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Old 11-03-10, 23:28   #1
nomedo
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Lightbulb Look at them Previews... Redux

Previews included in this post

[1] GamePro
[2] GayGamer
[3] Globo
[4] IGN
[5] 3D Juegos
[6] Jeuxvideo
[7] Voodoo Extreme
[8] 1Up
[9] AtomicGamer
[10] BitMob
[11] RunDLC
[12] G4TV
[13] Joystiq
[14] Giant Bomb
[15] Eurogamer
[16] OXM UK
-updated May 15th.
[17] Eurogamer II -Interview, updated May 17th.
[18] Gaming XP -hands on impressions, updated May 17th.


"Lara Croft is stepping out with a new friend in this new download-only title from Crystal Dynamics. It blends the core action, exploration, and puzzle-solving aspects of the franchise, and introduces a new cooperative element.

No, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is not a Tomb Raider game. It’s something quite different. For a start, it's going to be a downloadable title, rather than a retail release -- but that's not the only thing that's unique about it. While it uses the same graphics engine and core technology as Crystal Dynamics' recent trilogy of Tomb Raider titles, the fundamental gameplay has more in common with an action RPG like Dungeon Siege, or even (brace yourself) Diablo II than it does with Tomb Raider: Underworld.

Core to this impression is the fact that the viewpoint has shifted from behind Lara to a fixed isometric viewpoint. This has freed the development team to focus more on the content of Guardian of Light, and less on managing camera angles or wrangling the graphics engine. It's also particularly useful for accommodating the title's fundamental shift toward being a two player co-operative action experience. Players work together to fight off large swarms of bad guys, and solve environmental puzzles by taking advantage of the key characters' core strengths.

Wait. Characters? As in more than one? Yes. While Lara is very much the focus of Guardian of Light, she is joined by a 2000 year-old hero named Totec, who joins her on a quest to foil his arch-enemy, in a somewhat complicated back story that seems to have a little in common with the whole “dark smokey” guy in Lost. Rather than paraphrase the story, here’s how it was presented to me by Producer Forest Swartout Large when I first spent time with the game at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.

"Two thousand years ago, an epic battle was waged between the armies of good and evil for a powerful artifact, The Mirror of Smoke," she explained. "The fearless leader of the Army of Light, Totec, rose against all odds to defeat the evil overlord Xolotl and gain control over the item. Wielding the great power of the Mirror of Smoke, Totec banished Xolotl from the world. Now known now as The Guardian of Light, Totec entombed himself with the mirror in The Temple of Light with to prevent it from ever falling into sinister hands."

"Fast forward to today, where our heroine Lara Croft has found the long lost Temple of Light in the mountains of Central America,” Large continues. "Unbeknown to her she had been followed, and moments after Lara finds the Mirror of Smoke, mercenaries burst in and steal the artifact. With the mirror no longer safely entombed, Xolotl immediately returns from his banishment, kills the thieves, and vanishes. Totec rises from his entombed state and blames Lara for unleashing this evil force in the world, yet realizes that the only course of action is to work together to retrieve the Mirror of Smoke. If they do not succeed, Xolotl will harness the power of the mirror to plunge the world into eternal darkness."

Did you get all that? Good, because I got a little lost the first time she told me.

The bottom line is that the ensuing experience is a fast-paced, isometric action adventure that blends plenty of shooting with exploration and environmental puzzles, much like those found in classic Tomb Raider games. Core to the experience though is the dynamic of Lara and Totec working together, and players are encouraged to solve puzzles by leveraging the strengths of each character. Lara, true to her archetype, is very agile and athletic, and along with her pistols she is equipped with a grappling hook that enables her to reach otherwise inaccessible areas of the environment. She is also able to assist Totec by grappling her partner (sometimes in mid-jump) in order to help him swing across chasms, or even prevent him from falling to his death. She can also attach it to parts of the game world and then use it as a tightrope. If you've played Lego Batman: The Videogame you'll have some idea of the possibilities such a device can present in a cooperative experience.

Totec, on the other hand, is more of a tank. He’s big, powerful, and less agile -- but he carries both a shield and an infinite supply of spears that allow him to assist Lara in some clever ways. His spears can be thrown at walls so that Lara can use them to scale otherwise treacherous areas, and he can pull his shield up over his head so that Lara can use it as a platform. By interacting in these different ways, a pair of communicative players (either online, or playing on the same screen) can develop some very interesting solutions to a variety of puzzles.

During our demonstration of the game, Large was joined by Brand Director Karl Stewart, who was keen to stress that this is a very different approach for Crystal Dynamics, and something that is enabling the team to change fans' expectations of the franchise. Earlier at GDC, Bungie Studios’ Design Director Joseph Staten had commented that, "if you try to build a franchise around a single character, that can be a problem. If you build it around a world, anything is possible."

I asked both Large and Stewart about this, and it was clearly something that they’d both been giving some thought to since working on the project. Large, who's background before joining Crystal Dynamics three years ago from Tippett Studio, where she worked on visual effects for Charlotte's Web and Enchanted, believes that Croft is certainly a larger-than-life character with lots of possibilities. Both she and Stewart spoke with great respect of how Bungie is making the Halo franchise about more than just Master Chief. "That's one of the reasons that we added Totec to Guardian of Light," Stewart told me. "While Lara still needs to be a focus because she’s so iconic, I think there’s a lot we can do in future with regard to her interactions with other characters in the game world."

It should be noted that while Guardian of Light is clearly designed as a cooperative experience, it can be enjoyed as a solo title too. The gameplay does change slightly though. There is no A.I. replacement for Totec, and instead Lara is given Totec's spear as an additional tool, and new items are introduced into the game world to replace Totec when switches need to be pressed, or platforms need to be stood on.

Though the demo they showed me was running on Xbox 360, Crystal Dynamics fully intends to bring Guardian of Light "to all three major platforms," Stewart told me. It will be a downloadable game only, and given the success of titles like Shadow Complex, they have very high hopes for it.

The next time the game will be shown in any great detail will be at E3 in June.
"
Source




" 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.
"
Source




"The last games heroine Lara Croft, the star of "Tomb Raider" were not well received by critics. After all, few elements of the franchise is renewed in these 15 years of existence.

In an attempt to keep the character fresh and save the series of wear, the production company Crystal Dynamics decided to leave for another way in "Lara Croft and the guardian of light". Leave the scenarios in 3D and focus on the exploration phase, and enter the stage cooperation between two players and solving puzzles.

The game will be released via download in the virtual stores of Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii later this year. G1 followed a demonstration of the game during the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, the United States.

"When we completed the production of 'Tomb Raider', we close a cycle in the history of the series and began thinking what to do with Lara Croft in the coming years," said Karl Stewart, director of Crystal Dynamics. "We started to try and find new elements that would be interesting to take some risks. This game, which is in development for a year and a half was based on that. "

The development team wanted to create something that does not fit into any timeline on the history of "Tomb Raider" and this is something that Stewart wants to make it clear - to separate the two games. What remains is the focus on the protagonist, hence the caution, perhaps even excessive, "save" the image of Lara in the midst of such great changes.

At first, the long-time fans of heroin may be surprised by the game. The view in third person, with the camera that followed Lara Croft, gives rise to an isometric view, similar to older games like "Baldur's Gate" and "Diablo II". Even with the camera more steady, the graphics are all 3D, generated by the same graphics engine "Underworld". "We spend enough time developing this graphics engine, then nothing more natural than to reuse it in other securities," Stewart said.

Another big change and it became the main focus of the game is cooperation between two players. The title includes two players both through the online mode and locally, using two controls.

One of the players control Lara and the other, the character Totec, a specialist in Mayan warrior using a spear of combat. Together they must figure out how to cross obstacles using unique abilities. It uses two guns to face enemies, can make great leaps and has a hook combined with a string ( "grappling gun") that can be used for various functions. Totec, in turn, attack the opponents throwing their spears and has a shield to defend. He is heavier and can not make big jumps.

"The combination of the two qualities will serve to solve the puzzles in many ways," says Stewart. Totec can take your shield to the head, providing a platform for Lara scale some walls. Since heroin can throw your hook, do you hold the shield Totec and pull it to higher ground. It can also balance on top of the rope to cross over chasms.

Demonstrating one of the puzzles, Stewart takes two characters to a tomb. In the center of it there is a tower with thorns, preventing them from reaching the top, where the treasure is. By stepping on a stone, thorns are collected, but as soon as you get off the mechanism, they return. The player must then use the spears Totec to offer a kind of ladder to Lara. He himself must then stay on top of the stone, allowing the operator take the item.

Another focus of "Lara Croft and the guardian of light" is in the fighting. The enemies, gigantic monsters, are killed with the weapons of the two characters. However, some guns are found by the scenarios, allowing both to use it to facilitate the comparisons.

Even though it was a game for download, care for the look of the game was not forgotten. The scenery is great and you can view the various floors of the tombs. There is a system of light that causes the leaves to make shadows in all scenarios. Explosions and gunfire illuminate the entire environment, showing the reflection of damp walls on screens taken by enemies.

