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Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light Preview

Xbox 360 PC PlayStation 3 Preview by Ellie Gibson

18 March, 2010

Page 1 of 4. Page 2 ->

Tomb Raider is my favourite game of all time. Of course, this is mainly because it allows me to live out fantasies of being intrepid, acrobatic, clever, rich, posh and chesty. But it's also because of the classic third-person action-adventure gameplay, the emphasis on puzzles and exploration over gunplay and explosions, the detailed visuals and the sweeping vistas. Most of all it's the atmosphere - the feeling you're all alone in these lush jungles and echoey chambers, just you and Lara.

So, two minutes into Crystal Dynamics' demo of Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, I want to cry. The game on screen doesn't look like any Tomb Raider I recognise. The viewpoint is isometric and the camera is fixed. Lara, who appears as a small character model, is too busy shooting enemies to pull any switches. And she's got a mate with her - some tall bloke who carries a spear, sports a ponytail and wears a loincloth. Together they run around a pokey temple, guns blazing, pausing only to smash the odd crate. 'Oh Lara,' I think, 'What have they done to you?'

Little do I know that the next 28 minutes will change my mind completely. By the time the demo's over I'll have understood much more about Guardian of Light - that it's a bold attempt to offer something different, that it's being put together with real care and attention, and that it might well not be rubbish. But most of all, that it's not meant to look like any Tomb Raider I recognise.

The clue is in the title. As brand director Karl Stewart explains, the decision to leave out the words Tomb and Raider was made early on. "When Underworld was finished, that was an end to the trilogy, and kind of the end of a whole era for us," he says. "We took a step back as a studio and spent a couple of months experimenting, trying to make a decision on how to go forward."

'Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light' Screenshot 1

Lara and Totec work together so well you could almost imagine them getting round Ikea without a row.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is the end result. It's a digital download game in development for PC, PSN and XBLA, due out this summer and set to cost around $15. "We have these big pillar releases for Tomb Raider and there's never anything in between," observes creative director Daniel Neuburger. "I've tried hard to capture the essence and spirit of Tomb Raider, but give players something different to do in between major releases."

The Guardian of Light has a standalone storyline that takes place in the Central American jungle. Back in the olden days, there was a great battle between Totec, leader of the Army of Light, and the evil Xolotl. Totec won, banished Xolotl and entombed himself in the Temple of Light with the magical Mirror of Smoke to prevent it from falling into the Wrong Hands.

Cut to the present day. Lara discovers the temple and finds the mirror. However, she's been followed by a bunch of mercenaries who nick it from her. They awaken Xolotl, who kills the lot of them and runs off with the artefact. Totec wakes up, realises what's happened and blames Lara for the whole fiasco. After a bit of banter they realise the only way to retrieve the mirror and defeat Xolotl is to work together.

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beep
18/03/10 @ 11:32
#2
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I was kinda hoping this would turn out like a Metroid/ Shadow Complex style platformer... Oh well!
miiiguel
18/03/10 @ 11:34
#3
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This looks very good, I like isometric.
Kremlik
18/03/10 @ 11:40
#5
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when you've made a TON of action titles, it's nice to switch things up now and again, aye it's not 'classic TR', but hey it's not looking that bad, colour me interested.
Flying_Pig
18/03/10 @ 11:40
#6
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Interesting to see how this turns out, but a 4-page preview for this game feels slightly excessive...

@TonyCB - you do know that Ellie's a girl, don't you?
Razzajazz
18/03/10 @ 11:42
#7
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@TonyCB

Are you new here? You're clearly not familiar with Ellie's work, or writing style, then.
Pastici
18/03/10 @ 11:42
#8
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Ellie talking about tits. There's something new...
ChthonicEcho
18/03/10 @ 11:43
#9
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@miiiguel

So do I, but not in platformers. The reason why I much prefer modern platformers to old 2D ones is that it allows for navigational puzzles - figuring out where to go or which Convenient Pole Jutting Out From the Wall™ to swing from is part of the challenge. Considering that Tomb Raider was one of the earliest examples of such, it is very, very weird to see TR going completely against everything the franchise originally stood for.

On the other hand, this may be a good game in its own right. I was initially put off by Splinter Cell Conviction, but I've changed my mind about that. Many franchises seem to depart from their roots nowadays.
Edited 1 times, most recently on 18/03/10 @ 12:15
TonyCB
18/03/10 @ 11:43
#10
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yes pretty new - I guess I should have put 'please neg me' by my post :)
space ace
18/03/10 @ 11:44
#11
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kind of like ninja theory's "enslaved"
Lotos8ter
18/03/10 @ 11:48
#12
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"Might well not be rubbish" - Oh well.
I thought Tomb raider was going in the right direction after TR Underworld. Very wary of this and co-op suits shooters but not games like TR and Resident Evil. I want Lara to myself thank you.
metalangel
18/03/10 @ 11:52
#13
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Surely in today's physics-enabled game engines, the aim should be to see how far Lara can get running and jumping around before she's walloped into unconsciousness by her own tits?
ryandsimmons
18/03/10 @ 12:03
#14
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@CthonicEcho:

Who is Wallis and why are you so interested in his jutting pole?
gungrave
18/03/10 @ 12:04
#15
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May well be good, could possibly be great, but does it make me want to take that chance of sullying the memories of the classic games (and good recent attempts). I'm still a little unconvinced. Co-op, in a Tomb Raider...sorry...Lara Croft game? Oh dear. Sounds more like they're pandering to the new wave of online shooter brats.
ChthonicEcho
18/03/10 @ 12:16
#16
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@ryandsimmons

Huh, hadn't noticed that. Guess Freud was right.
reality_cheque
18/03/10 @ 12:18
#17
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@gungrave: if they were appealing to the brats, it'd be an online FPS not an old school style iso-game.
Zerobob
18/03/10 @ 12:22
#18
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No matter how hard I try to like to look of this, I can almost imagine playing it and it looks wank.
SleepyMagpie
18/03/10 @ 12:38
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Please don't say you watch "The Hills", Ellie.. How could anyone in their sane mind... o.O
miiiguel
18/03/10 @ 12:39
#20
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Tony don't be childish, you didn't read the 4 page article, which is in fact quite well written and informative. You obviously just read the 1st paragraph, but that's understandable, atention span and shit.
I wonder how old you are, after the 14 yo remark. 15 and a half?
Edited 2 times, most recently on 18/03/10 @ 12:40
SleepyMagpie
18/03/10 @ 12:40
#21
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Btw, if this is a sub-par Tomb-Raider Diablo fusion recipe or not - I don't like the direction they're taking the franchise. The main series better have lots of exploration and less guns when it reappears.
Edited 1 times, most recently on 18/03/10 @ 12:40
TonyCB
18/03/10 @ 12:44
#22
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@miiguel

Well thanks for that mature response, it must've taken a little while to think that up and then find the right keys.

Krelle
18/03/10 @ 12:52
#23
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@Tony:
Its okay to be new, and its also okay to not like Ellies way of doing things.
But please refrain from acting like a dick. It aint making you any more popular around here, you know.

Anyhoo, Welcome! :)
TonyCB
18/03/10 @ 12:58
#24
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@krelle

thanks for the welcome.

But i dont think I am 'acting like a dick' by responding to what I consider is a provocative remark. Unfortunately, I remember playing the first Tomb Raider game and I was in my 20s then....
metalangel
18/03/10 @ 13:00
#25
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Well, here's an idea for a Tomb Raider game that doesn't involve tits or pointless shooting. Make it open world. Give us a big beautiful area like in Just Cause or ArmA and let us explore it. Make up earn money from documenting our discoveries and selling artifacts to buy better equipment to enable us to locate and explore more dangerous ruins. Not Tomb Raider enough? Well, the whole point here is to reimagine it, except my idea isn't shit.
INSOMANiAC
18/03/10 @ 13:05
#26
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Ahh metalangel, what you mean is 'make a completely different game but call it tomb raider'
darkmorgado
18/03/10 @ 13:10
#27
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@metalangel

That would be awesome. A massive, open island, finding hidden artifacts, selling them at a trading camp (maybe) to buy more upgrades, and get new missions. Would be legendary. You could end up in combat against rival raiders, maybe work with them in a couple of occasions, having an entire island would allow a vast amount of different terrain and ruins...

Wanna go into business together?
fredtheshred
18/03/10 @ 13:17
#28
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Hardened fans of Tomb Raider needn't concern themselves. This is simply Crystal Dynamics first step at a multiplayer which they will possibly expand into an MMORPG if well received. Considering the next chapter in the Tomb Raider series will take 1 year of development time, this is a 'filler' game more than anything. But, Ellie's review is promising and I look forward to playing it.
Hog-lumps
18/03/10 @ 13:23
#29
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@ darkmorgado

The rival raiders on the island could even be realtime players like a mini MMO treasurehunt? This could possibly increase the excitement knowing there are real players looking for the same valuable trinket as you are? Clues/treasuremaps could be given out at certain times like missions and it would be a massive race to locate the treasure......maybe you could even combine clues/missing parts of maps to work together and split profits?
Edited 2 times, most recently on 18/03/10 @ 13:25
metalangel
18/03/10 @ 15:26
#30
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@darkmorgado: I have to admit, I have wasted hours in open world games just exploring them. Operation Flashpoint, GTA, Crackdown, Oblivion, Fallout.

