GDC 2010: Lara Croft And The Guardian Of Light Demo Impressions

For Crystal Dynamics, the makers of Lara Croft and The Guardian of Light, the question isn't how do you keep a one of the most recognizable faces in gaming fresh, but rather how do you best present it to the audience. Today I had the pleasure of sitting down with some of the team members behind the recently announced digital title and got to see for myself why this isn't your typical Tomb Raider game. Powered by the engine used in the current-gen trilogy of Tomb Raider games, The Guardian of Light aims to tell an individual experience that is custom tailored to digital platforms (XBLA, PSN, and PC). While this might impose some technical restrictions, the team sees this as a chance to do something different.

The most unique element shown off today was the title's emphasis on 2 player co-op. In the game Lara is paired with an ancient spirit named Totec during an expedition gone wrong in Central American temples. By working together and using each character's special abilities, players will be able to launch Lara up to elevated areas using Totec's shield as a moving platform, use Totec's spears to create makeshift ladders, and even make death defying leaps of faith across bottomless pits with Lara's grappling hook. With so many puzzles highlighting how each character's abilities complimented the other and how many of them can be solved in multiple ways, I felt that the puzzles gave off a strong Ico-like vibe, without the "useless princess" stereotype of course. In between puzzles, players will encounter all sorts of bad guys, spiders, and demons to shoot up. With the change in perspective, this title manages to shed the "jump and shoot" mentality of previous games for something more akin to classic top down arcade shooters.

For an Alpha build with only one year behind it, seeing this game in motion was a delight. Screen shots don't give this game the design and artistic credit it deserves. With a fully developed engine behind it, the game showcases smaller details that would prove too costly for other downloadable titles to include. There are plenty of destructible objects throughout each level, plants will move and shake as you brush past them, and some attractive real time lighting and shadows set the scene well.

The team at Crystal Dynamics didn't just set out to enter the downloadable games scene, but enter the highly competitive platforms while raising the bar with something the new. The demo that I saw today definitely set the right tone. While it didn't feel like a Tomb Raider game, it still retained Lara's character, which will hopefully allow players a new perspective on the iconic explorer. Lara Croft and The Guardian of Light releases at towards the end of this summer for $15.