Director Karl Stewart also revealed that, however much the idea behind the game is cooperation, there will be some competitive elements. "At some point there will be treasures around the scene and the player to get more items will have a bonus," he says.

For those who do not have a friend to play, "Lara Croft and the guardian of light" will have a single player mode. In it, instead of Totec be controlled by artificial intelligence, Lara will get some of his skills as spears. Thus, it alone will solve the puzzles of the game world.

As different as is "Lara Croft and the guardian of light, it is clear the attempt by Crystal Dynamics did not make the character die and leave the series" Tomb raider "in a little closet. From what I've seen, the idea seems promising.
"
Source




"March 11, 2010 - The recently announced Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light may not be what you expected for an adventure starring one of gaming's most recognizable figures. Crystal Dynamics is building it for release on the PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade, and to PCs, offering a different kind of game. So does different mean good? Based on the demo shown off at GDC '10 in San Francisco, in this case I'd say it could definitely be a cool experience.

First, the story setup. It seems in the past there was a clash between gods over an artifact called the Mirror of Smoke. The bad guy, Xolotl, is eventually defeated by the good guy, Totec, and all's right with the world as Totec buries himself in the mirror in a temple. That is, at least, until Lara finds it 2000 years later and some mercenaries that had been tailing her swipe it, bringing Xolotl tearing back onto the scene.

Thankfully, Totec wakes up as well, and to prevent evil from ruining everything, he teams up with Lara to squash Xolotl's minions. While this game can be played solo, it's also being designed as a co-operative experience. When playing with two, one player takes control of Lara and the other Totec. Taking advantage of their unique arsenals, the two will slaughter hordes of minions and conquer environmental puzzles on their way to saving the world.

The whole game takes place from a fixed overhead camera angle, a perspective that should be familiar to any fan of Diablo. As Lara and Totec run around onscreen, they'll gain points for scoring kills and grabbing shiny baubles scattered around the game's environments. To fight, Lara can take advantage of dual pistols and a rifle. She'll also have a grappling hook, which factors into a lot of the game's puzzles.

For instance, if there's a large hole in the ground and notch in the wall, Lara can hook into the wall and skirt the gap. Once she's across, she can then toss the hook over to Totec, who can grab on and use it as a support line to jump into the hole and climb out the other side to safety. In a neat twist, Totec can also walk on top of the grappling line, adding another layer to the process of finding puzzle solutions.

Sometimes it's not a gap that needs to be crossed, but a high ledge that needs to be accessed. Totec has a shield that's useful in these situations, as he can ready it over his head, creating a platform for Lara to jump onto. If Totec then jumps while Lara's got her feet planted on the shield, Lara can take off at the jump's apex, effectively creating a sort of double jump. For situations where that won't work, Totec can launch spears into walls that then serve as platforms for Lara to hop up onto. If launched from multiple levels into a wall, Lara can climb up even higher as she leaps from spear to spear.

While this all sounds great for co-operative play, especially if Crystal Dynamics comes up with some creative ways to test your spatial reasoning, what about if you just want to play by yourself? In that case you can, and the story accommodates for it. You'll just play as Lara, Totec goes off in another direction, but not before handing you his spear, letting you complete otherwise impossible challenges. The levels will also be altered to a degree in single-player play, and additional items will by lying around to make it possible for you to get through.

The rest of the puzzles look like they'll involve timed elements, pressure plates, movable blocks, and elaborate, multi-part solutions. During the demo an underground temple area was shown where multiple levels of the stage could be seen. While Lara and Totec ran across a stone pathway, you were treated to a few far below to a large stone floor, teasing you of areas you'll travel to next, complementing the already impressive visuals with a nice sense of scale.

When it comes to combat, Totec can fire off rifle shots beside Lara, and both have an unlimited supply of explosives that can splinter boxes in the environments, crumble stone archways, and blow up your foes. Figuring out where to go is made easier through an overhead map that marks your position and objectives, though there's more to see than simply the main quest stuff. Crystal Dynamics showed off one optional dungeon that featured a single puzzle that, when completed, gave Lara access to a special item, the function of which isn't yet being discussed. Apparently there'll be quite a few of these optional challenges throughout the game, adding to a gameplay experience I'm told is already quite a bit over six hours long.

Should Lara or Totec be hit too often by Xolotl's zombie-like minions and run out of health, a the other can come over and sacrifice health for a revive. Or, should that not be possible, the downed companion will respawn at the cost of points.

Sounds pretty good, right? Assuming everything goes well, it'll be ready for this summer.
"
Source



"Tomb Raider is reinventing itself with a spin-off that completely changes everything you knew about the voluptuous heroine. Lara Croft uncovers a Maya warrior his chief ally, and the classic isometric camera 80 to his new perspective. Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light will be a success or not, but what can not be argue is his strength.

The downloadable games are reaching such heights of quality and strength from their proposals and entertainment are no longer minors. Titles like Shadow Complex, Braid or Prince of Persia remake, Bionic Commando, or Monkey Island have already made clear that platforms like the PlayStation Network Store, WiiWare, PC or Xbox Live is as good as any to throw games small in name only.

This is the case of Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light has chosen a downloadable format, to appear as a needed breath of fresh air in the Tomb Raider series. But what Crystal Dynamics archaeologist prepares for his impossible? Find out with 3DJuegos.

Lara Croft, with honorable exceptions, has been characterized by his adventures to undertake alone, or with the help of his colleagues through his earpiece. But Crystal Dynamics Have Decided it was time to make the leap to the cooperation between users, and have proposed that the archaeologist and not walk alone.

In his new venture Which, remember, does not trace the words in the title Tomb Raider; embodied by the pneumatic Therefore a frequent and also Totec, a Mayan warrior who will team up to fight the evil spirit Xoxolt.

The Game can be overcome or Accompanied alone, and cooperative work through both Internet and local multiplayer, and one and another character will have their special characteristics. So while Lara will lead his dual pistols, spears behave Totec throw on their opponents. Teamwork, however, will be essential to Enhance the cooperative mode, Which is that Totec can throw your weapon to use Lara's climbing, and she will help him Because of their scale jumps that could not perform.

On the other hand the giant beasts, lizards, spiders are a constant in our battles to be all under the power of that spirit, but we also deal with spirits of other dead warriors who take up arms against the two main characters as we pass through the tombs, temples and caves.

Let's be honest. The stories have never been precisely the most powerful of the Tomb Raider and Lara Croft apparently seen and the Guardian of Light does not seem destined to be an exception. Where it has traditionally been strong games of this series is about the adventures and platforms, and here I will again have great potential the game, especially thanks to his surprising change of perspective.

And if the first Tomb Raider is responsible for the subsequent boom of the adventures of three-dimensional cutting, the fact is that the spin-off before us is precisely the opposite, a throwback to the origins. Against all odds Crystal Dynamics has chosen for the isometric perspective game that will show us the temples, caves and jungles to go with a camera almost overhead.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light will appear on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC in summer 2010. That's when we check the validity of a bold and surprising twist in a saga so once recognizable as Tomb Raider.
"
Source




"When a new episode of the Lara Croft adventures was announced as a download-only release and for a low price, we were a little scared. But when we were invited to attend a very private presentation at the GDC in San Fransisco, we were mesmerized by a title of wonderful quality!

After an hour of face-to-face with the producer of the game, we found out a lot more about this release starring Indiana Jones in shorts. Before describing the gameplay in details, let us take a detour towards the story, which is rather original. During her latest archeological researches, Lara encountered a legend that refers to the existence of a mirror of smoke that is a space/time door between our world and the world of chaos. Guarded by a Mayan divinity, the mirror falls in the hands of a mercenary named Vasco who, by mistake, liberated an evil being. Also, by chance, the divinity Totec comes back to life and unites with Lara to save the world and its destiny.

The title, which will be played by a single player that controls Lara in an isometric view, can also be played by two players and that will show the game's true potential. Mid-way from being a hack and slash like Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance and a puzzle game like the ancient The Lost Viking, this game will offer hours worth of pleasure for action/adventure gaming fans. Along with her trademark pistols, the heroin also possesses explosives and a grapple, although Totec has his [arms already described in other articles]. Totec also has access to automatic weapons, so gun fans don't be worried! Playable by 2 players on the same machine or online, the progression in Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light will go forth as the team finds ways to collaborate to solve, together, the enigmas and puzzles.

To reach delicate places and higher platforms, the characters can use their weapons and there is often many approaches to solve a puzzle and progress through the level. One particular moment that really caught our attention was when there was a big gap between two platforms, Lara jumped and reached it, but Totec couldn't. The only way he could have joined his archeologist partner was if he jumped, and Lara threw her grapple towards him so he catches it midway in the air.

There is also slight competition between the two gamers. When a player dies, it gives his partner a number of points. Also gems can be found to help unlock items such as weapons. For a price that is a little more expensive than a cinema ticket, this download experience should give half a dozen of gaming hours, without counting the other gaming modes that are still unknown.

