Lara Croft: The guardian of the light

[Ouenben]

This download is a hefty 2.0gb, biggest yet on XBLA I believe.
Played a half hour of this which was the first level with lots of exploring and such and getting to grips with it.

The intro is in a comic/graphic novel style but then it goes to the games graphics for the cutscenes in the levels, which are pretty standard nothing to write about.

It plays as an isometric Puzzly platformer with shooting elements.

I'm not sure about the length of the adventure yet but going by the first level it should be substantially long, theres plenty of other things to do like challenges related to the levels such as "beat X Boss in 30 seconds" and generic challenges like "get 100,000 points"
Also there are alot of unlockable 'artefacts' which have different advantages and disadvantages for Lara and there seems to be quite a number of different weapons to use later on going by all the blank spaces next to the one gun i had unlocked the M4 carbine.

Quite enjoying it so far, the controls are pretty good and there's definately alot to do in the levels despite the (so far) linear level design.

Can't comment on the co-op yet but hopefully I'll get a chance to try it out tomorrow.

[SUMIRE]

Cool, I think this and Limbo are the pick of the bunch. I was holding out for this one, I must admit I was tempted with Hydro Thunder as well.

[arcnas]

Monday night combat is the pick of the bunch for me, but i loved hydro thinder, limbo and will be getting this, so of all the arcade the only one i didnt like was caslevania, it was a good line up.

[EvilBoris]

Just remember you get a 1200 point rebate if you buy all 5 titles

[jimmbob]

A nice little thanks to you, the customer, for putting up with their inflated prices.

[arcnas]

I know you get points back but i hated castlevania that much ill take the 400 rebate, for buying three, oh i bought 4, and on the 1200 pts price point when a games 2gb i think its fair when games for 800 pts used to be limited to 50 meg

[ChrisF]

How is this as a single player game? I heard it was quite heavily slanted towards co-op play.

[Charlie]

Fair? My definition of fair is a little different. Fair is Microsoft allowing developers to set their own prices for their material and letting customers use their credit/debit card to buy stuff outright without having to first buy fixed amounts of silly micrsoft points.

[Jebus]

How is this as a single player game? I heard it was quite heavily slanted towards co-op play.

Here's an example:

In co-op, Totec has throwing spears which Lara can climb on and attach ropes to. In single player the spears are one of the weapons Lara can choose from.

Some puzzles are completely removed for single player too. It's a good single player experience as well by all accounts.

My concern is that by the time I've finished it, and the co-op patch is out...will anyone be playing through it again via co-op?

Oh and off-topic, I don't think the size of a game (in MB/GB) should have any bearing on the price of a game at all!

[ChrisF]

Ah right, cheers for that Jebus. So I guess its akin to the experience you get from Lego games really? i.e. geared towards co-op but perfectly playable solo. Apart from the bits that are removed!

[Family Fry]

I think it will be one of those game people will buy day one go through single player and wait for patch and others who may just buy it next month.
First DLC pack due for this they have announced, Xbox Live users will be able to download it for free....for 30 days.

[Jebus]

I was tempted to buy it when the patch comes out, but will probably get it now.

Imagine if they dropped it to 800 with the patch or something!

[EvilBoris]

The developer said that the game was built as a co-op game to start with then they went back and reconfigured the game as a separate singleplayer mode, without the need for an awful AI partner.

[Charlie]

Eager to play this but at 2GB with my connection I have a fair old wait. Question to those who've played it - is their greater emphasis on puzzles or on action/combat? Knight Lore, Head Over Heels, Cadaver, Equinox - I love isometric puzzle-come-platformers and I'm hoping this will fill the void somewhat in a genre that's practically all but forgotten.

[MartyG]

I'm not sure about the length of the adventure yet but going by the first level it should be substantially long, theres plenty of other things to do like challenges related to the levels such as "beat X Boss in 30 seconds" and generic challenges like "get 100,000 points"

Took me about 5-6 hours to complete, but there's good scope for replayability there for the challenges you mention - the level scores are all leaderboarded too, so plenty there for the score whores to play with, and the co-op is whole different dynamic to the single player side of things.

Fabulous game, the revisioning is the best thing to happen to the Tomb Raider series in a long time. 9/10 from me.

is their greater emphasis on puzzles or on action/combat

It's a very even split between platforming, puzzles and combat - it's very well paced giving a rest-bite between the combat (twin-stick shooter like) with the puzzles solving.