Lara Croft has been through a lot since her original debut in 1996. Starring in a dozen games, changing developers and even having several movies made does tend to change a person, and her adventure in The Guardian of Light is certainly different. These changes were definitely a positive though, making Guardian of Light a fun little game thanks to it's clever co-op mechanics and fresh perspective.
This time around Lara's tomb raiding finds her in the Yucatan Peninsula searching for a legendary artifact known as the mirror of smoke. Little does Lara know however that the mirror seals away Xolotl, the keeper of darkness. Upon Xoltol's release, Toltec, a stone statue also comes to life, he is an ancient Mayan warrior sealed away to watch over the mirror and keep Xolotl imprisoned. Together Lara and Toltec must track Xolotl down before he plunges the world into darkness. Just another day for Lara Croft really.
The level design is pretty good during their adventure. There is plenty of atmosphere and variation in a mixture of outside and inside environments with ruins, giant spiders and traps a plenty for Lara and Toltec to navigate in their quest to stop him. The visuals themselves are surprisingly good for the time I feel with excellent textures and enemy animations.
Exploration really is key in Guardian of Light to make any progress. Though there are weapons that can be found and permanently kept even on replaying levels. The vast majority of equipment and character upgrades are gained through challenges which really gives this game extra legs. There are speed attacks to finish levels in certain amount of time or perhaps a challenge to collect all 10 red skulls hidden in a level to unlock a new weapon. There are a few variations depending on the level.
Four weapons can be equipped at any time that can be switched between on the fly using the D-pad. All of which share an ammo bar except pistols which can be upgraded along with Lara's health. These weapons can be changed around at any time from the in game menu as there are a lot to choose from including shotguns, assault rifles, flame throwers and rocket launchers. All of which have various stats and ammo consumption. There is also the option to equip artifacts and relics found throughout the game which either affect Lara or Toltec"s base stats to varying degrees or alter their special ability they achieve if they kill a certain amount of enemies without dying such as a speed boost, bigger bomb range or more bullet damage.
While the combat is a key point to Guardian of Light and is incredibly fun, it is the mixture of combat and solving puzzles that make it worthwhile. The puzzles are quite thought provoking without ever being frustrating which is a hard balance to hit. What makes this game truly clever though is that the puzzles change from single player to co-op to keep the balance right. There are several weapons or pieces of equipment needed to get past certain areas which are then split between the two players. For example Toltec uses the spear which can be thrown into a wall which only Lara is light enough to jump on, giving her the height to get to a ledge. Lara is the only one with the grappling hook though which she can then use to pull Toltec up. This measure of forced team work really helps bring the game to life.
This game is also surprisingly long with over a dozen levels not including the replay value of getting all the weapons, artifacts and relics, completing all challenges not to mention local and patched in online co-op to boot.
As good as Guardian of Light really is, it has issues. The locked isometric camera view while great for single player and solving puzzles does tend to make busier combat moments a bit hectic occasionally losing track of your character or getting hit off screen though this is a rare occurrence. The other thing is while Lara's voice acting is superb (Keeley Hawes, actress of the Legend, Anniversary and Underworld trilogy), Toltec's and Xolotl's are an entirely different matter and just seem a bit forced, almost amateur, though outside of short in between level cutscenes they are almost never heard.
Overall Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is a great little game. It looks good, has fun multiplayer and has plenty of life thanks to it's clever challenges and puzzles. It won't be a game for everyone but as a Tomb Raider fan it was a real pleasant surprise how much fun I had with a friend playing it.
+ Clever puzzles in both single and co-op play.
+ Great value for money.
+ Combat is fun.
- Some spotty voice acting.
This time around Lara's tomb raiding finds her in the Yucatan Peninsula searching for a legendary artifact known as the mirror of smoke. Little does Lara know however that the mirror seals away Xolotl, the keeper of darkness. Upon Xoltol's release, Toltec, a stone statue also comes to life, he is an ancient Mayan warrior sealed away to watch over the mirror and keep Xolotl imprisoned. Together Lara and Toltec must track Xolotl down before he plunges the world into darkness. Just another day for Lara Croft really.
The level design is pretty good during their adventure. There is plenty of atmosphere and variation in a mixture of outside and inside environments with ruins, giant spiders and traps a plenty for Lara and Toltec to navigate in their quest to stop him. The visuals themselves are surprisingly good for the time I feel with excellent textures and enemy animations.
Exploration really is key in Guardian of Light to make any progress. Though there are weapons that can be found and permanently kept even on replaying levels. The vast majority of equipment and character upgrades are gained through challenges which really gives this game extra legs. There are speed attacks to finish levels in certain amount of time or perhaps a challenge to collect all 10 red skulls hidden in a level to unlock a new weapon. There are a few variations depending on the level.
Four weapons can be equipped at any time that can be switched between on the fly using the D-pad. All of which share an ammo bar except pistols which can be upgraded along with Lara's health. These weapons can be changed around at any time from the in game menu as there are a lot to choose from including shotguns, assault rifles, flame throwers and rocket launchers. All of which have various stats and ammo consumption. There is also the option to equip artifacts and relics found throughout the game which either affect Lara or Toltec"s base stats to varying degrees or alter their special ability they achieve if they kill a certain amount of enemies without dying such as a speed boost, bigger bomb range or more bullet damage.
While the combat is a key point to Guardian of Light and is incredibly fun, it is the mixture of combat and solving puzzles that make it worthwhile. The puzzles are quite thought provoking without ever being frustrating which is a hard balance to hit. What makes this game truly clever though is that the puzzles change from single player to co-op to keep the balance right. There are several weapons or pieces of equipment needed to get past certain areas which are then split between the two players. For example Toltec uses the spear which can be thrown into a wall which only Lara is light enough to jump on, giving her the height to get to a ledge. Lara is the only one with the grappling hook though which she can then use to pull Toltec up. This measure of forced team work really helps bring the game to life.
This game is also surprisingly long with over a dozen levels not including the replay value of getting all the weapons, artifacts and relics, completing all challenges not to mention local and patched in online co-op to boot.
As good as Guardian of Light really is, it has issues. The locked isometric camera view while great for single player and solving puzzles does tend to make busier combat moments a bit hectic occasionally losing track of your character or getting hit off screen though this is a rare occurrence. The other thing is while Lara's voice acting is superb (Keeley Hawes, actress of the Legend, Anniversary and Underworld trilogy), Toltec's and Xolotl's are an entirely different matter and just seem a bit forced, almost amateur, though outside of short in between level cutscenes they are almost never heard.
Overall Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is a great little game. It looks good, has fun multiplayer and has plenty of life thanks to it's clever challenges and puzzles. It won't be a game for everyone but as a Tomb Raider fan it was a real pleasant surprise how much fun I had with a friend playing it.
+ Clever puzzles in both single and co-op play.
+ Great value for money.
+ Combat is fun.
- Some spotty voice acting.
3 Comments
Have you played this in both single player and co-op? Which experience would you recommend if so? Is it worth trying both out or does co-op simply improve?
@Wollom - It's been so long since I played the game it's hard for me to advise. I played a bit of it solo before playing it fully in local co-op with a friend. We had a really good time with it doing the combat and puzzles together I remember so I would recommend it co-op if you can.
TheQuietGamer
2 years ago