However, the remote camera view and the frantic action that explodes on the screen during certain passages borrowed heavily from Smash TV, we suggest that a survival mode (Gears of War 2) does not seem possible by the looks of it. But this is only conjecture as the producer has nicely smiled to us ensuring that we would know more very soon...
"
Source
2nd Preview from Jeuxvideo

"History does not let the fans of our female Indiana Jones, Crystal Dynamics has made up his mind to develop an episode in some way through. An episode that the studio intended to download platforms (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) and should arrive before the end of summer. Just announced that Lara Croft And The Guardian Of Light was already a first outlet at the Game Developers Conference.

Miss Croft? I fell down

While this Lara Croft And The Guardian Of Light has just been announced, the first exit on the sidelines of the GDC has been the first opportunity to see how the game was advanced. In reality, most of the sixteen levels that comprise the game are already finished and all was perfectly playable even if those responsible for Crystal Dynamics who welcomed us never wanted to release the Xbox 360 that we can be try their hand ... Too bad!

Lara Croft And The Guardian Of Light presents itself as an opus of transition while the second team Crystal Dynamics seems already working on a major new opus of the series. It is therefore somehow to occupy the land, but no question, however, offer a discount basis and if the handful of catches played fails to pay mine, see the game situation is more convincing and recognize familiar enough fast graphics engine already used on Underworld.

Same engine, but radically different perspective and this is probably why the catch can confuse. Be reassured: The Guardian Of Light has all the technical features that can be expected to play next-gen. Lighting effects and textures through the fluid, the play of shadow and support (limited) physics, there is not much to say. As we said earlier, it is at the prospect that the change ...

It must be said that Crystal Dynamics has completely revised its roadmap with this title that seems to work on the flowerbeds of hack & slash: the isometric perspective used here borrows much to diablo-like and small Lara is not a regular this kind of universe, especially as she now works as a duo with Totec, a kind of divinity Maya back to life to stop the actions of the villain, a man named Vasco.

The Guardian Of Light is a game primarily based on the cooperative mode, but the solo is present "
This duo is also a good opportunity to renew the gameplay and completely return to something much more platforms, much more focused on puzzles and ways to solve them. The Guardian Of Light actually focuses on the combination of the two characters much like he could do the old The Lost Vikings. On one side we have Lara's grappling hook, his guns and his legendary skill. On the other, we have a Totec much less mobile, but more durable, equipped with shields and spears.

Any progress through the sixteen levels of play based on that logically complement and examples abound. Simply, Lara can climb and the shield Totec to reach a platform too high and then use his grappling hook to hoist the Maya. Elsewhere, this time it will send more spears to build a sort of staircase to Lara that can activate a switch ... The most interesting about this is that many opportunities are never dictated by the game

Each puzzle can be solved in several ways, but developers are confident that players will still find other solutions ... In any case in this context that the game has been designed. What we just described does not apply, however, that multiplayer. The Guardian Of Light is a game primarily based on the cooperative mode (two online or offline), but the solo is this: Totec disappears completely and the puzzles are slightly rearranged so that the game can be traveled alone.

Lara Croft would be nothing without his two pistols and The Guardian Of Light is of course subject to shootings. For purposes of gameplay, the writers have also imagined a Lara who told Totec how to handle firearms. Various "pop-guns" are in the program and some action sequences are frankly nervous. All levels proposed by developers should also end with a fight against a boss and so the fighting will be an opportunity to mix action and puzzles.

"Provided that the other player remains alive, just three seconds for the second hero reappears"
The developers did not want to say more about that, nor do they wish to go into details other game modes: indeed it seems that the adventure is not limited to the sixteen levels already mentioned. One thing is sure, The Guardian Of Light will also focus on the competition between the players: while supporting each other, players must actually earn maximum points in the massacre of more creatures possible.

The competition, though limited in the game, resulting in the presence of world rankings, while multiple elements to unlock will further enrich the game a little, it is also noted that developers were required to submit content for all types of players. While casuals will focus on the progression of Lara, the hardened try to solve all the puzzles and even these "graves-challenges" that should provide puzzles to the difficulty further, but they are optional.

In the same vein, the death of the hero has been laid, but not too punitive: if the other player remains alive, just three seconds for the second hero reappears ... This is yet to make the game available, but above all to keep the adventure all its dynamism. The output is set at the end of the summer on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 for download only for a price close to 15 euros.
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Source




"Lara Croft is losing something this year, and it's not just her Tomb Raider titling. The fifteen year old series is getting a perspective makeover and switching to the popular isometric viewpoint of familiar action RPGs such as Diablo and Torchlight. It's all because the folks at Crystal Dynamics want to enter a new world of pick-up-and-play gameplay. Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light will feature arcade gameplay and an new take on this IP.

Crystal Dynamics' Karl Stewart, the brand director, and Forest Large, producer, showed off a sample of this new game at a hotel outside of GDC's convention center this week.

The game isn't set in any timeline of the Lara Croft games up to this point, as the developers want it to feel fresh and new. They wrapped up the Underworld story and are creating a new experience in the Lara Croft universe.

The story of this action title centers around a Mirror of Smoke. It's an ancient artifact that allows its possessor to either keep night and day running regularly, or bring eternal darkness on the world. A greedy looter follows Lara on her adventure to find the Mirror and consequently ends up awakening the evil spirit of Xolotl who takes the mirror in order to, yes you guessed it, bring eternal darkness to the world. Totec, an ancient warrior who entombed himself with the Mirror to protect it, awakens and blames Lara for the theft of the Mirror, so the unlikely pair team up to retrieve it. And thus the game begins.

The demo of the game showed the co-op aspect of the gameplay in which Lara and Totec must battle countless enemies, and use their special abilities to work their way through the map. On this note, Lara has a grappling rope, which can either hook to special loops in the world, allowing her to swing across chasms, or to Totec himself, to help pull him up ledges. She can also snag different hooks in the world and Totec can walk the grapple like a tight-rope, getting him into new areas.

Totec's abilities are his brute strength and use of a shield and spears. He can hurl spears into walls around the game world which Lara can leap on to reach previously inaccessible locations. He can also hoist Lara onto his shield, and propel her up and onto tall ledges. Combining both characters' abilities allowed the demo team to solve all the puzzles that arose in the demo.

Both characters are equipped with guns; Lara with her familiar dual-pistols and Totec with a hefty machine gun. Ancient warriors need brute force too. The gunplay looked almost like a dual-stick shooter, the characters blasting their way through armies of enemies in all directions. Points wrack up for each kill, and highlighted the arcade elements Crystal Dynamics are aiming for. If a player is killed, they fall to the ground and their partner can raise them. This makes a quick turnaround for death. If no player is around to help up their counterpart, they respawn nearby after a three second penalty.

To keep up the fast pace, they also tagged changing weapons to a bumper rather than make the player move their thumb to the D-Pad. They only showed off the pistols and machine gun, but said that there would be many more items and weapons to snag once the game gets closer to completion. They did, however, reveal the unlimited bombs that each character gets to use. These can be stuck to enemies for a strategic explosion, or placed anywhere in the map which will inevitably destroy different elements in the map. There were quite a few destructible elements in the game world.

Rather than follow the lineage of the games before, which force the players through often infuriating puzzles, this new takes on the series makes the puzzle element optional. You can enter what are called "challenge tombs" in order to get bonus treasures and points. These enemy-less areas require use of the grapple rope and Totec's spears-as-stairs. By separating the action and the puzzles, they hope to avoid alienating any players who might otherwise drop the game after getting stuck.

The game runs on their own CDC Engine, which looks quit polished and allows for a good amount of depth in different areas. From the top of dungeons, you can see several floors down, where you'll eventually end up. This element of "deep vistas" add polish to the level design. They called the game a "huge 3D Gauntlet," which feels appropriate considering the pace of the action.

While they weren't showing it at this point, they said that the single player campaign would be different. Rather than give you a frustrating AI to deal with, Lara will instead be given additional abilities that will help her clear otherwise co-op necessary areas. But from what I saw, the game is mainly designed for a co-op experience.

They're aiming to release the Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light on PSN, XBLA and PC at the end of this summer. They mentioned games like Shadow Complex, Trine, Braid and Trials HD as the big titles they saw their game fitting in with in the downloadable marketplace. By E3 they'll be showing off even more, and we'll keep you posted with any new announcements to the title.
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"Crystal Dynamics has a good reason for why its next, artifact-scavenging game is called Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, and not something with "Tomb Raider" in the title: this is unlike any other Tomb Raider game to date. According to Crystal Dynamics' brand director Karl Stewart, "For us, this in between our pillar releases... the reason for calling it Lara Croft and not calling it Tomb Raider is to avoid confusion. We see Tomb Raider as being our big, epic adventure. And this is a great opportunity for Lara Croft fans to try new things." Different is an understatement; this downloadable-only game uses twin-stick shooter mechanics and bears a stronger resemblance to Too Human than Uncharted 2.
But it's not all new. The setting and setup aren't too different: Lara explores the Temple of Light, finds an ancient, powerful artifact (the Mirror of Smoke), and gets attacked by mercenaries. But it turns out the mirror was holding in an evil being called Xolotl, who'd been trapped by the titular Guardian of Light, Totec. Xolotl nabs the mirror, and to make a long story short, Lara teams up with Totec to get it back and re-imprison the evil lord. The temple, with its myriad traps and puzzles will probably feel familiar, but your ability to team up with another player changes things drastically.

