Customer Reviews

Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness (Playstation 2)

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(50)
3 star:		(39)
2 star:		(27)
1 star:		(49)

 

 

In this day and age, are we as gamers really expected to put up with this level of crap? Possibly the biggest disappointment in the history of videogames since the Sega Saturn, 'Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness' is the first next-gen outing for the intrepid Ms. Croft.

Stuck in development hell for the best part of 2 years, Core and Eidos should be very, VERY ashamed of themselves for allowing such a bug-filled, poorly thought-out piece of software onto the shelves, much less a game with such a rich and popular reputation to live up to.

Put simply, 'Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness' is an absolute dog.

First: The graphics just do not cut the mustard. Granted, the human characters in the Tomb Raider series were never graphically astounding, but here they're just badly done. Textures are pixelated and the frame rate is low. Lara's animations are smooth and her new costumes are diverting, but that's it. Characters like Bouchard and Carvier are not good enough for the PS 2, being underdetailed and very badly animated.

Level design is very substandard for a TR game. And, horror of horrors, there's only one tomb, The rest of the game is like a horrible cross between Metal Gear Solid and a weak RPG, where Lara is forced to run about Parisian streets and warehouses with no real sense of raiding anything.

Second: The control system is an absolute abomination. Lara is just not meant to be analog. Gone is the intuitive quad-style floor layout and now jumps and falls are impossible to judge, the upshot of which is Core have created a game which is insanely easy to beat. Lining up the camera, controlled by the right analog stick, every time you want to make a jump, is just annoying, and the collision detection is ridiculous.

Third: This is such an easy game to beat. Although I should point out, you'd better get to like the phrases 'Overwrite Successful' and 'Load Successful', becuase you'll be seeing them a hell of a lot. Thanks to the ridiculous control system, Saving and Loading happens far more often than is acceptable, and when you do manage to make the jumps and climbs without the control system hampering your every move or the game crashing out (happens a lot, sound and event glitches abound) you wonder what happened to the rest of the level.

A horrible, horrible game that yields no rewards, and will cause great distress to fans of the TR series, 'Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness' is something we should all forget.

Core, never let this happen again.

I've played all of the Tomb Raider games but Chronicles. AOD should satisfy any fan, despite all of the criticism that you read. It takes a little while to get used to the looks and feel of the new game, which kicks into high gear once you get out of the Paris Ghetto. As for the controls, yes they do take a while to get used to, but you do get used to them. Some people mention that they cannot step sideways or back to set-up a running jump: read the instructions, it's there, stop whinning.

Here is a list of the positives and negatives that I have encountered, and some things that I would have liked to see in AOD.

Positives:
1) The graphics are great, including Lara herself, with even some jiggling you-know-where.
2) The story line is a great combination of the first movie and the previous games, mixing murder plot and traditional site exploring.
3) New moves like peaking around the corner and sneaking up on people.

Negatives:
1) The game slows down in certain places. Really annoying.
2) The controls are not responsive enough.

Some things I miss:
1) The mansion.
2) Lara saying 'u-huh' when she finds something.
3) She loses some of her English accent. It's there, but it's really light.
4) I would have preferred a greater variety of sites to explore, including outdoors. Instead, it's really Paris and Prague (so far).

Despite all the hype and all the delays, "Tomb Raider: The Angel Of Darkness" turns out to be just a waste of plastic. The game would've been great had the designers taken the time to fix up the unacceptable amount of bugs and glitches, and come up with a new and different style of gameplay.

What do I mean by that? Every single movement Lara makes is animated and much slower than it ought to be. A three-legged dog with one eye could swim through a pool of molasses in less time than it takes Lara to run from one side of a room to another. Not only that, but simple actions like crouching take at least 3 seconds longer than they should. And don't get me started on jumping. Jumping from ledge to ledge is about the only task the developers could come up with for you to do. Apparently, it's the camera's job to make it seem a lot harder than it is. If the camera's turned just slightly to the wrong angle, you might end up doing a side flip to your doom instead of jumping forward.

The puzzles that you come across (rarely), are usually idiotic and unrealistic. At one point in the game, you're asked to get from one side of a room to another, unfortunately the only way the door on the other end will open is if the laser security system is activated. The first thing you should notice is that these lasers are very poorly placed and any real person could easily just step over them or duck under them. Of course, being the tomb raider she is, Lara must use a series of timed run-and-jump moves to get through them, making what would be an extremely easy sequence to get through into a much harder one.

You'll learn early to save all the time. The game is extremely glitchy and freezes up in certain areas, usually when there's lots of things going on at the same time (like when three lights are turned on and there's another guy in the room). Also, since Lara dies inconsistently, you'll never know if that jump to the floor below is too far or not. I found that in certain areas, a ten foot fall to the floor can result in death, while in other places, falling forty feet will only slightly hurt your life bar.

