Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light

What I expected:  A generic puzzle game cashing in on Lara Croft's boobs.

What I got:  An incredibly amazing game.   A game that every level and game designer should play.

What I liked:  The game is incredibly well thought out.  They have a great interactive tutorial level (first level naturally), which does a good job of introducing the very basic tools in your tool box.  It slowly introduces advanced movies, but literally everything in the game is basically explained in the first level.  THIS IS HOW YOU MAKE TUTORIALS.

They have side objectives for each level, and when the time comes for you to achieve that objective they do a simple pop up reminding you, and informing you, that this is the area to do it.  This is beyond fantastic.  This puts a focus on solving the objectives and off of second guessing yourself (Did I just miss my opportunity?).  Every non boss level has an objective for exploration, collect 10 red skulls.

The puzzles are all very unique and fun.  The objective is almost always on the screen (when it's not it makes sense for it not to be).  They hardly repeat the same puzzle, and create some unique timing puzzles too.

The timing was perfect.  I beat the game in 7 hours (probably close to 8), and I have alternative objectives still to do (in the interest of time I am moving onto the next game).   The time felt right, the pace of the game was great.

The art direction is solid, but nothing crazy unique.  They do hit the feeling of a Mayan Temple on the head though.  The last boss fight does a great example of marrying game design and vfx.  The effect for the spike traps is perfect.  It's simple, informs you of exactly when the spikes will pop.

What I didn't like:  I honestly can't think of anything to say here.

Final thoughts:  Great little game that needs to be played by every designer.

How much did I pay:  $0.00  I got it for preordering the new Tomb Raider game.

How many hours did I play:   7

Dollar per Hour:  $0

How much would I pay for this game in perfect hindsight:  $20.

Why?  Great well thought out game that deserves a lot more money than zero.  I'm not quite sure how they could have fixed that though.  If they make another one, it will be a day one purchase for me.