Lara Croft & The Guardian Of Light hits XBox Live Arcade on Wednesday but is the latest adventure worthy of your time and 1200 Microsoft Points? The game focuses heavily on co-op so we got two Lara disciples in the shape of Mark and John (Matthew and Luke were unavailable) to play through the game and give us their thoughts.
Marks Thoughts:
Being a fan of the Tomb Raider series from the very beginning, I was a fair bit disappointed when Crystal Dynamics announced that Lara’s latest adventure would not be the usual third person action adventure romp, but instead, a downloadable Diablo style top down shooting arcade game!!
To my surprise, once I had fired up ‘Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light’ I found myself quite enjoying the new direction the game had taken.
The story is your usual Tomb Raider affair. We find our heroine has been tasked with finding an artifact called The Mirror of Smoke by some undesirable types who are quickly disposed of when they inadvertently set free the evil spirit Xoxolt from the mirror. Luckily also freed is an ancient Mayan warrior called Totec, Xoxolt’s arch nemesis and Lara’s co-op partner for the game. Xoxolt makes his bid for freedom and it is then left to Lara and Totec to take him down and destroy his onslaught of beasties.
The game play uses an isometric style camera following Lara and Totec about as the players dispatch enemies coming from all directions, while moving from one area to the next solving puzzles and collecting items in order to progress. The action is broken up by optional challenge rooms, that can be found through the levels, where the player can acquire extra weapons and items.
The areas themselves are made up of the usual jungle and old tombs that have been a staple in the series so far. Each area also has it’s own set of objectives that can be done in order to unlock extra items. These range from killing a specific monster to reaching the end of the level within an allotted time. The action feels good is fast and fun to play, with the left stick on the moving the player character about while the right stick controls their aim. Lara starts with her dual pistols as her standard weapon and Totec has a spear, which respawns in his hand after each throw. This weapon has a slightly slower firing rate than the pistols making Totec a slightly harder character to play in the later levels when enemies are numerous. Other weapons can be used as they are collected through the game, but unlike the standard weapons, have limited ammo. Each character can also have artifacts and relics equipped to them to give them special state bonuses or abilities, when going without taking damage for a time, much like armor and magic items in games like Diablo. Although this sounds like a cool idea, I didn’t really feel the benefit of them, as I made it through over half the game without changing what I had equipped in the first level.
As well as the new game play style Lara Croft: GoL has also decided to go for a new look, ditching its ‘realistic’ look for a more comic book style cell shaded one, with bold colours and dark character outlines. This works really well, looks great and also making it easier to pick out enemies in the environments.
Although Lara Croft: GoL can be played in single player without Totec, Co-op is where the most fun is to be had. Whether it’s from helping Lara reach high ledges by jumping on top of Totec’s Shield or having Lara catch Totec with her grapple rope and pull him to safety, running, jumping, climbing and shooting your way through the levels with a friend is where this game really shines.
John’s Thoughts:
Guardian of the Light is designed as a co-op experience – heck you are awarded an Achievement purely for starting a co-op game!The game is slickly presented using the Underworld engine and again features the voice of Keeley Hawes (TV’s Ashes to Ashes) as Lara Croft. Thanks to it’s hefty 2GB download, the graphics are among the best Arcade games with only Watchmen: The End is Nigh springing to mind as a worthy visual competitor – though this game plays so much better than that unfortunate mess.
GoL is best played with friends in the same room as we were able to coordinate reasonably well or able to discuss tactics/solutions to problems with reasonable ease. Over Xbox LIVE this could prove difficult if one player hasn’t played through a level before as it will inevitably lead to the usual 12 year old YouTube verbal tirades as they get frustrated with your lack of ‘l33t’ skills.
Of the two characters, Lara feels the stronger of the two as she always has her trademark Twin Pistols when he special ammo gauge runs empty. Series newcomer Totec is reduced to throwing spears which feels a little clunky and slow though it’s typically a one-hit kill.
The first level introduces you to most of the Lara/Totec combo skills to familiarise you with them as it is essentially a training level of sorts. Lara being able to use Totec’s shield as a stepping stone to higher platforms or Totec being able to tightrope walk on Lara’s grapple provide a good balance between the two ensuring that Totec is not left doing all the mundane tasks.
A typical level runs to about 30 minutes and completing the full game in co-op will require roughly 6-8 hours of play time. Not bad for a 1200MSP (approx £10) title as many retail games offer less playing time. It’s also worth remembering that the solo experience of GoL is subtly different as Totec is not present, thus playing through the solo experience will offer another few hours worth of gameplay.
Lara Craft and the Guardian of Light will please a lot of people as it spans many genres. At it’s heart it’s still a Tomb Raider game but it adds elements of classic shoot ‘em ups, some good puzzles and an enjoyable co-op aspect.
The Pros
- Nice Cell-Shaded Visuals
- Fast paced action
- Excellent co-op
- Fun challenge rooms
The Cons
- Can easily be overwhelmed by enemies in later stages of the game
- Totec’s slightly harder to play
Overall
Although the great departure from previous games may upset some fans, Lara Croft: Guardian of Light is a fast, fun action packed game and a worthy addition to the Tomb Raider series. A fantastic co-op game that can also be enjoyed in single player, well worth the asking price. A worthy purchase for any Tomb Raider fan or someone looking for a new co-op experience.
Lara Croft: Guardian of Light is released on August 18th on Xbox LIVE and 28th September on PSN and PC, with co-op online support for Xbox also being enabled on that date. The version used for this review was Xbox 360, co-op was played locally with two players on the same machine.
