![]() Graphically, the Temple of Osiris is a noticeable step up from Guardian of Light, as it should be. With four players it can become frantic during firefights, but the sheer joy of working in tandem offsets the mildly distracting mayhem. It may be as simple as an increase in enemy numbers, or as complex as adding more layers to a puzzle, such as more mirrors in the staff puzzles or more pressure pads to unlock gates. Not only does this make every challenge feel fresh when you add friends to your game, but it gives you a solid reason to want to play co-op. Interestingly, the puzzles change depending on how many characters are present. Conversely, the God characters can form protective shields around themselves that can also double as platforms to boost the mortals up to higher levels. For example, the archaeologists have their grappling hooks which can either be used with set grapple points, or to pull the gods up onto higher ledges. Each pair, gods and mortals, has unique abilities which can be combined to solve puzzles. While one player must be Lara no matter how many players there are, the others can choose between Carter, Isis and Horus. The big draw in the sequel is four-player co-op, which is implemented in some very cool ways. The next logical step for the series is upgradeable skills, which we can only cross our fingers for in future instalments. The common variety will boost certain skills and innate stats while nerfing others, while rare trinkets will often provide two different boons, such as increased damage and bomb blast radius. It’s all forgivable though, because always a joy to play, when you’re dodging spiked boulders, avoiding boiling water pools and shooting crocodiles into squishy bits and pieces.Īttempts have been made, with some degree of success, to add some RPG-lite mechanics to the formula, as you can now use gathered gems to open chests in which some unknowing ancient benefactor has placed rings and amulets. A forgiving checkpoint system alleviates the frustration of imprecise jumping and the deaths you’ll doubtless suffer at times, as a result of the zoomed-out camera making Lara look smaller than a scarab beetle on your screen. The combat is solid, using a mixture of blasting, evasion and remote explosives to make mincemeat out of enemies, but the platforming isn’t always as reliable. Guardian of Light’s magic spear is replaced by a staff that can interact with certain puzzle elements and do moderate damage to enemies it’s a decent enough tool within the sphere of its purpose, but nothing you use it for is quite as cool as the sticking the spear through enemies or into walls to form make-shift ladders. You have access to a variety of weapons such as Lara’s dual pistols (with infinite ammo as standard), shotguns, rifles, uzis and a flame thrower. You run around tombs in an isometric world shooting baddies, dodging traps, solving puzzles, and collecting scattered loot. ![]() ![]() The bare-bones gameplay is almost identical to Guardian of Light. She’s also in the company of Carter Bell, a rising star in the Tomb Raiding business. The god Set is attempting to bring about the end of the world, and Lara is aided by two other gods, Isis and Horus, as she tries to gather together the Pieces of Osiris – that is, the actual pieces of the dismembered god, Osiris, whose power can stop Set. ![]() Swapping Aztec legend for Egyptian mythology, Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris sees the world’s most famous corpse-botherer battling a resurrected God-king for reasons not entirely clear, this time joined by three allies as opposed to one. The sequel (rather wisely) doesn’t change an awful lot, and simply builds upon an already solid foundation. More surprising than the change of focus was the fact that it really, really worked. Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light was a new direction for the legendary grave robber, sticking aesthetically to classic Lara’s style but dropping her into an isometric puzzle-platformer-cum-twin-stick shooter. While the Tomb Raider series is currently enjoying something of a renaissance thanks to last year’s stellar reboot, the central character has been busy carrying not one, but two franchises.
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