Review by: Danielle Riendeau

Everything about the Tomb Raider series and its leading lady Lara Croft has always been big. Big games, big movies, big, honking, polygonal “assets” - you name it, it’s larger than life. So when word arrived that the buxom lass would be headlining a downloadable game – sans the “Tomb Raider” title, everyone stopped and scratched their heads for a moment.

It’s funny, because this is the purest – and arguably the best - incarnation of Indiana-Jones style tomb-raiding action that the heroine has ever seen. An isometric (and hence, somewhat old-school looking) adventure/platformer/shooter that’s heavy on varied action and brimming with extra goodies, it’s an absolute blast to play, with or without a co-op buddy.

The premise is simple, and predictably ridiculous – all you need to know is that an evil Aztec god is running amok, and you and your nice-god pal Totec are tasked with stopping him. In the process, you’ll traverse about a dozen sprawling levels; each packed with puzzles, baddies and various tomb-raiding obstacles.

In co-op mode (and ostensibly, this game was absolutely made for co-op), Lara and Totec have different complimentary abilities. In the single player game, Lara simply has all of the goods herself, making the transition as painless as can be. As I was unable to play through the whole game in co-op mode (thanks to the fact that Xbox live co-op isn’t enabled as of this writing), my impressions are largely from playing the game all by my lonesome. But that's ok -- it's great as a solo adventure.

Lara’s got an impressive range of abilities, which complement the title’s variety of gameplay styles. During general action/puzzle solving activities, she’s an expert athlete and platform jumper, with the ability to hop onto spears chucked at columns or walls, wield a sweet grappling hook, and set off an endless supply of bombs. The environments are massive, with complex layouts and intricate puzzle sections flowing nicely into tense combat scenarios.

In combat, the game seamlessly transitions into a twin-stick shooter – aim your gun of choice with one stick and move Lara with the other while hammering the trigger. The fighting is smooth and Lara moves nimbly – and there are armies of lizards, dinosaurs, spiders, monsters, demons, and so on to mow down.