shooter

Wow! Tomb Raider AOD is one of the best games that i have bought for the PS2. I think that anybody who critisises the controls must be crazy - TRAOD was the first ever PS2 game that i have ever played, and i managed just fine with them.

The graphics are superb, and the sets are really well put together. Lara's movement and the actions she can perform are fantastic: i think that the new steath moves and hand-to-hand combat are great. They add more depth to the game and improve the character interaction with the surroundings.

Anyone who thinks that it is like Resident Evil (yes, i have heard some people say that) are also wrong, because it still has many of the original TR elements in it, but with some new features. They work really well together to make one of the best games that i have played!

The only critisisms that i can find with it is the lack of her house training level, cos i used to enjoy wandering round and having a swim, even with the creepy butler. The only other problem with it is when you are looking around and the camera sort of goes into the back of Lara's head. Eurgh, its horrible and kinda disturbing.

But enough about that, because overall it is a very good and enjoyable game. It's well worth the money!

Had Eidos bothered to finish Angel of Darkness before they released it, they might've had a halfway decent game. It's certainly lengthy and offers a variety of challenges, even if the gameplay hasn't really advanced much beyond old-school Tomb Raider object-manipulation and shooting really dumb bad guys. (Yes, I know there's a stealth mode. It adds nothing. There's no penalty for being spotted, a la MGS or Splinter Cell, so why not just go ahead and shoot everything in sight?) But even with all the delays, Eidos never managed to fix this game's considerable flaws. Two major areas stand out: control and graphics.

First, the controls. They're terrible. Lining up jumps is awkward, as the game offers only walk and run speeds instead of true gradated analog control. The button layout is confusing-- even a simple act like holstering your weapon is difficult, since it's not mapped to an intuitive button-- and the manual actually identifies the target-switching button incorrectly (not a small gaffe, since one boss battle requires you to utilize this feature). The inventory screen is a mess, and once again makes simple tasks (say, reloading your weapon) way too complicated. And even when you figure out how to move and fight properly, Lara still seems to move too slow... and that's without the game-crippling slowdown you'll periodically encounter.

And that brings me to the matter of the graphics. First, those who consider these graphics "good" simply haven't played any real state-of-the-art PS2 games. The textures are repetitive and drab, character motion lacks smoothness, and there's little use of lighting to speak of. The cut-scenes are even worse-- just compare with Silent Hill 3 (yes, the full game's not out, but all you need is the demo to get the picture), with its phenomenally expressive characters, to see how badly Eidos has mangled AoD's story sequences. But the in-game graphics are just blah; it's the slowdown that's inexcusable. It occurs even when there shouldn't be anywhere enough on screen to cause it-- such as the end of the first level, where all you've got is rain falling and a door to enter. Never mind that no console game should experience slowdown anyway, if the designers truly know the hardware; why does it happen with so little going on?

There's simply no excuse for Eidos to release such an obviously unfinished product, after so many release date changes, and charge full price for it. It's glitch-ridden, it controls badly, and its gameplay is about three years out of date (at least). Rent it if you're curious, or believe it can't possibly be that bad; but save your purchasing cash for a game that truly deserves it. With Silent Hill 3 only a month away, there's no reason to waste money on AoD.

The latest in the long line of Tomb Raider games, Angel of Darkness has a reputation that no game developer would be envious of producing.... that of a bug laden, uninspiring game. I'm not here to tell you that it's completely untrue, but it's certainly not the gospel either. Those familiar with the series since it's conception will attest that the games have always had awkward controls. Angel of Darkness is no exception. What this game does have going for it is a bit of innovation on Eidos's part.

This time, Lara is more of a stealthy character. In addition, there's now another playable character added to the series named Kurtis Trent. Lastly, Lara finds herself out of the Tombs...and into an urban setting. Some may argue that the game may have ventured too far from the successful formula, but you have to at least give them credit for trying to bring something different to the table. If Eidos is guilty of anything, it's stalling for time needlessly. They could have released this game much sooner, instead of leading us on into believing how much greater it would be with "just a little more time".

Graphically, the game doesn't look too bad, even if we have seen better on the PS2. The storyline isn't too bad, and is actually interesting, if you will just give it a chance. As expected, the sound and voice-overs are classic Lara. It's just a shame that the controls couldn't have been tweaked just a bit more for Lara's PS2 debut. My biggest gripe with the game was how it would freeze up from time to time.... for no reason. It didn't happen a lot, but it did happen. The game also hiccupped every so often, with Lara seeming to slow down considerably. In a Matrix or Max Payne game, this might have been nice. However, it wasn't part of the game-play here. Sad but true, it is due to faulty programming.

While it cannot be argued that Angel of Darkness is the worst in the series, I wouldn't go as far as to say the game is an absolute failure. Yes, the game has it's fair share of bugs, and the controls can be quite frustrating.... but overall, the game isn't half bad if you give it the chance. Is it worth paying full price for? Probably not, but it's worth the price it's going for these days. If you've been holding off on buying this because of the bad things you've heard about it, you might want to give it shot anyway. Underneath all the imperfections is a Tomb Raider game. And that after all, is what it's all about.

"alankelly"