In co-op mode, one player controls Lara (who comes equipped with a grapple gun and dual-wield pistols that contain infinite ammo) while the other plays as Toltec. As you'd expect, Lara is lithe, and able to climb and jump higher than her heftier compatriot. The armored giant has infinite spears, which you can also toss into walls for Lara to use as hand and footholds for traversing those hard-to-reach areas. And both characters can find more weapons as the game goes on, though instead of having to collect different ammo for everything, all your weapons (except the two infinite ammo ones) share an ammunition bar right below your health bar -- different weapons use up different amounts of the bar (stronger weapons obviously eat up the meter faster). As for working together, Lara can hop on top of Toltec's shield -- both to reach higher places and to get a big boost when jumping. Lara can also anchor the grappling hook to her more powerful buddy, both to drag him over to hard-to-reach areas, and to create a tight rope that either character can walk along to reach different areas.

In addition to the multiplayer, the game adds a few more arcade-like aspects. Killing enemies and picking up items earns you points, though these points seem to be more for bragging rights than anything practical. Falling to your death doesn't have much of a penalty when working together, besides losing some points. But you can also sabotage your friend, either by killing them outright, or making sure they don't quite make it across whatever ravine they're trying to clear. They don't lose anything if you cause their death, but it will probably **** them off, so you probably don't want to overdo it.

As much emphasis as the game puts on multiplayer, there's a single-player mode as well. Instead of an A.I. controlled companion, Lara wields Totec's spears, and some of the puzzles get tweaked to accommodate a single player. Since the puzzles do change slightly, you're not completely free to jump-in-and-jump-out of the game, either. If one player wants to abandon the game, they have to look for a quick replacement online, or go back to the last checkpoint you found and exit the game there.

As an arcade title, Karl promises plenty of boss fights, but they're holding off on specific details for now. And another thing the team wasn't ready to explain involves a third bar (underneath your health and ammo meters) that I watched slowly fill up while the game was played. But Crystal Dynamics is set to bring its latest Lara Croft adventure to 360, PS3, and PC sometime this summer, so hopefully you'll get a chance to try out the reimagined Tomb Raider world soon. But just because the developer is trying something new doesn't mean their abandoning their roots. Karl says, "We wanted to take a risk, to try new things. We were becoming known as a studio that just made Tomb Raider games; making one pillar release and porting them across all these platforms. And that wears thin after a while." It might not be the Tomb Raider you'd expect, but that doesn't mean it's not exactly the type of arcade title you'll want to while away those hot summer days.
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"Lara Croft was at the Game Developers Conference looking like you've never seen her before. Sure, she still had braids and two great big…guns, but the similarities ended there. That's because we saw her in a full demo of her new downloadable adventure, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light.

Unlike the Tomb Raider branded games, Lara Croft is a more arcade-style adventure with lots of running and jumping, played from an isometric perspective. It's also Crystal Dynamics' first download-only title, and it's due on Xbox Live, the PlayStation Network, and PC digital download services at the end of this summer.

The story involves an ancient struggle between two South American warriors: Totec and Xolotl. They battled two thousand years ago over a powerful artifact known as the Mirror of Smoke, with Totec prevailing and banishing Xolotl. From there, Totec sealed himself with the mirror to ensure that it never fell into wicked hands.

When Lara Croft heard about the mirror, she just had to have a look. So after a bit of exploration, she found it. However, she was followed by thieves who stole the mirror and removed it from its sacred temple, thus unleashing Xolotl and his evil minions upon the world. To save the day, Lara Croft must team up with Totec in a cooperative adventure through ancient ruins.

That's right, Lara Croft is cooperative both online and off. One player controls Lara, who has access to a gun and a grappling hook, while the other plays Totec, who has spears and a shield. They can shoot or throw their weapons in all directions, they both have access to remote mines, and they can also find new weapons in the environment, such as assault rifles. In the half hour we watched, the screen was frequently crawling with enemies. We saw both Totec and Lara roll toward a group of enemies, drop a mine, roll away, and detonate it. While mines are unlimited in number, each player can only set one every several seconds. Also, the mines are sticky, so you can put one on an enemy, lead it into more enemies, and then blow them all to smithereens.

We saw this maneuver executed to excellent effect against a host of arachnids. When Lara and Totec picked up some conspicuous jewels, they were swarmed by spiders! But Totec leaped forward, planted a mine on a giant spider's abdomen, then detonated when there were lots of other spiders around, catching them all in a net of destruction.

The mines weren't the only explosive objects in the environment - we also saw the duo plant a mine next to a jeep. The explosion was huge and spectacular, reminding us that Lara Croft uses Crystal Dynamics' proprietary engine.
Of course, people mainly play Tomb Raider for the puzzles, and that's also why they'll likely play Lara Croft. Totec's spears and Lara's grappling hook are mainly used to traverse organic environmental puzzles. For instance, if faced with a high ledge, Totec can throw a spear into the wall, and Lara can jump up on it, then jump up onto the ledge. Once she's up, she can grapple Totec and drag him up after her. Totec can also hold his shield over his head and have Lara jump on top. From there, he can jump, and she can jump at the apex of his jump, launching her high into the air.

In one case, we saw Lara fire her hook into a catch point on a wall, and then Totec actually ran on the zip line and jumped across the chasm. In another case, the duo descended into a tomb where a jewel rested atop a pedestal. Unfortunately, the very top of the pedestal was ringed by spikes, which withdrew when a nearby button was pushed in. So Totec threw a couple spears into the pedestal, stood on the button, and then Lara leaped up and grabbed the jewel.

This ties into another feature of the game: essential and inessential tombs. The puzzles within the former must be completed to advance in the game. These puzzles are generally of middling difficulty, ensuring that even casual Lara Croft players can make their way from start to finish. However, there will also be many tombs off the beaten path that yield extra loot and much, much harder puzzles. This way, Lara Croft intends to appeal to the hardcore Tomb Raider faithful, while maintaining a reasonable level of difficulty for everyone else.

One thing no fan would expect to find would be breathtaking graphics within an arcade DLC title, and yet that's what we saw as Lara and Totec explored the Temple of the Spider. As the two ran down a path, you could see the rest of the temple unfolding beneath them in the distance - and it looked awesome. According to Brand Director Karl Stewart, who provided the demo, "If you can see it, you're gonna play it." That means that whatever crazy looking obstacles you see in the background of a level will soon enough be in the foreground.

And so will Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, which is due on PCs, PS3s and Xbox 360s as DLC by the end of Summer. The developers are planning on a price somewhere around $15, and if it can deliver on its promise of run and gun action, great graphics, and diabolical puzzles, it will seem like stolen treasure at that price. Look for our full review at the end of summer, when we intrepidly explore this new temple to the first goddess of gaming.
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"The first thing you should know about the upcoming isometric, co-op, downloadable game Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light: This isn't your father's Tomb Raider. In fact, it's not even a Tomb Raider game at all -- notice those words conspicuously absent from the title.

Consider Guardian of Light to be a kind of appetizer for the Tomb Raider franchise, something to whet your appetite during the long development cycle between tent-pole Tomb Raider releases. It's the best thing to happen to Lara Croft in years.

This franchise appetizer strategy is being employed by more and more developers. The PSN download Ratchet and Clank Future: Quest for Booty bridged the gap between Tools of Destruction and A Crack in Time, engaging players in a brisk 4-6 hour story. And at GDC this year, THQ's Danny Bilson said that the company's "core brands" will get downloadable entries this year.


I can see why franchise appetizers appeal to game makers. With development costs ballooning and broadband penetrating more homes, why not take a chance with a $10 or $15 game? The games can reuse assets (Quest for Booty) or an engine (Guardian of Light) to keep costs low and development time brief.

Franchise appetizers can also function as proving grounds for new features. Shifting perspective and dropping in co-op in the next mega-budget Tomb Raider game would represent a huge financial risk for Crystal Dynamics and publisher Square Enix. But in a $15 "Lara Croft" game? It's pocket change. If Guardian of Light proves successful, don't be surprised to see co-op in the next iteration of Tomb Raider.

Best of all, these benefits trickle down to the player. For fans, a franchise appetizer can be a welcome dip into a favorite series. For other gamers, the radical changes to gameplay in the franchise appetizer may tempt them to try out a series they've otherwise avoided -- or bring back former fans who have strayed.

