Girl Gamer

Hey, who’s this dude in the loin cloth?

Meet Totec, the aforementioned Guardian of Light. 2,000 years ago, he engaged in a horrific battle against the evil Xolotl, Keeper of Darkness. After his whole army was destroyed, Totec managed to trap Xolotl in his own device; an artifact called the Mirror of Smoke.

Well, where there’s a forgotten artifact, there’s Lara Croft. Naturally, she found it. Unfortunately, she was followed by a warlord who carelessly releases Xolotl…and all his treachery. Xolotl is now free to summon demonic creatures and destroy the world, unless you stop him before dawn. Luckily, his release awakens Totec and Lara readily agrees to help him save the day.

The dev team admittedly designed Guardian of Light around the action, and then found mythology that would work for a simple motive for Lara and Totec to be there. Unlike the pillar titles, this game is “story lite,” so don’t expect to jump into a really deep and multi-layered story arc.

Save the world. 'Nuff said.

A Little History Lesson

Totec is most likely named after the Aztec god, Xipe Totec, who invented war. He also cut off people’s skins and wore them as clothes. I’m happy to say that our Totec is much more pleasant…on an interesting note, one of the other names for Xipe Totec was “red smoking mirror.” Hmmm

Xolotl, meanwhile, was the god of fire and bad luck. He escorted the Aztec dead to their Underworld and guarded the sun while it passed through the Underworld at night.

Also, throughout the game you will find artifacts and relics to help you on your way. Although some of them have simple names, like “Clay Feather,” others bear rather authentic Aztec names. So good luck pronouncing them.

Relics and artifacts can be armed to boost your weapons, bombs and defense. There are so many, however that many of them don’t offer much, if any difference between them. It’s fun to mix and match to find your perfect balance of bad assery.

Although the Lara Croft tales are fiction, the Crystal Dynamics team always does a great job at basing their plot lines on real myths and legends. Their art team has been known to travel to ancient ruins for inspiration, so the finished product bears very lifelike carvings and architecture. (You can check out some sketches by Lead designer, Jeff Wajcs here.)

Teamwork At Its Best

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light was really designed for co-op. Although you don’t have to play with anyone else, it’s an entirely different experience between the two. Totec will need your modern technology and you will, in turn rely on his knowledge of Xolotl and spears to traverse certain areas, etc. Discovering each new level, solving puzzles and watching each other’s backs is a really enjoyable experience that takes me back to those long afternoons at the arcade when I was growing up.

As we know, Lara is a very independent woman so she’ll be fine on her own. I would, however, highly recommend playing co-op mode to gain the full experience. It’s brilliantly done.

Do Over!

If you’re competitive with yourself (and oh, boy I am) you’re gonna LOVE this part – you can go back to any level you’ve completed and replay it as many times as you like without losing your place on a linear scale. (For example, say you’ve gotten to level 5 but want to beat your score on level 2 – you can go back and do that, then return to level 5 without losing any data.) Also, if you completed those levels on co-op, you can go back in single player and pick up items you missed. Only catch is that you can’t seem to just start a fresh game on the same memory device, so once you’ve started, you’re committed.

Overall

It’s no wonder this game received four Best of E3 nominations and is getting rave reviews. Having the ability to revisit levels, as well as the option of changing the combat difficulty mid-game offers some serious replay value. I recognized music by Colin O’Malley and some tracks from Tomb Raider: Underworld in there, which really adds to the ambience. Actress Keeley Hawes returns to provide Lara’s iconic accent and Jim Cummons joins the franchise as our loin-clothed ally. Using the same engine from Underworld means that you can expect subtle details like the moonlight reflecting off of rocks, ripples in the water and the swaying of plants. Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light marks the beginning of a new series of games titled simply, “Lara Croft” but it doesn’t stop there – the next big Tomb Raider title is in production.

Square Enix took a risk with this new approach to Lara Croft, who currently holds the Guinness World Record for “Most Successful Video Game Heroine,” among five other records. I’m happy to say that the risk has paid off and it is with great excitement that I await news of Lara’s next adventure.