In Defense of TR: Angel of Darkness

[Yixian]

This game got a ton of slack, and it certainly wasn't AAA, but I still really, really enjoyed it.

Perhaps it's because I'm really an adventure gamer, and this game brought a lot of those elements into the traditional TR platforming, as opposed to the arcadey action found now in Legend.

The music, the atmosphere and for the most part the graphics were all top notch. Particularly the music.

The graphics and art design could have done with a little more creativity, and the game really missed a trick by underpopulating it's urban areas - doing so would have sent the level of atmosphere through the frickin' roof.

But scenes like the [spoiler] Von Croy murder and the first glimpses of the Nephelim brought the series to life more for me than any other installments.

It could have done without the irritating male-Lara, and could have toned down on the magic and super sci-fi elements (I'm still bleeding for a TR with a subtle, realistic plot - murder and intrigue etc.).

But overall I found it more immersive than Legend.



Now Legend is... well... for one, too frickin easy. I mean really. And it's so linear, and ouncuated with such effortless firefights, that it feels like a tech demo, or an arcade title.

If you ask me TR8 needs to be lot harder, a lot less linear, and have more of the adventuring aspects of Angel of Darkness - albiet, not so many urban levels.


So why didn't y'all like AoD?

[Viamp]

The main reason I didn't like AoD was because it was so damn buggy, unfinished and the controls were horrendous. I did find Legend more enjoyable, although I'll agree it was too linear. Anniversary is (supposedly) following a more open format so I'll look forward to see how that goes.

[Svetlana]

The reasons that my copy of Angel of Darkness is currently gathering even more dust is the simple fact that the game was riddled with bugs. When playing through the Paris nightclub section, Lara would run and her whole body would sink beneath the floor into a massive blue void.

The controls in Angel of Darkness were atrocious and this made controlling Lara an infuriating process.

The Tomb Raider series desperately needs to return to its roots. Tomb Raider 1 is by far the best game out of the series because of the gorgeous areas to explore and the (relative) non-linearity. Legend briefly touched upon Tomb Raider 1's greatness with the atmospheric England and Himalayan levels but other than that, Legend was a little formulaic for my liking.

[Yixian]

Agreed. I forgot about the controls.

However I played the Mac version, which had the majority of bags fixed. I only once had that sinking-into-blueness glitch, and that was in the Prague sewers.

Back to it's roots is all well and good, but I'm playing through TRII now, and I can appreciate it in a retro sense, but were it to be released now people would demand much more story-telling, explanations and non-linearity.

TRII with some Broken Sword-ish storytelling would be like... my all time favourite game.

But Legend did so well I don't know whether that's on the cards.

I found Legend repetative, linear, easy and the story far too Saturday-morning. TR was always one of the more mature titles, and next gen doesn't necesserily have to mean dumbing down does it?

[livingthegamerlife]

yeah i heard a lot of negative things about AoD. that's why i never bothered getting a copy. i've bought so many games that i thought was good but turns out it sucks. so now i go to game sites for reviews before i even think about buying a game. you know just to be sure. the tomb raider game to buy is the Legend: Anniversary edition. now that i'm buying.

[branden1979]

AOD in my opinion was a great TR game. Ofcourse it did have its fair share of bugs. But the story line and the lentgh of the game was great. Tomb Raider Legend was entirely too short. If I wasn't a TR fan. I'd be highly dissapointed in Tomb Raider Legend.

[Lewis_HamiltonF1]

the tomb raider game to buy is the Legend: Anniversary edition. now that i'm buying.

Never heard of that game, is it new? lol I take it you mean Tomb Raider: Anniversary

[Yixian]

I can't reallt put my finger on what it was, but TR titles from 1 to AoD had a more meaty feel to their gameplay. They probably weren't particularly free roaming or non-linear in reality, but they sure felt it - big, open spaces where the next ledge to hop to or ledge to swing across wasn't as obvious as it is in Legend, where the frickin things stand out like shiney saw thumbs.

I always felt the 1-AoD TRs were essentially athletics simulators in ancient tombs with puzzle elements.

Legend felt like a regular linear platformer. Way to friccckkkeeen easy, and the levels were too short.

Plus, none of the story was told through gameplay. That's one thing AoD did right - specific, unique objectives with in-level story development.



The controls are real nice in Legend though, and it's a great engine.


But I want 8 to be more sandbox. Gimme a big obstacle course, a Lara with a ton of different moves, crank up the difficulty and let me loose.

[livingthegamerlife]

Never heard of that game, is it new? lol I take it you mean Tomb Raider: Anniversary

lol yeh that's what i meant. i just didn't want to type the whole thing. lol my bad..

[Fenris]

The great thing about Tombraider is that everyone can find something they like about it. That being said that also brings up the problem of pleasing everyone with each game. Some want it to be blisteringly hard puzzles, others want constant combat, while some just want plenty of long stuffy tombs to explore. I like the splunking myself. Who's right and who is Wrong? TRL tried to cover all the bases while doing what CD does best, tell one hell of a story (See: the Legacy of Kain series) and I think it succeded. People are talking about Lara again as more then just a punchline and we should thank them for bringing her back to the top again.

And whats all this about TRL being short? Took me a while the first time through (I don't use SG's ever) cause I was to busy marveling at the secenery and trying to find the idols. I'm playing it again now and I'm trying new way to do things like in the Yakuza lair instead of pushing the ball down the hall with the turret I'm trying to summersult down it without getting shot (They had to have put it in there for a reason and looks cool as hell). Hell Lara's mansion took me two hours the first time.

[Beodude123]

I rented this once, played it for about 20 minutes, and couldn't play after that. The controls were so bad. I remember that it controlled somewhat like Resident Evil, but just plain bad.

[Yixian]

I actually got used to the controls in the end. In tight quarters it was a pain, but general tomb raiding was easy enough.

Combat was horrenous ofc, but then, Tomb Raider doesn't need combat. Seeing Tomb Raider Legends action-game style boss encounters made me cry.

[nuffmon]

The worst part of AoD was the end. It was such an anti-climax. I enjoyed Legend but it was hardly memorable. Although the graphics and controls were improved, i don't think they understood the game like Core did. I still enjoy TR1, so hopefully Anniversary will be better.