We hope you've got space for Lara Croft and one guardian of light on your couch, because that's where the heroic pair will find themselves on August 18th. Developer Crystal Dynamics has confirmed that when Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light launches on Xbox Live Arcade, concluding Microsoft's Summer of Arcade promotion, it will only support offline co-op.
Online co-op, as well as Xbox Live standards like full leaderboard support and voice chat functionality, will be introduced via a free update on September 28. On the same day, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light will be launched on PlayStation Network and Steam.
The baffling omission of the online component appears to have been made at the last minute, with Crystal Dynamics general manager Darrell Gallagher telling Joystiq, "We made a decision recently because we were focusing on how we can deliver the best possible experience to the players. If we had launched with online co-op, we wouldn't feel comfortable that it was the best possible experience for the player." Though online co-op had been promoted and promised since the game's announcement, Gallagher claims that "nothing underhanded" influenced the decision. "This is our first digital title and we want to make sure we deliver the best possible experience to players."
Though Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is making its debut as part of Microsoft's high-profile (and heavily co-marketed) Summer of Arcade program, that doesn't mean Lara isn't destined for other platforms. Square Enix today announced that GoL will be released on both PlayStation Network and Steam on September 28th for the same $15 asking price. But Lara's plans for 2010 don't stop there.
While we agree DLC is a pretty strange acronym for Downloadable Content, we're going to have to disagree with Crystal Dynamics General Manager Darrell Gallagher when he insists, "DLC for us means Downloadable Lara Croft." Don't get us wrong, we're on board for Guardian of Light in a big way (though our initial enthusiasm has certainly been blunted with today's news that online co-op will suffer a one-month delay for Xbox owners). We simply worry that five DLC packs over three months is going to cause a consumer revolt, fueled by cries of "that should've been in the game."
The first three packs are straight-up expansions, meaning fresh puzzles and "new areas" to visit. The latter two are "playable character packs" which will let you swap out Lara and Totec throughout the entire campaign for "some other well-known videogame characters." Our guess: Hitman's Agent 47 ... or perhaps another trigger-happy hero from Square's catalog, Vincent from Final Fantasy VII.
#avatars
If you've ever wanted to cross dress your avatar as Lara Croft, your chance is coming. The tomb raider's super-tight shorts are among a set of themed outfits hitting Xbox Live Marketplace on Thursday. More »
If your anticipation for the co-op treasure-plundering action of Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is so strong that you're seeking for outlets through which to give Crystal Dynamics money, here's your chance. A handful of Avatar items based on the XBLA title will arrive on the Xbox Live Marketplace July 29. The particulars and prices of these items have yet to be revealed, though a handful of images posted in the gallery below indicate costumes for Lara, her partner-in-raiding Totec, a Tomb Raider-themed T-shirt, a hideous matted wig and ... some kind of ... demon suit.
The background featured in these images is actually available on the Marketplace today for 240 MSP, under the title "The Lava Tomb." It's perfect for those who think their menu navigation experience could use a bit more molten rock and ugly statuettes.
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light was one of our favorite games at this year's E3 -- while it's a new taste for the franchise, it certainly seemed like one gamers will enjoy. But even if all of the puzzle-solving and co-op has you worried that Lara's gone too cerebral, let this trailer reassure you: The girl still knows how to shoot things until they stop moving.
She and partner Totec do so with all kinds of heavy weaponry, including flamethrowers, rocket launchers and whatever else they find laying around that ancient temple they're exploring. The video also shows off some of the game's relic and artifact system, which will not only let you customize weapons with various stats and abilities, but encourage replaying of the game, as some of the relics will require a few runs through the title to obtain. Watch the full trailer after the break.
#clips
The Mayans were fierce warriors, so ... why not hand one an assault rifle? Or flamethrower? Or rocket launcher? Sounds like a good policy to me, and Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light demonstrates it effectively in this trailer. More »
Crystal Dynamics previously announced plans to launch Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light on XBLA, PSN and PC this summer. Since the XBLA release is now part of Microsoft's Summer of Arcade promotion, however, PSN and PC players are going to have to wait a bit longer for their date with Lara. When asked how long the game's timed-exclusivity on Xbox Live would last, Crystal Dynamics' Karl Stewart told Eurogamer, "Well, for exactly four weeks, really. The agreement with Microsoft is, in order to participate in their hugely successful Summer of Arcade promotion there is a window of exclusivity. That window of exclusivity is a set four weeks."
