I am not a Lara Croft fan. I never played a game and never saw one of the two movies. So I was jumping into the Lara Croft world for the first time with this XBLA title from developer Square Enix. This game takes place in some Central American ruins were Lara Croft finds "The Mirror of Smoke". An ancient artifact which holds the soul of Xolotol, the keeper of darkness. When Vasco, the local warlord, steals the Mirror, Xolotol is set free as is his archnemesis, Totec, The Guardian of Light. Now Lara Croft must defeat Xolotol and return the Mirror of Smoke to it's shrine before sunrise or the world will drown in the blood of Xolotol's empire.

This is an arcade style game with an isometric camera view. The camera is perfectly placed and I found no unneccesary difficluties resulting from the camera view. Gunplay is also pulled off perfectly. The mechanics are flawless and easy to pick up. Action-packed moments when your are surrounded by enemies are thrilling and fun. This and awesome weaponry like Lara's Pistols, automatic rifles and rocket launchers add an action-packed experience which gives off the atmosphere of a summer blockbuster.

The enviorments are gorgeous. I found no visual hiccups in the game and the enviorments are incredibly realistic. The trees shake in the wind, walls are dirty and grimy and fire is extremely realistic. Lara's weapons are fully realized on screen and decimated enemies are schredded apart on screen in a fantastically visceral and fun way. This game sets a new standard for XBLA and PSN graphics.

Exploration and puzzles are some of the trademarks of the Lara Croft universe. So naturally fears arose when an arcade-style, gun play heavy game was announced. But don't worry Lara fans, this game dosen't throw away it's roots as there are plenty of artifacts, relics, weapons and red skulls for you to find throughout the game. The physics-based puzzles in finding these collectables are awesome. You will feel like a true explorer after completeing these aweome puzzles. Exploration is extremely fun and is highly reccommended. You will find many fun and hidden collectables that help make the game last.

Now for the bad. The game has poor pacing difficulty wise as the last 4 level amp up the difficulty to 11. You will be screaming and yelling at your television for about the last hour of the game and a controller toss isn't out of the question. Although the voice acting of Lara is superb the other two characters, Totec and Xolotol who are supposed to be Mayan are voiced by American actors which takes away from the immersiveness of the game.

Co-Op also adds tons of replayabillity to the game. Lot's of teamwork is involved as Lara and Totec must use each other to get across areas and solve puzzles. This adds a great buddy experience to the game as well as adding hours of fun to an already great game.

This game is a thrill ride. With a perfect mixture gunplay and physics-based puzzles along with thrilling chases and bossfights, Lara Croft and The Guardian of Light is a can't miss arcade title evokes a well made summer blockbuster movie. This is a can't miss title and will certainly make the wait for your favorite fall games much more enjoyable.

Written by Matthew Byrd: Gamertag: ColonelByrd95