Then there's all those nagging questions. Why is it that setting yourself on fire will slowly drain Lara's health, but stepping into a laser can kill you instantly? How come it takes seven bullets to kill a guy with no body armor? What kind of dog dies after two kicks, but remains alive after being shot several times? What's the point in the stealth mode if you almost never have to use it? In the extras section, why do the game designers claim that '"Tomb Raider" has always set the benchmark for games'? Why does the "Cradle Of Life" movie trailer have such messed up audio? I could go on and on.

In conclusion, all I have to say is that "AOD" was not worth the wait and isn't worth your money. Save it. I hope Eidos decides to speed up the gameplay in the next "Tomb Raider" installment and gets some developers that aren't mental patients to work on it. If not, I won't be buying it.

Had Eidos bothered to finish Angel of Darkness before they released it, they might've had a halfway decent game. It's certainly lengthy and offers a variety of challenges, even if the gameplay hasn't really advanced much beyond old-school Tomb Raider object-manipulation and shooting really dumb bad guys. (Yes, I know there's a stealth mode. It adds nothing. There's no penalty for being spotted, a la MGS or Splinter Cell, so why not just go ahead and shoot everything in sight?) But even with all the delays, Eidos never managed to fix this game's considerable flaws. Two major areas stand out: control and graphics.

First, the controls. They're terrible. Lining up jumps is awkward, as the game offers only walk and run speeds instead of true gradated analog control. The button layout is confusing-- even a simple act like holstering your weapon is difficult, since it's not mapped to an intuitive button-- and the manual actually identifies the target-switching button incorrectly (not a small gaffe, since one boss battle requires you to utilize this feature). The inventory screen is a mess, and once again makes simple tasks (say, reloading your weapon) way too complicated. And even when you figure out how to move and fight properly, Lara still seems to move too slow... and that's without the game-crippling slowdown you'll periodically encounter.

And that brings me to the matter of the graphics. First, those who consider these graphics "good" simply haven't played any real state-of-the-art PS2 games. The textures are repetitive and drab, character motion lacks smoothness, and there's little use of lighting to speak of. The cut-scenes are even worse-- just compare with Silent Hill 3 (yes, the full game's not out, but all you need is the demo to get the picture), with its phenomenally expressive characters, to see how badly Eidos has mangled AoD's story sequences. But the in-game graphics are just blah; it's the slowdown that's inexcusable. It occurs even when there shouldn't be anywhere enough on screen to cause it-- such as the end of the first level, where all you've got is rain falling and a door to enter. Never mind that no console game should experience slowdown anyway, if the designers truly know the hardware; why does it happen with so little going on?

There's simply no excuse for Eidos to release such an obviously unfinished product, after so many release date changes, and charge full price for it. It's glitch-ridden, it controls badly, and its gameplay is about three years out of date (at least). Rent it if you're curious, or believe it can't possibly be that bad; but save your purchasing cash for a game that truly deserves it. With Silent Hill 3 only a month away, there's no reason to waste money on AoD.

Quite a few players out there rate the games on the graphics and pixels and grids... whatever. I am a gamer in it to get lost. Tomb Raider was always a fun series to play and that is what I enjoyed. The scenery was cool in past games with the suspense hidden in the walls themselves, not in evil underworld-serial-killers-with-a-secret. She used to fight against the past, not current bad guys hinged on the promise of past treasures.
Alright, basically Lara has gone to the dark side (sorry Anakin) and it makes you cringe to go around corners. She's lost her edge and has fallen into the role of a victim running from someone in her quest for the truth, instead of the quest simply being the drive itself. I miss the rainforest and the underground tombs. I miss walking into a movie sequence that unleashes a broad new visual that is haunting yet intriguing. Lara is smart, sassy, and strong. Eidos and Core don't need mutilated "angels" to bring Lara back to life. Remember her purpose and let that be their guide. As for now, skip this one. She is not the Lara she used to be.

I am a die hard Tomb Raider fan. You know, got all the games and always have much fun playing them. My first TR was TR 2, The Dagger of Xian, you know, the Marco Bartoli game, that I got the year that came out, 1997. I was astounded by the graphics perfection, the camera views, the story, the magic, so I bough TR debut, and after, you know, came 3, The Last Revelation and Chronicles(the best TR game EVER!), and also all the extra levels of each other, I think I can call myself a TR fanatic. I always think Core and Eidos would never hurt us with a bad game. Geez, I was so wrong!

To start, why get out of something that was going fine? Why make Lara Croft analogue? And above all: why go to RPG style game? That's not the way the serie got it's popularity! Don't get me wrong, I love RPG games, Baldur's Gate, Final Fantasy, Zelda, Monkey Island, Vampire, I always have much fun with this kind of game. But the trying of the game to seems like a RPG game was awfully unwilling and unfun. Why not to keep the adventure style with just new improvements?

