Lara Croft and the TOO | legendarygaming

Lara Croft and the Temple of Oriris

Playstation 4 Version

Functioning as a sequel to the highly acclaimed Guardian of Light released several years prior, Lara now finds herself picking a fight with an ancient Egyptian god known as set, but not without the assistance of human allies, as well as Sets brother: Osiris.
Once considered a struggling franchise, the Tomb Raider series and its related spin-offs are beginning to climb the mountain of success by putting together a string of relatively solid video games, with one being lined up after another. Although technically considered a spin-off from the mainline series, it is absolutely worth noting that 2010's Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light irrefutably played a role in putting the Tomb Raider franchise back on track with absolutely spectacular reviews across the board, up to and including a current Metacritic rating of an 82. I purchased, played, and completed Guardian of Light at launch and it's worth noting that I was just as impressed as the rest.

            Continuing where Guardian of Light left off, the Temple of Osiris implements nearly the identical formula its predecessor used, with one of the key additions being the inclusion of four-player online co-op, as opposed to Guardian of Light's two-player.
            For a game technically classified as an action/adventure title with a fixed isometric camera, Temple of Osiris has an excellent combat system nearly identical to Guardian of Light. In addition to Lara Croft's standard pistols, which have infinite ammo, she has a full arsenal of high powered weapons nearly rivaling that of a game like Call of Duty. In addition to weapons like rocket launchers, flame-throwers, and an AK-47, she also has access to the Staff of Osiris, as well as various rings and amulets. The majority of weapons function in a self-explanatory manner, with rocket launchers firing high powered rockets, and rings and amulets giving players the ability to radically change the property of both Lara, as well as her weapons. For example: one of Lara's rings and/or amulets may increase the blast radius of her standard issued explosives, while another may giver her primary weapon elemental damage, such as fire.
            Temple of Osiris' combat is about as smooth as butter... Players control the direction of Lara's aim with the right analog stick and fire with the R2 button, while planting an explosive simply requires the player to press the triangle button. The primary aspect of Temple of Osiris, however, is accurate level navigation and puzzle solving, the latter of which can require absolute precise timing on behalf of each player during a co-op session.

            In the midst of a single player session, Lara Croft has access to every tool she needs to solve puzzles and progress through the main campaign, and the majority of puzzles range from easy to mediocre in terms of solution difficulty. In fact, the puzzles that I've personally found to be the most difficult were during a co-operative session where me and the other players weren't able to properly synchronize our timing in the midst of a puzzle.
            The key difference between single player and co-operative play is four fundamental tools: the Staff of Osiris, the shield, the grappling hook, and the torch. As has already been noted, Lara has access to everything she needs to solve each puzzle during solo play, but during co-op, some of the tools are broken up among characters. The grappling hook, for example, allows Lara to scale and climb various areas, but in co-operative play, it is necessary for her to cooperate with her partner in order to pull them up certain sections, or allow them to walk across the grappling hook in tight-rope fashion. The Staff of Osiris, on the other hand, is removed from Lara's posession in co-operative play, requiring the other player to levitate certain platforms, aiding Lara through certain obstacles.
            Dangerous temples with every imaginable form of trap await Lara and her three companions, requiring the four of them to work together in absolute cohesion to complete the objective of the game, which is to gather the pieces of Osiris (the god) and reassemble him for the final battle against his brother Set. Each temple has a wide range of optional challenges to complete if players are up for it, and there are a host of challenge rooms and collectibles to acquire giving Temple of Osiris a solid degree of replay value for the hardcore player.

Smooth gameplay and crisp graphics await any potential Temple of Osiris player, yet the one deathnail to a positive gameplay experience is online trolling and lack of gameplay fundamentals during a four-player co-operative experience. Working together in cohesion with another player who knows what he or she is doing can be an absolute blast, but with three team mates who are unfamiliar with the game can very often turn a five minute puzzle into a thirty minute escapade of both confusion and frustration. In addition to these potential co-op frustrations, each time a player drops in or out of the lobby, the gameplay completely stops in preparation for a long loading and character selection sequence. The good news is that co-operative play is not a requisite for enjoyment, and that you can also switch between private and public lobbies to join an experienced friend who knows what they're doing.
Frustrating co-operative experiences aside, Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris offers action/adventure fans a solid experience of puzzle solving and combat with crisp gameplay and excellent fundamentals. I personally found more enjoyment with the Temple of Osiris' predecessor, Guardian of Light, and the former would have likely been better off restricting its multiplayer aspect to only two players, but it's still a pleasant surprise witnessing the evolution of the Tomb Raider franchise into something better than it used to be.

Overall Rating

7.1/10