Tomb Raider? Not so much
And behold, sometimes it’s just plain wrong to take a game series in a new direction. You can upgrade it (as Legend proofed and Anniversary literally does), but don’t try to mix it with other successful games. You will get something decidedly less than their sum.
They try to be Splinter cell, with some sneaking and more urban locations and later on there’s one level that’s a total rip-off, and a sad one at that, of Silent Hill (another of my favourite series), “creepy” camera angles included.
There’s a bigger emphasis on the guns (WRONG!). And then there’s the interactive element, where you get to talk to other characters, which is everything (mostly boring) but interactive.
The levels exist of a succession of narrow corridors and big (some really big) rooms. Some of them have clever level design, but most just want you to hit a button, pull a lever and go on. Sometimes that’s difficult, just because there’s no real logic to doing things. It’s a waste, because some of these locations look quite pretty.
Suddenly, you realize you’re lost without the old and trusted square-built levels. You knew which jump you needed with a certain distance. Here it’s much more hit-and-miss as distances aren’t always clear.
Familiar of the PS-one games are the hokey movements. The animation hereof has improved quite nicely, but the controls only got worse. It’s not as frustrating though as most will have you believe.
My biggest complaint however is you don’t get to raid that much tombs. Two, more precisely, in 8 short levels (total of 37). You get the streets of Paris and Prague, a discotheque, some apartments, the Louvre, a whole series of laboratories and the like, but so little tombs. It’s a shame.
What got me through was my love of the series and knowing I would play Legend afterwards, which got it completely right. It was still nice to play with Lara (don’t get me started on Kurtis) and the music was on the note: adventurous, exciting, moving,...
If you’re a fan play Angel Of Darkness to make up your own mind and enjoy the story.
JaQ