And most important: the story in this game doesn't have any logic! What the hell happened with Lara after the pyramid fall on The Last Revelation? Her instructor, Werner Von Croy found her backpack in the end of Chronicles, but haven't found her body... so what? Is she dead or alive?? The story on TLR really passes before TR 1? Witch period of her time line goes the Angel Of Darkness story? The serie doesn't make any sense anymore. I though the TR 6 would show the proud return of our heroin, back from Egypt, carried by Von Croy or her butler Jeeves, or at least show more of her adventure life with the sad confirmation that Lara passed out. Well, it seems that Lara really gone after all, and was replaced with her evil twin. They even didn't put the training level on her house, that I love to play. In the last two games, TLR and Chronicles it doesn't have, but it makes logic because Lara aren't with us the way we know her. But here, there's no excuse!

I am so disappointed with this game of the serie. I'll give another chance to Core to bring us a real TR game, one that continues the story started on TLR, or at least a good game. But if that doesn't happen, forget about me!

This is one of those games you wish to end fast, but not because its action packed, its like a dying animal, you want to end fast to stop the suffering.

The storyline is nothing original and follows the same pattern as previous TR (Lara retrieves items that are then stolen by her enemies...pfft). There are like 3 different enemies throughout the game...so it take little, if any, skill to take them out. The bosses are simply retarded, I beat them the 1st time I fought them. The puzzles are extremely easy or downright impossible to figure out. The game slows down (matrix effect) on some parts, this is extremely frustrating. The angles will sometimes not let you see, so you have to move around to figure out where you are. The stealth and experience new features are pretty lame. I used the stealth move ONE TIME throughout the game. The experience thing is just to make you take more time to finish the game. Oh yeah, no vehicles at all on this one. I could go on but th 1,000 word list would be reached...this game is simply terrible, a shame to the Tomb Raider name which I have been fan for many, many years.

Am I the only one who feels that "Angel of Darkness" was rushed to coincide with the release of the film?

Lara handles like a shopping cart from Hell. She's apparently unable to break into a fast run (especially when needed), instead having to slowly trot her way up to it (typically ending in instant death when attempting to break away from fast-approaching nasties). Collision detection is a problem--on several occasions I found Lara embedded into walls and floors. On one occasion I somehow managed to get her stuck in some sort of nether-region *outside* of the actual level.

Prepare to spend just as much time reloading your game as you will playing an actual level. Timing in jumping is unforgivable. Anticipate many, many, many, many frustrating tries before nailing those sensitive leaps. And don't count on the engine to save you. I'm currently and indefinitely stuck on the "Breath of Hades" level because the block that should be pushable (per the various walkthroughs) simply isn't.

But the scenery is pleasing--I'll give it that.

Come on, Eidos. [poor games] are not your style.

Anyone that was a fan of the first TR, and has followed the steady slide downhill in this franchise...well, suffice to say that this release turns that slide into an avalanche. It's hard to say if this game is worse than 3...if not for the fact that you can save when ever you want in this game, it would be, it's only positive merit really from a gameplay standpoint.

OK, what's wrong with it????

1. *TINY* environments. They just *don't* get what was so good about the first TR do they? The sense of vastness and exploration in the first TR was fantastic, and every subsequent release the world has gotten smaller and smaller. This one is laughable. If your idea of *exploration* is looking for bullets in a closet, this game is for you ;)

2. Bugs. This TR has more bugs than the rest of the series combined. Too many to even list, some game breaking, forcing you to reload from an old savepoint.

3. Horrible control. Mizz Croft is now sluggish, wimpy, and seems to have a real mind of her own when it comes to falling off of things, or jumping in a direction other than intended. The *delay* before running is absolutely maddening. There are some neat ideas in this one, but they are just horribly implemented.

4. No vehicles.....why?? Oh I know, the shove it out the door to bleed the last remaining dollars out of a once adoring fanbase mentality that permiates this game probably didn't leave much time for things like vehicles....or environments big enough to drive a tricycle.

5. Laggy....that's right, laggy.. Some of the (tiny) environments look fantastic, but your PS2 will slow to a crawl. It's a shame they sacraficed so much gameplay for the sake of eyecandy. Oh well, not the first, and certainly not the last to do so.

You *will* watch the "making of" at the end of playing this game, and shout obscenities back and the screen.

Highest caution rating, buyer beware. Buggy, boring, small, short, and shallow. Rental only, as you can beat the game in 2 -3 days tops, if you can stand to keep playing it that long. Keep in mind that this review is from a longtime fan of this series. It's a real shame that this franchise just keeps getting worse with each release...so much potential.

TRAOD is a new kind of Tomb Raider experience, so they say. The controls are completely different from the old TR games. The new control system is difficult to get used to and is just atrocious. The camera movements can cause control difficulty and are just plain annoying sometimes. The feature of moving between areas (like in tomb raider 4) is annoying because of the stupid loading screens. The graphics are good, obviously on next gen console. Now there is interaction with other characters and choice making in the paths you take and how you talk to npc's in the game. Game would have got 5 stars but the controls are a pain.