Top 10 Best Game Reveals Of The 2014 Summer

With the summer now fully behind us, we can comfortably settle from yet another packed convention season. Lots of stages were once more filled with shiny new titles to get excited about. From E3 to Gamescom and Tokyo Game Show and anything in between, 2014 isn't exactly slowing down from the previous year's big new console reveals. There is, however, a change in focus.

Now that everyone has their favorite device to play games on, we need the necessary tools to do that very thing. So, this year we're bombarded with names we never heard before, which is always extra titillating. There were still fan favorite series thrown in the lot, as well as some items we never knew we wanted.

Therefore, we prepared a list to display the very best when it comes to all the newly announced products. Here are the top 10 game reveals of the 2014 convention summer:

10. Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris

It's taken so long for Tomb Raider to acknowledge that there was another way to play than the core game's usual third person action adventure. With the original release of Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, we saw the first big re-imagination of the franchise, put into an action-heavy puzzle platform game in a top-down view. Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris will expand on its model and success with a scope fitting of the new console technology.

Once more, players will rely on cooperative gameplay mechanisms that switch between Lara Croft and characters depicting the indigenous culture du jour. In this case, the story moves from Aztecs to Egyptians. Each class has their own special abilities, with the raiders being more technology proficient, while the Egyptians use magic as their weapon. Puzzles are usually built to use both types at once or involve designs that require more than one person to unlock the next stage.

Character customization is also present in Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, as an entire loot system can yield a variety of rings and amulets that boost characters. Better items means that there's a competitive edge to the game. As such, it's totally possible to screw over so-called friends while playing together, to reap the rewards in the most selfish way possible.

For more competition, the game installs a multiplier system. Those who stay alive and rack up points will be the victors of their round, which once more puts an evil spin on cooperation, for those who are the jealous type. Better give those friends a squinty-eyed look a few times, to make sure they're on the up and up.

There are even giant crocodile boss sections in Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris. The whole works surprisingly well, while still reflecting an archeological atmosphere with its illustrious temples full of ornate statues and pillars, overgrown bridges and mythological imagery. Where Guardian of Light was the precursor that showed why the Tomb Raider reboot was a great decision, Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris will hopefully prove that this was the right way to go.