With the current surge in popularity of Nathan Drake’s treasure seeking world travels in the Uncharted series it would be expected that Lara Croft is feeling a little worried.  However, with Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light it is clear that she is too busy using the torch while raiding tombs to pass it off to Drake just yet.

At the start of Guardian of Light Lara has already found the treasure nestled deep within the Yucatan, but before she can start her victory dance an ancient evil is released from within the item.  Now she must work with the reanimated guardian to put it back in its prison before the sun rises.  With that said the co-op option is not online yet, so if you are of the solo sort then “working with” Totec is not quite accurate.  More like he goes his way and Lara goes hers, leaving her to fend for herself in this large labyrinth of jungle and dungeons.  But no matter, even without him tagging along there is still plenty of fun to be had.

Unlike other recent Tomb Raider games this release takes a different approach to creating the environments, going with an isometric view of the levels.  Don’t worry though, Lara’s movement is not as rigid as she freely moves in any direction of the player’s choosing.  Even with this fixed camera angle the levels are still pretty impressive in both their scale and detail, offering plenty of nooks and crannies to explore.  It might not be the most responsible thing to go wandering off the beating path when the fate of the world is at stake, but the extra puzzles and prizes are worth the additional effort to reach them.

No Tomb Raider game would be complete without a wide variety of larger than life creatures to combat and puzzles to solve, and Guardian of Light does not fail to create gameplay that is both challenging and fun.  Just remember what items Lara is carrying in her pack.  Not only will they help you get past each hurdle, but there is never a lack of enemies trying to halt your progression to use them against.  Just don’t get too carried away with the more powerful weaponry added to your arsenal during the game because a grenade launcher only comes with so much ammo and then you are stuck fending for your life with a stick.  Then again, a spear to the chest is nothing to scoff at.

Even with these new up and comers competing for the tomb raiding glory, Lara Croft is still providing players with tons of excitement and fun, and Guardian of Light does not disappoint.  There is plenty to experience in this game and more than enough reasons to venture back into the Yucatan, so Lara can go on hanging onto that torch for now.

Final Grade: 7.5/10