Lara Croft and The Guardian of Light
Reinvented and revitalised
Review Whether you regard her as female icon or sexual fantasy, and whatever your thoughts on the Tomb Raider franchise itself, you have to hand it to Lara Croft.
Let me throw you a few pointers
Videogame's greatest femme celebre, Lara smashed through gaming's glass ceiling to become global cultural phenomenon, making millions in successful games and movies, and furthering the modelling careers of numerous booth babes.
But things haven't been so good of late. As digital delight, Lara may be impervious to the ravages of age and gravity, but she isn't immune to the law of diminishing returns. Despite the acclaimed efforts of new developer Crystal Dynamics and increased input from creator Toby Gard, Lara's stock has continually dwindled, with recent titles failing to convert critical success into the commercial success enjoyed in her heyday.
You spin me right round, baby, right round...
No surprise, then, that Lara Croft and The Guardian of Light is a complete reinvention for the franchise. A download-only multiplayer, isometric, twin-stick shooter-cum-adventure game, Guardian of Light makes a bold break from the series' defining traits.
Next page: Aztec ruins and mythical creatures
COMMENTS
But the arse hugging camera was part of the appeal
I've played some of the later ones and not impressed.
The first were good, complete a level and move on.
Then we had versions where you had to move from one level to another and back to complete them.
Then we had the dumbed down versions where you had to push a button during the video cut scenes, which isn't really game play.
Maybe they need a back to basics approach. See why the game was so popular in the first place.
2's up
I had the magnificent pleasure of sharing some 2 player action on this game just the other night and discovered it to be a tremendously rewarding experience, thoroughly recommended to all who sail in her.
Alien Breed? Isometric??
Surely you don't mean the seminal Team17 fayre? That was absolute top-down viewpoint (except for the 3D outings)... at least on the 'proper' format, anyway. Now, Skeleton Krew WAS isometric... But not as good!
As for TR - well, it was my first Perfect 10 game. The character, environments and puzzles were balanced perfectly, not to mention the baddies! I still crap myself when that bloody T-Rex hacks out of the mist about 50-feet ahead. Brilliant.
Looks like my weekend is sorted!
