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Editor's Choice: Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris


Editor's Choice

amiibo

The gaming icon returns and this time Ms Croft's bringing her chums to the (raiding) party in a co-op tomb-fest for the PlayStation 4 and PC.

While last year’s full-fat Tomb Raider reboot saw our Lara get all muddy, bloody and traumatised, Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris is all about the old skool kick-ass action heroine who veteran gamers know and love. The sequel to the acclaimed 2010 Guardian of Light, Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris’s set-up is simple enough – you’re trapped in the tomb of ancient Egyptian Osiris and must search out his remains to set yourself free. This means heading into an isometric game world, either exploring as Lara all on your tod or for the first time, with up to three other players for a meaty slice of co-op action.

The extra players can take on the role of fellow explorer Cater Bell, Osiris’s sister who happens to be his magic staff-wielding, erm, wife Isis (no barfing at the back, folks) or Horus, who is the son of said Mr and Mrs Osiris. Gotta love ancient Egypt. Right?

You’ll explore the vast tomb, facing off against a multitude of imaginative foe (how about a scarab beetle the size of a pyramid?) and overcoming traps and puzzles to make good on your escape. But never mind all that – what really counts here is the multiplayer action and its scope for mayhem.

Of course, you can all play nicely together, using ‘teamwork’ to overcome the game’s many obstacles. But why would you want to do that? Instead, do the dirty on each other as you race through the levels, trying to grab all the treasure and boost your score at the expense of everyone else’s. Proper glory-seeking treasure hunters in other words.

Just as good are the puzzles and levels themselves that automatically adapt to the number of players who are playing, requiring each character to use their own special tool set or weapon to help the whole team overcome obstacles and enemies.

It’s this shifting game world plus the competitive element that makes Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris such a blast to play, allowing for the kind of emergent gameplay that will forge enduring partnerships with your fellow players – or leave you all howling at each other in rage whether playing online or together on the sofa. René Belloq would be so damn proud.


Published: 04/12/2014

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