Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light comes to Sony's Xperia devices

The critically acclaimed game Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light saw great sales on XBLA and later on, on Steam. Developed by Crystal Dynamics, it was hailed as a return to form for the series by fans after the not so great sales of Tomb Raider: Underworld. Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light has its sights set on the Android platform now.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is seeing a release on Sony Xperia smartphones. Sony secured rights to an exclusive launch, so the game is compatible with Playstation certified devices like the Sony Xperia Play, the Xperia S and the Xperia Ion. This kind of exclusivity mostly doesn’t last for more than a month before it’s released for other phones. The game was originally supposed to be released in the November of 2011, but it got delayed.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light has an aerial view perspective, as opposed to the third person behind-the-character camera angle we are so used to from the Tomb Raider series. The game also has some great co-operative gameplay, with a friend taking control of Lara’s companion. 

More from News & Analysis

What is the US HIRE Bill and why is India’s $250-billion IT sector worried? Is the internet dead? What's this theory that OpenAI's Sam Altman says might be true?

Lara’s all set to kill stuff and jump around on your phone

Here are some of the key features of the game according to Crystal Dynamics:

• First downloadable only title from Crystal Dynamics, and first downloadable only Lara Croft game.
• A classic formula of puzzles, combat, exploration, and breathtaking visuals put through the lens of an isometric fast-paced gaming experience.
• A wide range of options for solving puzzles and traversing deadly environmental traps, offering players an unprecedented level of freedom to choose their own solutions and explore various paths through the dense jungles of Central America.
• Crystal Dynamics’ proprietary engine delivers sprawling environments with no load-times and unbelievable vertical gameplay through tombs reaching deep into the Earth.
• Face off against a myriad of undead warriors brought to life by the evil Xolotl, including a number of boss battles that are not to be missed!

In recent times, the Tomb Raider franchise has seen growing irrelevance after the successful releases of the Uncharted trilogy for the PlayStation 3. Crystal Dynamics seeks to change that with their reboot of the franchise. Lara Croft will return in an all new avatar with the new Tomb Raider Reboot scheduled for a 2013 release. In it, Lara must overcome a hostile island and its not-so-nice inhabitants after her ship gets torn apart by a nasty storm. The game sports a darker tone than what you’re used to in most Tomb Raider games and will push Lara to the very edge of her sanity. The new game is a radical departure from the standard action/adventure gameplay of the previous titles in the series, and instead seems to go for gameplay more focused on survival.