Alright, folks, here goes… The next installment of the Tomb Raider series, The Angel of Darkness. Now, keep in mind that a lot was promised from this said-to-be revolutionary game. It was said to change the look of video games, and more importantly, the series itself, but the question remains: Does it live up to its expectations or does it flounder like another “been there, done that” Tomb Raider game? Eidos and Core Design, the developers of the series, had plenty of time to get their ducks in a row and put out a great game, and Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness is way behind the time curve. Let’s just hope it can live up to the expected hype.
This time around, Lara has more personality and abilities, all blended with a darker and more in-depth story than before, far more enthralling than the same old “find this and discover that” gimmick from all the previous games. The storyline goes like this: Lara has been hiding away for a while, and during a meeting with her mentor, Professor Von Croy, she learns about his research of a line a old paintings and his involvement with a man named Eckardt. Evidently, these paintings can conjure a dark power, and Eckardt is hunting for it. Suddenly, Von Croy is assassinated right before her eyes. Lara was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but no one is sure what happened to the doc. Did she kill him? Your missions are to clear your name, investigate the significance of the paintings, and find out what happened to Von Croy.
Gameplay
For the most part, if you’ve ever played one Tomb Raider, you’ve played them all. But, in some areas of actual gameplay, it gains and loses. The game’s general mechanics have been kept intact, with, of course, a few vital additions. Yeah, the mechanics are there, but the actual control is still a serious issue, and to be quite honest, it’s disturbing to have to continue to deal with it this far into the series. In many other games of this genre, the left analog stick is the ideal way to go, but for some ungodly reason, it doesn’t bode well for Tomb Raider. There were times in previous games where Lara had to boost herself onto higher surfaces and scale walls, and the action button was ideal for those particular situations. In this installment, you’ll have to press up against whatever it is you want to climb, then wait until you’re lined up right before she makes an attempt. It is aggravating having to sit through the waiting to perform these motions because it tends to make the game drag on, not to mention you’ll want to cuss her out on occasion. When you have a hard time executing simple tasks like opening doors and climbing small objects, its slowness may build into a lack of interest.
On top of the times when control seems clumsy, the camera angles are no better. This has been an issue all series long, and nothing has changed. You may find yourself having to readjust the camera or your physical position just so you can see what the heck you’re doing, and even that doesn’t help half the time.
Another gripe in the gameplay is the so-called action button. There will come times in the game where the action button is invalid, such as climbing ladders and pipes. I mean, climbing is an action, right? Here’s the way I see it: if you are going to have an action button, let it perform all the basic actions and not just a few. Nothing is more irritating than approaching an obstacle and trying to decide whether or not the X button is usable. Her ability to automatically interact with some areas of her environment may work for some players, but most of us wouldn’t want to deviate too far from what worked. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
With the exception of the sometimes-goofy controls and even goofier camera angles, the new gameplay additions provide a reasonably solid balance. The most noticeable add-on is the new stealth mode. This throws a little Metal Gear Solid element into the mix, and having this ability makes the game that much more interesting. In stealth, Lara can hug the walls and peek around corners, and that is an excellent touch. Lara can quietly sneak up on unsuspecting enemies and take them out without raising the racket of a pistol. And to be quite honest, much of AOD relies on stealth, and this makes the game fit its story even better as opposed to busting into a room with guns blazing.
Still on the subject of new abilities, Lara can go above and beyond with a few of her basic abilities. When shimmying on edges, Lara can now move around corners, giving her more freedom. She can also climb pipes and fences to reach high areas, and move across high wires. Now, with all this newly found freedom comes a price; when she has to shimmy and climb, a grip meter appears. The longer she hangs, the more that meter depletes, and of course, when it goes empty, down goes Lara.
Another new touch to the gameplay is being able to build Lara’s strength. Occasionally, you will come across puzzles and doorways that she can’t get past because she’s not strong enough. You’ll be warned ahead of time, so you have to look for strength-building activities to do. She’ll confirm her new power and you can move on. It’s one of the new touches to the games that make it a little more interesting. About the puzzles--they somewhat resemble the missions of Grand Theft Auto in that you’ll have to do little odd jobs and interact with certain people to gain information. And the fact that they aren’t all that difficult to figure out will keep you in-tune to the game.
Knuckle Up
The new fighting system, hoped to be the game’s marquee addition, is nowhere near worthy of the hype. As advertised, Lara can dish out a bare-knuckled whooping when the opportunity permits. She can throw punches and kicks, and the buttons are pressure-sensitive, so tapping and jamming the buttons deliver normal and hard attacks, respectively. Sounds good, right? Too bad it doesn’t play as well at it sounds. For some reason, when attacking, the gameplay lags, and it’s possibly some of the worse fighting you’ll ever see. Her attacks are terribly stiff and uncreative; it’s enough to make you want to say “Screw it!” and blow everyone away. What a shame… Core Design had all the time in the world to perfect this.
Let’s talk about the enemies you face. Think about the goombas and koopas in the Mario games. Need I say more? The game’s AI is just plain stupid. The bad guys use no strategy in their attacks; they just come right at you full fledge, that is, if they can recognize your presence. True story: I was sneaking up on a guard from behind, and I accidentally executed a roll move and ended up right beside him. The idiot didn’t even notice I was there. I felt insulted, so I unceremoniously blasted him. Stage bosses are no different for the other TR’s--you get stuck in a room in a one-on-one battle, figure out the attack pattern, and onward you go.
Graphics, Sound, and Animation
Wouldn’t you know it… Core Designed managed to round her breasts out even more! Automatic ten.
But seriously, the graphics never really disappointed, and they hold true this time around. Just like the previous games, Tomb Raider provides beautifully rendered worlds for exploration, only with a far more up-to-date quality. The overall presentation will surely get you in the mood and provides a true European feel.
Lara herself looks far better than the heroine we’ve used for the better part of the last decade, so don’t go drooling on your joystick. She’s as sexy as ever, and her appearance is much more mysterious, which is fitting for the story. Now that she’s gone 128-bit, she has more to work with as far as appearance, but unfortunately, the animation gets choppy when more people join here on-screen. Sometimes the annoying lag will happen at random—it’s not enough to throw you off your game, but the fact that it’s there is enough. But other than that, her demeanor is, well, meaner, so she moves and slithers with seemingly more aggression. It's a worthy characteristic that can help sway a player from believing that this is the same old game.
With the exception of the frequent and annoying grunting from Lara, the sounds and music are simply amazing. The deep soundtrack compliments the overall dark mood of the game. And the voiceovers are awesome, too; there is little to no delay in the speech and animation. Lara’s dialogue is as strong as her in-game motions are aggressive, and together they make for an acceptable offering.
The overall presentation was very well done. It seemed like its developers took more precedence in this area of the game than the actual gameplay. Well, at least they nailed these categories with no major problems. Thumbs up.
In Conclusion…
Eidos and Core Design have given us a lot of what we’ve expected out of the Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness--excellent visuals and audio with pretty much the same feel. Lara’s transition from the 32-bit world is a reasonably smooth one, despite the few troublesome quirks in the gameplay. Yeah, we know gameplay is the single most essential aspect of any game, but unfortunately The developers didn’t deliver the gem we had hoped for. This installment of Tomb Raider is for the true fans of the series, but for those of us who were looking forward to seeing what was coming next, this title is definitely worth at least a rental. Lara Croft hasn’t died from the video game world just yet.
