Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris review

Right OK time for yet another review then and this one comes to you on Easter Sunday so hope you are all having a good one today!

As for the review itself well this un will be on another video game (since I've got a PS4 its allowed for more game reviews it has to be said) and the game in question is the action adventure game, Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris.  So is it any good???  Well, let's find out....

And as I will be mentioning a bit about the plot I will issue the usual warning: 

SPOILERS WILL BE AHEAD!!!

STORY

Right I haven't found any detailed synopsis on the game (which is probably a good thing!) so this will be kept to just one paragraph.  So the story is set in a temple in ancient Egypt where Lara (voiced by Keeley Hawes) is joined by another a treasure hunter, Carter Bell and the Egyptian gods, Horus and Isis.  And together they fight against the game's main villain, Set, another Egyptian God of the underworld and his army of minions.  And throughout the game Lara must overcome a series of traps, puzzles and not mention battles against Set's minions.  And the fate of world is at stake as Set is, to be pardon the pun, set on taking over the world and turning it into a world of darkness and chaos.  So its up to Lara and the others to stop Set from carrying out his evil plan for world domination......

THOUGHTS

As a sequel to the Tomb Raider game, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, the Temple of Osiris is a very entertaining and enjoyable game that continues to see the series get back to its roots as Lara raids temples solves traps and takes on army on baddies.  And after the violent and gritty new Tomb Raider games, its refreshing to see this game appear as it returns to the fun of the series and get's back to Lara being a character that is not on a blood-thristy hunt for vengeance or anything like that and is an explorer again.  

GAMEPLAY

In terms of its gameplay, Osiris takes on the same format as the Guardian of Light did with its non-linear perspective and its overhead isometric camera unlike the fully three dimensional third-person Tomb Raider games.  I personally didn't care for this format at first but its one you soon quickly grow accustomed to and it helps add something a little more unique to the game itself.

Regarding the gameplay itself, Osiris follows on the same format as it predecessor also as Lara must move around her environment solving puzzles, evading dangerous traps and of course shooting bad guys and taking on game bosses at certain points in the action too.  Lara also as in the Guardian of Light, has a grapple which she can use whenever there are sections of the game which feature grapple rings where Lara can attach the hook so she can traverse over dangerous areas or gaps.  Lara at certain sections in the game can also take on combat challenges where she will fight armies of minions that can include scarabs, large beetles, crocodiles and other enemies that are slaves to the underworld Gods.   

Lara has access to a fairly big array of weapons but she collects them throughout the game at different stages.  And the weapons include her trusty dual pistols, submachine guns, shotguns (both low and high powered), assault rifles and even a rocket launcher.  Lara has access to remote mines aswell which often come in handy in the game when taking on a drove of baddies and through upgrades the mines blast radius can become bigger.  Another feature of the game is similar to its predecssor are the ammo caches in which Lara can replenish her ammo for all her weapons. 

Also as a new addition to the game it also features the staff of Osiris, which Lara can use in a variety of different ways such as a weapon, or to light torches, or to even dissolve energy portals that unlock gates.  The staff can even be used to slow down the fuse time of bombs which Lara can move around to set at walls to detonate.  And lastly the staff can also be used to raise columns at certain points in the game to allow Lara to traverse to other areas in the game without the staff would not be possible.

And lastly Lara throughout has access to treasure chests where she can pick up various rings and amulets that have a variety of different powers such as the ability to fire different projectiles, enhance Lara's speed and defensive abilities.  And these rings are also interchangeable throughout the game as Lara can access the inventory to change them as she discovers new ones or wants to change her abilities that her available to her.  And throughout the game Lara can also pick up gem stones of different colours that contribute to the player's score (as they are worth different points such 50, 100 or 200) and can be used as in-game currency to access treasure chests.  
 
GRAPHICS AND MUSIC

As for the game's graphics well they are excellent and the environments are rich and detailed not to mention quite varied in terms of terrain and even the weather changes from sunny to rain or even snow.  The overhead camera angle does make for a somewhat distant view of Lara at times which is never really much of a problem as such but the game's cut scenes are shown in a full three dimensional perspective.  And in those scenes that character models are nicely detailed even though they aren't too realistic looking.  And perhaps because of the viewpoint the game's graphics do have a slightly dated and older feel to them but it doesn't really detract from the game's otherwise very appealing look and visuals.

Regarding the game's music well it has a quite a pleasant and lush score that was composed by Wilbert Roger.  The only thing negative I would say about it is that it is constant throughout the game and it would have been nicer if that game had sections where it wasn't always there but you can turn the music volume down though in the game (which is what I ended up doing!).  But regardless of any issues its a score that suits the game's tone pretty well.

FLAWS

As for the Temple of Osiris's flaws.....yeah it does have one or two issues.

So to start off I think one of the problems for me is that the overhead camera angle is just a bit too distant for my liking as Lara really is viewed from quite far away at times and there are even times where you can't really see her!  And in those moments Lara is more like a dot in the landscape and that can make the game a bit annoying to play at times as you really wish it did have a more full on three dimensional perspective.

I also felt that some of the weapons in the game are a bit underpowered as it takes Lara quite a few shots to kill off some of the bigger enemies and there is an inconsistency to the firepower of some of the weapons.  So weapons such as assault rifles can be pretty weak firepower wise not to mention there are some weapons that can really drain Lara's ammo cache.

And this raises another issue with the gameplay is when Lara fires at the her enemies the ammo level drops for all the weapons and not just the one weapon she is using at the time, which for me remains another annoying inconsistency in the game.  So they should have really keep Lara's ammo count rate specific to each weapon that she uses in that given moment rather than have the ammo counter drop for all of them at once even though she can only use one weapon at a time anyway!

There are also some moments in the gameplay where it isn't quite obvious what Lara needs to do to get to other points in the game and this is especially noticeable in the last battle against Set where Lara has to somehow activate platforms that will take her to central platform where Lara fights Set.  And I spent a few minutes not knowing what button to press to get Lara to raise the platforms (it was her torch she used to activate the platforms by the way).  And that is of course where the old walkthroughs come in handy!

I also felt the game's main campaign was also a bit on the short side as the game probably wouldn't have have more than maybe six hours worth of gameplay in the single player story mode.  However even after the game is over to be fair, Lara still has access to plenty other challenges that may or may not be reliant on the player downloading some of the game's online downloadable content, which is actually a bit of a nuisance in itself is it would be good to do these without relying on DLC!

And lastly the game's storyline is a bit weak and not too interesting and just maybe that's the game's problem is that it is just a bit too fantasy based and it lacks a little bit of the relative realism of the previous TR games where fantasy wasn't heaped in such liberal doses.

Anyhow that's me done moaning about the flaws.

SUM UP

So in summing up, Temple of Osiris is a very enjoyable sequel to the Guardian of Light and after the gritty, violent and not to mention serious Tomb Raider game of 2013 (and the even MORE serious Rise of the Tomb Raider last year!) its a breath of fresh air as a fun adventure game that is filled all things that any Tomb Raider fan loves about a TR game.

It does have some minor negative points as I previously mentioned as above but the pros definitely outweigh the cons and its fairly cheap price makes it a bargain of a game too that is well worth giving a look.

And that's it for now and I'll just finish by again saying Happy Easter to you all and hope you have a good one.

Till the next un bye for now.