Even at the beginning of Lara’s life, Tomb Raider was “love it or hate it”; for every ogling fan was a complaint about truck-like controls and slow gameplay. But most credible sources can tell you, Tomb Raider’s first two incarnations exemplified how to do adventure games right. With levels intelligently developed around the simple - and limited - controls, and enemy encounters sparse, the experience was controlled and crafted...by design.

Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness is yet another miserable failure to recapture that old glory. In an attempt to push the series forward with new game concepts and level design, Core has instead fallen flat-faced the same as they’ve made routine since Tomb Raider 3. First and foremost on the long list of faults, Angel of Darkness is riddled with countless programming bugs that offend beyond annoyance. Even ignoring the problematic slowdown that plagues certain areas of the game, other technical flaws emaciate any enjoyment the game might otherwise present. Take, for example, Angel of Darkness’ inconsistent walking mode: the simple idea is that while in walking mode Lara will not fall from ledges; if she approaches a ledge she’ll stop before taking a step off. Amazingly, the simple feature is unreliable, as Lara frequently plunges to a gruesome ragdoll death when she shouldn’t.

Of course, dying unexpectedly is just another way to say Tomb Raider, and in Angel of Darkness Lara’s given more opportunities than ever to do just that. Due to an oversight at Core Design, the game’s levels are often designed almost completely ignoring Lara’s in-game capabilities. At times, Lara is confronted with platform jumps requiring impeccable precision, a demand no Tomb Raider game has ever satisfied (Angel of Darkness is no different). Throw in the game’s tendency to murder Lara with bugs, and Angel of Darkness becomes a game of jump-save-jump-save-step-die-load from save-repeat--saving after every successful, measurable bit of progress, sure that some unavoidable death is lurking just ahead.

As always, with Angel of Darkness Eidos and Core promised innovation; boldly restated in a video that would make [radical] propagandists proud, they swore “a new experience.” In fact, every new element introduced to Tomb Raider in this abysmal incarnation flaws the game even further. As a new puzzle element, Core introduced a system of strength upgrades for Lara that works by hindering Lara’s progression until she builds more strength, say, to knock a door down. The idea in itself isn’t nearly as horrid as its execution, as most of the time the stipulations for building Lara’s strength are so obscure they happen accidentally. Wasting time figuring out what to do is not entertaining. To change things up even further, Core tried giving Lara options when in conversation with various NPCs - the idea being to make players feel more in control. Again, it’s a noble idea that’s slaughtered by Core Design’s failure at satisfying the latter part of their company name.

Tomb Raider initially garnered its hype by starring a big-breasted female lead. In a day and age where games boast hookers, topless biking women, and bounding mammary glands knocking around a volleyball, it could be assumed that Lara is obsolete; after all, she’s failed to back up her hype with quality gameplay for years now. It would be nice to believe that Angel of Darkness is the final bullet in Tomb Raider’s persistent hype, but knowing Eidos and the general gaming public...another unimpressive display will certainly further mar Lara’s reputation.

· · · MarkRyan