Lara Croft And The Dynamically Difficult Co-op Puzzles

I haven't mentioned Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris since Square Enix announced it during E3 in June, not out of malice, just distraction. I'm sure dear Lara would understand me forever chasing exciting new treasures and adventures. We have an awful lot in common, really.

I had been slightly concerned that going from two-player co-op to four might signal a shift away from Guardian of Light's puzzling side, going more shooty-shooty, but am now reassured. A new video digs into how Crystal Dynamics are designing puzzles that scale from one player to four, so cooperation is still as important as bullets.

The more players that are in a game, see, the more complex puzzles will become. The video dev diary gives the example of a simple puzzle where Lara alone needs to redirect a mirror then shine a light into it, but with three players, one must lower a platform, one must rotate the mirror, and the third blasts their light. Even boss fights throw in extra puzzling elements.

That's good, that. Guardian of Light's puzzles were pretty fun, requiring a little thought (and a few bombs) and sometimes offering multiple solutions to people who experimented with their powers. I'm glad Temple of Osiris isn't sliding towards just bang-bangs. Or isn't going by what this trailer says, anyway.

We'll get to see for ourselves when the game launches on December 9th. It'll cost £14.99.