Preview by: Neilie Johnson

Since 1996, Tomb Raider's not only been one of the most prolific franchises in gaming, it's been one of the most uneven. From very high highs (the first Tomb Raider) to very low lows (Tomb Raider: Underworld), both Tomb Raider and Lara Croft have seen and done everything the 3D action genre has to offer. Which could explain why this summer, our favorite shortie-shorts-wearing treasure hunter is venturing outside her 3D comfort zone and diving into the isometric, downloadable co-op arena.

At this year's GDC, Crystal Dynamics, maker of Tomb Raider: Legend (yay!) and Tomb Raider: Underworld (yikes) introduced us to a new, non-canonical Lara Croft adventure called Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. Crystal D was the first to say that Guardian of Light is not meant to take the place of the studio's usual AAA Tomb Raider titles; in fact, they seemed to see it as something of a filler, meant to keep Lara Croft fans happy while they wait for her next full-on 3D adventure. In any case, the game takes a sharp left turn from its predecessors' lone hero, third person 3D approach, embracing instead a top-down viewpoint (which will be familiar to anyone who's played Diablo or Titan Quest) and an emphasis on co-operative gameplay.

Guardian of Light's story revolves around an ancient, long-buried conflict between two Aztec gods, Xolotl and Totec, over the powerful Mirror of Smoke. Their conflict re-emerges in the present day thanks both to Lara's compulsive need to dig up artifacts, and to a thieving mercenary group who swipes the Mirror of Smoke the second Lara gets a hold of it. Xolotl being the villain in this scenario, runs off, intent on destroying the world while his rival, Totec joins forces with Lara in the interest of preventing that. This setup somewhat dictates two player co-op play, but Crystal Dynamics assured us the game can be played solo, with only a few minor gameplay differences.

The GDC demo showed Lara and Totec running through some ancient stone ruins, collecting gems (which grant players points to unlock cool stuff) and fighting off waves of Xolotl's relentless minions. Lara had the advantage of her usual abilities and weapons skills—the demo showed her using a grapple as well as pistols and a rifle—all with infinite ammo. And Totec, while predominantly a master of the shield and spear, wasn't above whipping out a rifle from time to time. The ruins were predictably labyrinthine, but a handy overhead map, which was accessible at any time, made it plain where the twosome had been and where they were going. Throughout the treacherous space, Lara and Totec had to work together to overcome obstacles and solve puzzles, all of which incorporated many familiar platforming elements.

The levels in Guardian of Light have been designed to force players into teamwork, such as during the demo when Lara jumped up onto Totec's upheld shield in order to reach high places or when Totec created “stairs” for Lara by embedding multiple spears into stone walls. There were instances too where Lara too helped Totec out, like when she used her grapple to create a gap-crossing tightrope for him. All the game's puzzles offered multiple solutions, thus giving players more leewayy to exercise their intellect and creativity and the gameplay we saw showed off not only the growing trust between Lara and Totec, but the way the players controlling them would have to develop a similar trust. Players could (and had to) revive one another and the puzzles frequently forced one player to make a leap of faith, putting their trust—and their lives—completely in the hands of the other player. (Incidentally, I immediately knew I couldn't play this game with any of my wiseguy friends. They'd willingly set themselves back in the game just to watch me plummet into a bottomless pit.)