Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris
Overview -
'Lara Croft', star of the venerable 'Tomb Raider' adventure games, has her hands full with not one but two franchises to keep up with. 'Tomb Raider' continues as usual after the reboot from 2013, but there is also a second series, aptly titled 'Lara Croft.' This is a more arcade-ish experience, with local and co-op multiplayer, a focus on points, scoring, and speed, and some puzzles, platforming, and loot thrown in for good measure. It is a sequel to 2010’s 'Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light'. This particular release, 'Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris', takes her into Egypt to raid the pyramid tombs of hibernating gods.
Video Review
'Temple of Osiris' is not bad looking for a game without the huge budget of a AAA title. Textures and lighting are better than average, with decent-looking smoke, fog, and water. The character models themselves are detailed, but difficult to make out because the camera often zooms so far away from the action. There is no split-screen, so characters can only move so far away from one another. The camera can often be a nuisance, and it has no manual controls.
Audio Review
The soundtrack is spirited and boisterous, especially during boss fights, which are often not boss fights so much as boss puzzles. The sound has an appropriate adventurous zeal, but doesn’t go overboard. The voice acting is not quite as good. Only Lara’s actress, Keeley Hawes (who used to be the only Lara Croft, before Camilla Luddington was cast for 'Tomb Raider'), sounds like a pro. The others often sound like they’re either phoning it in or hamming it up, which wouldn’t be so bad if the game didn’t take itself quite so seriously.
Final Thoughts
'Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris' is radically different from 'Tomb Raider', but this is not necessarily a bad thing. It is also not radically different from its predecessor, and I wish it would have had a bit more ambition with its loot system and platforming. The puzzles are more fun than annoying, and in this regard co-op is implemented well. A few other relatively minor issues chip away at it, but overall it is not a bad little arcade game.
