Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris is the sequel to 2010’s Guardian of Light and one of the best changes brought to the new instalment is that the co-op play has been upped from two players to four. In The Temple of Osiris we venture to the Egyptian Pyramids within the heart of the harsh deserts. In an unlikely partnership, Lara must join forces with her rival treasure hunter Carter Bell if they are to break the curse of the evil god Set. But it’s not just Lara and Carter that are cursed with godly troubles, as Set has imprisoned the gods Horus and Isis. Lara and her partners are going to have to use their quickest wits and problem solving if they are going to break the curse sanctioned by the evil power-hungry Set.
As I’ve already briefly mentioned, The Temple of Osiris can now be played with up to three other friends (or random’s). This kind of game is usually best experienced when playing with a friend that is on the same page, but should you choose to playthrough this game on your lonesome, then you’ll still be in for a satisfying campaign. Though the playthrough will only last around 6 hours (give or take), assuming that you do not partake in the side-activities and just focus on the main campaign. What I really like about the difference between singleplayer and co-op in The Temple of Osiris is that the puzzles will change depending on how you choose to play. For example puzzles will be altered depending on whether you’re playing with friends or on your own, which adds an extra of replay value in its own right.
While the run and gun gameplay is very satisfying, it’s the puzzle mechanics that remain the games core element. Many of the puzzles will leave you scratching your heads, while some will appear to be fairly obvious to solve. I suppose it all comes down to the gamer at hand in the way of problem solving thinking. If you mix this with The Temple of Osiris pick-up and play running and gunning, it’s a good blend that makes the game quite addictive and you could easily loose a few hours in no time. Much of that time can be spent trying to take on the various set challenges that you encounter when Tomb Raiding. Just as you start a tomb from the main campaign, you will be greeted with a number of challenges. Those range from tomb completion time, how many red skulls you find, killing enemies in a certain way and so forth.
Depending on how many of those challenges that you complete, it will be reflected upon your score when that tomb is complete and you will be rewarded with a Bronze, Silver or Gold award. Your scores will then be uploaded to the online leaderboards to see how your score fairs against other gamers. There will also be challenge tombs which are more of a side-activity, from the ones that I encountered; most will require you to beat them with at least one friend. Speaking of challenges, The Temple of Osiris features community challenges that could change on a daily or weekly basis and if you beat one of these challenges, you will be given some extra goody rewards.
Puzzles aside, Lara Croft wouldn’t get very far without her ever trusty pistols. Thankfully Lara is not only wielding her duel pistols, but she also has an array of other weapons to help her dispose of the enemy. Many of the weapons that you will collect along your campaign path, while some may require a little side-tracking, or even found hidden away in the many treasure chests. The level of rewards you are gifted from the treasure chests (which also includes rings and amulets), will depend on the level of chest you unlock. The more jewels you pick up, the better the chests you will be able to open. Those weapons that are a little trickier to find, are the legendary weapons, such as an incendiary shotgun and other deadly devices (which can be found in the high value treasure chests). You can assign up to four weapons on your D-pad (you can switch them around at any point via the in-game menu system). You can also equip various rings and amulets to give you certain boosts to help assist you during the campaign.
The Temple of Osiris is quite a good looking game; to be honest I perhaps didn’t give it the credit it quite deserved when I first played this game. Of course with it being on the new gen consoles, it’s certainly a visual upgrade to The Guardian of Light. It might be quite easy to over look The Temple of Osiris’s visuals with the bird’s eye view, but it’s not until you stop and take a look at the games surroundings that it is filled with some impressive detail. This level of detail is far easier to acknowledge when the game goes through its dynamic day/night time cycle. This dynamic weather also effects the story progression and some of the tombs that you can access, as well as changing its visual cosmetic.
One visual change that has become apparent in The Temple of Osiris is Lara Croft’s updated look. In The Guardian of Light, Lara resembled the portrait that featured in games such games as Tomb Raider: Underworld. However in The Temple of Osiris, Lara now resembles the Lara that we have seen in the superb 2013 reboot.
The voice acting for The Temple of Osiris is wonderfully cheesy, in a good way. With the awesome Tomb Raider reboot the series went for a darker, edgier, more serious tone. This benefited the reboot in so many ways, as it helped evolve the series into what it is today. But that perhaps left long standing fans of the series wanting the wise-cracking Lara Croft of old, thankfully she’s back in The Temple of Osiris. Lara Croft comes with an arsenal of cheesy one-liners ready to dispose for whenever she feels fit, which I’m sure fans of the nostalgic moments will appreciate. Speaking of nostalgia and something that fans of old will appreciated, there are also a couple of subtle sound effect that give nods of appreciation to the games of yesteryear. It’s practically impossible to describe a sound effect in writing, but during The Temple of Osiris, whenever you collect one of the many jewels or pick up a health pack, fans will recognise those particular sound effects from Tomb Raider games of past and will know exactly what it is that I am talking about.
In my humble opinion, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light was one of 2010’s most underappreciated games and as much as it saddens me to say, I believe The Temple of Osiris could follow the same path of flying under the radar. This is a dam shame, because whether you are playing this game on your lonesome or with friends, Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris is a fantastic game. I believe in the wake of Rise of the Tomb Raider being an Xbox timed exclusive, some PlayStation fans may turn their nose up to The Temple of Osiris as some form of protest, seeing the game is a sucker-punch to the groin. But regardless of whether Rise of the Tomb Raider would or wouldn’t release on both console formats this year, The Temple of Osiris is a game that all Tomb Raider fans should own.
With its combination of pick-up and play mechanics, it makes for a perfect game to play inbetween games. But then it has some truly clever problem solving with its addictive puzzle elements that gives you strong desire of not being beaten. Its then that you realise that the intended 30 minute playthrough is fast approaching 2 hours and then some. The main Tomb Raider series may not be your cup of tea, but if you like some good old puzzle solving, boss battles, local & online co-op, then you would struggle to find a new game of this quality for less than £20. Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris is a superb game in its own right and one that should not be overlooked.