I am a sucker for Tomb Raider games, I have played them all and on the whole most have been good with their mix of action and puzzles.  Lara Croft Guardian of Light has gone in a slightly new direction and was released as an Xbox Live Arcade title last week for 1200 points. This may seem a lot of points for an arcade game but if you are a fan of the series please do not be swayed. This is 1200 points well spent for a game which is over 6 hours long – 6 hours nowadays is comparable to some full priced retail games so you are definitely getting value for money.

Another change is the view, this game is a 3D top down view which at first I thought was a bad idea, as I have never really got on with top down views but this game plays well and it is very enjoyable. The controlls are very simple and unusually the gun fire action is done by moving the right stick in the direction of where you wish to shoot. This is a strange control method used also in Shadow Complex but after a while it feels natural and works very well indeed.  It is not the sort of control method I would wish for normal 3D games but for top down it does it’s job. It also aids to making the game a tad easier though as it is easy to spray your gun in all directions.

The game has lots of collectables and many which may prove difficult in getting first time round and this encourages the player to play the game multiple times to get 100%.  Other encouragements for replayability are mini objectives within the levels and also beating your level completion times. The game also has local co-op so you can play the game with a friend beside you. I believe that online co-op is due later this year as a downloadable patch.

The puzzles in the game are standard Tomb Raider fare – move cranks, blocks, balls, etcetera to release levers, traps etcetera.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is definitely a decent addition to Xbox Live Arcade and whilst the price is on the top end you do get a pleasing gaming experience and it is worthy of your money.