'Angel of Darkness' is less about tomb raiding than emulating several other genres, and none of it is very welcome...
* Gameplay: One can only wonder what could have happened to have this game released in such a sorry state. The worst thing about the game is the controls. Lara is basically broken. In a series already known for its precise movement requirements, AoD manages to make it impossible to move anywhere. Lara can't walk right. She can't turn right. Everything is a "stop-and-correct" movement. It's frustrating all the more because for some reason, the designers thought it would be fun to have Lara change the distance she can jump, all throughout the game. This is all part of some new 'feature' involving building up Lara's strength over time, but it's really just a disguised routing. If you enter a room and there's a lever you can't pull, it's because there is a box somewhere you haven't pulled yet. She'll be able to grip ledges longer and jump farther. What this does is take away any ability to learn how far you can jump. You'll end up missing, over-jumping and slamming into walls. She can't do a mid-air flip anymore. Even worse, auto-locking weapons results in some herky-jerky movements in which Lara will actually move several steps in the opposite direction you want her to go. Not to mention the head and body twisting she does to keep a lock. Awful. Speaking of "movements", there is another character you'll get to play, and he moves around like he dropped a load in his pants. He can't sprint like Lara either. Ugh. The level designs are at least thought out, but you can forget about enjoying the prospect of looking for secrets. It's so awkward to move anywhere, you'll end up saying, "Yep. There's a side tunnel up there but I don't care. I just wanna finish this level!" The only good thing about her movements is her new rock-climbing ability, which offers some inventive ways to access areas not seen in any other Tomb Raider game. The last thing I have to comment on is the horrible camera placement. To be fair, past TR games had some scenes where the camera would just shift away from Lara and disable the look button. Here, there is too much of that, and it's jarring when it happens. So, is the fact that the whole game is pretty short a good thing or a bad thing? If you paid $10.00 like I did, good thing. When it first came out at $60.00? Very bad thing.
* Graphics: One of the boggling things that reveals itself as you play is the level of detail in many areas. Take the art restoration room in the Louvre. It's filled with little items that are real models, not 2D textures mapped to a flat table. Lara looks amazing, the best yet. There aren't a lot of neat costume choices this time, but at least she looks smoother than ever. Obviously, more time was spent on the look of the game than the gameplay. Heat shimmers in the air, and underwater caverns diffract the light for a nice wavy effect. The cut scenes were rendered with care. The lighting and shadows add realism, unless the shadows are floating in air, or the walls become clipped so you see through them. Does it look like I'm grasping for something good to talk about?
* Sound: The music in the game is about the only thing they got one hundred percent right. It has the feel of past games. The voice-work is hampered by some thick accents, which forces you to turn on the large subtitles that can block the screen. Lara at least sounds right. As for the sound effects, there are numerous glitches where sounds such as fire, water or rocks falling linger in the air long after you've moved away from those areas.
* Value: Almost none. While the game captures some of the experience of previous releases, it's far too short, too weak on exploration and frustrating to play to go through it more than once. Thank the stars for all the people who wrote walkthroughs; you are the strongest of all the TR fans!
* Tilt: I have played every TR game multiple times except for 'Chronicles' and the mobile/ handheld games. I own lots of toys, both movies, the Lara Croft phenomenon book and even one of those giant Playstation game boxes for 'the Last Revelation'. Yeah, I'm a fan, but not enough to nudge this review in a more favorable direction than it deserves.