Lara Croft: The Guardian of Light XBOX 360 Review

When I first heard about Lara Croft: Guardian of Light, I was dumbfounded and a bit disappointed that one of the most iconic games of the 3D movement was going to become some arcade isometric platformer. Although Tomb Raider has become progressively worse over the years with exception to Tomb Raider Legend and the Tomb Raider Anniversary reboot, I was still hesitant to see such a stark departure from the tried and true formula of a third person action adventure that the series was known for. Lara Croft: Guardian of Light is an isometric platformer developed by Square-Enix and available on the Playstation Store and Xbox Live Marketplace for $14.99.

The story in Lara Croft Guardian of Light is about an ancient Guardian of Darkness named Xolotl who is was trapped in the Mirror of Smoke for two thousand years and is inadvertently released by a band of mercenaries who take the mirror from Lara. The Guardian of Light, a Mayan warrior named Totec, who was watching over the Mirror of Smoke as a stone statue, comes to life to assist Lara in defeating Xolotl.

Lara Croft: Guardian of Light takes about 5-8 hours to complete if a player takes their time to actually complete challenges and collect items. There are 14 missions total, with varying lengths. The game can be played single player with no AI assistance or as a local cooperative game with one player playing as Lara Croft and the other as Totec. Online multiplayer is supposed to be added in the near future as a game update. The multiplayer coop aspect of Guardian of Light, allows for teamwork to reach otherwise unobtainable areas and to promote competitive gameplay in high scores and unlockable items. There is also an online leaderboard for high scores and time attack playthroughs.

Guardian of Light plays just like the old Tomb Raiders except as an isometric platformer instead of the familiar third-person perspective familiar to players of the older series, but with a fixed camera. Lara has a pair of pistols with unlimited ammo, a grappling hook for platforming, and unlimited bombs for use in enemy battle and puzzle solving. The levels allow for players to either rush through and just complete the main objective for progressing the story, or completing bonus objectives such as obtaining a certain score, or collecting skull gems in order to unlock alternative costumes and weapons. Lara also can obtain new weapons through normal gameplay.

Lara Croft: Guardian of Light is an excellent game for $14.99 that blends all of the elements that has made Tomb Raider a fun experience over the years, while eliminating the horrible camera and control issues that has plagued the third-person perspective games for years. The game looks great graphically and uses the Tomb Raider Underworld engine. Guardian of Light provides hours of entertainment and a plethora of replayability for those players who enjoy collecting every unlockable possible or attempting to rank high on the leaderboards. The game also has Xbox 360 achievements and Playstation Trophy support. This is a must buy for fans of Tomb Raider and for those to the franchise.