2003

In this year, the Iraq war began. US and allied forces invaded the country and quickly took control of Baghdad. Saddam Hussein was later captured and armed groups formed an insurgency. War began in the Darfur region of Sudan following an insurrection by armed forces against the government. Terrorists attacked Saudi Arabia, Chechnya, Russia and Morocco. Political figures were assassinated in Serbia and Northern Ireland. The war on terrorism also resulted in the creation of the Department of Homeland Security in USA, the arrests of people in Britain associated with a terrorist plot and the arrest of the mastermind of the Twin Towers attack, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, in Pakistan. A newspaper columnist leaked the name of a CIA agent as part of a plot, connected to political figures, to punish the agent and her husband for publicly stating that intelligence suggesting Saddam Hussein was attempting to obtain material to use in nuclear weapons was false. Military operations began in the Aceh province of Indonesia, Solomon Islands, Liberia and Israel bombs targets in Syria. Scientific achievements suggested the completion of one area of advancements and the progression into new areas. The Human Genome Project was completed with 99% of the human genome sequenced, Hubble Space Telescope started Hubble Ultra-Deep Field, the space shuttle Colombia was launched on it’s final flight and space craft were launched by China, USA and the European Space Agency. Films released this year includes continuations of popular stories (Matrix Reloaded, Lord of the Ring: Return of the King, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, etc.), family-friendly comedies featuring comedians previously known for adult humour (The Cat in the Hat, Daddy Day Care, Cheaper by the Dozen, etc.), comedies that feature sex (Boat Trip, American Wedding, Old School, etc.), thrillers with stories which revolve around a novel plot device (Phone Booth, Identity, The Recruit, etc.), films that use martial arts (Kill Bill: Volume 1, The Medallion, Shanghai Knights, etc.), adventure films set in a past era (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, etc.), dramatic films set in the past (Cold Mountain, Mona Lisa Smile, The Last Samurai, etc.), superhero films (X-Men 2, Daredevil, Hulk, etc.) and the second Tomb Raider film Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life. Music from this year included singers singing about lovers having other lovers and had a heavy rhythm (Justin Timberlake, etc.), songs which lamented lost love using simplistic music (Coldplay, Evanescence, Dido, etc.), songs which reflected on humanity (Christina Aguilera, Black Eye Peas, etc.), upbeat songs about unusual, dying or intense love (Scissor Sisters, Fountains of Wayne, OutKast, The Darkness, etc.) and songs from rock singers from an earlier era (Bon Jovi, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Rolling Stones, etc.). Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness entered into this mix.

The Story

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A jackal head lies on the ground, it’s sinister red eyes visible in the dark. A flash of lightening exposes it’s golden head and smile. A reminder of a past adventure? Or Seth gloating over his revenge? Another flash reveals it is lying in a comfortable sitting room with walls lined with books. The storm exposes a broken table, evidence of a recent fight. The credits roll as the camera follows a corridor leading from the room.

“There have been seventeen reported murders so far in the latest outbreak of Monstrum killings.” An unseen newsreader announces in a sombre voice. “It appears to be the work of a single, highly psychotic perpetrator. The name of the latest victim is just released: Professor Werner von Croy.”

The camera reaches the front door. Shadows can be seen moving underneath. Strong hands rip the yellow police tape across the door. “A female, described as Caucasian, brunette, wearing a ponytail, was seen leaving the most recent crime scene.” the announcer continues as a woman opens the front door and enters the flat. “Officers are advised to use extreme caution when apprehending the suspect.” The woman continues her journey along the corridor, stopping at a doorway before entering another room. “At present, nothing seems to link those involved.” She walks into the room, towards the open window at the other end. Curtains can seen flapping violently while lightening reveals more broken furniture and strange, painted symbols covering the walls. “There are no known survivors of these attacks, so far.” The woman’s feet step on a picture in a frame among blood stains in the middle of the carpet. She steps back, alerted by the sound of cracking, and picks up the object. Using the lightening flashes, she sees the picture shows her and Professor von Croy standing next to a strange object. She stands up, walks across the room and places the photograph on the sideboard. She looks into a mirror and sees Lara Croft’s face illuminated by the lightening.

