Rating of
3/5
Lara Croft and the Banality of Whatever
Chris Kavan - wrote on 04/29/17
I was a big fan of the rebooted Tomb Raider where we join a young Lara Croft in a more gritty setting where she isn't a fabled tomb raider quite yet. This is not that game. Temple of Osiris is a Unity game - a top-down isometric shooter where you run around Egypt with some resurrected gods (only some of whom are trying to kill you) while collecting monies, power-ups and trying not to blow yourself up or fall down pits due to the crappy camera. If you can't tell, I'm not a huge fan, though, begrudgingly, I kept with it for the multi-player aspect.
Presentation: The game is not pretty. I am told this is a sequel to Guardians of Light (which I have seen briefly but since it's only a two-player coop, and I'm lazy, I haven't actually played) - and it is also apparently a step down in terms of looks. Don't get me wrong, the game is perfectly serviceable, but there is nothing that stands out, other than maybe a few of the boss battles. The music, the voice acting, animation, environments - they are all completely adequate and completely forgettable. Other than the title screen, you would have a hard time convincing me this was actually a Lara Croft game considering how generic it all feels.
Story: Lara is in Egypt searching for the fabled something-something - and so is her arch-rival, Carter Bell. Well, Bell just so happens to reach the artifact first, but as soon as he touches it - ancient gods Horus and Isis are released, along with the evil Set. Croft and Bell are also cursed - tied to the artifact. In order to defeat Set, they will have to reassemble the god Osiris, the only one with the power to send Set back to the underworld, meanwhile having to deal with the hordes Set has at his disposal, along with some other not-so-friendly deities.
I know that probably sounds pretty exciting, but the game really doesn't extrapolate much in the story department. Heck, even the ending is a bit muddled (kind of like the final Matrix movie, really), promising that maybe you'll just have to come back every few years and deal with ancient resurrected gods again and again. Psh, who am I kidding, you're not playing this one for the story, but for the action!
Gameplay: Too bad that action is so boring! Shoot here, bomb this, roll this, shine your light here, jump there (no - the camera angle sucked, so you're dead). Lara and Carter have grappling hooks at their disposal while Isis (and I'm assuming Horus - he's the only character we didn't use), has a staff that can move certain objects and also slow down time and reflect off mirrors for certain puzzles. The game is a mix of top-down shooting and puzzle solving. Most of the puzzles can be figured out without too much trouble - though there was one we had to look up in the end. In any case, the puzzle tombs are completely optional but if you want some sweet swag guns, best check them out.
Perhaps the best aspect of the game is the nice variety of weapons. From simple pistols, machine guns, assault rifles, shotguns, rocket launchers, grenade launchers, rail gun and more - the game isn't stingy about handing out. Some good weapons. However, be warned that in a local multi-player setting, only the weapons collected by the first player will carry over to the next game. That means if player two or three collects a lot of gems, opens the super-sweet chest and gets the Shotgun that Shoots Two Billions Bullets and Kills Every Enemy in One Hit with Flaming Ice Lightning Waves and Also Makes You Invulnerable - well, guess you better beat the game then and there because if you don't say goodbye to the world's best gun. Same goes for rings and amulets - which provide a wide range of benefits and penalties depending on the rarity. The guns are great, the fact only one player can keep them was one of the worst aspects of the game for me.
Each main area you play in has certain challenges to complete: beating the level in a certain amount of time, collecting gems, collecting red skulls, killing the boss in a certain amount of time and usually one or two area-specific challenges (not getting hit by traps, solving a puzzle in a certain way, killing enemies in a certain way, etc). Completing these challenges awards you with new guns, rings, amulets and power-ups (max ammo, max health). You can also find some of these power-ups scattered in the levels themselves. All in all, for completionists it offers a decent challenge but for casual players (like me) it's just something to maybe shoot for and be happy with what you get.
The game is fairly large with several areas. The weather also goes from sunny to rainy to frigid - opening and closing off certain paths in the process. The game is not that long - if you work at it you could easily beat it in a session or two, provided you don't want to worry about any of the extras, but even throwing in the challenge temples and some of the horde-rush challenges, it was a short affair.
Replayability: The game does give you a chance to go back once you finish the game and take on all the challenges, collect all the power-ups and otherwise loot hoard and open those fancy chests for a chance at a super-awesome accessory or weapon. But it's hard to say whether that's really something to look forward to unless you like punishment.
Overall: A top-down isometric action game that would be forgotten in an instant if it didn't have the Lara Croft name stamped on it. As it stands, it's tolerable with friends, but I wouldn't recommend playing it alone or for long periods of time or while sober.
Presentation: 3/5
Story: 3/5
Gameplay: 3/5
Replayability: 3/5
Overall (not an average): 3/5
