''Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light'' is an
action-adventure game developed by
Crystal Dynamics
Crystal Dynamics, Inc. is an American video game developer based in San Mateo, California and part of Embracer Group. The studio developed the '' Gex'', ''Legacy of Kain'', and ''Tomb Raider'' series. Founded in 1992 by Madeline Canepa, Judy L ...
and published by
Square Enix's
European subsidiary for
Microsoft Windows,
PlayStation 3
The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on November 11, 2006, in Japan, November ...
,
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generati ...
, Android and
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...
. It is part of the ''
Tomb Raider
''Tomb Raider'', also known as ''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' from 2001 to 2008, is a media franchise that originated with an action-adventure video game series created by British gaming company Core Design. Formerly owned by Eidos Interactive, ...
'' series, but unlike previous games, the game does not carry the ''Tomb Raider'' brand and has a heavy emphasis on
cooperative gameplay. In multiplayer, players take the role as either
Lara Croft
Lara Croft is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the video game franchise ''Tomb Raider''. She is presented as a highly intelligent and athletic British archaeologist who ventures into ancient tombs and hazardous ruins around th ...
or a 2,000-year-old
Mayan
Mayan most commonly refers to:
* Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America
* Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America
* Mayan languages, language family spoken ...
warrior named Totec. They must work together in order to stop the evil spirit
Xolotl
In Aztec mythology, Xolotl () was a god of fire and lightning. He was commonly depicted as a dog-headed man and was a soul-guide for the dead. He was also god of twins, monsters, misfortune, sickness, and deformities. Xolotl is the canine broth ...
and retrieve the Mirror of Smoke. A single-player campaign mode is available that does not include the
non-playable character
A non-player character (NPC), or non-playable character, is any character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster ...
AI following or helping Lara.
In the United States and United Kingdom, ''Guardian of Light'' was released for the Xbox Live Arcade on 18 August 2010; it was released a month later on 28 September for PlayStation Network and
Steam. Though local cooperative was available at the initial release for all versions, online cooperative was later added. In North America, on 16 December, the video game was released for
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...
devices which included cooperative with
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wav ...
and
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is limi ...
options. The first
downloadable content
Downloadable content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization, enabli ...
(DLC) map pack was released for free for a limited time.
''Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light'' was well-received by critics. The Xbox 360 version of the game holds an average score of 85/100 and 86.36% on the game aggregate sites
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
and
GameRankings, respectively.
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
listed ''Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light'' fourteenth in their top twenty-five Xbox Live Arcade titles of all time. Critics felt that the game was an excellent fit for Lara Croft.
''Guardian of Light'' sold 98,000 copies on Xbox Live in its first six weeks,
and as of 22 August 2013, the game has sold more than 1 million copies on all platforms.
A sequel, ''
Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris'', was released in 2014 for
Microsoft Windows,
PlayStation 4 and
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
.
Gameplay
Unlike previous installments of the series, which were
adventure games with a
virtual camera
In 3D video games, a virtual camera system aims at controlling a camera or a set of cameras to display a view of a 3D virtual world. Camera systems are used in video games where their purpose is to show the action at the best possible angle; m ...
viewpoint, ''Guardian of Light'' is a
non-linear "arcade-inspired" action game with a fixed
isometric camera, similar to ''
Tomb Raider: The Prophecy'' for
Game Boy Advance
The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, ...
.
The game also features
cooperative gameplay, and players can take control of either Lara or an ancient
Mayan
Mayan most commonly refers to:
* Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America
* Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America
* Mayan languages, language family spoken ...
warrior named Totec. Each playable character possesses unique weapons and skills. Like with some previous installments, Lara retains her dual pistols with infinite ammunition and a
grappling hook, which she is able to use to cross gaps and which Totec can tightrope walk across. Totec carries
spear
A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fasten ...
s which can be used both as a weapon and on the environment, for Lara to climb on.
Both characters carry unlimited "bombs" that can be dropped and detonated.
Tombs can be explored and some have "booby-trap puzzles" to solve.
The game does not have any loading screens once a level is started.
''The Guardian of Light'' may be played with a single player, and a second player may join at any time, whether online or locally.
In the single-player campaign the only playable character is Lara; Totec cannot assist and Lara has all the tools required along with new abilities to make it through her own unique adventure.
Puzzles and parts of the map are also different.
Creative director
A creative director (or creative supervisor) is a person who makes high-level creative decisions and, with those decisions, oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos. Creative director positions ar ...
Daniel Neuberger said that this was because he did not want the player to get frustrated by having to rely on
AI.
The campaign features eight to ten hours of gameplay.
Multiplayer
In multiplayer, a first in the series, gameplay has an emphasis on teamwork. Lara is able to use Totec's shield as a portable platform as he holds it above his head. She may also balance on spears that Totec throws in the wall, but Totec cannot, as they are not able to hold his weight. Totec can
tightrope walk using Lara's grappling rope.