Two days earlier

Another thunderstorm. Professor Werner von Croy and Lara sit on separate armchairs in the professor’s living room.

“Help me, Lara, I need you to get something for me.” Professor von Croy says sorrowfully.

“Go on.” Lara replies with tension in her voice.

“I am tracking five Obscura Paintings for a client called Eckhardt, but he is a psychopath.”

“Why should I care?” Lara asks menacingly while leaning forward.

“Because I am being stalked.” von Croy says while rising from his chair “People are dying out there.” He continues, his plea becoming more shaken with fear in his voice.

“Handle it, Werner.” Lara responds in an offhand manner while standing up

“Lara, please.” Werner manages to block Lara’s path before running to retrieve a scrap of paper “Look, go and see this woman, Carvier, she can help.”

“I’m going.”

As Lara walks towards the front door, Werner dashes forward to seize her arm. Lara swings her arm to release his grip and turns to face him.

“Egypt, Werner.” Lara pushes the elderly man onto a nearby armchair. She leans over him, positions her face close to him and angrily tells him “You walked away and left me.”

“Get out.” Werner yells, producing an antique pistol in his left hand.

The room becomes engulfed in blackness, only a bright light is left as Werner fires a volley of shots from his weapon. With a cry, Werner stumbles backwards into a wall. He is then thrown against another wall, releasing his gun which flies across before hitting the floor and sliding across the carpet to rest underneath a table. Werner falls to the ground. Lara crouches over him a rolls him into her arms. While lightening strikes and thunder rumbles, she lowers him to the floor, the curtains lit by a ghostly light. She rises to her feet and checks her hands. Both hands are covered in blood.

A pair of police officers, equipped with night vision goggles and accompanied by aggressive dogs, wait in a van.

Lara runs down a narrow alley through heavy rain.

A police van, it’s sirens screaming, turns a corner and parks in front of Lara. Lara stops running and watches. The van doors are shoved open and the dogs leap out and run down the alley. Lara scans the passage, she sees a brown door and runs towards it, her motion ending with a shoulder barge that forces the door open. She sees an once-grand staircase within the dilapidated hall. The police officers follow their angry dogs towards her. Lara enters the building and runs up the stairs at a fast pace. The dogs follow closely. Lara reaches a passageway at the top of the stairs and escapes along it closely pursued by the animals, excited by the chance to catch her. She passes ruined carpet, dim lights and boarded up doorways until she reaches a window at the end of the corridor. She turns to face her pursuers. One of the dogs, feeling that he will soon catch his prey, leaps, his mouth twisted into a fierce snarl. He hits her and forces her backwards. She hits the window and it smashes, leaving her to fall into the drop the other side. She falls down the side of the building with the shards of the glass. Her fall is broken by the soft filled bin bags of a dumpster. She rolls onto the hard pavement and slowly rises to her feet. She looks up at the broken window and sees one of the dogs leaning out, her backpack hanging from it’s jaws. The other dog appears, barking viciously. Lara runs into a small passageway.

Lara follows the passage until she reaches a some stairs blocked by an iron gate. She leaps over a metal railing to drop onto the ground. She stands up, prepared for the chase.

The player evades the police by climbing onto rooftops and running through abandoned buildings until they reach Margot Carvier’s apartment. Mlle Carvier reveals that Professor von Croy accepted a commission five weeks ago that has left him extremely fearful. The commission was from a man called Eckhardt interested in artefacts called the Obscura Paintings. Professor von Croy approached Mlle Carvier at the Louvre. Lara retrieves Professor von Croy’s notebook from Mlle Carvier and escapes while her host calls the police. Lara evades the police and escapes into the night.

