Lara Croft goes out of her element to deliver high paced action to her longtime fans.
Action packed
Multiplayer
Cons:
Action can get overwhelming in some areas
"Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light" is an action game across multiple platforms. Everyone's favorite Tomb Raider has found herself right in the middle of an upcoming apocalypse; while on search for the Mirror of Smoke, Lara is forced to lead a band of mercenaries to the mirror, who accidentally unleashes Xolotl, the keeper of darkness. Now Lara must team up with Totec, the Guardian of Light, in order stop Xolotl from unleashing eternal darkness upon the world.
With LCGoL being non-canon to the Tomb Raider universe, it allowed the developers to put Lara in situations not accustomed to the Tomb Raider franchise. LCGoL is more action and reward oriented than the previous Tomb Raider games; the player will face hordes of monsters at every turn, and at times it'll become overwhelming. But LCGoL does offer different weapons, stats buffs, and powers for the player to overcome any obstacle.
Some weapons the player can discover is the shotgun, flame thrower, and rocket launcher. Note that all the weapons use the same ammunition, though each weapon consumes different amounts of ammo. Lara can unearth different artifacts and relics, with artifacts giving Lara different buffs (and nurfs) and relics enabling her different power ups. The stat increases Lara can enjoy is more weapon and bomb damage, defense increase, and the ability to run faster. Once the relic meter is powered up, the relic equipped can grant Lara a number of power ups, including health regen, ammo regen, power shot and power speed.
Rewards and achievements also play a key part in LCGoL; achieving different goals will grant the player weapons, artifacts, or relics. Some achievements consist of completing the level within a certain time limit, collecting a certain number of items, or destroying a specific object.
While the puzzle gameplay that's been well known to Lara Croft in her past Tomb Raider games has taken a backseat to the action, that's not to say they're non-existent in LCGoL. The puzzles are easy enough in the beginning of the game, but by the end they're nearly as complex as in the Tomb Raider games. Even the platform gameplay of LCGoL difficulty increases through each level.
Something to note is that leaving an area to dodge monsters doesn't necessarily reset their position; in fact they'll be waiting for the player to return to that area right at the exit. This can actually cause problems, as the monsters can actually attack the player during the loading screen, quickly killing the player before having a chance to defend from the attacks.
The game does boast a multiplayer mode where the two players, controlling Lara and the Guardian of Light, must work in tandem in order to complete each level. Lara and the Guardian of light can combine to work off of each other's weapons; Lara can balance on the Guardian's staff to reach higher places and the Guardian is tightrope along Lara's grappling rope.
While not the Tomb Raider game some fans might be expecting, Lara Croft and the Guardian of light still offers its own style of fun and puzzle solving that should leave any fan satisfied.