Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light (XBLA) – Review – Xbox 360

Don

Lara Croft is still raiding tombs in Crystal Dynamics’ new Tomb Raider spin-off…

Story: Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light takes place during an expedition to find the long lost Mayan “Mirror of Smoke” which serves as the prison of the ancient demon-god Xolotl. One thing leads to another and eternal darkness looms unless Lara Croft and Totec, the Guardian of Light can return the Mirror of Smoke to the Temple of Light before dawn breaks and makes Xolotl invincible. The story is mainly delivered through artwork stills with a comic book feel, and accompanied by spoken dialog from Lara, Totec, and Xolotl. Occasional in-game cut-scenes bring the camera up close to the action or introduce major bosses.

Gameplay: More than just a name change, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light also changes the core gameplay dynamic of the Tomb Raider series. Instead of the traditional over the shoulder camera, GoL uses an overhead 3/4 isometric view. While Lara Croft is still very much a puzzle-platformer, the focus has shifted to combat, adopting a dual-stick shooter control scheme where you move using the left analog-stick and aim with the right-analog stick. Throughout the game you will find new weapons to add to your arsenal, while some special weapons can only be unlocked by beating a level’s High Score Challenge. In a nod to all the golden-gun freaks out there, there is even a Golden Shotgun to be had. Each weapon has advantages and disadvantages, letting you pick the weapon that works best for you.

Disco Inferno

Instead of each weapon having it’s own supply of ammo, you have a unified ammo supply, with each weapon drawing from the supply based on it’s fire rate and ammo consumption rating. This keeps you from having to constantly switch between weapons as each runs low. In Multi-player Co-Op, Lara and Totec each have a default weapon (dual pistols and spear, respectively) that never run out of ammo. In single-player, Lara’s dual pistols are replaced with Totec’s spear. In addition to these default weapons, you are given three custom slots to assign other weapons to, giving you quick access to ordinance for a variety of situations. You can switch between your four set weapons on the fly using the four directions on the d-pad, or by holding the left trigger and pressing one of the controller face buttons (X,Y,A, or B).

The combat is deeper than just weapon selection, due to the Artifacts and Relics scattered throughout the game. You have two slots with which to equip artifacts, and one slot for the rarer and more powerful relics. Artifacts affect your base stats, like weapon damage, defense, bomb strength, and character speed. In the beginning, you will make trade-offs, as simpler artifacts improve one stat at the cost of decreasing another. Each of these rudimentary artifacts has different quality levels, based on the material it is made from (i.e. Clay Owl, Stone Owl, Gold Owl). Relics are more unique than artifacts, with less duplication via material levels. These Relics also have only-positive effects like Scatter Shot, Health Regeneration, etc. Obviously these Relics are powerful and have great effects on your abilities. Obviously you are wondering what the catch is. Each time you use the Relics, you have to watch short clips of Justin Bieber music videos. This curse was put upon the Relics by Xolotl when he escaped from the Mirror of Smoke. Not really, but there is actually a limitation to the Relics. In order to receive their benefits, you must fill your “Relic meter” by collecting diamonds and defeating enemies. Take any damage, and your Relic Meter will drain, robbing you of the powerful perks. Just as with the weapons, the better artifacts and relics will only be unlocked by completing challenges set for each of the 14 levels in the game.

This system of combat customization drives the exploration and puzzle-platforming side of the Lara Croft equation. To unlock special weapons, you must beat the Score or Collection challenges, which requires you to explore each level to it’s fullest. This exploration leads to finding Health and Ammo Upgrades, in addition to the collectible Red Skulls and the optional Challenge Tombs. I say optional because the Challenge Tombs are not required to advance the game, but ultimately they ARE essential as they provide interesting puzzles and platforming challenges, in addition to the Artifact rewards you receive for solving them. Occasionally you will even find Red Skulls hidden inside!