Take me, for example. I haven't been genuinely excited to play a Tomb Raider game since the original entries on the PS1. But as I sat through the Guardian of Light demo at GDC, all I wanted to do was grab the controller and jump in myself. I can't think of much higher praise than that.
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"Last week was a blast for us at the Game Developers Conference, as we had the chance to hobnob with many industry greats while seeing some new up-and-coming projects. Among them was Square Enix’s Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, an alternative take on the Tomb Raider franchise that puts you (and a friend, if you want to bring them along) into a whole new world of danger and adventure. We recently had the chance to sit down with Karl Stewart and producer Forest Large from Crystal Dynamics to find out what to expect from Lara’s latest downloadable journey.

Q: Here’s what everyone is probably going to want to know. Over the years, people have come to expect Tomb Raider to be big, huge, sprawling adventures, like Legend, Anniversary, and the most recent release, Underworld. Now, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is completely changing things around, coming out as a downloadable only title. What led to the decision to change that up?

Karl: As a studio, when we finished Underworld, we sort of finished that chapter, that trilogy, and we took a step back and realized that this was the time to change. As a studio, we saw this as taking a breath of fresh air, be a bit more ambitious, more experimental. When Darrell Gallagher took over as head of the studio, his whole philosophy was that we should try new things, going out there to see what works. We wanted to get away from porting titles, going for these one pillar releases. As a result of that, we went through a couple months of experimental phase, putting loads of things on a board and figuring out what would and wouldn’t work, pulled apart our audience, saw the demographic, who we are, where we need to go. After about two to three months and several iterations, we decided that the best place for us to be was to try the arcade space, to try digital download. That’s not to say that that’s the only direction we’re going in, the goal of this was to deliver something for both the casual and the arcade fans, in amongst the pillar releases, so that it wasn’t just gonna be our new direction. And it certainly isn’t our new direction going forward.

Q: How long has the game been in development, since Underworld was done or…?

Karl: When we finished Underworld, we spent three or four months with the experimentations, and the game has been in development for approximately one year.

Q: It looks like it’s coming along pretty well. The environments you showed us today are just really huge, going down multiple tiers as part of the new “vertical gameplay”. Could you break that down a little more for us?

Karl: We’ve been very fortunate, being able to take the Crystal Dynamics engine, which we’ve used over the last three games, to be able to bring something new to the arcade space. When we concepted this game, we wanted to make sure that it had balance and that it was able to give players different types of experiences. It’s all about building the experiences that fit the audience, rather than having one experience that fits all. In Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, we have three separate layouts. There’s your sprawler area, which is exploration and combat. That gives you the chance to play for 30-40 minutes in one area, have some fun and pick up all the jewels. Then you have your vertical gameplay, which really is pushing the boundaries of arcade gaming. We have the balance set more on puzzles here, as well as challenge tombs. But, you’ll see as soon as you step in that it’s a monstrous 3-D gauntlet. It really gives you a sense of perspective. Then we also have sort of the linear challenges, which, from the minute you step foot in them, they’re built for speed and time, and you and your buddy have to keep working together in order to beat them. Leaderboards play a part in that part of the game, but, really, for us it’s all about bringing the experience to all those levels.

Q: That ties into another new part of the gameplay. For the first time in quite a while, Lara has to rely on the assistance of Totec, who is trying to save the world from darkness, obviously. What really compelled you guys to add a co-op factor?

Karl: With the studio, we pushed ourselves into this new model of taking risks and taking chances, to see what works. And we’ve never done co-op in this game before. We really thought there was an opportunity to try something new and really bring this new experience to the community, to the buddies, to the fans, to the people who play co-op games. In that, we take it a step further with true co-op. It’s not about plunking two players into an environment and saying, “Off you go, do what you want.” The two of you have to communicate. You have to talk to each other in order to beat these puzzles. So, we felt that by bringing this in, we brought a whole new experience for players, and hopefully they’ll really appreciate it.

Q: With co-op, did you examine how other games effectively used two-player strategies or factors? Like, “okay, this is something that would work” compared to “this is something that wouldn’t”, or did you just test stuff out and go, “Hey, that’s not bad”?

Karl: Over the last year, or just a bit longer than that, we were pulling apart the various different benchmarks in games that have really raised the bar that set the tone for the future of gaming. Not just general gaming, but also for the arcade space in particular. In games such as Shadow Complex and Trials HD and Castle Crashers, all these titles have done a lot of things. We’ve taken from a plethora of titles and sort of said, “Well, if we’re gonna build it, we need to make sure we incorporate not just items to be competitive, but bring a solid experience to this game.” And, with that, we’ve had 15 years of experience ourselves, building games. When we look back at the old-school Tomb Raider 1 (for PS One and Sega Saturn), it gave us a lot of inspiration for our own games with the puzzles and other things. We also looked at games like Baldur’s Gate and Gauntlet. We took inspiration from a lot of places. But, of late, to build a co-op, we really pulled apart what it is to get that addictive replayable nature. Hopefully, it’s compelling enough.

Q: Speaking of old-school gameplay, for Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, you’ve adapted what seems like the Smash TV style of play, in which you control Lara with the left analog stick and her direction of fire with the right. This seems like a very approachable gameplay style that anybody can get into, even if they’ve never ever played a Tomb Raider game.

Karl: Certainly. It goes back to the core mechanics of making simple controls for an arcade title. They shouldn’t be complicated. They also shouldn’t impede the player in any way. As we’ve shown you, the goal is to be able to run into some serious combat and not feel like they need to take their finger off the toggle and actually choose their weapons. So, we’ve mapped the keys so that you’re able to hit left trigger and hit your buttons to be able to choose your weapon, so you can suit yourself up as it’s needed in your given situation.

Q: Not to mention the fact that the tools you have really play in to solving puzzles in the game, like Totec throwing spears into the walls for Lara to climb on, or Lara using her grapple to get Totec out of danger

Karl: Yeah, it still has the heritage that Lara’s had in the Tomb Raider world,. She still has her dual pistols, her athletic abilities and her grapple. That alone allows us to do so many new things. We also brought Totec in, sticking with the basics that he has like the spear and the shield (which Lara can stand on), it allows us to be really smart when it comes to using the in-game physics and characters. It allows you to traverse new areas and there’s no one set play path through any of these areas. There’s several different ways to beat it, and then once you get far enough in, when the physics start to kick in over the course of the game, there’s many, many different ways of beating an area. They’re equipped in a way when you get through the first area, but then you can start getting creative with that equipment, and the environment later on.

Q: Aside from the linear challenges, we also saw one of the stages loading here involved Score Challenges. Like, you can score 100,000 points, or 250,000 points, or so on. What sort of unlockable stuff can we get throughout the game? Are there weapons, alternative outfits for Lara…?

Karl: At the moment, this is just a first look at the game, so we’re just showing you the early stuff. Let’s just say we’re scratching the surface. We’ll be talking about it more in a couple weeks’ time. The depth will keep you playing for a long, long time.

Q: When you came up with the idea of transitioning the Tomb Raider franchise from multi-million dollar releases to a new downloadable format, were people at Eidos/Square Enix concerned with that?

Forest: They’ve been incredibly supportive. They’ve always supported the studio in general. The excitement for this project has been so great, publishing has been excited, we’ve received nothing but the utmost support. From Square Enix and Square Enix Europe, as well.

Karl: The big point to know is that just because it’s an arcade title doesn’t mean there’ll be any deterioration in the way that we do business. It’s still very successful and one of the pillar IP’s in this company. We’re going to give the same and campaign the exact same devotion that we’ve given every single title that we’ve done in the series.

Q: Finally, we have to ask this. Has Tomb Raider series pioneer Toby Guard seen Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light yet?

Forest: Toby has seen this.

Karl: Oh, yeah, we still keep in touch with Toby. He’s got the fabric, he was there when Tomb Raider began.

Forest: He’s a great friend of the studio.

Karl: He’s seen it, and he’s happy. But, for us, it’s just a new direction. It’s something new that we believe the franchise needs to have in order to move forward.

Q: Thanks guys, we certainly hope this project skyrockets when it arrives this summer. And who knows, when this works out, maybe Crystal Dynamics can bring Legacy of Kain around again.

Karl: Never say never. (laughs)
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"Game Description:Lara Croft has found the long lost Temple of Light in the mountains of Central America. Unbeknownst to her she had been followed, and moments after Lara finds the Mirror of Smoke, mercenaries burst in and steal the artifact. Totec rises from his entombed state and blames Lara for unleashing this evil force in the world, yet realizes that the only course of action is to work together to retrieve th...e Mirror of Smoke. If they do not succeed, Xolotl will harness the power of the mirror to plunge the world into eternal darkness.

No, Lara Croft & The Guardian of Light is not a regular Tomb Raider game. Yes, Crystal Dynamics is still planning on making regular Tomb Raider games. Changing Lara’s perspective from fully 3D to an overhead fixed viewpoint is not cause for panic, nor does it appear to be a hastily-thought out experiment: the guys in charge are just taking the Tomb Raider ingredients and turning it into a new downloadable recipe.

