Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness (ps2: 2003): Reviews

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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games.

Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness


5.5

based on 37 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 66 votes
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Cheat Code Central

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 vengeance where it is up to her to defeat this unholy alliance, and stop them from unleashing their incredible powers on the world. [Eidos Interactive]

PUBLISHER:	Eidos Interactive
DEVELOPER:	Core Design Ltd.
GENRE(S):	Adventure
PLAYERS:	1
ESRB RATING:	T (Teen)
RELEASE DATE:	June 19, 2003

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Maxim Online

The basic game hasn’t changed from the “run, jiggle, shoot” style we know and love, ensuring Lara will be every bit the guilty pleasure she’s always been.

Play Magazine

The story is brilliant, real-time, and, like they said, dark. The puzzles are simply wicked (bravo that) and Kurtis Trent, possibly the coolest bit player ever. [Aug 2003, p.68]

Gamezilla!

What brings this otherwise masterful game down most are the handful of surprising glitches found throughout the levels. From unactionable actions, to floating shadows, Angel sometimes looks a bit like a beta, which is both saddening and surprising when coming from a company like Eidos.

Games Radar UK (Pre-2006)

The pedestrian pacing of the early levels, the fiddly controls and the fearsomely flighty camera still means that if you have played the entire series from day one or if this is your first encounter, Lara has certainly seen better days. [Playstation 2 Max]

GameShark

Has a great story that looks greats and has more than enough action that will keep you entertained if you will take the time to learn the control and get past the swarm of bugs.

netjak

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.

Game Over Online

Forgive me if my assessment of the game doesn’t jive with popular opinion, I actually kind of enjoyed the game.

TotalGames.net

The game appears to be a little confused as to what it is. Action, adventure, stealth and puzzles all play an equal part in The Angel Of Darkness. Core seems to getting unsure what to do with the franchise, either that or the developer is simply trying too hard.

GameSpot

Numerous bugs and glitches, some superficial and some serious, as well as a cumbersome and often frustrating control scheme seriously hurt the game, making it considerably less enjoyable than it could have been.

GameZone

If you’re able to overlook the awful controls, the unintelligent enemy AI and shifty camera, the game’s great story and fantastic locations will draw you in every step of the way.

Armchair Empire

For now Lara will continue to be a hot chick in a bad game. The only thing done right in this game was graphics.

Cincinnati Enquirer

This action/adventure suffers from sloppy controls, unwieldy camera angles and frame rate issues that can slow the game to a crawl.

GamePro

A big, huge game of half-baked ideas. There’s a ton of gameplay and a pretty interesting story here, if you’re willing to deal with bugs, control problems, and lots of loading screens.

Game Chronicles

Attempts to make several bold steps forward in both gameplay and immersive story design. While it nails the story aspects perfectly there is still just a bit too much of the old Tomb Raider showing through the seams.

Into Liquid Sky

Throw in the fact that she barely walks up to a decent jog and that the effect of the changing camera angles can make controlling her a chore. Just getting her to line up for a jump or to a ladder can be painfully frustrating.

Game Informer

It's 2003, yet I'm still stuck turning six hidden gears in order to open one friggin' door? That's just archaic. Games like "Deus Ex" and "Eternal Darkness" have proven that puzzles don't have to be ridiculously monotonous. [Aug 2003, p.90]

IGN

The game fails in nearly all of the gameplay areas -- control is awkward and miserable at best, combat is pathetic, and stealth is infantile in its implementation -- leaving only Lara's mainstays, exploration and puzzles, intact.

Yahoo! Games

While this game has some glimpses of the past greatness of the Tomb Raider franchise, Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness is so full of glitches and other frustrations that it's hard to enjoy.

PSM Magazine

Painfully average... With the trial-and-error gameplay, lack of very much innovation, and the occasional annoying bugs, it might just require more patience than you have. [Sept 2003, p.36]

Electronic Gaming Monthly

Darkness' [control] scheme is more ponderous than ever and feels like it was designed by 10 people who didn't get along. [Sept 2003, p.128]

Gaming Age

This game certainly isn't breaking any new ground, neither have the past few that came before it.

Total Video Games

Whilst we found ourselves forgiving Lara for moving like a 7-ton dumper truck and Core for basically realising that their new ideas weren’t quite cutting it, we can’t say the same for the bugs that rear their ugly heads all too often - we’ve simply lost count of the number of times we’ve had to reset our Playstation2 because Lara has got stuck in a wall yet again.

GamingWorld X

It lacks the polish and quality necessary to make it a memorable experience, and despite the developers sincerest efforts to shake the series’ stigma as cash-in games, this title is an unrewarding experience.

Game Revolution

Despite its new look, fairly interesting storyline, and a bucket load of new moves and features, this game is fatally flawed by the completely revamped control system which makes it a nightmare of frustration.

G4 TV

An unfinished, bug-ridden game. Blame Core for being too ambitious. Blame Eidos for shipping it too soon. But don't blame us if you buy it.