The notebook describes Professor von Croy’s research into the Obscura paintings. The five paintings are described as pieces of alchemy, created during the 12th Century, which were hidden by a group of warrior monks called the Lux Veritatis. It also discusses the five Obscura engravings, drawings based on the original Obscura paintings, which give clues to the locations of the paintings. The notebook also contains information on the black cabal (a collection of sinister alchemists which fought the Lux Veritatis), the peripatic shards (“Weapons of light”) and the nephilim (creatures said to be a cross-breed of humans and angels that were exterminated during biblical times, except for one called the Sleeper that is believed to reside in Turkey). The notebook also describes Professor von Croy’s actions, including his wariness about Eckhardt, his contact with a man called Bouchard, buying the Obscura engravings from a man called Mathis Vasily, finding hidden symbols under the surface of the paintings, investigating the Louvre as a place where one painting is hidden and his attempt to reach Lara.

Lara wakes up the next morning in a derelict train carriage situated on disused railway tracks in a Parisian ghetto. After interviewing local people, Lara learns that Louis Bouchard is a gangster who owned a nearby nightclub, Le Serpent Rouge. She also learns that many members of his staff where murdered by the Monstrum and only a few remain. Lara also discovers that the police have announced that Margot Carvier is the latest victim of the Monstrum.

The player finds the former barman of Le Serpent Rouge, who asks Lara to retrieve an item he left in the club. The player finds the object in the club, now abandoned due to the murders, while avoiding members of Bouchard’s security teams. After giving him his possessions, Pierre the barman reveals that a black-haired man also asked about Bouchard after Lara left. Lara had seen the same man drive off on a motorcycle prior to entering the club. The player follows the Pierre’s instructions to find Bouchard’s hideout beneath St. Aicard’s Church. The same events will occur with Bernard the elderly ex-janitor as Pierre the former barman.

After entering the hideout, the player sees a man writhing on a bed. The man is covered in a strange metallic substance. The player enters a room to reach Bouchard. Bouchard tells Lara that his men have been targeted recently. Arnaud, the man in the adjacent room, is his strongest man and the only person to have survived the attacks. He also reveals that Professor von Croy contacted him to purchase maps of the Louvre and weapons. Lara asks for equipment and explosives. Bouchard tells Lara that Daniel Rennes the pawnbroker has the items and requests that she deliver some fake passports to the same man.

As Lara enters the pawnbroker’s shop, she is passed by a large man with long grey hair and wearing white bandages under a gauntlet. The player finds the front of the shop in disarray. Moving into the backroom, the player finds the body of Rennes, along with a strange symbol painted in what seems to be blood. The player, using ascrap of paper in Rennes’ wallet can enter his strong room and take the needed items. This leads to a explosive device been detonated. The player can avoid the explosion by escaping down a trapdoor that leads to a tunnel.

The black-haired man calmly lights a cigarette and watches as Lara runs through a tunnel pursued by a fierce explosion. She jumps out the end of the pipe and falls to the ground below, fire burning her jacket.

The grey-haired man addresses a small audience in an room built with ancient stones and filled with bookcases, huge gargoyles and a large wooden table. He explains to some “Cabal members” that they posses three Obscura paintings and Professor von Croy has located the fourth. The audience consists of a blonde man dressed in a black coat, a woman wearing a green sleeveless dress with black gloves and a man dressed in a green shirt and hat. The speaker tells them they will reassemble at the Strahov in Prague (the location of the last painting) after finding the fourth painting. He states they will reawaken the Sleeper and hope they will be more successful this time. An unusual metallic cage is seen and glimpses are shown of a pale hand inside. A man called Gunderson is called and the speaker (Eckhardt) rests his hand on his shoulder and tells him to search for the painting.

The player infiltrates the Louvre through the storm drain. Lara learns the Obscura Paintings were created by Pieter von Eckhardt and used to hide the Sanglyph. The paintings were seized by the Lux Veritatis, who used a man called Brother Obscura to paint over the paintings with religious imagery (to make the world such a better place and annoy Eckhardt). Obscura made secret copies, the Obscura Engravings, for some reason and the paintings and engravings were hidden. She also learns the Nephilim once populated Turkey (in biblical times) before becoming extinct and had the ability to change shape.

