Buried beneath the technical and design issues lies a truly great game in Angel of Darkness.
In the interest of keeping this review as accurate and fair as possible, I'm gonna start with everything that went wrong with Angel of Darkness. For starters upon its initial release, the game was buggy as hell. Frequent crashes, random glitches, and game stopping bugs (some that would halt your progress through the game) were the norm. This was a result of the game being rushed, something that I'm not sure who's to blame (I'm leaning towards blaming Eidos more than Core), but nevertheless killed the experience for many people. Thankfully, the game was patched further upon its release and for the most part the patches did fix all the major problems of the game, though not all of them. A few bugs remained and an irritating glitch where the scenery textures wouldn't load persisted (granted, this particular glitch could be solved by simply reloading the game).
Unfortunately the patches didn't address the design issues of the game, more specifically the controls. The Tomb Raider series has never been known for fluid controls, but this game actually took the controls a notch down. Lara is hard to control and moves at a painfully slow pace (she takes more than half a second to begin catching speed). Even the smallest tasks could be cumbersome to perform due to the controls.
And then there's the introduction of the strength upgrades and the grip meter. In previous Tomb Raider games Lara could indefinitely hold on to a wall, traverse across edges, or hang from the ceiling. In Angel of Darkness, Lara can only perform such actions for a short period of time before her grip meter runs out and she lets loose of the object she was holding on. To compensate, Lara can gain strength to hang on to objects for longer, as well as be able to move heavier objects or jump longer distances. Unfortunately, the strength upgrades are nothing more than a small roadblock that will prevent you from entering a new location before you completely explore your current location and find the action that will help you achieve the strength upgrade. It seemed like a neat idea, but it only hampers the flow of the game.
There is also a stealth option that is quite irrelevant since there's no part in the game that calls for it. And finally, the game introduces a new character, Kurtis Trent, who is actually quite an intriguing character, but controlling him is even worse than controlling Lara, since he moves at an even slower pace (something that makes the boss battles you play as Kurtis much more difficult). So as you may have noticed, the list of issues in Angel of Darkness is quite big. But for those who can look past those issues, a memorable adventure awaits.
Angel of Darkness begins with Lara reunited with Werner Von Croy, her former mentor, whom she had a fallout with at the end of Last Revelation. Von Croy wants Lara to help her obtain 5 paintings that hold great value for certain reason (which will be revealed later in the game), however Lara isn't too fond of Von Croy after the Egypt incident in Last Revelation, so she refuses to help him. As the argument heats up, the scene becomes distorted, gunfire can be heard, and next thing we see Von Croy laying dead in the floor. Lara approaches him, looking very confused and unaware of how the events unfolded, and in her panic and confusion decides to flee the scene before the police arrive.
From here one, the story focues on Lara's quest to find out the truth about Von Croy's death, starting with the question of who did it. At first, Lara isn't even sure if she was responsible for the murder, but as the story unfolds she discovers that Von Croy was working for a certain underground group, who were the ones interested in the paintings and who have some sinister plans in hand, and she now must find out everything about them and their plans, as well as seek out the true murderer of Von Croy. The story in Angel of Darkness is by far the best story in any Tomb Raider game. It's gripping, dark, and filled with plenty of intrigues and twists along the way. Best of all, you get to have a small part in the way the story unfolds, as the game features an adventure gaming-esque dialog system, in which you can select different ways to approach a certain conversation. It doesn't alter the big picture but it's a very nice touch.
Large portions of Angel of Darkness defy the conventions of the Tomb Raider series, and at times the game feels more like an adventure game. For me, this was a very refreshing change, one that helped move the story along at a better pace, as well as offer the chance to explore and visit more varied locations than in previous games. But make no mistake, the game is still Tomb Raider at its heart, so expect to find plenty of clever puzzles, explore ancient tombs, navigate through crazy environments, and perform crazy acrobatic moves.
Best of all, the difficulty level (not considering the difficulty you'll have with the controls) has been toned down quite a bit from previous games, and I was very thankful for this. The Tomb Raider games have always been known for being hard, almost painfully hard at times, so much that a walkthrough was a must in every game. Fortunately, Angel of Darkness allows you to take more risks and play more freely by making everything more clear to you, clueing you in as to what you have to do to solve a puzzle or escape a dangerous situation. The game is still challenging and you may require a bit of help in certain sections, but overall the game is much easier to handle, something that allowed me to play the game without feeling overwhelmed or afraid to take risks.
The presentation in Angel of Darkness is overall great, technical issues notwithstanding. Aside from a few clipping issues, as well the previously mentioned texture glitch, the game looks quite sharp. Lara looks better than ever, as she animates much more realistic with more fluid movements in gameplay, as well as great facial expressions during the cutscenes. The locations all look great too, with plenty of detail and great looking textures. The art direction behind the game is phenomenal, as every level is decidedly distinct, while being equally memorable.
As for the sound, it's amazing. There's one small glitch where the voiceovers will cut off while the cutscenes are playing, but that's about the only flaw that can be mentioned. The voice acting is terrific, both from Lara as all of the supporting characters. The ambient sounds are great too, but it's the background music that really steals the show. For the most part it's your typical Tomb Raider music, but this time it's much more inspired and manages to suck you into the game like no Tomb Raider soundtrack before.
It's a shame this game wasn't able to get the recognition it deserved. While neither Core nor Eidos can escape the blame from the poor state in which the game was released, I believe Core in particular really tried their best to make a memorable game and in my view, they suceeded. I can't help but feel bad for them, seeing how the series was taken away from them, although with the amazing job Crystal Dynamics did on Tomb Raider Legend, it was probably a necessary change. But leaving all the issues aside (all the many, many issues), in my opinion, Angel of Darkness is a truly great game. I'll even make a bold claim here and say that with better controls and no technical issues, it would've been the best Tomb Raider game to date. And while most people won't be able to see past those issues, those who can should be rewarded with a truly memorable and inspired action adventure experience.