The 'upgrades' that Lara receives throughout the game are nothing more than a contrivance, allowing Lara to jump further, run faster, etc. His levels are an interesting diversion, reminiscent of the early Resident Evil games more than anything else, but his inclusion seems mainly to drag out the story a little more. An upshot here is that the cutscenes, while graphically average, feature topnotch voice acting, and the game's music is one of the best video-game scores to date.Īs expected, this leads Lara on a wild goose chase, exploring such new areas as a night club called Le Serpent Rouge, discovering the secret hideout of a potentially powerful ally, and even briefly taking control of a new character named Kurtis Trent. There's something called the Monstrum stalking Paris (that's sort of the major plot, so I won't give away details), and it's Lara's job to figure out what's really up. After what seems to take too long, you finally start to gain clues as to what is really going on. While most of the previous Tomb Raider games had you traipsing about exotic locales, the latest installment begins with Lara accused of murdering her former mentor, Werner Von Croy, in Paris. Now, on the run from the authorities, Lara must avoid being captured as she strives to keep the alchemist and his alliance from unleashing their evil on the world. Croft, but our heroine's quest is complicated as she is framed for the murder of her former mentor, Von Croy. Stopping the villain would be difficult enough, even for the resourceful Ms. A new system is designed to offer smoother control of Lara's many moves, which include new stealth attacks and hand-to-hand combat.įive forgotten works of art, the 14th century Obscura Paintings, will unlock devastating powers if they fall into the hands of a mysterious alchemist who leads a secret alliance of powerful people. Lara also develops throughout the game, as her abilities improve and adapt to the way she's played. She must interact with other characters, and complex situations call for her to make ethical decisions where there is no clear-cut 'good' or 'evil' choice. Lara must enter a dark, supernatural world where nothing is certain. The role-playing aspects of this adventure are slightly more central to play than in earlier games.

Lara herself enjoys the engine upgrade as well, as she's now rendered with ten times the number of polygons as in earlier Tomb Raider games. This edition is built on a completely new engine, which pumps out 'next-generation' graphics and allows many new animations and interactions. Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness has been billed as the first true renovation of the best-selling series since the ground-breaking 1996 original.

Tomb raider angel of darkness ps3