Lara Croft is slated to launch August 18 on Xbox Live Arcade, which would mean that the PSN and PC releases are essentially on hold until September 15. Stewart explained that it's ultimately "up to the first parties and the likes of Steam to agree that's the best date for us." It's worth noting that September 15 is a Wednesday, and North American PSN updates occur on Tuesday now, which could mean Lara Croft's release in the region could get pushed back another week.
#griefing
You're Lara Croft. I'm not. You have a grappling hook. I don't. I'm some guy called Totec. I jump, needing you to catch me with the hook so I don't fall to my death. You let me fall. More »
At Square Enix's pre-E3 event yesterday, we got a chance to talk with Karl Stewart, global brand director for Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics. We asked him about the reorganization inside the developer (which lead directly to the development of the already impressive Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light), its new approach to managing the Tomb Raider brand and how its new focus is affecting the way other Eidos studios work. We also got a taste of just how outside-the-box its new "experimental team" can go.
Joystiq: This reorganization all happened after the Square Enix acquisition?
Karl Stewart: We had actually been going through the shakeup at the studio prior to it, and really we had already presented that we knew we needed to make a drastic change for the studio and that continuing down the same path wasn't really going to cut it any longer. So Darryl Gallagher had taken over the studio at that time and he had some great ideas about how to sort of retool the studio, and it was around then that Square Enix came aboard, purchased us, so we presented our vision for it and they thought it was the right way to go. And as a result, we continued down that path.
This was after the release of Underworld?
Yeah, this was. Underworld had shipped, the DLC for 360 had already shipped and we just realized that when we started looking at our next game we knew that we needed to take a step back and build the next big title and it wasn't going to come year after year. That's been one of our frustrations: seeing the titles come out year after year after year, so we decided that was the end of that.
Perhaps you've been glossing over any stories with the words "Lara Croft" in the headline, sure that it couldn't possibly have anything to offer you. You and Lara had your thing ... but that was years ago. You're older now. You've moved on.
Well, so has Lara. The team at Crystal Dynamics did an admirable job updating the Tomb Raider series with the Legend, Anniversary, and Underworld trilogy but they understood that they "needed to make a drastic change for the studio and that continuing down the same path wasn't really going to cut it any longer." So, Crystal Dynamics split itself into three groups: one focused on making the "pillar games" that will use the "Tomb Raider" branding; another focused on controlling the Lara Croft intellectual property and brand in-house; and the last one intent on delivering fresh "experimental" gameplay in a downloadable format using the "Lara Croft" brand. And that gets us to Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light.
If you've been ignoring the Tomb Raider reboot, perhaps still spurned by the atrocious Angel of Darkness, you owe it to yourself to reevaluate that relationship once again. You see, Guardian of Light isn't a "Tomb Raider" game. It's something new: A $15 isometric co-op puzzle game. Ludwig's already given you his impressions of the game, but at a recent pre-E3 event I got to take the controller myself - along with Mr. Mike Schramm - for some co-op puzzle solving.
#screens
I had a chance to check out Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light earlier this week and absolutely loved it. Here's a closer look at those fantastic graphics I was talking about. More »
#handson
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is the sort of game that we need to see more of on the PS3 and Xbox 360: Easy to play, hard to put down, but not a throwaway side project or appendage to some bigger effort. More »
Eidos and Crystal Dynamics recently released a trailer for their upcoming downloadable Smash TV-esque take on the Tomb Raider universe, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. The video does a great job of showcasing the game's frantic co-operative action and puzzle elements, which have a tendency to overlap, resulting in ... puction? Yeah, sure, puction.
Check out the trailer above to see what $15 will buy you when the game hits XBLA, PSN and PC sometime this summer. Or check out the gallery below, if you find all the moving pictures to be a tad overwhelming.
