Customer Reviews
not bad 
2008-07-27
The game's good, probably better on a ps2 or xbox, sometimes a little harder to control on the PC. i have a game console for PC, but it takes a little getting used to. Great graphics, fun game.
As bad as advertised 2007-11-03
Was this a serious attempt at a Tomb Raider game, or a desperate attempt by a developer to be fired? CORE Design went from a creative, ambitious group ten years ago to one of the most passive-aggressive developers ever.
In their seventh (and final) attempt to kill off Ms. Croft, CORE rebuilt the graphics rendering engine for new platforms, but managed to retain and intensify every infuriating staple of gameplay inherent in Angel of Darkness's predecessors. Control input, regardless of gamepad or keyboard, is delayed and sluggish. Lara's movement engine is as slow and graceless as ever. CORE always had trouble distinguishing between the importance of clever pre-rendered animations and actual controller response. Despite the bloodcurdling screams of gamers and reviewers, they refused to rethink their control schemes. And poor Lara dies a thousand deaths because of it.
The highly anticipated new game world engine drops the old grid-based environments that made old Tomb Raiders somewhat predictable. At first, this sounds like a great idea. Unfortunately, CORE retained their love of brutally difficult jumping exercises that now rely solely on guessing horizontal distances. Combine that with the complicated and clumsy 3 types of forward jumps, a slow-responding "grab" button which is now timing based, and a cruel placement of tiny ledges and instant-death laser beams, and AOD is an exercise in quicktrigger quicksaving.
I will assume that CORE spent most of their development time on world building. Because the puzzles and combat are so laughably bad that they can't be the result of a good effort. The ease with which all enemies can be killed, bosses included, has to be the result of some last-minute difficulty sliding before release. With the awful autolock and camera, enemies with any armor would be impossible and the whole game unbearable. A complete lack of AI makes Tomb Raider I's T-Rex look like Stephen Hawking. The puzzles sadly haven't evolved, athough pushing levers and pulling switches is still fun in the right environment. There are occasions where a complete lack of sense is evident: Did you know that on one level, steam from a broken pipe is a harmless animation? Did you know that on the next level, identical steam from an indentical pipe is an instant death trap? Play AOD, and you will!
Graphics would be the one area of criticism I can't agree with. AOD on the PC is a sharp looking game, inarguably. There are a few visual missteps like the broken distance blur rendered by the "post-processing" option (I was able to fix it by setting it to "on" instead of "high"). But mostly AOD's enviroments are well-detailed with nice color and lighting, and reasonable shadow effects. Tombs and derelict apartments are dark and spooky, and underwater scenes sparkle with a clarity not available on the old Playstation. The settings themselves are largely inappropriate for a Tomb Raider game, but that's more of a criticism of the story concept.
Sound design is exceptionally good. Weapons sound great, voiceovers are passable, and enviromental effects are really suberb. Moody scores pop in at the right moment, and overall the acoutics of the game set a beautiful atmosphere. I even hear Martina Hingis supplied Lara's grunting effects.
A build 52 patch is available which fixes the worst of early release problems like crashing. There is no fix for the bad design and crushing gameplay, though. Angel of Darkness is for diehard Tomb Raider fans only. And you will die hard, over, and over...
not as bad as you think 
2006-08-12
some people would say this game sucks. though some others would completely disagree. personally i found the game quite interesting and fun. the actual game itself did have gliches, but not to the extreme of not being able to finish the game. now you are able to play a different character other than Lara, and she can talk to people, though it really doesn't matter how you answer but its still fun to threaten people =]. over all if you've enjoyed the past games, you'll like this one. sure the "tomb raiding" is not exactly in the game, but i think you'll enjoy it once you learn to tolerate some of the insignificant gliches. as for the controls... hah once you play Legends you'll never again think that Angle of Darkness had horrible controls. =] enjoy and lets all hope the next game will be alot better than Legend.
To many issues 
2006-08-06
The story is very interesting and the action and enemies are awesome, but the game just has to many technical issues. I think they rushed to get it on the shelves ASAP. Tech problems are my only quirk with the game.
Play this game to practice PATIENCE >:( 
2006-05-02
Okay, so I'm not a gamer but seriously there cannot be a more frustrating game out there. Well, maybe...Here's the thing: Tomb Raider is such a big stinking deal among gamers I figured since I have a pretty good PC I'd invest in some cool (used)games for my past time. I got very lucky or so I thought when the price was marked down to $4.99 with an additional 30% off. This is more of a challenge than I care for. Ditto to most reviews that I read.
The one thing that I would say is if you Google this game for tips, walkthroughs and cheats it may help immensely. I got a few walkthroughs from various sites. I really like not having to go to doors that are locked. Very annoying!!
If you decide to buy this make sure of a few things:
1. You are not tired or in a bad mood.
2. You don't mind a challenge-although not mind boggling fun as it is cumbersome-then you may enjoy it after all.
I'm going to tough it out for at least 3 levels. There are 29 levels to this game. It's almost risky to continue but I refuse give up this early.
GOOD LUCK!!
Bad Eidos, Bad! 
2006-03-28
A series of grisly murders brings Lara into conflict with a sinister Alchemist from the past, and a secret alliance of powerful individuals shrouded in mystery. At the center of these mysteries are the Obscura Paintings - five 14th century pieces of art that the Alchemist is desperate to repossess. Accused of the murder of her one time mentor, Werner Von Croy, Lara becomes a fugitive on the run. Pursued by the police, she follows the Alchemist into a dark world of blood, betrayal and vengean
It's ok... 2006-01-24
I've always enjoyed Tomb Raider games. But I bought this game, and it did not work on my computer. My computer didn't match the maximum requirements (which they don't show you until AFTER you open the box), but it did match the minimum requirements. I didn't buy this from amazon.com, but I bought it from a different store. They had this stupid policy that you can't get a full refund if you opened it. How the heck are you supposed to know that it doesn't work, if you can't open it?!
Anyway, after a while, I got a PS2. So I decided to try it on PS2. It worked, but it's not that fun. It's almost impossible to control Laura. There are certain points in the game that you have to be at an exact angle to jump onto a ledge, and you can spend like a half hour trying to jump onto the stupid ledge. It's also not that fun because one of the "cool new features" is that she can only hold on for a certain amount of time. If you want to stay on a ledge for longer, you need to break a window, or kick a door down. Then she looses her strength again.
Okay, so its not like the old TR games... 2005-11-11
but that doesn't mean it's not good. I mean, the game, like a lot of things in life, must evolutionized some times or other. And Tomb Raider is doing exactly that. So it is different. Lara also no longer runs, but walks for the most part. So what? I think it's a nice change. Sure it will take some time to get used to the changes, but it isn't bad. And for all the people who are complaining about how slow the game is, you know what? You need to get newer computers. Just because your computer fulfills the minimum requirement needs doens't mean it will be good. I have a fairly new computer and it runs perfectly.
Great graphics but no! 2005-07-07
I must say when i first heard that TR angel of darkness was coming out i wanted it so bad but after when i beat the game it turned out to be a stupid adventure and im a true fanatic on tomb raider. So far TR 1 TR2 are the best but i hope tomb raider legend will be good i saw the previews it looks good! she actually explores temples i mean whats the purpose of calling it tomb raider when your not in any tombs like tomb raider chronicals! another thing in tomb raider angel of darkness- what the hell happened to her pistols? the only weapons you use are just one pistol gun not 2 , eidos better get it going because the tomb raider franchise is going to the dumps!
I'm not strong enough! 2005-04-25
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!
