Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light: Preview

The Tomb Raider series was never the most well received franchise but players hold many fond memories of the sexy polygonal explorer.  It wasn’t until I played the 2013 reboot that a finally learned to appreciate Lara Croft and her action and puzzle solving franchise. Before the reboot, Lara Croft was given a spin off title that gained great reviews and praised for its new co-op experience and gameplay.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light (GOL) is a twin stick shooter with puzzle and platforming elements.  After being forced to find a magical mirror for some goons, an evil spirit named Xolotl is reborn as well as the warrior of light, Totec.  Your goal is to stop the fiend from bringing chaos to the world. As an arcade style shooter, don’t expect a dramatic story like the reboot.  What you should expect are some great gameplay mechanics and a great adventure.

My short time with the game, I was grappling on hooks, jumping on spears, shooting undead warriors and solving puzzles.  I always felt that puzzle elements in a top down shooter could work great considering most of the Zelda series have the same perspective.  Overall, the first couple of puzzles in GOL are relatively interesting and they provide optional puzzle rooms to gain new collectibles and upgrades. GOL proves that platforming in an isometric view can work really well. This is mainly due to the tight controls Crystal Dynamics has created.

GOL uses the Tomb Raider: Underworld engine which looks great with this arcade game when in motion. During the in-game cutscenes, you can see its limitations but the opening 2D cutscene looked fantastic. The music and sound is also very good but the voice acting besides Lara Croft, doesn’t fit the mayan warrior and the Xolotl.  I could obviously complain about their ability to speak English but an accent would have been nice.

I’m hoping to play more of the game in the future because it was very fun and holds true to the Tomb Raider series. Even with the new camera perspective and gunplay, the game still feels like a Tomb Raider game and I hope to see Crystal Dynamics bring this style of game back.