The first thing you will likely notice is the camera angle is a Diablo style isometric camera rather then the 3rd person view in all other Tomb Raider games. This is both a refreshing change and the biggest problem in Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. Lara's positioned in the centre off the screen and because the camera is somewhat zoomed in this leaves little room to see further ahead. You'll find your self wildly shooting at enemies of screen or dieing because you could hardly see more then a few feet in front of Lara as you attempt to traverse a multi trap gauntlet. You'll end up dieing a few time just to discover what exactly you have to jump and dodge your way through before your successful at passing through large runs of multiple traps. This has one very annoying side effect as each time you die you loose the points needed to unlock bonus weapons.
The other major game play change is the introduction of relics and artefacts that can be equipped for bonuses. Artefacts will give a passive bonus to your speed, weapon damage, bomb, or defence. Relics on the other hand determine a special power(s) that is activated when a power up bar is full, achieved by eliminating enemies without Lara taking damage. I like this as it helps give the already fun combat some depth.
Speaking of combat, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light dose it well indeed. Like in previous Tomb Rader games you can do crazy jumps and commando rolls to avoid enemy attacks wile blasting away with huge variety of weapons. You can have up to four weapons equipped at any one time, easily selected during real time game play with the number keys. The game make sure you always receive the weapons you need but there are plenty more to collect, such as high powered weapons and golden weapons.
Puzzles play a big part in this game, in fact a couple of levels are one massive puzzle that's solved by completing smaller puzzles. But don't worry their nothing that will give you a headache, the puzzles are actually very inventive. Some puzzles are solved with explosives and others by more traditional means.
The story for Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is as simplistic as you can get, it's a real shame as it could have been just a little more interesting. A character at the beginning of the game named Vasco stupidly sets loose an evil god, it's then up to Lara and the good deity Totec (the second player character in multiplayer) to put the bad guy back in his cage.
You'll find the graphics very pleasing to look at as Lara adventures through outdoor levels and tombs alike. I found my self admiring the depth of each level just as much as I admired the way plant life swayed as Lara runs past. Sound fx are on par with the graphics, you'll quickly be able to identify the different creatures by their sounds.
I'd recommend altering the controls before starting as the default leave something to be desired. You'll wont to have the bomb assigned to an easy to use key as it's use is often based on good timing.
Regarding my earlier first impressions post about Lara's new adventure I spoke about an inventory bug that would effectively freeze the game, this bug only occurred during the first two levels. Other then that I suffered only two crashes to desktop, it was only a minor inconvenience as the game has very regular auto saves.
In conclusion Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is a refreshing game that can be a lot of fun, but can also be a little frustrating at times because of the camera's lack of an ability to zoom out to get a wider view. It unfortunately suffers from casual game syndrome as it's story is almost non existent plus the game only takes about 12-14 hours to play and that's being generous. But with clever level design, innovative puzzles, fun combat and the soon to be online co-op there is plenty to like about Lara's new adventure.
PC Gamer Guy Score: 7/10
Need a link? http://www.laracroftandtheguardianoflight.com/
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