Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness could have been a great game, if not for its many drawbacks.
For the sake of ripping the band aid off quick, let's start with what went wrong. The biggest problem isn't the clunky controls, bad camera, or long loading times, but the glitching. I may not be the most experienced gamer, but Tomb Raider: AoD is the glitchiest game I have ever played. I gave up playing twice because the game was glitching so bad I couldn't move on. Luckily the Level Skip/Level Select cheat code was available during these times of need and I am thankful such a thing was included, but that does not excuse the glitches! In that sense, it seems as if the developers released the game when it was halfway finished, and threw in the cheat code to make sure players would be able to complete the game. Unacceptable.
Bad camera is my second biggest complaint. The camera is somewhat adjustable using the right analog stick, but it gets stuck at a certain point, and sometimes will not move at all. Your best bet at a good camera angle would be to move both Lara and the camera around until it looks acceptable or reset the view with the R3 button. However, when one of these refuses to move, it can get annoying. Sometimes this makes it difficult to get a good look around, see the enemy attacking you, or position your jump just right. This, unfortunately, adds to the high number of unnecessary deaths required to complete the game.
If the difficulty were based on the puzzles, dispatching enemies, timed runs and such, it might be considered a fairly easy game. Not so hard you'd sit for too long on one level, but not so easy that you don't need to think at all while playing. Enough to keep it fun. What acts as a giant killjoy are the inevitable deaths involved in completing these tasks. One of, or a combination of the bad camera, controls, and occasionally glitches are usually at fault. Without a single death I'd say it took me about 20 hours to complete the game, give or take. With the deaths, that time at least doubles or triples. Maybe "difficult" isn't the right word to use, but "punishing" definitely is.
The last completely terrible thing I have to say about Tomb Raider: AoD is that it has long loading times. The game needs to load when crossing between certain areas in a level, and always between the levels themselves. Typically, they're not so bad that you could get up and do some small task before the game loads and I'm sure there are worse, but it does hinder the overall presentation of the game. Also, if the game ever decides to freeze on you, it will more likely than not be during one of these loading times. That possibility combined with the frequent deaths will teach you to save often, which is one of the good qualities of the game I'll discuss later.
For now, onto the somewhat bad, somewhat good aspects. One of the terrible things about Tomb Raider: AoD that I mentioned above is the controls. The controls are clunky and suck, period. The catch is that if they were designed a little better, these could actually be some pretty cool controls. Walking (so you don't fall off ledges, which really comes in handy), running, sprinting, climbing, shimmying, different types of jumps, stealth mode, guns, hand-to-hand combat, swimming, pushing, pulling, crawling, commando crawling, flipping, and rolling are all of the things Lara can do that come to mind. All of these controls respond slowly and sometimes when you don't want them to, but they're all pretty cool and useful throughout the game. They do take some getting used to and will cause a lot of deaths, but if you can forgive that, then playing as Lara is a fun experience.
What's more fun is that when you're not dying, watching Lara's movements is entertaining in itself. Each action is detailed and takes a shot at realism. This shot doesn't always hit the mark, but most of the graphics are detailed and appealing. There are a few bugs like animate objects blending into inanimate ones, body parts going through walls and floors, but this doesn't actually hinder the gameplay. Just because your feet have sunk below the floor thankfully doesn't mean you'll fall through that floor.
Aside from that, the environment is extensively detailed and appealing. You'll find yourself in a variety of these mediums including the streets of Paris, sewers littered with trash, secret hideouts, and many other places essential to the adventure experience. Themes vary from flowery parks to gruesome areas with bodies and blood along the walls. The graphics aren't gorgeous and may not measure up compared to today's standards, but it was definitely a high point of the game. Something that might make you curious enough to work through the faults just to see what's in store.
I have no complaints when it comes to the music. The music is fast at the right times, mild when need be, and most importantly isn't annoying or incessant. It fits perfectly with the mood of the game as did the voice acting. Good voice acting definitely helps the game as Lara will often verbally instruct the player or announce that she has gotten stronger, accompanied by an icon at the bottom of the screen. The same applies to the sound effects. Water, footsteps, and even lever-pulling, are all engaging sounds.
Now another good aspect of the game, that may also have been a last-ditch attempt to make the game playable, is the ability to save anytime, anywhere. You can save before a boss battle, in a boss battle, under the water, and though it is unadvisable to save as you are falling to your death, it is possible. It's also helpful that there are multiple save slots available. It is highly suggested that a second save file is kept, just in case something goes wrong on the first file, and more like than not something of the sort will happen.
Finally, the best part of the game was the story and storytelling. Since almost the entire game takes place in Paris, you'll hear a lot of well done French accents in contrast to Lara's English. The cutscenes are wonderfully crafted and the action scenes are just what you would expect from an experienced adventurer. From start to finish the story is a mix of mystery and action which is the pride of this Tomb Raider game. Throughout the game questions will pop up like who people really are, where their allegiances lie, and what Lara has to say about it.
Speaking of which, during a few cutscenes the player is given dialogue choices. What's even better about this is that instead of taking your pick and assuming it's been said, Lara actually says it and from there you see the reaction of the listener to your choice of words. Some responses will help, some will hurt, and since you're going to be saving and loading a lot anyways you may as well go for the best result. The end of the game leaves nothing to be desired in terms of the story. All questions answered, and closure.
Some miscellaneous notes are that there's a fair variety of healing items and weapons, and you don't need to play conservatively. It's not good to go crazy with the ammo and health either, but there's no need to stock up on health items and ammo for the end. The AI is fun. Not super smart, usually not dumb enough that you can walk in front of them without being seen, but fun. The game doesn't focus so much on combat as it does the puzzle solving. AI usually just makes things more interesting, and seeing Lara take out the bad guys looks pretty cool too.
Overall, despite the pitfalls, this game can be enjoyable. Things players will need to get used to are the controls, constant saving, and waiting for the game to load each time after death, but the cutscenes, storyline, general satisfaction of completion may all well be worth the while. However, this game should be approached with caution. If the opening sequences, variety of controls, and environments don't win you over, you may as well stop considering it right now. Otherwise, play at your own risk.