Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness

"After 3 Years and How Many Delays?"

 In the year 2000, I received a copy of PSM, which had a pose of Ms. Croft on the cover. The release date was set for 2001, and the trailer for the Tomb Raider movie was going to be attached to the game. Well, I think we all know that isn't exactly how it happened. To the game developers credit, it does include a trailer for the 2nd movie. After three years of waiting Lara's PS2 debut, does it live up to all the hype? Is it the game I've been waiting for ever since I beat Metal Gear Solid 2? Is it the best Tomb Raider of all? I cannot honestly answer any of those questions. When I first opened up the case and popped Angel of Darkness in my PS2, I was slightly disappointed. After getting through the first few hours, the game seemed to change into something else, and the disappointment left me. Confused? Well, so am I.

I'll start with the graphics, the backbone of a game to the superficial gamer. While the CG leaves something to be desired, the in-game graphics are very well done. You may not be impressed by the first few levels, I know I wasn't. But once you get going, the game really picks up. Swimming under water has a really cool effect, you can see the water swirl as Lara kicks it, and bubbles from Lara or otherwise. One chamber has Lara crossing a pool of lava by hopping from rock to rock. This looks amazing, with fireballs leaping from the surface of the pool, exploding onto the rocks; you can even see waves from the heat. The weather effects are quite well done, the rainstorm in the beginning really sets the mood for a miserable night in the slums of Paris. The snow effects shown in Prague are probably the best I've seen on the PS2, it has a gentle fury that really has to be seen to be believed.

Speaking of things that look good, how about that Lara? She returns in all of her well-endowed glory, only much more detailed. Strands of hair will fall in front of her face, her backpack will shake when she runs, and her eyes really show emotion that was lacking in all the previous Tomb Raider games. The rest of the characters look really good as well, though they are seemingly not as detailed as our tank-top clad babe. All of the characters mouths move according to the dialogue they speak, you won't see any wacky dubbing here.

And now on to the gameplay, the true backbone. But is this where the bone breaks? Yes, yes it is. First of all, I would like to say that is new control system is far from improved like it has been touted for all these years. In fact I wouldn't even call it new. Despite a few additions to her repertoire, Lara still has the mobility of her 32-bit incarnations. Instead of turning directly around, she steps to the side, making a monstrous circle. Hold down the walk button, and she'll be even more unresponsive. It's a good thing you are allowed to position the camera the way you like it, the smart gamer will actually use the camera to control Lara, by using both analog sticks. There are some rooms, however, that don't allow you to change the camera, and can often result in frustration and unfair deaths.

And deaths there will be. This is just like any other Tomb Raider game, miss that jump by a hair and you’re a pancake. It still suffers from the same old trial and error routine, which gets tiresome after a while. The non-Tomb Raider fan may be put off by the controls, but many should adapt in no time. Of course, Lara is not without a few more moves. She can now throw a flurry of punches and kicks at an enemy if she doesn't have time to draw her weapon, and she can also go into stealth mode and sneak up behind people to snap their necks. Unfortunately, that's about as far as her new moves go. Fighting is extremely loose, most of the time you may not even connect with your target. She seems more responsive while firing her weapon, it's easy to strafe around and enemy to keep them confused. Another addition to the game is the ability to talk to NPC's (Non-Player Character's). You can use these characters to get information, and even items, but be careful what you say. If you shoot your mouth off to the wrong guy, you might end up dead. Despite these additions, the gameplay and controls remain largely the same. I find this very disappointing, considering that this game has been in development for three years now. After playing PS2 games like Metal Gear Solid 2 and Devil May Cry, I expect a little more from the controls. They have no reason to still be this way.

The story is much better than in any of the previous games. The game opens with Lara in the apartment of her mentor, Werner Von Croy, (of Tomb Raider 4 fame) and he asks her to hunt down something called the Obscura Paintings for him. She tells him to handle it himself, but a struggle ensues, and Werner lies dead. Lara doesn't know what happened, but her hands are covered in his blood. The police mistake her for a serial killer known as the Monstrum, and the chase is on. She must now find out what the Obscura Paintings are, find out who killed Von Croy and clear her name. Her travels take her to the Louvre, an ancient tomb deep beneath Paris, Prague, and all sorts of exciting locales. Just don't expect sunny beaches or the Great Wall of China, this is much darker than many Tomb Raider games.

The sound is nice, and the music is great. It has a true sense of foreboding, and it really brings you into the action. I think this marks the first time you have to make nerve-wracking leaps 100 feet in the air of a nightclub with disco music blasting. Of course, most of the other music is more subtle, and more to the Tomb Raider feel. If you listen closely, you can catch a few notes from the TR4 theme. The gunfire sounds extremely realistic compared to the muffled noises in previous versions, and adds another level of intensity. Floors collapsing and traps swinging shut sound sweet, to the point where they scare you into making a fatal mistake.

I think it's worth noting that a lot of people seem to have been suffering from bugs in their games. While I have not encountered any serious glitches, I have encountered slowdown from time to time, but it seems to be isolated to specific areas of the game. Thankfully, it only lasts for a few seconds, but it really shouldn't be there at all. This game has been delayed for three years, you’d think the bugs like this would have been all ironed out by now.

So, does it live up to the hype? A resounding no. This game doesn't even live up to the standards of the previous Tomb Raider games. The controls haven't been changed enough, and it's as much a chore to move Lara as it was in 1996. This is completely unacceptable. Having played games like Metal Gear Solid 2 with near perfect control, I would expect a whole lot more from one of the biggest gaming franchises in the world. I didn't wait three years to play a graphical upgrade. I wanted innovation, but all I got was Lara's tired routine once again. Gamers were promised innovation, and it simply was not delivered. In fact, it's made me appreciate how much better the old games in the series were. I'd take the ugly, but fun Tomb Raider 2 over this game any day.

Gameplay- 4/10
You've got to be kidding me. You call this innovation? If it hadn't been for the fact that you can talk to NPC's this could have been a lot worse.

Graphics- 7/10
Good for the most part, but slowdown and other graphical glitches really hurt this.

Sound- 7/10
The music is good, and the sound effects are cool. Not much else to say here.

Replay- 3/10
I think I'll pass on going through this one again.

Final Score- 5/10

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 06/24/03, Updated 09/07/03