It’s a move not entirely unheard of: the first Killzone on the PS2 was a first-person shooter, but its PSP counterpart Killzone: Liberation was an isometric action game. So, too, is Guardian of Light a predominantly cooperative action game for two human players. One person controls Lara, who has pistols with unlimited ammo, a grappling cable, and the same agility she’s always had. The other player controls Totec, a resurrected deity who once battled the game’s primary villain many moons ago. He possesses a powerful shield, throws spears, and quickly learns to appreciate the convenience of modern-day assault rifles.

It’s the interaction between Lara and Totec that makes up the core of Guardian of Light’s gameplay, which does in fact pull from classic Tomb Raider exploratory conventions. If Lara needs to climb somewhere, Totec’s shield can provide a boost, and his spears can serve as makeshift ladder rungs. Lara can easily wall run across a chasm, but Totec needs some help, so Lara’s grapple cable can pull him across, or even catch him in a mid-air jump. It’s these moments of trust between two players that Crystal Dynamics really wants to explore (that I’ve since dubbed “Couch Trust”) in the massively vertical level design.
They’re so dedicated to the human cooperative concept that if you play single-player, you only play as Lara, with her inheriting all the necessary weapons and tools, and the level design tweaked to accomodate just a single hero.

The team views recent downloadable games like Shadow Complex and Trials HD as inspiration for Guardian of Light, and considering the thought put into the co-op play and that it actually uses the regular Tomb Raider graphical engine, it looks to be just as meaty as those games. And even though it looks different, plays different, and the words are omitted from the title, there’s still a lot of Tomb Raider happening here.
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"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.

The quiet moments are reserved for exploration and puzzle solving, and it's where Guardian of Light's cooperative element expands beyond "let's shoot stuff together." Totec's spears can become lodged in walls, allowing Lara to use them as makeshift steps toward higher ground, and Lara can still use the grappling hook, which has been the source of several inspired puzzles since Tomb Raider: Legend first introduced it. Once the leading lady has swung across a chasm, she can toss the rope back to Totec and pull him up on the other side. Or carelessly drop him into the abyss because, dude, that's totally hilarious -- did you see what I just did to you?

This social aspect is brand new to the Tomb Raider franchise and seems to justify Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light's place outside of what Crystal Dynamics calls the "pillar" games (like 2008's Tomb Raider: Underworld). Co-operative puzzle solving holds plenty of appeal, especially when it's wrapped in some of Tomb Raider's best qualities: the stirring orchestral soundtrack, the atmospheric environments and the satisfaction of watching a long-forgotten civilization lurch back to life.

Crystal Dynamics expects the main story, which once again features English actress Keeley Hawes in the role of Lara Croft, to last around 6 hours. It's scheduled to launch on Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and PC this summer for $15.
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Giant Bomb have done a Video interview with Crystal Dynamics. No gameplay video in the clip, but a few new screenshots. I will try to embed the video later, for now just go to the source


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"Tomb Raider is my favourite game of all time. Of course, this is mainly because it allows me to live out fantasies of being intrepid, acrobatic, clever, rich, posh and chesty. But it's also because of the classic third-person action-adventure gameplay, the emphasis on puzzles and exploration over gunplay and explosions, the detailed visuals and the sweeping vistas. Most of all it's the atmosphere - the feeling you're all alone in these lush jungles and echoey chambers, just you and Lara.

So, two minutes into Crystal Dynamics' demo of Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, I want to cry. The game on screen doesn't look like any Tomb Raider I recognise. The viewpoint is isometric and the camera is fixed. Lara, who appears as a small character model, is too busy shooting enemies to pull any switches. And she's got a mate with her - some tall bloke who carries a spear, sports a ponytail and wears a loincloth. Together they run around a pokey temple, guns blazing, pausing only to smash the odd crate. 'Oh Lara,' I think, 'What have they done to you?'

Little do I know that the next 28 minutes will change my mind completely. By the time the demo's over I'll have understood much more about Guardian of Light - that it's a bold attempt to offer something different, that it's being put together with real care and attention, and that it might well not be rubbish. But most of all, that it's not meant to look like any Tomb Raider I recognise.

The clue is in the title. As brand director Karl Stewart explains, the decision to leave out the words Tomb and Raider was made early on. "When Underworld was finished, that was an end to the trilogy, and kind of the end of a whole era for us," he says. "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."

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is the end result. It's a digital download game in development for PC, PSN and XBLA, due out this summer and set to cost around $15. "We have these big pillar releases for Tomb Raider and there's never anything in between," observes creative director Daniel Neuburger. "I've tried hard to capture the essence and spirit of Tomb Raider, but give players something different to do in between major releases."

The Guardian of Light has a standalone storyline that takes place in the Central American jungle. Back in the olden days, there was a great battle between Totec, leader of the Army of Light, and the evil Xolotl. Totec won, banished Xolotl and entombed himself in the Temple of Light with the magical Mirror of Smoke to prevent it from falling into the Wrong Hands.

Cut to the present day. Lara discovers the temple and finds the mirror. However, she's been followed by a bunch of mercenaries who nick it from her. They awaken Xolotl, who kills the lot of them and runs off with the artefact. Totec wakes up, realises what's happened and blames Lara for the whole fiasco. After a bit of banter they realise the only way to retrieve the mirror and defeat Xolotl is to work together.

Which is where Guardian of Light's big idea comes in. It's been designed as a co-op game, one you can play online or offline. "This is something completely new for us," Stewart says. "It gives us an opportunity to take Lara into a new space and show her as a more humanistic character. People have played Lara in single-player for the last 15 years, and now all of a sudden we're giving fans the opportunity to go on leaderboards and talk to each other."

Lara is still recognisable - she carries those trusty dual pistols, wields a grappling hook and wears a nice tight vest. But having Totec at her side gives her new options. He can use his shield as a portable platform, allowing Lara to jump on top and reach high areas. He has a stack of spears which he can throw into walls, and which she can then balance on. As the game progresses Lara teaches Totec how to use modern weapons like rifles. Presumably she'll go on to steal all his gold and give him cholera in the next game.

Getting around and solving puzzles requires a bit of give and take. Totec can't use his own spears as platforms without them breaking under his weight, so Lara often has to do the honours. In one puzzle, Totec uses Lara's grapple line as a tightrope to access a time-delay switch before it sinks back into the floor. In another, she jumps on his shield to reach a high ledge, then throws down her grapple so he can scale the wall.

As the game progresses the characters become more and more reliant on each other. "Our story is about building a relationship and building trust," explains Neuburger. "I really wanted the two people sitting on the couch and playing the game to have to deal with those same issues, so a lot of our co-op mechanics are trust-based."

To demonstrate this, Neuburger shows us a section where Totec must take a leap of faith and jump into a chasm - trusting that Lara will catch him with her grapple and pull him to safety. "We have a lot of things like that, where you have to rely on your buddy to take care of you."

It's not all one big love-in, however. When enemies are killed point scores appear above their bodies - red or blue, depending on whether Lara or Totec did the damage. Plus there are score-boosting pickups, such as gems, scattered throughout the levels.

"The points are a way to put a little bit of competitiveness into the game," says Neuburger. "There are only so many enemies and gems in the world, so you have to beat your partner to kill them all and grab them all. Plus you get cool unlocks for getting high scores in each level."

What if you don't have a partner? Neuburger confirms there is a solo play mode, but says the dynamics are slightly different: "We've actually enhanced Lara's abilities and we've hand-tailored the puzzles for our single-player experience - so we designed for co-op, and we used that as inspiration for the single-player."

That could be worrying news for Lara traditionalists who are all about solo adventuring and the sense of isolation. Isn't Neuburger concerned about alienating them? "It's something I do enjoy about the Tomb Raider games, that isolated feeling, but that's where our game is different," he says. "The situation Lara's in here is different to situations she's normally in, but she's still Lara - it's about how she would act and what she would do in this situation. Through and through, this is a Lara Croft experience and it is made for Tomb Raider fans, but it's an experiment. That isolation won't be lost in future Tomb Raiders to come, I'm sure."

Stewart point outs that everyone working on Guardian of Light worked on the previous three Lara games. "They know how to make sure the experience is there. We eat, sleep and breathe Tomb Raider. This game is about showing puzzles, exploration and combat in a unique way."

Which brings us to the question of how those three pillars are balanced in Guardian of Light. "We've tried to make it an exact split, or as close to that as possible, where you really get an even amount of them all," says Neuburger. "Legend was probably a bit more combat-heavy, Underworld was pretty combat-light, Anniversary was somewhere in-between. But this one's definitely more towards the even split."

The combat shown during the demo looks arcadey and simplistic. Lara and Totec use heavy waves of bullets and spears to despatch enemies, which include glowing troll-like creatures and giant hairy spiders. Most of the puzzles shown are familiar - here's a switch to pull, here's a fire to put out, here are four holes in the ground which must be filled with four similarly shaped objects you'll find hidden in various corners of the level.

The difference is you need your partner to help you reach that switch, extinguish that fire and find all those objects. This is the other big idea in Guardian of Light - the co-op dynamic doesn't just improve your chances in combat, but changes the nature of exploration.