As the game progresses, Totec learns from Lara how to use modern weapons, such as rifles. When enemies are killed, point scores appear above their bodies—red or blue—depending on whether Lara (red) or Totec (blue) scored the kill. There are pick-ups, such as gems, scattered throughout the levels that increase the player's score. Receiving high scores in each level rewards the players with new weapons and upgrades. To add competitiveness into the game, there are a limited number of enemies and gems in the world so the players may compete to kill and grab them all.
The multiplayer mode reportedly features approximately six to eight hours of gameplay, depending on teamwork.
Synopsis
Characters
''The Guardian of Light'' stars
Lara Croft
Lara Croft is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the video game franchise ''Tomb Raider''. She is presented as a highly intelligent and athletic British archaeologist who ventures into ancient tombs and hazardous ruins around th ...
, an English
archaeologist and Totec, an ancient Mayan warrior and leader of the Army of Light.
An evil spirit called
Xolotl
In Aztec mythology, Xolotl () was a god of fire and lightning. He was commonly depicted as a dog-headed man and was a soul-guide for the dead. He was also god of twins, monsters, misfortune, sickness, and deformities. Xolotl is the canine broth ...
is the antagonist. Some of his minions that he makes come to life include: giant spiders, demon like creatures, and huge
troll
A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human be ...
s.
Lara is again voiced by
Keeley Hawes
Claire Julia Hawes (born 10 February 1976), known professionally as Keeley Hawes, is an English actress. After beginning her career in a number of literary adaptations, including ''Our Mutual Friend'' (1998) and '' Tipping the Velvet'' (2002), Ha ...
and Totec is newly voiced by
Jim Cummings.
Plot
Two thousand years ago in ancient
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
, a battle was waged between Totec, the Guardian of the Light, and
Xolotl
In Aztec mythology, Xolotl () was a god of fire and lightning. He was commonly depicted as a dog-headed man and was a soul-guide for the dead. He was also god of twins, monsters, misfortune, sickness, and deformities. Xolotl is the canine broth ...
, the Keeper of Darkness. Totec's army was defeated when Xolotl used the mirror of smoke to unleash hordes of ghastly creatures that fought on his behalf. Totec survived the battle and found a way to defeat Xolotl, imprisoning him in the mirror of smoke and becoming its immortal guardian in the form of a stone statue. In the present day, Lara Croft reads of the legend and attempts to find the mirror. After a long and dangerous journey she is successful. While examining the mirror, she is caught unaware by a band of mercenaries. Led by the local warlord, they had followed her into the temple. Unknowing or unbelieving of the curse upon the mirror, the warlord takes it from Lara. His reckless handling of the mirror releases Xolotl. The stone statue of Totec comes to life and warns Lara that Xolotl must be stopped before the light of dawn. Depending on the number of players participating, Lara and Totec either join forces or go their separate ways to try to stop Xolotl.
Development
''Guardian of Light'' is not part of the main ''
Tomb Raider
''Tomb Raider'', also known as ''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' from 2001 to 2008, is a media franchise that originated with an action-adventure video game series created by British gaming company Core Design. Formerly owned by Eidos Interactive, ...
'' brand, but was intended to start a new series simply titled "Lara Croft". Brand director Karl Stewart said: "When ''Underworld'' was finished, that was the end to the trilogy, and kind of the end of a whole era for us. 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".
Stewart also said that everyone who worked on ''Guardian of Light'' also worked on the previous three games (''
Tomb Raider: Legend'', ''
Tomb Raider: Anniversary'', and ''
Tomb Raider: Underworld'').
''Guardian of Light'' uses the same
game engine as ''Tomb Raider: Underworld'' and features real-time lighting effects, realistic shadows and "tons" of physics-based objects.
Vegetation
Vegetation is an assemblage of plant species and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic characte ...
sways in the wind and reacts when the player walks through it.
The environments have a "nice sense of
scale".
The game's producer, Forest Large, said in a
podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...
that
was considered as a location, but due to time restraints, the location was ultimately decided to be
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
and elements from previous games, such as plants, were borrowed and modified for ''Guardian of Light''.
Crystal Dynamics said that development on ''Guardian of Light'' had not affected development on the next main installment and reboot of the franchise, titled ''
Tomb Raider
''Tomb Raider'', also known as ''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' from 2001 to 2008, is a media franchise that originated with an action-adventure video game series created by British gaming company Core Design. Formerly owned by Eidos Interactive, ...
''.
''Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light'' uses recycled musical cues from ''Legend'', ''Anniversary'', and ''Underworld'' by composers
Troels Brun Folmann and
Colin O'Malley.
Release
''Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light'' was shown at
E3 2010
The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010 (E3 2010) was the 16th E3 held. The event took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California. It began on June 14, 2010, and ended on June 17, 2010, with 45,600 total attendees. Ther ...
on 14 June.
It is a
download only title and was released on Microsoft's
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) is a digital video game download service available through the Xbox Games Store, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360. It focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent ...
on 18 August.
Originally, cooperative online gameplay was to be enabled on 28 September, the day of the
PC and
PlayStation Network release,
but on-line cooperative was delayed for all three platforms until a later date.
