A Dark Descent or a Radiant Resurrection?
Here we are again. A year after the original three Tomb Raider games were brought back for a new generation, the “Darkness” trilogy has landed. It’s fair to say that the games included in Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered are a little more divisive amongst fans, almost loved and hated in equal measure. Or maybe that’s just the one…
Anyhow, Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, Tomb Raider: Chronicles and Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness are the three games included in this remastered trilogy. Unlike before, there is a narrative thread which links them all, yet each feels very different from one another. However, much like before each has been given the same treatment, starting with a glow up which runs at 60fps.
This is most noticeable and impressive in the fourth and fifth games, as they belong to an older generation than Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness. The textures are certainly crisper and more defined in the newer entry too, and the lighting is improved, but when tapping the menu button to instantly toggle between the original and remastered visuals, the impact feels almost lacklustre.
However, what doesn’t is the excellent soundtrack across all three games. In my opinion this is one of the few edges this trilogy has on the first, and the score still packs a punch to this day. It’s a bigger, wider, sweeping suite of music which does a more effective job of punctuating the emotion in games which carry a deeper narrative than their predecessors.
Lara’s Evolving Character
Across the trilogy you will adventure into Lara’s personal past, as well as adventures never experienced before. Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness takes a very different approach, seeing Lara on the run from the police under suspicion of murder. Her character goes through some interesting changes, as in this game she is very confrontational, almost threatening when compared to her cheeky, wisecracking and borderline flirty approach from previous adventures. I guess the stress of evading the long arm of the law will do that to you.
Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation is probably the most respected of the three games, but it does take a risk in ditching the globe trotting adventure formula and is instead set almost entirely in Egypt. Lara has a raft of new animations from opening doors to climbing statues which gives a pleasing sense of freedom to her. It’s the longest of the three too, and is pretty darn challenging to boot. This can be said for each of the games (for various reasons), so now would be a good time to mention there is once again no autosave. I found myself saving very regularly indeed, especially when confronted with a tricky platforming section.
In all honesty, this is mostly because of the controls. Now, credit where it is due, Lara will now hang to perform a safe drop by walking to the edge and hitting the grab button. This makes sticking with the modern controls much more manageable.
However one hand giveth and one hand taketh away – this is because the daft mechanic of rope swinging is back to infuriate a new generation of players. Instead of swinging with the thumbstick, you’ll need to hold down the left trigger to swing and hit the other at the right time to jump off the rope. It’s inaccurate at best, where sometimes after a huge swing Lara will hardly move forward, or at other times seemingly pass through the rope completely. Similar niggles persist with climbing poles too, it’s manageable but downright infuriating at times.
A Trilogy of Tomb Raiding
I have a real soft spot for Tomb Raider: Chronicles, partly thanks to the level variety making a welcome return. However, a new control issue arose (almost a mirror image of the first trilogy) when crawling through vents and needing to safely hang. I couldn’t manoeuvre Lara to do this, only flip off the edge and to her death. The only solution was switching to the tank controls, and then reversing to the edge so she would automatically hang. It seems as more complex mechanics were introduced in the later games, the modern control scheme struggled to keep up.
Finally we come to Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness which in many ways, is simply odd. I don’t mind ideas such as stealth and buying items from various vendors at all, it certainly edged towards a more open world feel. However, starting a Tomb Raider game on the backstreets of Paris and leaving it a good few hours before Lara even sees a tomb is a strange development choice. Not to mention France’s finest on her tail relentlessly at the start, only to simply disappear not long after.
New Moves and Familiar Frustrations
Another baffling mechanic was Lara increasing her strength by finding blocks to push around in order to kick in doors or move larger objects. There’s no sense of progression or continuity to this; it will crop up when it’s convenient for the design of the level. That said, it’s not all bad as the Louvre segments are still really enjoyable as Lara resembles Catherine Zeta-Jones from Entrapment in one section.
It’s here where the modern controls do a lot to mend issues from the original, but I still found occasions where platforming was really fiddly. I missed a ledge and plummeted to my death more times than I care to count, but Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness is perfectly playable in this remastered collection which is an improvement. That said, here and in the other two games, the fixed camera angles inverting the controls is still a constant annoyance which cannot be avoided.
Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered certainly improves on the original release of these games in numerous ways, however the biggest opportunity has not been fully realised. I could go on for many more hundreds of words about the shortcomings of Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness but the cold hard truth is that the game still has many fundamental issues. It’s cool that many elements cut from the original game due to time pressures have been put back in, but that alone won’t fix what’s wrong here. I guess it’s good that we live in the age of patches, because there is still work yet to do.
In better news Photo Mode is back, but what’s even more interesting is the Flyby Camera Maker. This tool allows you to emulate the sweeping shots which are seen on the opening menu screens of both Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation and Tomb Raider: Chronicles whilst customising Lara and making her the star of the show.
A Nostalgic but Flawed Return to Lara’s Past
And that she is. Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered chronicles a darkness in the narrative for this legendary character, as well as the franchise itself. Many gambles were taken, and increasingly failed to pay off, however these games are part and parcel of Tomb Raider history, warts and all. Aspyr have made progress overall, but this isn’t the substantial leap forward you may be hoping for. The clue is in the title, it’s a remaster not a remake.
Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered can’t quite match the line up of the first trilogy of games, but arguably offers a more varied package, even if at times the attraction is down to sheer curiosity and bemusement.
Important Links
Lara Croft Returns in Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered, Now Available on All Platforms – https://www.thexboxhub.com/lara-croft-returns-in-tomb-raider-iv-vi-remastered-now-available-on-all-platforms/
Buy Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/tomb-raider-iv-vi-remastered/9P4ZKKX7V5ZQ/0010
Or get all six games in one bundle – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/tomb-raider-i-vi-remastered/9NWT8ZHZ3T0M/0010