There's plenty to explore. The isometric viewpoint and the enclosed sections we're initially shown suggest the levels are cramped, but it becomes clear this isn't the case. Neuburger brings up a map so we can get an overview of the entire area. "You can see this is a really large, sprawling space. The gameplay here is completely non-linear, so you can get out and do whatever you want and along the way there are tons of puzzles, traps, surprises and rewards."

The view gets even more impressive later on. Lara and Totec are crossing a high, narrow bridge, and beneath them we see layer upon layer of bridges and platforms descending into the abyss. "You actually work your way down this space in a big spiral," says Neuburger. "The verticality in our game is more than just a vista in the background. It allows for really cool Tomb Raider-like vistas, but it's more than that."

This section brings to mind St. Francis Folly from the very first Tomb Raider, but it's prettier and more detailed. Neuburger explains Guardian of Light is being built with the same engine used for the last three games, so it has "all the next-gen trappings" when it comes to visuals. Plants move when Lara walks through them just like they did in Underworld, for example. There are real-time lighting effects, realistic shadows and "tons" of physics-based objects.

Which is all very well but with our demo drawing to a close, it's time to ask the most important question of all - just how big will Lara's tits be?

"Haha! Yes, I have been in some very bizarre meetings and I have to say I'm a bit more of a realist," says Stewart. "Over the past 15 years it has been a focus of attention, and I think although that's a big part of the heritage, our goal is to make sure this is the most compelling... Whatever shape, size..."

"So we're looking for compelling breasts, not necessarily large or small?" says Neuburger.

"Haha! Let's say we've been very, very fortunate that it's an isometric viewpoint, so it hasn't been a focus of attention as much." The focus is on the arse now, then? "The one thing I can say is we have the same artist doing our Lara art as we had on our last game."

With that burning issue dealt with it's time to say goodbye and to say the game looks great, which it does. What about the diehard sceptics, though? Those who don't want Lara to go changing, to try and please them, ever? The people who do want clever conversation, and who do want to work that hard?

The good news is there's another game on the way. The Guardian of Light is an additional offering, not an alternative one, confirms Stewart. "That's been the biggest scepticisim amongst people since the announcement - 'Oh no, it's not Tomb Raider any more.' But Tomb Raider and Lara Croft are in our DNA. Lara will be in the next big epic adventure, and it will be called Tomb Raider."

Not that he'll reveal any further details today, of course. "Right now, this is our focus. We're trying to show that we're willing to look at the franchise and make sure the heritage is there, but also take risks," says Stewart. "It's exciting."
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is in development for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 and is due out this summer.
"
Source



"Nobody saw this one coming. Lara Croft's next outing isn't the reboot we were expecting but an Xbox Live Arcade spin-off game that has more in common with Diablo than Tomb Raider. It's an isometric twin-stick shooter with puzzle elements, to be precise, and one with an asymmetric co-op mode to tap into that all-important multiplayer market.

The game begins in central America with Lara unwillingly leading a mercenary to a powerful artefact called the Mirror of Smoke. He promptly steals it and initiates the apocalypse, but not before awakening an ancient spear-wielding god named Totec. Ever the charmer, Lara befriends the mirror's guardian by vowing to retrieve the treasure she lost.

At its most basic, Guardian of Light operates like any isometric hack 'n' slash, only with sticky bombs and pistols instead of swords and magic. Lara and Totec obediently fire wherever the right stick is pointing regardless of body position, mowing down waves of arachnids and mutants coming from all directions.

The pair also boast unique platforming and puzzle-solving skills. Totec's shield and javelins double as platforms for Lara to reach higher spots, while Ms. Croft's grapple hook lets her traverse chasms to reach otherwise unreachable switches.

If you're wondering where your beloved Tomb Raider has gone, don't worry, Crystal Dynamics is still busy working on the core franchise. But while Guardian of Light is designed primarily as a bite-sized interlude, there are far too many ideas at work for it to be dismissed as a simple cash-in.

It's arcadey through and through (score targets and sub-missions drive replayability), which fits perfectly into the Xbox Live Arcade mould. And with more polish than a cleaner's closet, it looks like it's well on its way to becoming one of the Marketplace's most rounded and exciting games. Hugely impressive.
"
Source



"This summer, nearly 18 months since the launch of Tomb Raider: Underworld, we're going to see a different side to Lara Croft.

Yes, she's back, and yes, she's running around tombs again, but this time she's not running around shops on the way there, and she's unaccompanied by her traditional Tomb Raider headline.

That's because Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is a download-only game for PC, PSN and Xbox 360. An experiment of sorts - developer Crystal Dynamics asked a small team to find a new outlet for the Tomb Raider heroine - the result is a co-operative action-adventure co-starring some dude with a spear.

Crystal Dynamics' brand overlord Karl Stewart is treading on unfamiliar ground, but he's confident his team are onto something. Eurogamer sat him down for a good talking to.


Eurogamer: This game has been called an experiment and a stopgap for Lara's next big release. Is that accurate?

Karl Stewart: When we started it was an experiment. We split the studio into two 18 months ago. We had two teams: one focused on the pillar release - their big baby - and the other one was experimental and looking at how we could be more bold and risky and try new things.

We looked at tons of different places: handheld, Wii, DS and online platforms. In those early stages we were very experimental, trying new things. Now it's gone past experimental. Now we're headfirst into building something that's compelling and new.

Eurogamer: What experimental things were you doing with Lara?

Karl Stewart: There's always somebody in the room smoking crack. When you get that amount of people in one room and ask them all for their idea you get some hare-brained ideas. But some of them will go on the back burner and may see the light of day. She's a real unique character and we have the opportunity to take her to new places.

Now, given the amount of work we've done on previous Tomb Raiders, we need to be fresh, to create something new. And this felt right.

Eurogamer: Those experiments are still alive?

Karl Stewart: To be honest, most of them are locked up in a draw. We made a decision when we were going down this road that the entire studio's focus was firmly on two products. This is taking up all of our time for this team. There's nothing else we're working on apart from this and our pillar release. But when we're finished with this we'll see how well it does and we might see what's down the road. Right now there's nothing in the works apart from these two games.

Eurogamer: How much are you gambling on Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light?

Karl Stewart: Ultimately making any game is a risk. You can mitigate this by doing tons of research: NPD, Nielsen. But in the case of arcade gaming it's an area that's locked off; if we sell a game I'm certainly not going to say how much we sold. It's all anecdotal data. In terms of risks then, this is a huge risk for every studio. You're putting a team onto something that you have to believe in your heart of hearts is the right direction. In terms of financials, that's a huge risk.

In terms of the space, what are we if we don't take risks? We don't want to continue making the same games that we've always made.

Eurogamer: Is the Guardian of Light team very big?

Karl Stewart: We don't normally reveal team size because it's a big thing Square Enix Japan don't like us to get into detail over. But it's a pretty moderate-sized team. It's certainly smaller than anything you would have on a pillar release. A lot smaller.

Ultimately you have to have the key people: the creative directors, the tech guys, the lead designer. Having a small team we're able to communicate much more freely; we're able to fix a lot of things on the fly, and make decisions. The days of building a game by committee are absolutely gone.

Eurogamer: Will there be any crossover between the studio's two projects?

Karl Stewart: No, no. We made a decision that the two of them are completely different beasts. Guardian of Light is an arcade game with the arcade consumer in mind. Going forwards, we don't want to confuse. This direction has to be communicated correctly. The other title we're working on is built specifically for that [other] audience.

Eurogamer: Is Guardian of Light a sneaky way to return to puzzles and a more 'human' Lara without the mass market going mental?

Karl Stewart: In everything we do, irrespective of if it's a digital game or a pillar release, the heritage of Tomb Raider has to be there, because what is it without that? Just a generic game. We know who Lara is and what it is to be a Tomb Raider.

In this case we decided to have Lara in co-op. This will be the first time players have spoken to each other at the same time as trying to solve a puzzle. We've been very solitary in the past. Now you can come across these things that have been in our DNA in the past and talk to other people about them and have some fun. That's new, that's big for us.

Guardian of Light has been built with a critical and non-critical game path. The arcade gamer who likes to play from start to finish in one sitting without doing those hardcore puzzles can. There's no puzzle that dumbfounds you so much you put the controller down and say, "I'm done." But for the Tomb Raider fan you can choose to go into some Challenge Tombs and pick up some additional perks that will help you play the game in a unique way.

Eurogamer: Perks! Do I spy an RPG undercurrent?

Karl Stewart: Ah, that's our secret we're going to show around E3. We do have a couple of facets... From our perspective, in order to build a game that's a minimum of six hours in single-player or co-op, there has to be more than just running... Nice elements where players can sit and have some fun, take their time. With critical and non-critical paths we're able to boost the time of the game from six hours straight play to seven-and-half to eight hours, taking into account all of the hardened puzzles.

