Lara Croft Is Back And Badder Than Ever In The Osiris, Due Early December

I've been a fan of the Tomb Raider series ever since the original title launched for the Sony PlayStation in late 1996, and for the most part, there's never been a main title released that made me feel skeptical. That's not to say that the series hasn't had its share of less-than-great titles, but at least they looked and felt like Tomb Raider.

When the split-off title Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light came out in 2010, I did feel a bit of skepticism. In fact, it took me a full nine months to finally load it up, at which point I quickly regretted being tardy. As an isometric game, it controls very differently from a typical Tomb Raider, but aesthetically, it stuck to tradition. With its interesting locales, eye candy, fast-paced gameplay, fun puzzles, and not to mention co-op gameplay, LCatGoL (how's that for an abbreviation?) was a very worthy addition to the Tomb Raider series.

Well, for those of you who like me loved the original, you should be thrilled to learn that a sequel is now en route. It's called Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, and it looks awesome. Seriously. 

You can see the game in action with the trailer above (which I'd recommend, as a lot of terrain is covered), or check out a couple of these screenshots (snagged from said trailer):

Those hoping to tear Osiris up on their PS3 or Xbox 360 will be left a little disappointed: Temple of Osiris is going to be exclusive to the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Those able to play the game will be able to expect to see a lot more of what made the first game so much fun, although it looks like Crystal Dynamics went all-out on making this feel like an even more epic experience. One thing to help that is the fact that co-op has been expanded from 2 to 4 players.

Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris is set to launch on December 9, and as a download-only title, we can probably expect the same pricing scheme as the original title, of about $20. I don't know about you, but this is one game I'll definitely be playing this holiday season.