Four Player Griefing With Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris - Preview
by VGChartz Staff , posted on 23 October 2014 / 3,288 Views
Lara Croft and The Guardian of Light was a refreshing change of pace for the Tomb Raider series. Rather than following Lara around from a third person perspective, Guardian of Light adopted a top-down approach, and also introduced co-op multiplayer for the first time.
While primarily a dual stick shooter, the game included all of the puzzles and archaeological finds the series is well-known for, but also utilized stronger fantasy elements that provided a new experience for Lara and her tomb raiding ways. Crystal Dynamics now hopes to improve upon the formula with an even more fantastical scenario, while also adding four player co-op to what's becoming another great Lara Croft adventure: Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris.
Temple of Osiris takes place in Egypt (duh), where Lara and a competing archeologist discover that the evil God Set has been reawakened, as well as two other beneficent gods, Horus and Isis, who have been in an eternal battle with him. It's a very fitting setting for Lara, as it is filled with numerous tombs to explore, but it also provides a fantastic backdrop for the more supernatural feel that this entry boasts.
While Temple of Osiris looks similar to its predecessor, there have been some minor improvements, especially in the lighting department. Flames flicker with great intensity, making shadows bounce and the temples look very atmospheric. Time of day and weather now plays a factor in how Lara must tackle each tomb, opening up certain areas that would normally be closed during the day, for example, or flooding temples with water to reach new places. Weather also gives the world a further sense of life.
The gameplay is generally the same as that found in The Guardian of Light, but also sees some slight improvements. The biggest one comes in the form of two extra playable characters, allowing for four player co-op that is completely drop-in/drop-out.
Lara and her treasure hunting competitor have access to the same type of weapons and grappling ability, and the same goes for the two Gods who can shoot power beams. This feels like a missed opportunity for more character variety, though the demo was fun nonetheless. Running and gunning still feels tight and responsive, with a decent arsenal of weapons available that include some new additions like fire-based weapons.
Some minor RPG elements have been added as well. For example, loot can now be collected and equipped in the form of rings and amulets that grant different bonuses. While being useful in combat, this also provides another incentive for playing with friends, adding a nice little competitive bent to the cooperative gameplay.
This competitive angle introduces more opportunities for griefing other players with your character abilities, like cutting the grapple line over a pit just after finishing a puzzle so that you can reap the rewards. There were plenty of chances to mess around with the other players during the demo, which gave Temple of Osiris a maliciously amusing spin.
Puzzles are a big part of the game still, and they become progressively harder when more people are playing by featuring more intricate sections or an increased number of obstacles. Like the previous game, many puzzles require teamwork and a combination of the treasure hunters' abilities and gods' powers in order to be completed. One of the puzzles that the demo showed featured the return of the giant boulders used heavily in Guardian of Light. Different kinds of spheres are used this time around that add additional elements to puzzle-solving, such as flaming and exploding boulders, and it does look like they are a huge part of the game once again.
Crystal Dynamics have done a fine job of rebooting the Lara Croft brand, and Temple of Osiris is shaping up to be another great title to add to their list of successes. While there aren't really any drastic changes from Guardian of Light, Temple of Osiris makes a compelling argument for not abandoning a winning formula by making just enough entertaining improvements.
Be sure to check out Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris when it releases December 9th for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC worldwide.