Official U.S. Playstation Magazine

Given the heritage, and the burden it carries as a flag-bearer for videogaming, it's appalling... The biggest issue I have with it is that the controls are atrocious. [Sept 2003, p.90]

Adrenaline Vault

The visuals, sound and even the gameplay itself hold potential, but almost every aspect of the latest Tomb Raider feels incomplete.

EuroGamer

You're going to get stuck, regularly, without remorse. And the main reason you'll get stuck is the terribly unresponsive controls' unholy alliance with the drunken camera that render the proliferation of tediously precise jump puzzles much more of a challenge than they should be.

All Game Guide

It is an absolute shame that the controls are such a beast, because there are many interesting elements in the game.

Village Voice

The camera almost never points where you need it to, Lara moves erratically even as simple tasks like opening a drawer require precise maneuvering, stealth mode is buggy, and opponents are all too easily dispatched in crude combat. It's a real bust.

GMR Magazine

Controlling Lara is like a dream - that one where you simply can't get to where you want to go fast enough, no matter what you try. [Sept 2003, p.74]

Firing Squad

This is the sort of eternally frustrating bottom-barrel dreck that makes people break gamepads, monitors, and kneecaps (don’t ask).

GameSpy

To top it all off, not only is AOD almost unplayable when it's working, it's also plagued by a host of glitches that will make you glad that you can save the game at any point... An early contender for "Worst Game of the Year."

Entertainment Weekly

At times, maneuvering Lara is like steering a battered shopping cart; Lara often takes a half second to react to commands. [18 July 2003, p.82]

PSX Nation

This has got to be THE WORST CONTROL IN THE HISTORY OF THIRD-PERSON ACTION GAMES.

Cheat Code Central

Eidos and Core Design have a debacle on their hands. Angel of Darkness is by far one of the worst games I have ever played. The control, slowdown and glitches are so crippling that the game is honestly, barely functional at times.

GameNow

The sloppiest major game release I've ever played... an inexcusable mess. [Sept 2003, p.50]

The average user rating for this game is 5.5 (out of 10) based on 66 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Midcomsys M. gave it a1:
Tryed playing this game years ago but it was so slow and uncontrollable I thought my PC was knackered. Now loaded on to my ultra modern PC and it's even worse than I can remember. HOW on gods green earth are you supposed to control Lara? I'm constantly battling with the controls to get her to move correctly. I can barely get passed the first level (Parisian Back Streets), I've tried using the KYBD, Mouse, Gamepad. it's absolute rubbish. The previous games were easy to control and lots of fun but this is just plain garbage. Its going in the bucket. No wonder Crystal Dynamics got the contract. Still Legend's pish too, has great graphics but not enough gameplay nor puzzles. Tombraider, hmm better buried I say.

Sam gave it a4:
What's the worst part of this awful game? The fact we waited, waited, waited, and waited so long for it, and we get a piece of crap.

Echelon gave it a1:
Imagine, if you will, a game for the next-generation systems where the main character looks like a frighteningly artificial, raccoon-eyed plasticine figure whipped up by some college freshman for his "3D Animation for Beginners" class (especially compared to the detailed, realistic females of "Soul Calibur", "Resident Evil", and "Final Fantasy"). Imagine a world where, every time you walk across one teeny city block, it takes 45 seconds for the next city block screen to load (as opposed to say the sprawling, fast-loading cities of "GTA: San Andreas"). Imagine trying to make your character run and have her hesitate every time, or trying to line her up for a jump and have her twitch too far to the left, or two far to the right without you even touching the analog stick. Imagine not being able to interact with _anything_ in the game unless you stand in just the right position or angle or pixel space. Imagine rumbling to that cool "Matrix" bullet-time effect--except it's not an effect at all, but a system slowdown, where you can slowly watch your character's ass being kicked whilst frantically pressing all the wrong buttons that won't work because the game can't keep up with your input. Imagine having to backtrack almost all the way across a level to do a nonsensical action that will somehow let you open the door all the way at the end. Now, imagine, if you will, spending your hard-earned cash for a game that makes you restart your PS2 because Lara got stuck in a wall _again_. Bottom line: the only thing you're getting from this game is an aneurysm.

Hanna joe gave it a 10:
Brilliant game though very difficuilt but wicked.

Christopher S. gave it a 7:
Pretty good game. I like Kurtis Trent casue that's me. But I've beat with and without cheats and it's kinda boring.

Lily gave it a 6:
I'm pissed because Core and Eidos somehow found a way to destroy Tomb Raider, a title that holds the greatest game I've ever played. Don't get me wrong, some of the elements in AOD are very good (Kurtis Trent, story, graphics) but the fact that they took THREE + YEARS and ended up with a bug ridden, incomplete mess is horrendous.

Ben N. gave it a 6:
U'd have more chance controllin a motorbike at 180mph on diesel covered roads then u would controllin Lara, is it just me or when u ask her 2 run it takes bout 2 seconds for her 2 actually respond at all? part from controls though good game.