of the voice acting is of the same quality. In fact, if I had to point to a specific fault, that would probably be it. Most of the other characters sound cheesy, and while most dialogue exchanges are mercifully brief, it would have been nice if the voice directors cared as much about the final product as the rest of the development team did.
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light might not wear the Tomb Raider name, but it's most certainly in line with all the fun that the series has to offer. While the lack of online play at this time is frustrating, that's not enough to hold back a recommendation on this smartly crafted and thoroughly enjoyable downloadable title.
Almost immediately you'll notice a difference from other Tomb Raider games. Things start with static images instead of 3D renders, narrated by Ms. Croft. It appears she's accidentally let out some evil spirit from an artifact and vows to defeat him. With that out of the way, the game begins, showing you an overhead view of the action. Yes, that's right, this game eschews the traditional camera position behind Lara, giving you a bird's eye view of the action.
Now, you may be saying to yourself, "This isn't the Lara Croft I know and love!" But rest easy, as while the game may offer a new perspective, the developers remembered to retain all of the fun of the better titles in the long-running series. Each level is comprised of a series of self-contained rooms, which require either villains to be defeated or a puzzle to be solved before you can move on. The game moves at a quick pace, but each room has something worth stopping to notice. Graphically, there's plenty of detail, even if the character models do look a little stiff at times.
The game also throws multiple optional challenges at you, ranging from speed runs to collecting artifacts to more difficult goals. These challenges give the game a nice level of replayability, as there's no way you could do all of them in a given level (the speed trials alone mean you'd have to ignore the remaining challenges), and they do break the rhythm of run, fight, run, solve puzzle, run, fight, etc. The developers also encourage multiple playthroughs by offering a lot of unlockable content, including different weapons and artifacts that can boost your abilities.
Of course, the other big draw is co-op multiplayer. And almost immediately the big drawback rears its head: No online multiplayer at launch. While this will be addressed with a patch, it's poor show to have it missing at launch. If you do have another controller and someone willing to game in the same room as you (perish the thought), you'll find that the gaming experience is definitely heightened by going co-op. The game was clearly designed for this, and while you can still do it all by yourself, it cannot top the fun of beating it with a friend.
Lara Croft is her usual peppy self, but not all of the voice acting is of the same quality. In fact, if I had to point to a specific fault, that would probably be it. Most of the other characters sound cheesy, and while most dialogue exchanges are mercifully brief, it would have been nice if the voice directors cared as much about the final product as the rest of the development team did.
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light might not wear the Tomb Raider name, but it's most certainly in line with all the fun that the series has to offer. While the lack of online play at this time is frustrating, that's not enough to hold back a recommendation on this smartly crafted and thoroughly enjoyable downloadable title.