So XBox Live Arcade brings the latest Tomb Raid— Oops. Still getting used to the title change. Let’s try again. During Microsoft’s Summer of Arcade, the XBox received a five week exclusivity deal for Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light.  A completely different take on the traditional gameplay Lara is used to from the Tomb Raider series, this downloadable only title gives an overhead perspective mixed with two stick gunplay and puzzle solving.

Gameplay:

The control scheme of Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light seems simple enough. One analog stick moves, the other aims and the buttons help Lara dodge, jump, set explosives or grab objects. The game also attempts to assist players with certain jumps like leaping from the edge of a platform to one of Lara’s golden spears that can be used as an extra step.

Unfortunately due to the 45 degree angle of the camera and the lack of feedback of hitting those perfect 45 degree angles from the XBox’s controller, some tasks become unnecessarily difficult. They aren’t challenging on purpose but because they are hindered by the game’s control scheme. Sometimes the auto-assist on the jumps sends Lara off in a direction you didn’t intend to take her.

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As we previously reported, Lara Croft is making her return to gaming this summer. But even though she’s no longer under the Tomb Raider moniker, don’t think Lara is changing her MO. She is still going through dark underground lairs in search of treasure.

But this game will not be a full retail release. Instead it will be a digital download only game. In addition, gameplay will drastically be changing as it takes a 3/4 overhead view which resembles a dual stick shooter than a traditional third person action platformer.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light stars Lara Croft as she discovers the lost Temple of Light, resting place of the ancient artifact the Mirror of Smoke. When she finally reaches the mirror, she is ambushed by a devious Mercenary named Vasco and his army. Vasco steals the mirror and releases the evil Xololt who was imprisoned in the mirror.

As you will see in the trailer after the jump, Lara isn’t alone as she teams up with Totec in her first ever cooperative adventure. Hopefully Totec doesn’t whine about his wife the whole game like Dom insists on in Gears of War. It’s refreshing to see Crystal Dynamics attempt to take this series in a new direction much like Ensemble Studios did to the Halo franchise with Halo Wars.

While keeping to the core mythology, they created a drastically different gaming experience still keyed in on what players loved about the Halo world. We are hoping to see the same with Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light.

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She’s had scores of games released, two movies and is probably the hottest video game vixen out there. And from the looks of things, everyone’s favorite Tomb Raider, Lara Croft, doesn’t plan on slowing down in 2010. Thursday, Crystal Dynamics, which is a part of Square Enix Europe, announced the next chapter in the Lara Croft story with the upcoming digital download only Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light.

Other than the announcement and logo, very little information has been released about the upcoming title. Darrell Gallagher, General Manager of Crystal Dynamics, says that, “This is a really exciting project for Crystal Dynamics, we have created something completely new and very different to what people might be expecting… Lara Croft is such an iconic character in video games, with Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light we have created what we believe is a truly original digital experience.”

At the moment, Crystal Dynamics has said that Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light will only be seen “behind closed doors” at next week’s GDC conference.