On the second day of PAX I went to the Square Enix booth for a chance to play Hitman and was surprised with an opportunity to sit down and play the four player cooperative mode of Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris. You can remember Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris being announced during E3 2014. One of the members of my team was the Crystal Dynamics brand manager, Rich Briggs. I was excited to play with someone who was so passionate about the project to help me get a true feel for the game.
Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris is a sequel to Guardian of Light, which came out for Steam , PS3, Xbox 360 and iOS. Within the game there are three new characters who now expand the game from two players to four players. There is Carter who is a rival archaeologist that uses the same move set as Lara along with Egyptian gods Isis and Horus that share a different move set. Levels and challenges will adjust based on how many players and which characters are being used. The main mechanics are that Lara and Carter have a grappling hook that other players and use to cross gaps and Isis and Horus have a shield that allows others to jump on them to reach new areas. These abilities can also be used to screw over your teammates so beware of who you play with.
Packed into the first stage were different types of level design, including a dungeon crawl with puzzle-platforming, chase sequences and boss fighting. This mix gives everyone at least one thing they love and creates a frantic atmosphere where each player will have their strong and weak sections. This also gives the game a unique ability so have a serious co-op or party game feel depending on what the player wants to make of it.
Loot was shared between the team so that we could stay on an even playing field, but in the full game this will not be the case. If we all see that pretty ring up there it will go to the first person to get to it and the same goes for bonus loot for the score at the end of the level. This opens up a chance for exciting and hectic game play situations where choices will have to be made about how far you want to take your teamwork. You’ll want to do this before the betrayal happens, which in turn may give you the high score or being the first to grab a piece of loot. Some of the loot is shared collectibles for in-games unlocks, and if I could take a wild guess, achievements and trophies as well.
The demo ended with a large monster or god being summoned which would be our next battle, but the developers smiled at us and said they had to leave us with some sort of cliffhanger so that they could leave us all wanting more. They definitely succeeded and this is a cooperative undertaking that I cannot wait to dive into with some friends. I’m sure this will be something our staff will play together and stream and you can all watch the chaos live.
Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris will be released for Xbox One, Playstation 4, and PC on December 9, 2014. There will also be a gold (collector’s) edition available on all three platforms in the United States, but will only be available for the Playstation 4 and PC in the UK. The gold edition will include a digital download code, map of the overworld, art book, and a mini Lara figurine. The game will include a single player and cooperative mode for up to four players which will be available online and offline so all of you couch co-op lovers rejoice.