#eidos
It may not bear the Tomb Raider name, but Lara Croft's next adventure features much of the same puzzle-solving action the Eidos series is famous for. In Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, however, the focus is on co-op. More »
It seems that Lady Croft isn't having quite the identity crisis we once assumed, what with her new series, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, having neither "tomb" nor "raider" in the title. It's all according to plan, says Square Enix Europe CEO Phil Rogers, who told Develop, "I'm not saying this is a split - we're not driving a huge wedge through this - but we had always planned separating the two, with the Lara name in digital and the Tomb Raider brand at retail."
Aside from its method of distribution, Lara Croft and Guardian of Light is also set apart from traditional Tomb Raider games by ... well, by being an isometric co-op puzzle shooter thing. You definitely won't confuse the two.
The downloadable Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light isn't just an odd one-off from Crystal Dynamics, it's the first effort in a new strategy from the developer. General manager Darrell Gallagher told Gamasutra that Crystal Dynamics is using Guardian of Light, and future digitally-distributed titles, as a way to bridge larger-scale console installments.
Gallagher said that it's a plan that Crystal Dynamics intends to continue with -- and one that other publishers will also pick up. The use of a smaller, downloadable game as a promotional device or stopgap release for a console game has been catching on even before Guardian of Light was announced, mostly with Capcom, whose Dark Void Zero and Bionic Commando Rearmed were released to warmer receptions than either of their disc-based counterparts.
Gallagher told Gamasutra that because downloadable games have shorter development cycles, they can be used to bring people into a franchise or keep it popular while the next major installment is still in development.
Mind you, seeing Lara Croft gun down squealing, eight-legged monstrosities doesn't bring with it the tinge of regret that I've come to associate with her tendency to permanently cross off creatures from the endangered species list. Had Crystal Dynamics opted to switch out the spiders with tigers, there'd be enough fur coats left over to give everyone in the world a warm winter.
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is heavy on the action, with territorial enemies swarming the eponymous explorer and a newfound partner, the Mayan warrior Totec, from all directions. Thankfully, the guy knows how to fire a gun and toss a spear -- though I pray he doesn't mix the two up when the situation gets out of hand. If you're playing the game with a co-op partner, either online or on couch, you'll have someone to yell at should that happen.
The game's isometric camera angle and twin-stick shooting mechanics bring to mind Assault Heroes (or Geometry Wars, at a basic level), but the pacing here is different. A more apt comparison -- that takes into account the lulls in action -- would be Left 4 Dead, especially when one player is tasked with manipulating a puzzle object while the other defends the rear.
It may not have "Tomb Raider" in the title, but Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light -- scheduled to launch on Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and PC this summer -- will mark the leading lady's return to a crumbling underworld and its unreasonably hostile caretakers. And while the game's aesthetics are unmistakably consistent with previous games, its unique format draws inspiration from a wider range of sources, including last year's polished XBLA hit, Shadow Complex.
Like Shadow Complex, the game will launch for $15, offering approximately six hours of co-operative action and puzzle-solving (though your pace may vary). According to developer Crystal Dynamics, Lara Croft & The Guardian of Light will be cognizant of the bar set by other high-production games in the download space, while offering a unique interpretation of the well-established Tomb Raider franchise.
Catch Joystiq's impressions of the game and an interview with Crystal Dynamics later this week.
#eidos
One look at the all-new Tomb Raider game and you'll see why Eidos and Crystal Dynamics have put aside the famous name for Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. This is a very different Tomb Raider game. More »
Boy, when Crystal Dynamics said it would be creating "something completely new and very different" for Lara Croft, it wasn't kidding around. GameSpot has posted a first look at Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, and we don't know where to begin. It's downloadable, it's isometric-view and it's arcade-y action with just a hint of the old platforming ways. There's a heavy co-op element, too (both local and online), with Lara and her companion, Totec (a "Mayan tribesman" wielding a spear) fighting off evil spirits and the undead, as well as combining their various skills to traverse through jungles and temples.
Actually, it looks ... good. While the pace seems likely to be a little faster than the standard tomb raiding Lara does, this might be just the thing to spice up the still-aging franchise. We'll check the game out for you at GDC next week, and let you know if this left-turn in genre is the right one for Lara to take.