We believe that, in terms of the arcade space, we're trying to raise the bar of what it means to spend 10 pounds or 1200 Microsoft Points on nowadays.

Eurogamer: That's the price you're aiming at?

Karl Stewart: Yeah, it's what we're aiming at. Obviously we're dictated to somewhat by the first parties and their pricing models. Right now we've suggested to them that we want to come in line with all of the rest of the big hitters that have come out over the last year or so.

Eurogamer: Co-op is a big step for Tomb Raider. Now you've made it, will we see it again further down the line - perhaps in a pillar release?

Karl Stewart: I don't know. It's new, it's different and we're getting a lot of great feedback. Ultimately I want to hear from Tomb Raider fans and gamers when they play it and whether or not they think it is right. Right now it's fun. We have people who are die-hard Tomb Raider fans coming into test and we sit them next to another fan and within five minutes the two of them are laughing and joking and having fun and talking to one another.

We've never seen that before in our games. I'll leave it to the fans, I'll leave it to the gamers to tell us what they think.

Eurogamer: Talking of reception: how dire would that need to be to prevent a sequel? Presumably with the engine in place a sequel would be a cinch.

Karl Stewart: It would be easy. It is our engine and we are well-equipped to pick-up and do another one. But we're not about pumping out another game for the sake of it. The experience has got to be right. We'll know at the time what to do - our fans are very vocal.

Eurogamer: Is Guardian of Light, with its fancy visuals and mega IP, trying to blow other downloadable competition out of the water?

Karl Stewart: Every developer when they start making a game aims high and to be the best. We're no different. We've had a leg-up with our existing technology, but it's about how we take that into this space with its limits on how much consumers are allowed to download. We truly believe that right now we have a great game on our hands, and the first-parties are excited. This is a cool space to be in and hopefully we'll be one of those big hitters. And the space has come on, even since last year.

Eurogamer: Let's say Guardian of Light flies and sells hundreds of thousands, maybe millions: what happens then?

Karl Stewart: Yeah, of course we have contingency plans. The development time on these games is obviously a lot shorter than a full retail title. The guys who are working on the game have tons of ideas of where they could take it. We'll see. I'll be absolutely delighted if we could sell a couple of hundred thousand or, if it's a million, that would be great!

Eurogamer: And the game is coming to PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 this summer - simultaneously?

Karl Stewart: Again, the plans are at the moment to have a sim-ship. But we won't know until post-E3, unfortunately. We'll have the game in submission in about two weeks so it will be complete. It'll be about a month and then it will be up to Microsoft and Sony as to when they want us [the game] to come out.

Summer is the biggest time for arcade gaming and they have their timelines. For PC we pick the date, but obviously we want to make sure we get as close to sim-ship as possible.

Eurogamer: So that's a late summer release, most likely?

Karl Stewart: We've been ahead of the curve, we've said, "Look, we want to get the game finished and in the can and let the first-parties tell us when they recommend we should come out." We don't want to be pushed into a space purely because the game is late or wasn't finished in time.

They've given us the recommendation that July and August are the two biggest windows for arcade gaming, so we're going to have the game finished long before that and then let them help us pick a window.
"
Source


"
[Article translated from German by google]
Lara Croft with a difference: Gone are the days of the 3D adventure lady who was known to always look in caves and catacombs to large monsters and artifacts. Okay, the genre does not really, but Lara Croft in arcade-style is still worth playing! Why do you read in our preview.

The trilogy is complete, and now wants to offer a completely new Lara Croft game experience. No longer on 3D polygon worlds and huge built, but more similar to fast-paced action and an isometric view as in "Diablo 2" designed, the heroine wants us in less than 2 GB of data tied to the screen. We were a little skeptical at first, but after the first hands-on, all doubts are removed: Here is a great arcade game comes in between you. And for you to share our thoughts, we have a trailer for you!

The story is quickly told: the "Mirror of Smoke" to German probably the smoke mirrors or mirror of the smoke, gets into the wrong hands, and it comes as it must come: Lara Croft, it must be brought back to the dawn, otherwise Motivating people all dead, or not? Now, Lara is replaced by a guard of light, Totec, his spear, and the two share looking after the villain. In the finest arcade style to control the heroine with the left stick while aiming with the right stick - with the right trigger to activate the guns and shoot, there's no tomorrow. Coolerweise the ammunition with the standard weapons is boundless, for the STRONG Shotguns and so it is limited.

The mix in the game moves very quickly between combat, puzzles and exploration, the South American jungle was shown never been so bleak. At each corner of dangers waiting for you, and often bridges and connections simply a break! Fortunately, Lara has a grappling hook that you shoot in almost any situation on a surface can. Because you are either high or swing hand over hand, in the best of " Tomb Raider -style over an abyss of time ". The spear of Totec helps you if you ram him into a wall that you can jump on it and thus also to go on terrain that was previously not considered insurmountable. Similarly, the good old mystery waiting for you, and with a physics support, you can also bomb rocks the room, or on request enemies.

Graphically track reminiscent of the already very attached to other action games , but that should not detract from the performance: The lighting and the environments look detailed and more realistic from that, your first reaction when giant spiders see which is intended anything but enthusiastic! It presents itself to you anything but a pure sidescroller, but a successful adventure with a XBLA or PSN title high season: Whole six hours pure Quest time promised, and with all the puzzles and Achievements / Trophies is the time to rise more than ten hours .

Also the sound to convince white, because the surrounding sounds are really cool. Regardless of whether a giant boss announces umgenietet or you have just a great opponent with a special effect, the background is always consistent and shows that determines the limit of the storage volume, not to the detriment of the ears to go.

You can jump, run around and aim with the other stick: all you need in principle not to blast through the great adventure. Alternatively, you can still Secondary to the analog stick (sic basket!), Or to lay mines en masse, you can detonate as desired. The control, though still in beta version, responds very well and can you ever be the master of the hordes of monsters after a few minutes.

While in single player with Lara Croft traveling alone, are you as a friend Totec life much easier. This takes back his spear and spear-creates the stairs Known for its light weight - if Totec jumps on the spears in the wall, break the bars just under his body. They share one screen and help each other through the puzzles and monster hordes. Of course it's a couple more fun, and this is our full recommendation: Be sure to play for two!

Although the golden possibilities of interaction stand out a bit too much from the otherwise temperate atmosphere, you notice when viewing the game on only one: an incredibly homogenous image. Everything looks as if it can not be different, and the heroes fit perfectly into the surroundings. Although most venues are dark, but that absolutely does not interfere, but it is an atmospheric value to the players. We are confident that this title more than its estimated running time of more than six hours may well tie!

It will be exciting: Lara Croft you have never seen before, and although doubts were pretty big on my part, now they are blown away after the first sample games like. The main focus of the developers is on the console version for PS3 and Xbox 360, then it goes to the versions for PC and Mac may be - can be gained steam when the publishers for their cause. Conclusion: A really great adventure for in between, and we look forward to the release, which is expected to happen in the third quarter of 2010.
"
Source



Post shortened because its getting over 100.000 characters

Last edited by nomedo; 17-05-10 at 21:50.
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Old 11-03-10, 23:41   #2
Tony9595
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Ooooh, delicious! Thanks for sharing, I love what they said about the graphics
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Old 11-03-10, 23:42   #3
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Thanks for postingI am really looking forward to the game,
PS:Your awsome!!!
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Old 12-03-10, 00:34   #4
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Very goodly much appreciated excellent summary
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Old 12-03-10, 00:36   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nomedo View Post
  • The game looks good, better then on screenshots
  • It uses the Underworld engine
  • And have been in development for over a year

Wow, this is awesome

Just got 10x more excited
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Old 12-03-10, 01:51   #6
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Wonderful, thanks so much!

They all add something new. I am very excited to hear this game looks so great and just shows high quality.

Now I also finally understand how the single player works! The game will be really different!
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Old 12-03-10, 01:56   #7
Eddie Haskell
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Like I said, it looks like a Diablo game. i hope it plays like it as well.
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Old 12-03-10, 03:14   #8
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This is the reason why I didnt say too muc about this game..

ex, ((oh its gonna be ugly ))

((im so disappionted))

(( this game will suck))

and so on and so forth!!!

because I know that there is so much more for us to see in the future!!!

The ends justify the means".
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Old 12-03-10, 03:36   #9
Eddie Haskell
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I cannot wait to play as Totec and team up with WD as Lara. The description of Totec is so me...
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Old 12-03-10, 03:41   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Eddie Haskell View Post
Like I said, it looks like a Diablo game. i hope it plays like it as well.
I've seen a description of how the console controls are, but not how the PC controls will be. If they do a straight port of the console controls, then we'll probably move the characters with WASD (which I'm not looking forward to doing with fixed camera angles) while the mouse controls which direction the character is aiming weapons.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Eddie Haskell View Post
I cannot wait to play as Totec and team up with WD as Lara. The description of Totec is so me...
Totec definitely does sound more interesting, but at least it seems like Lara has a few new abilities as well so hopefully it will still be interesting to play as her
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