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Lara Croft fans are in for a treat as the feminine hero steps into an all new look and gameplay style with Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, a downloadable action puzzle game releasing this summer. This trailer gives a deeper look at the fast paced gameplay fans can look forward to.

"Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is the first ever co-op multiplayer action/adventure game featuring Lara Croft. This brand extension combines the hallmarks of the Tomb Raider franchise including exploration & discovery, platforming, and puzzle solving combined with character progression, fun fast-paced combat, and elements of human cooperation and competition."

Download HD Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light Trailer #2 (38 MB)
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Even as the downloadable game Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light (pictured above) is being prepped for a release later this summer, rumors are already starting about the next major retail game for the popular game heroine. Today Eurogamer reports via unnamed sources that the next game in the Tomb Raider series is set for release for the Christmas 2011 time period.

Developer Crystal Dynamics, which has been making the last few games in the series, including the upcoming Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, is once again charged with making the new title, according to the report, and that the PC will be one of the game's platforms. A spokesperson for the developer has not commented on the story.

Lara Croft isn't content to be limited to a single series. Rather, Crystal Dynamics is spinning her off into a new, isometric adventure called Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. In case you haven't seen anything regarding it yet, this trailer offers a good peek into what you can expect from the latest adventure of Lara Croft: co-op, isometric platforming and shooting, and plenty of tombs to plunder. It's equal parts gameplay footage and cutscenes, so if you're interested in this short, downloadable title, give this trailer a looksee.

Download HD Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light E3 2010 Trailer (211MB)
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This summer's planned release of Lara Croft and The Guardian of Light will represent the first game in the long running Tomb Raider action-adventure game series that will not only dump the "Tomb Raider" name from the game's title but be released exclusively as a digital download. Now Computer and Video Games has confirmed that the PC version will use Steam as its DRM platform, at least in the US.

Global brand manager Karl Stewart stated that while publisher Square Enix is possibly looking at "different distribution channels" for the $15 game, he adds, "I think for now, because it's online and it's got leader boards, Steam offers us the best opportunity to hit a broad audience with that type of game." Piracy is another reason for the Steam DRM decision with Stewart saying that for previous Tomb Raider games. "I go on some BitTorrent sites and within the first 48 hours there's like four hundred thousand downloads, it's crazy."

Gallery: Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light Screenshots

Celebrities need to reinvent their image from time to time, and even well-known characters like Lara Croft are no exception, as shown in this trailer for for Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. The trailer provides a first look at some of the gameplay, including plenty of cooperative sequences, so players won't have to explore ancient ruins alone. It also exemplifies the approach toward reworking Lara Croft to appeal to a broader audience. Guardian of Light is shown as a top-down isometric action game where one player takes the role of Lara Croft and another controls her companion, Totec. Together, they solve environmental puzzles, overcome obstacles, and keep each other alive. The game is expected to release this summer for the PC on Steam), Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network.

"When Lara Croft finds the long lost Temple of Light in the mountains of Central America, she unwittingly frees an evil spirit determined to plunge the world into eternal darkness. Alongside Totec, a Mayan tribesman, you must hunt down the Mirror of Smoke in what will be a new and incredible adventure."

Download HD Lara Croft and The Guardian of Light Trailer (255 MB)

A few days ago we reported that the next game to feature Tomb Raider lead Lara Croft would be a downloadable co-op themed title with a top down isometric viewpoint. Today our sister site Joystiq, who got to see the game during GDC 2010, reports back that Lara Croft and The Guardian of Light will indeed be released for the PC (among other platforms) sometime this summer.

Don't expect a full game experience, however. Joystiq states that the game will have about six hours of total gameplay and will be priced accordingly at $15. We suspect this is something like a side project for developer Crystal Dynamics before they make a full fledged Tomb Raider game at some point in the future.

Last Thursday, Square Enix announced plans for their next game with their action character Lara Croft but the first to not have the name "Tomb Raider" in the title. Now Gamespot has revealed the first concrete details on Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. And it's looks like it will be unlike any previous Tomb Raider games ever released.

The preview reveals that the title will be a top down isometric game designed for two player co-op. Players will control either Croft herself or a new character, the Mayan tribesman Totec as they run through various locations (including, yes, tombs) to deal with enemies, traps and more. It's basically an old fashioned 1980s arcade title but with modern graphics supplied by developer Crystal Dynamics. The game will be available for download later this summer but no specific platforms were announced.

One of the big reasons that Square Enix bought Eidos a year ago was the Tomb Raider game franchise. Today Square Enix announced their plans for their first game in the series since buying Eidos and it's already looks to be a bit different. The game is titled Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light (yep, there is no "Tomb Raider" in the title) and will be released as a digital download game rather than a retail product.

The game is being developed by Crystal Dynamics, who have created the last few retail Tomb Raider games. There's no word yet on what the game will be all about with the press release only promising that it will be "completely new and very different." It will be shown behind closed doors to the media next week at the Game Developers Conference.

One of the co-creators of Eidos' Tomb Raider franchise, Toby Gard, has left the company's development team at Crystal Dynamics. According to Develop, Gard would not comment on why he has left the company, saying only that " I've started up my own consultancy business."

Gard was one of the main designers behind the original Tomb Raider at developer Core Design in 1995. He left Core after Tomb Raider's release to form Cofounding Factor, a development team that spent seven years creating a game, Galleon, that was finally released for the original Xbox in 2004 to poor reviews and sales. Eidos later brought Gard in as a consultant on Tomb Raider Legend and Gard ended up as the co-writer of the game's storyline along with other duties on the game. He also co-wrote and performed other duties on the next game in the series Tomb Raider Underworld. He was supposedly leading a group at Crystal Dynamics on a new project which most people believed would be the next Tomb Raider game.

[Update: We received an email from Nielsen Entertainment asking us to remove the image and we've done so as a courtesy. So instead, why not enjoy this pic of the latest Lara Croft model?]

We do love our rumors and this new one on the details of the next Tomb Raider game from Eidos (oh, excuse us . . Square Enix) seems to lean on the side of legit (for now anyway). A web site called fourplayercoop.com claims to have a mole inside the development team that took some pictures of a monitor displaying some info on the latest Lara Croft adventure.

The alleged info shows off some concept artwork and details of the type of game that developer Crystal Dynamics is making. Supposedly the game will have Lara engage in an open-world style of action game on an island. The story is also supposed to reboot Lara's origins because this game will be set early in her life and will show how she grew to be the hard-as-nails adventure babe.