By Leo Stiles
We’ve been staring at Lara Croft’s backside for the last 15 years and even though the visuals have changed over the years, with a slim and more subtle Lara of recent entries in the series replacing the more buxom model of the original Playstation classics, the gameplay has pretty much stayed the same.
Underworld, the last entry in the series, wasn’t the hit publishers Eidos had hoped it would be, especially as it was released in the lucrative Christmas period of 2008. After years of being the face of videogames, suddenly the future looked grim for the lady with the ponytail.
All this doesn’t make the appearance of a new entry in the series as a downloadable title much of a surprise. What is surprising is the massive departure in style and gameplay which manages to change almost everything, while still capturing that special Tomb Raider feel.
The game abandons the traditional over the shoulder perspective for an isometric view of the world reminiscent of the Diablo series and makes the level design the star of the game. The detail on display here is stunning and we constantly had to remind ourselves that this is a download title rather than a full boxed release.
Lara herself has had a controls change and while she still moves as gracefully as before, her capabilities in combat have been greatly enhanced. This is just as well because combat has a much bigger role in the game than ever before with aiming now mapped to the right control stick and movement to the left giving the game the classic feel of a twin stick shooter like Geometry Wars. Enemies often flood in from every direction and at times it can seem a little too frantic for a Tomb Raider title but the gameplay is fun and constantly enlivened by the appearance of new enemies and weapons.
Despite its increased use of combat, the meat of the game is still about raiding tombs and the environmental puzzles that are the hallmark of the series are present and correct with the new perspective giving such staples as switches, pressure plates and spike pits a whole new lease of life, with physics-based challenges and creative use of Lara’s abilities.
Tomb raiding for two
The biggest change to the formula is the introduction of two player co-operative play. A second player can join at any time and take on the role of tribesman Totik. This changes the pace and play of the game substantially, granting each player access to specific skills such as Lara’s grapple hook or Totik’s spears, which ensure that players must work together to solve the game’s puzzles. This sort of gameplay is a rare pleasure because for once you actually have to work together as a team rather than the selfish power-up hoarding that usually dominates other co-op sessions.
The levels work just as well in single player where Lara is given the abilities of both characters but with two players the environments are a joy, as teamwork is continually rewarded with new weapons and artefacts to boost your character’s abilities. Frustratingly, the online mode for two players wasn’t ready for launch and will be offered in a free patch at the end of September.
Guarian of Light has a lot of replay value too, as levels are timed for leaderboard postings. There are also plenty of collectables and challenge rooms located within the levels for those that love to get 100 per cent complete ratings.
On the downside, the story that sets the game up is complete guff and the cut scenes look cheap by comparison to the rest of the game, with both facets of the game letting down the experience’s overall quality. Combat, whilse enjoyable, can also be a bit too regular and on a couple of occasions a bit of a slog as wave-upon-wave of enemies rain digital death down on you, to the point where frustration can easily set in.
Such criticisms pale against the overall package however, and Guardian of Light is that rare thing; a redesign of a key franchise that dares to be different and by doing so, redefines what we should expect from the series and downloadable games on a console.
Format: Xbox Live Arcade (reviewed), PSN and PC (released 28 September); Developer: Crystal Dynamics.
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