Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness

• Release Date: June 17, 2003
• Genre: Action
• Style: Action Adventure
• Similar Games: The Mummy Returns (PlayStation 2), The Scorpion King: Rise of the Akkadian (PlayStation 2), Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb (PlayStation 2)

Game Description

Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness has been billed as the first true renovation of the best-selling series since the ground-breaking 1996 original. This edition is built on a completely new engine, which pumps out "next-generation" graphics and allows many new animations and interactions. Lara herself enjoys the engine upgrade as well, as she's now rendered with ten times the number of polygons as in earlier Tomb Raider games.

The role-playing aspects of this adventure are slightly more central to play than in earlier games. Lara must enter a dark, supernatural world where nothing is certain. She must interact with other characters, and complex situations call for her to make ethical decisions where there is no clear-cut "good" or "evil" choice. Lara also develops throughout the game, as her abilities improve and adapt to the way she's played. A new system is designed to offer smoother control of Lara's many moves, which include new stealth attacks and hand-to-hand combat.

Five forgotten works of art, the 14th century Obscura Paintings, will unlock devastating powers if they fall into the hands of a mysterious alchemist who leads a secret alliance of powerful people. Stopping the villain would be difficult enough, even for the resourceful Ms. Croft, but our heroine's quest is complicated as she is framed for the murder of her former mentor, Von Croy. Now, on the run from the authorities, Lara must avoid being captured as she strives to keep the alchemist and his alliance from unleashing their evil on the world.

Review: Overall

One of the great mysteries of the industry is not the subject of Lara Croft's latest archaeological pursuit, but how Eidos Interactive let its most marketable character fall into such a state of despair. Nothing was more indicative of the problems the company had when, after the release of the first movie starring Angelina Jolie, it had nothing to show for the public. So a hit movie based on a video game property had no cross-promotional video game tie-in. The Angel of Darkness was supposed to be released years earlier, but after being mired in delays and trapped in development limbo, it soon became one of the biggest question marks in Eidos Interactive's lineup. Now that it is finally playable, which is actually a debatable point, it's easy to imagine why there were so many delays and conflicts. The trials and tribulations of Lara Croft are on the verge of becoming a textbook example of how to kill off a lucrative franchise.

The secret to Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness' problem is simple: control. Lara Croft's intricate movements have always been a pain in the derriere, but she will drive players to the point of madness in this game. It's a shame, too, since the storyline is actually interesting, finding the intrepid explorer not on an archeological dig but rather on the run from a crime she didn't commit. The game opens on the dark, rainy streets of Paris as Lara must quickly find her escape from the French police and find out who is responsible for the death of one of her clients. The visuals are polished, with crisp textures, excellent lighting and weather effects, and environments dripping with atmosphere. The orchestral soundtrack is nothing short of fantastic, heightening the mood when needed and fading in the background at other points. Yet none of it matters once players start putting Ms. Croft in action.

Movement with the analog stick is cumbersome, and that's being generous. Lara Croft is as unresponsive as a car trapped in mud. The act of pushing forward causes Lara to slowly turn -- as if to second-guess the decision -- before initiating a run that feels like she's wearing concrete boots. Pressing a button to open a simple door has Lara slowly sidestepping to the left or right to get into position and then turning the door's knob. By far the most irritating aspect is trying to jump across the many platforms in the game, a trademark Tomb Raider feature, which is made exceedingly difficult by unresponsive button presses (will she jump or will she plummet to her death? -- film at 11) and awkward camera angles that don't always let you see what you need to see. If she does manage to take flight, players have to remember to press the X button to grab onto a ledge, as making this an automatic task would have apparently been too kind.

Tomb Raider is an exasperating game because of this wretched control, and players will soon begin to yell uncomely words at Ms. Croft for failing to do what should come naturally for such an agile heroine. The situations often force her to move quickly, whether it's shimmying across ledges or wires or running up and down stairs while deadly gas starts infiltrating a room, and the controls do everything in their power to prevent you from performing the most basic actions. One scene involves pulling a crate (yes, object-pulling is a requisite in Tomb Raider) near a suspended ledge so she can use the crate as a platform to leap to safety. This simple sequence could take minutes when it should take seconds.

This is because players may know what to do in a given situation, but the execution is a crapshoot. Players have to walk up to an object, wait for an icon to appear to indicate Lara can interact with it, press a button allowing her to grab it, and then push or pull on the analog stick to move it into position. Trouble is, players will instinctively push up against the crate waiting for the silly icon, then when it does appear, the character will push instead of pull. And it certainly doesn't help matters when speed is a necessity. Then players must wait until the animation stops, try pulling it once again, and then say a prayer that Lara decides to climb the crate when pushing the stick into it and not simply stand there like a wax museum model. Then there's the actual jump after finally climbing the crate, but by that point players may have had an aneurysm.

It is an absolute shame that the controls are such a beast, because there are many interesting elements in the game. Players can actually influence how characters react to Lara, and performing certain actions over and over can help increase Lara's attributes (though these are often scripted in certain locations). The locales are varied, there are enormous bosses to fight, and players will even get a chance to control an Indiana Jones-like character during certain sequences. Those determined to see this game to the end will need to take advantage of the save feature, which may be the title's saving grace from the constant frustration. Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness could have been one of Lara Croft's greatest adventures since the original Tomb Raider. Yet the development team at Core Design has either lost touch with how games are supposed to control or no longer cares. Whatever the reason, players with weak hearts and weaker patience should steer far clear of this title, which may have buried the once-promising franchise like a relic from a forgotten era.

Review: Enjoyment

Sometimes players are watching Lara more than controlling her, with painfully slow animations and delays between button presses. Enemies are almost absent for the first third of the game, and those that are present aren't the brightest crayons in the box.

Review: Graphics

The environments look nice, with detailed lighting effects and smooth character models, though the camera is awkward and there are some visual glitches, such as Lara disappearing when positioned close to walls. Some slowdown is also evident. Some of the subtitles have spelling mistakes.

Review: Sound

The soundtrack is by far the best feature of the game, with above average voice acting and a wonderful orchestral score that adds a much needed dose of excitement.

Review: Replay Value

While players can save their game at any time, it's doubtful that they will revisit completed stages because of the unresponsive controls.

Review: Documentation

The black-and-white manual explains the basic controls but little else.

Production Credits

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