Karl Stewart said that they had an agreement with Microsoft and the game was initially XLA exclusive.
The Microsoft Windows version was distributed exclusively by the digital distribution platform
Steam.
Online cooperative was made available for the PlayStation 3 on 22 November.
The Microsoft Windows version also received online cooperative play, being patched one day later.
In North America, on 16 December, Crystal Dynamics released an
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...
version of ''Guardian of Light'' for the
iPod,
iPhone, and
iPad
The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating ...
. Although the level layouts of the game are identical to the PC, Xbox Live and PlayStation Network versions, it only contains 10 levels instead of 14, skipping straight to the level "Xolotl's Stronghold" after "Twisting Bridge", and doesn't include the DLC; online cooperative play is available with both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth options.
Xbox 360 version of the game was made backwards compatible with the Xbox One in 2018.
Downloadable content
''Guardian of Light'' received extended support after its official release date with five
downloadable content
Downloadable content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization, enabli ...
packs, which were released from October through December 2010. Three of the packs, "All the Trappings", "Things That Go Boom", and "A Hazardous Reunion", contain new maps and puzzles, although the second pack was not released on Xbox 360 due to "unforeseen problems". The other two DLC packs feature alternate playable characters from other Eidos Interactive-owned series -
Kain and
Raziel
Raziel, ( ''Rāzīʾēl,'' "God is my Mystery") also known as Gallitsur ( Hebrew: גַּלִּיצוּר ''Gallīṣūr'') is an angel within the teachings of Jewish mysticism (of the Kabbalah of Judaism) who is the "Angel of Secrets" and the "An ...
of Crystal Dynamics' ''
Legacy of Kain
''Legacy of Kain'' is a series of dark fantasy action-adventure video games primarily developed by Crystal Dynamics and formerly published by Eidos Interactive, then Square Enix Europe after 2009. The first title, '' Blood Omen: Legacy of Kai ...
'' series, and Kane and Lynch of
IO Interactive
IO Interactive A/S (IOI) is a Danish video game developer based in Copenhagen, best known for creating and developing the ''Hitman'' and '' Kane and Lynch'' franchises. IO Interactive's most recent game is '' Hitman 3'', which was released in J ...
's ''
Kane & Lynch
''Kane & Lynch: Dead Men'' is a 2007 third-person shooter video game developed by IO Interactive and published by Eidos Interactive in North America and PAL regions, and Spike in Japan, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The m ...
'' games.
The first downloadable content pack, entitled ''All The Trappings'', received a thirty-day free release alongside the online cooperative patch on 27 October for Xbox 360.
Reception
''Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light'' was very well received by critics. The Xbox 360 version of the game holds an average score of 85 out of 100 on the aggregate website
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
.
The PlayStation 3 version of the game holds an average score of 84 out of 100 and the PC version holds an 82 out of 100. In a September 2010 ranking,
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
listed ''Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light'' fourteenth in their top twenty-five Xbox Live Arcade titles of all time.
Initial sales show the game has done well, with ''Guardian of Light'' selling 98,000 copies on Xbox Live in its first six weeks.
As of October 2010, over 111,000 copies were sold on Xbox Live and 138,000 as of year-end 2010.
Square Enix head of product development, Darrell Gallagher, revealed in August 2013 that the game had sold more than 1 million copies on all platforms.
Daemon Hatfield of IGN gave the Xbox 360 version of the game a rating of 8.5, but was critical of story and dialogue.
Chris Watters of
GameSpot
''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
also gave the Xbox 360 version an 8.5 rating, praising a puzzles, visuals, replay value and challenges, but panned the game's plot.
Tom Hoggins from
telegraph.co.uk was positive to the game.
Matt Cabral of ''
GamePro'' also gave the game a positive review, giving the game 4.5/5 for puzzles, exploration and combat gameplay, but expressed game's storyline as the weakest point.
Keza MacDonald of
Eurogamer
''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson.
Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EG ...
gave ''Guardian of Light'' a 9 out of 10;
the same rating was also given by
Meagan Marie of ''
Game Informer
''Game Informer'' (''GI'', most often stylized ''gameinformer'' from the 2010s onward) is an American monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and associated consoles. It debuted in August 1991 w ...
''
and Tom Orry of VideoGamer.com.
Notes
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lara Croft And The Guardian Of Light
2010 video games
Action-adventure games
Android (operating system) games
BlackBerry PlayBook games
Cooperative video games
Crystal Dynamics games
Eidos Interactive games
Feral Interactive games
IOS games
Nintendo Switch games
PlayStation 3 games
PlayStation Network games
Square Enix games
Stadia games
Tomb Raider spin-off games
Video game sequels
Video games based on Native American mythology
Video games developed in the Netherlands
Video games developed in the United States
Video games set in Mexico
Video games set in North America
Video games with cel-shaded animation
Video games with isometric graphics
Windows games
Xbox 360 Live Arcade games
Nixxes Software games
Multiplayer and single-player video games