The eagerly awaited online co-op patch for Lara’s new game finally has a release date. It’s coming out on October 27th, according to Crystal Dynamics’ twitter. Good news for fans, as they have been waiting for this for quite a while now.
If you’ve ever been asked to name a video game heroine before, then Lara Croft should be at the top of that list in more cases than none. After all she’s been around for the past 14 years in the Tomb Raider series of games alone, as well as a few feature movies, some animated short films, and other various printed adaptations too. The sexy bombshell explorer has dropped the name Tomb Raider for the very first time now and has some help in the form of a co-op player for the very first time in franchise history, and the game is also in an all new isometric view point for Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light.
Now I’m far from a fanboy of the Tomb Raider seires of games, having never really played them in the past, aside from a couple demos that I’ve checked out. My experience with the movies is where it pretty much ends for me and Lara Croft in general here. I think it might be the fact I’ve just never thought much aboout playing a game from a girl characters perspective really. But when I heard that this game was going to have co-op built into it, I was very much interested and from what I saw back in the E3 reveal and hearing how much they had focused on the co-op from the start, I knew then and there I would have a date set with this heroine once the game had launched on the Xbox 360.
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light arrives this Wednesday, August 18th on Xbox LIVE Arcade for only 1200 Microsoft Points and is sure to be an instant hit. The only draw back on the Xbox 360 launch could be the absence of Xbox Live Co-op at the start for some people though. Perhaps this is the reason that the Square Enix publisher has decided to sweeten the deal a bit for Xbox Live gamers.
So not only do you have a little over a full month to play the game on the Xbox 360, before its release on the PlayStation ® 3 PlayStation ® Network and the PC (via Steam) on September 28th, but now you will also have 30 days to download the first DLC pack for FREE on the Xbox 360 only. That is in addition to the full title update that will include Xbox Live Co-op, Voice Chat, and full leaderboards in September when the game finally releases on the other platforms.
”We believe we have delivered a game which opens up new types of gameplay that will excite not only Tomb Raider fans, but all fans of digital gaming. The launch of Guardian of Light is just the beginning, we have a lot of additional content planned and we will be offering the first DLC pack for free for the first 30 days, exclusively on the Xbox 360, so that gamers can get a taste of some of the exciting extras we have in store,” continued Gallagher.
I can’t help but think that this first DLC pack might even show up before the launch of the other platforms and the Xbox 360 title update. So get into the action from the start and grab this game tomorrow on Xbox Live. Don’t look at it as not being able to play on Live with friends, but look at it as playing early before the full release happens. Invite a friend on over to play along through the whole experience or simply start up an Xbox Live Party and then chat with your friends while everyone plays through the solo campaign. Then watch here later for news on the Free DLC pack becoming available and before you know it, the title update will be available as well.
The new game marks a lot of first in the Lara Croft series too, one being the first fully downloadable arcade game based on Lara Croft, it also has an all new isometric view that looks incredible for not only a single player but will also include for the very first time a franchise two player offline cooperative experience as well. Oh, did I mention the title is also coming to the Xbox 360 first as well? This only marks the beginning of the Downloadable Lara Croft campaign which is slated to run until the end of 2010.
Next up for the DLC campaign will be a free update for Xbox 360 gamers on September 28th that will include the much anticipated two player online co-op, as well as full leaderboard support and voice chat functionality for the title. This will also mark the release date for Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light on the PlayStation Network and PC (via the Steam network) with full online support.
The the third annual Summer of Arcade will be in full swing soon, which features the release of one highly anticipated title each week beginning July 21 and ending on August 18.
The release date and price of this year’s Summer of Arcade titles are as follows:
Limbo: July 21, 1200 Microsoft Points
Hydro Thunder Hurricane: July 28, 1200 Microsoft Points
Castlevania: Harmony of Despair: August 4, 1200 Microsoft Points
Monday Night Combat: August 11, 1200 Microsoft Points
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light: August 18, 1200 Microsoft Points
Stay tuned for reviews and impressions upon the release of these exciting new titles.
