''Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris'' 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
Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ser ...
,
PlayStation 4,
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 ...
,
Stadia
Stadia may refer to:
* One of the plurals of stadium, along with "stadiums"
* The plural of stadion, an ancient Greek unit of distance, which equals to 600 Greek feet (''podes'').
* Stadia (Caria), a town of ancient Caria, now in Turkey
* Stadi ...
and
Nintendo Switch. It is the sequel to the 2010 video game ''
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
''Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light'' is an action-adventure game developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Square Enix's Square Enix Europe, European subsidiary for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Android and iOS. It is part ...
'', and the second installment in ''Lara Croft'' spin-off series 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, ...
'' franchise. The video game was announced at
E3 2014 on 9 June.
Gameplay
Like its predecessor, ''
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light '', ''Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris'' 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, ...
. Additionally, the colored circle underneath each player in tandem with the
twin-stick control scheme draws total gameplay comparisons to
SpongeBob SquarePants: Plankton's Robotic Revenge,
Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One, or
Contra: Rogue Corps. It features
cooperative gameplay Cooperative game may refer to:
* Cooperative board game, board games in which players work together to achieve a common goal
* Cooperative game theory, in game theory, a game with competition between groups of players and the possibility of cooperat ...
, and up to four players can take control of one of four characters,
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 ...
, Carter, Isis or Horus. Each playable character possesses unique weapons and skills. As 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.
Plot
Deep in the deserts of
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
Lara Croft joins forces with rival treasure hunter Carter Bell and imprisoned gods Isis and Horus, to defeat the evil deity
Set
Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to:
Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics
*Set (mathematics), a collection of elements
*Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively
Electro ...
. Lara and her companions battle the elements of nature through ancient tombs and they must recover the fragments of Osiris to stop Set from enslaving all humanity.
Development
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 ...
began development on ''Temple of Osiris'' in 2013, following the release of ''
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, ...
''.
Nixxes Software provided development support on the game; they had collaborated with Crystal Dynamics on previous ''Tomb Raider'' games.
The studio completed development in November 2014.
That month,
Valve
A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fitting ...
and Crystal Dynamics organized a contest for people to produce and submit promotional ''Tomb Raider'' themed content for the video game ''
Team Fortress 2
''Team Fortress 2'' is a 2007 multiplayer first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve Corporation. It is the sequel to the 1996 ''Team Fortress'' mod for '' Quake'' and its 1999 remake, '' Team Fortress Classic''. The game was ...
''.
The winning items were revealed on 3 December and were implemented in ''Team Fortress 2'' as rewards for people who pre-purchased ''Temple of Osiris''.
Contest winners received a selection of titles from Square Enix's catalogue on
Steam.
Release
The game launched on 9 December 2014. The studio released the game's original soundtrack as a free download.
A limited Gold Edition of the game was available to purchase in retail; it included a 3-inch Lara figurine, art book, a map of the game's overworld, and a
season pass for
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).
The game was released as part of PlayStation Plus free games in August 2015.
The game was released as part of Microsoft Games with Gold free games in May 2017.
Prior to the game's launch, a season pass was announced which would include all future downloadable content for the game.
Four
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 were released in January 2015, three of which contained in-game items and character skins based on ''
Tomb Raider: Legend'', and the ''
Deus Ex
''Deus Ex'' is a series of role-playing video games, set during the mid 21st century. Focusing on the conflict between secretive factions who wish to control the world by proxy, and the effects of transhumanistic attitudes and technologies in a ...
'' and ''
Hitman
Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may ...
'' franchises.
These themed packs were previously available as bonuses for pre-ordering the game from specific retailers.
The fourth content pack, titled ''Icy Death'', added various in-game items, a tomb featuring new puzzles and enemies, and a Lara Croft character skin based on the 2013 ''Tomb Raider'' video game.
On 2 February, the ''Twisted Gears'' downloadable pack was released featuring a tomb, new in-game items, and a Lara Croft character skin based on the original ''
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, ...
'' game.
Reception
''Temple of Osiris'' received "mixed or average" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator
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 game received a nomination from the
D.I.C.E. Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition.
Dave Rudden of ''
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 ...
'' called the game "almost as essential as Lara's third-person execursions", praising the game's creative level design and multiplayer while criticizing its lack of personality in comparison to previous titles.
''GamesRadar''+ gave the game four stars out of five, praising the chaotic co-op, environmental puzzles, and bosses, while criticizing the game's loading issues and lack of readability during cooperative play. Emanuel Maiberg of ''
PC Gamer
''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games m ...
'' called the game "much more fun with a friend" while appreciating its clever puzzles and lamenting the game's short runtime which left little room to capitalize on its mechanics. Christian Donlan 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 ...
'' complimented the game's utilization of its fairly simple mechanics in order to mask the lack of "first-rate" quality to any one facet of the game. Ben Reeves 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 ...
'' called the game "largely a retread of ''Guardian of Light''" and deemed its gameplay "standard" while still finding the game fun to play through with friends. ''
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 ...
'' called the game's pacing "gratifying" in the way it mixed its shooting, locomotion, and problem-solving, while calling out the dated visuals, unrewarding story, and technical issues.
''Polygon'''s Philip Kollar noted that in spite of critical issues such as the game's poor loot system and occasionally bad camera, it proved to be an enjoyable experience nevertheless.
''Push'' ''Square'' gave the game six stars out of ten and lamented the game's lack of personality and memorability while praising its graphics, bosses, and short loading times.
Notes
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
2014 video games
Action-adventure games
Crystal Dynamics games
Feral Interactive games
Multiplayer and single-player video games
Nintendo Switch games
PlayStation 4 games
Square Enix games
Stadia games
Tomb Raider spin-off games
Video game sequels
Video games scored by Wilbert Roget, II
Video games set in Egypt
Video games based on Egyptian mythology
Video games developed in the Netherlands
Video games developed in the United States
Windows games
Xbox One games
Nixxes Software games