An excellent combination of combat, platforming, and puzzle solving. This spin-off doesn't follow the traditional Tomb Raider mold. Instead, it's a more arcade style twin-stick shooter with an emphasis on co-operative multiplayer. Don't let it's top-down perspective fool you into thinking it's some kind of Diablo clone. You won't be going around blasting through a constant stream of enemies and picking up the loot they drop. Those elements are here, but in very small ways. The core tenets of the main series are still in place. While there are regular enemy encounters, they are spaced out enough so that the puzzles and platforming take center stage.

The game is a blast whether you are playing by yourself or with up to three friends. It's an incredibly smooth and well made experience. The boss fights do tend to fall back on that irritating trope of spawning standard minions to get in your way, but it was an easier thing to put up here than it has been in other games. While this was made with co-op in mind, the single-player experience is strong enough to stand on it's own. In fact, the way the it tailors the dungeons to fit the number of people onscreen makes it feel like you're getting two games in one.

With plenty of post-game challenges and hidden content scattered throughout the world, there proves to be quite a bit of content in Osiris' temple. It could also prove to be a nice breath of fresh air for the series. Fans who want to spend more time with Lara in a new way now have that option without having to worry about the main series going through some unwanted changes. It's one heck of a spin-off that I would love to see return for a third entry at some point in the future.

9.1/10