I suppose Oblivion is the closest to what I'm thinking of, or perhaps Far Cry 2. A gorgeous location where you WANT to go and see what's beyond those woods, what's across that lake, what's on that island, where that river goes. You can buy directions and maps, or find them yourself. You can buy supplies of stuff like mountain climber gear, ropes, grappling hooks, ladders, lamps, radios, food, tents... and you might find you don't have enough to fully penetrate a particular ruin. If you get stuck, you have an emergency radio which will respawn you at the nearest town (for a fee). You can buy or rent air, sea and ground vehicles to make exploring faster.

I know Flashpoint was a war game, but the final bonus mission where you had the island coming to life with civilians and you could just wander around and see the sights was wonderfully absorbing, and felt like genuine adventure travel as you drove across the hills and valleys.

Alas, that sort of game would never be sold to marketing execs, even if you were still a gun-wielding posh bint with massive tits.
Seth.
18/03/10 @ 15:59
#31
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I don't think an exploration (of the TR sort not something like Zelda LttP) or especially a platform game can work with an isometric perspective. If they wanted to do some online coop version of Tomb Raider they should have used multiple third person cameras, but some coop only title would be a financial risk so they are probably testing waters with this.

Btw I don't trust them that much (Crystal Dynamics) since with their games they took a more realistic direction with the way the in game character is controlled, now Lara runs slower, can't jump as far, the levels are more restrained (while much prettier graphics wise),and she can't do those old 2m high backflips over some ledge while shooting a herd of tigers at the same time, nowdays she'll only jump from some (highly detailed and less polygonal looking) pillar to another pillar half a metre away, this highly original and not at all cliche acrobatic feat presented with overly detailed animation to make it look realistic (as well as less responsive)
Edited 1 times, most recently on 18/03/10 @ 16:01
M_of_the_sys
18/03/10 @ 16:11
#32
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@metalangel, darkmorgado and Hog-lumps

Needs more tits. I can help you though. Take the majority of the posters here and add them in as Hog-lumps realtime player idea. That way you'll have plenty of tits. ;)
Doctor_What
18/03/10 @ 16:22
#33
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Sceptics! I'll wait and see, but good on them for trying something new.

I'm also not ashamed to admit I quite like looking at tits, and I find Ellie's silly interview style enjoyable because I'd be just as silly in her position.
Krelle
18/03/10 @ 16:31
#34
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@Tony:
So responding to a provocative remark with another provocative remark suddenly makes it right?
Im not saying your the only one acting like a dick (this place is full of em, trust me!), but at an age of 30(?) maybe you should try and be the bigger person?
ziggy_played_guitar
18/03/10 @ 16:47
#35
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yes pretty new

I could swear I talked to you in some thread long time ago. I might be wrong.
Thunderbolt!
18/03/10 @ 21:01
#36
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A TR MMO agh... kill me now!

This looks to much like the last Prince of Persia game for my liking. Not convinced.

Whereas Underworld was excellent more of that please
TRUTH
18/03/10 @ 21:07
#37
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I hope it doesn't go into co-op only game:Lost Planet 2, Conan, Resi Evil 5, Borderlands etc etc, is starting to get annoying!
AllMetal
18/03/10 @ 21:37
#38
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The last isometric game I played was Killzone Liberation (which IMO is still a fantastic PSP game), so I have quite high hopes for this
darm
19/03/10 @ 09:16
#39
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There are 2 things my wife loves the most about video games: Lara Croft and co-op. So we're pretty excited about this.
alliesrosey
19/03/10 @ 10:17
#40
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I remember I played tomb raider many a times and love the game play as she can do almost all the thing in game. I am a big fan of Angelina the movie Tom Raider.
watch live football
Emilia'sHorse
19/03/10 @ 12:11
#41
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Looks like fun and I will 100% give the demo a bash then decide, XBLA makes it impossible to buy a stinker. Unless the rose tinted glasses force you to press buy instead of download trial....which I have done to my shame.
Benraiben2k
19/03/10 @ 22:01
#42
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I don't see really any alarm for people to be upset or annoyed at this game, compared to previous TR games. As it is mentioned, this is just a different styled lara adventure to playthrough and expand the universe, whislt they work on the next major title, which will most likely be back to 3d landscape exploring.
RandomTerrain
19/03/10 @ 23:29
#43
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A co-op spin, and it sounds well thought out. Interesting! Nice preview.
Xinch
20/03/10 @ 00:07
#44
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@TonyCB see M_of_the_sys's comment #32 at 18/03/10 @ 16:11
It's so true. Posters here mark down comments that are not in sync with their own views rather than if said comment pertains to the above article for good or bad.
A shame really and it makes a complete balls of the whole concept. I counter by misusing the pluses and vice versa.

Comment well below viewing threshold.
See?
laharl80
20/03/10 @ 15:43
#45
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This looks terrible.I haven't liked any tomb raider since 3 and i doubt this mess will change things.Drake ftw
brendonstyrish
03/05/10 @ 10:09
#46
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I love reading and am always looking for information for this type of information! great and impressive post so far....thanks and keep updating and sharing this stuff.

Houston personal injury

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