ElectricSpectre

Lara Croft has been struggling for a few years now. Once the darling of the PlayStation 1, the transition to PS2 was a disaster. A new developer soon came in to freshen up the franchise but you were still in familiar territory – a third person platformer packed with shooting. Now we have a genuine new take on the franchise offering a different gameplay style, co-op and a new angle on proceedings. Could this be the shake up that Lara needs?

The first thing to notice is that Tomb Raider is missing from the title. Back in 2003, one of the minds behind the Max Payne series wrote a blog about creating game franchises and how the Tomb Raider name was perhaps a mistake as players would expect future games with that name to also be set in tombs with plenty of raiding. Think back to where Core tried to change the formula and you see people complaining about the lack of Tombs. Looks like matey had a point and the change of name for this title is the first sign that this will be a very different breed of game for Miss Croft.

Our demo begins with Lara, new bloke Totec (well old I suppose, he’s over 2000) and an isometric camera angle. First impressions are that this looks very different to any other game featuring Lara and that it has more in common with the classic PS2 dungeon crawler Baldurs Gate Dark Alliance. Thankfully, it looks so much better than that game. This title is actually powered by the same game engine behind Tomb Raider Underworld and it looks lush, stunning graphics which you perhaps won’t expect from a XBox Live Arcade game.

Lara is equipped with a grappling hook and her trademark dual guns while  Totec has a shield and a very deep pocket filled with spears. Both also have bombs. Lovely. These default weapons have unlimited ammo which is handy as you get involved in many intense battles with loads of onscreen enemies. The battles are exciting and you need to keep your composure otherwise you will blow yourself up or be cornered by dozens of spiders. You move with the left stick, aim with right,fire with the shoulder buttons and jump about with B. You can easily switch weapons with the DPad, but be warned, these other weapons can run out of ammo, which is tracked with the aid of a blue bar next to the green life bar.

Some die hard fans might think this sounds a bit too actiony, but there are plenty of puzzles to be found and there were even a good selection in the demo. Lara and Totec have to work together in order to uncover artifacts and progress through tricky traps. For example Totec can put his mighty shield above his head for Lara to leap on to get further up in a level and Lara can use her grappling hook to help Totec when his poorer jumping ability stops his progress. If one player dies, the other can helpfully resurrect them, or if poor Totec falls into the abyss you can quickly grab him with the grappling hook. A lot of puzzles and exploration are also optional. In one section we saw there was a puzzle involving a booby trapped floor which fired up spikes when stood on. You could run through a couple of spots in the floor to get onto the next section in the narrative, or take a risk and run through a huge maze of spiked floors in order to get a treasure. Another area which had quite a head scratcher of a puzzle was also completely optional, so those not wanting to stay too long on a puzzling section can continue on with the main quest.

While there is a healthy amount of co-operation, there is also an opportunity for mischief. Many pickups in the game are not shared so you may find yourself competing to get med kits, ammo pickups and treasures in order to get a higher score than your friend. You can also blow them up with a bomb. Don’t be too naughty when playing co-op in the same room or you’ll no doubt get a slap around the ear.

This is all good fun in Co-Op mode, but what about the times you play on your own? Instead of an infuriating AI partner, Lara is alone in single player mode, equipped with Totec’s spears and the puzzles and map are changed to suit a lone player. A nice touch and should give a pleasantly different playthrough to the co-op mode.

Lara Croft & The Guardian Of Light is looking like an awesome game to those wanting something new and exciting from Lara. I often struggled to get to grips with the last Tomb Raider game, but within a few minutes I was in complete control, and had a big smile on my face as I blasted giant spiders to smithereens and jumped along spears that Totec fired into a wall to get a treasure. It looks like it will be an ideal game for those who like to play co-op games whether they be online or with a friend on the same console. However it is not a game for those afraid of spiders.

Lara Croft & The Guardian Of Light will be released this Summer for Xbox Live, PlayStation Network and Steam. The version previewed was on Xbox 360.

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