Hanging with Mr. Co-oper

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is good for at least two full play-throughs, once in Single-Player, and once in Multi-player. While the levels are largely the same between the two modes, many of the puzzles are almost completely different. Multi-player requires you to work together using each characters tools and abilities. What’s more, I had a lot more laughs playing the game in Co-Op, as there is just something funny about accidentally smashing your partner. The replay value is further extended by the various challenges (and a few of them are downright hard!) and the “Tomb Raider” achievement which tasks you with collecting all weapons, artifacts, and relics. I played through on Hard and while it was fun and challenging, once you begin to discover the better artifacts and relics, combat becomes almost too easy. It would be nice if Crystal Dynamics added an Extreme” difficulty to the game in the upcoming patch or DLC, to further extend the replay factor. If they replaced some of the easier melee-only enemies with the fire-throwing Shaman or other projectile enemies for this “Extreme” difficulty, it would appeal more to bullet-hell game fans as well.

Overall Guardian of Light has good achievements. Most are fairly easy, but well thought-out and fit the game well. The Secret Achievements are story related and unmissable, so don’t ruin the secret for yourself! I laughed when I got the first secret. The only difficult achievement to get is “Tomb Raider”, and the only one I felt that could have been better used was “A Friend in Need”, which is as easy as starting a Co-Op game. Lara Croft also features a couple of nice Avatar Awards, in the form of Lara’s “Heavy Jungle Outfit” for female avatars and a “Mercenary” outfit for male avatars.

Graphics/Audio: The environments are really the stars of this game. Great atmosphere and lighting effects showcase the “large” environments. I quote large because many levels are not so much spread out as they are stacked and intertwined on themselves, similar to a line at Disneyland, but not quite as insidious. This leads to frequent vistas of places you have been, or circling around as you come back from secret areas. This isn’t to say that there aren’t large levels, as there are plenty of levels that have you covering a lot of ground and exploring underground crypts and passageways to boot.

Everything is nicely detailed, with an over-arching motif that ties the varied environments together. Your characters are small and by and large enemies are, well, large! Be sure to play at least in a partially lit room, as the flickering firelight in the game can be disconcerting in the dark, especially areas lit with blue fire. On the Audio side of things, I found the weapons and other sound effects quite satisfying, while I was somewhat disappointed with the voice acting. Keeley Hawes returns as the voice of Lara Croft, doing a fine job, while Totec and Xolotl are both voiced by the prolific Jim Cummings. Xolotl’s dialog works well, but Totec’s tone just seemed a bit out of place and melodramatic.

Huge Dude...Inspired by Cliffy B? (aka Dude Huge)

Overall: Normally I’m not a big fan of shmups (shoot ‘em ups), but Crystal Dynamics has done a great job of creating an enjoyable experience that has once again interested me in the Tomb Raider series. The platforming aspect has been toned down and combat is challenging but not brutal, creating a fun pick-up-and-play game that almost borders on casual. If you take the time to complete most of the challenges and achievements, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is a great value, especially since the first of five DLC packs will be free (exclusively on Xbox LIVE) for the first 30 days after it is released. This may be in recompense for Online Co-Op being delayed till September 28th. If you’ve already bought the other four Summer of Arcade games, then it’s a no-brainer to pick up Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. There is a 1200 Microsoft Point rebate if you purchase all five games, or a 400 Microsoft Point rebate if you purchase three of the Summer of Arcade titles by August 31st 2010. Note that if you use redeem codes for any of the games, then you may be out of luck on the rebates. To qualify, you have to purchase the qualifying games through Xbox Live via Microsoft Points or credit card.

Pros:
+Great environments
+Fun, fast-paced gameplay
+Challenges keep you playing in different ways
+Nice enemy variety/very little re-coloring

Cons:
-Combat can be too easy
-Online Co-Op delayed
-Occasional jumping direction problems

Score: 8.4 out of 10

An XBLA copy of this game was provided from the publisher for reviewing purposes.

Popularity: 6% [?]