Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light Developed by Crystal Dynamics Published by Eidos Interactive, Square Enix Platforms iOS, PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 Release date(s): Xbox 360: 18 August 2010, PS3, PC: 28 September 2010, iOS, 16 December 2010 Rating: ESRB: T - PEGI: 12

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is an arcade game developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Eidos Interactive in conjunction with Square Enix. Unveiled on April 2010, it was released throughout the end of the year via digital download for PC (available on Steam), PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Apple's iOS mobile ecosystem: the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices through the App Store.

Unlike past titles in the series, the game does not carry the Tomb Raider name and features an isometric camera perspective, along with heavy emphasis on two player co-operative adventure starring Lara Croft and an ancient Mayan warrior named Totec.

Story

The game follows Lara Croft on a trip to Mexico searching for the Mirror of Smoke, an artifact used by a Totec, the guardian of light, to imprison Xolotl, the keeper of darkness, two-thousand years ago. Lara is ambushed a local warlord called Vasco and loses the mirror. Both Xolotl and Totec, the Guardian of Light are awaken by these strange events. Lara and Totec either go on separate ways or join forces to try and stop Xolotl before dawn, depending on the number of players available.

Development

As mentioned by the game's producer Forest Large, the game was originally set in New Orleans, but Mexico was ultimately chosen to ease development, allowing Crystal Dynamics to borrow assets from the previous game, Tomb Raider: Underworld. Nixxes Software handled development for PC and PlayStation 3, while the iOS version was done by Ideaworks Game Studio.

The game's soundtrack consists of pieces from Tomb Raider: Legend, Anniversary, and Underworld, with additional music composed by Alex Wilmer & Karl Gallagher.