The Player reaches the archaeological dig at the Louvre and finds a door the leads to the Tomb of the Ancients, which leads to the Hall of Seasons. The Player finds a tomb and retrieves the Obscura Painting. The Player returns to the Louvre to find it overrun by masked gunmen. As Lara escapes the art gallery, she meets the dark-haired man who demonstrates his ability to disarm her in a seductive way, walk through walls, knock down doors without touching them and his unusual weapon (a spiked disc he can control from afar). Outside, both intruders are rendered unconscious by a man with the ability to change shape, switching between a masked gunman and Bouchard’s former doorman.

Lara is woken by Bouchard, who agrees to take her to Professor von Croy’s apartment in his chauffer-driven limo (apparently he gave up hiding) while telling her that the Monstrum has murdered Mathias Vasily in Prague. After she enters the apartment, Bouchard arranges for a man called the Cleaner to intercept her.

Entering the apartment, Lara remembers her final conversation with Professor von Croy and Eckhardt appearing behind her. Eckhardt knocked her to the ground and she lost consciousness. Eckhardt strangled Professor von Croy and used his blood to decorate the room with strange symbols. While exploring the apartment, the player learns that the Lux Veritatis were a 12th century offshoot of the Knights Templar, dedicated to suppressing evil, particularly works of sorcery and alchemy. They destroyed Pieter van Eckhardt, the Black Alchemist, in 1445, who created the Sanglyph, an alchemist object made of five metallic objects. She also learns about the Cabal, a group of five alchemists and sorcerers in the 14th and 15th centuries, murdered by Eckhardt so he could learn their secrets and battled the Lux Veritatis even after Eckhardt’s disappearance. She also defeats a gunman attempting to burn down the apartment. She learns the gunman was sent by Bouchard, who is desperate to reach Prague, and finds a business card belonging to Mathias Vasily.

In Prague, the player meets a journalist named Luddick. Luddick, outside Vasily’s apartment tells her that he was involved with the “mafia” and attempted to keep something they wanted, so they used the Monstrum to kill him. After killing him, the “mafia” removed evidence and kept it in the Strahov, the centre of “mafia” activity in Prague, which has been busy recently. The journalist shows Lara pictures of Bouchard (claiming he arrived the day before) and Eckhardt (claiming he is the head of the “mafia”) and claims there are five other members. He promises to use his contacts to get her access to the Strahov. He seems to refer to the Cabal as the mafia.

She finds Bouchard in Vasily’s apartment and, after knocking him unconscious, ties him into a sitting position to interrogate him. He reveals that Eckhardt is the Monstrum and has been pressuring Bouchard into killing Lara. He was also forced to take a painting from the Louvre and take it to the Strahov. He reveals the Cabal uses the mafia front to hide their activities and are protecting Eckhardt. He claims Professor von Croy was murdered because he was faxing information to Vasily to recover the engravings (which would lead to the Obscura paintings) and he learnt too much information while attempting to obtain the Obscura painting hidden in the Louvre. Bouchard also reveals the murders are part of a ritual to revive the Cubiculum Nephili to breed the extinct Nephilim race back into existence. He claims the final engraving shows the location of the Vault of Trophies (a secret stronghold of the Lux Veritatis beneath the Strahov), which Eckhardt is desperate to enter.

While searching Vasily’s home, Lara learns the Periapt Shards are three crystalline shards (“weapons of light”) shaped like spearheads and the Cubiculum Nephili (the Sleeper) is a stone cask rumoured to contain the remains of the extinct Nephilim race, which is said to be buried in Turkey. The player recovers the Obscura painting and leaves the apartment. Lara discovers Bouchard has escaped his imprisonment and finds his dead body hidden in a storeroom.

Outside, Lara meets Luddick. Luddick gives her a card to enter the Strahov, after she promises to give him an exclusive interview, and tells her workers have gone missing from the building. He also sells her a gun. He drives her to the complex and she enters.

As the player infiltrates the Strahov, they find a room with Eckhardt running with covered hand along a wall. Gunderson enters holding Luddick and forces the journalist into a chair, claiming he was found at the loading bay. Eckhardt places his covered hand upon the prisoner and blue light issues from the man’s eyes, which turns orange and causes the body to become alight. Meanwhile, a strange red symbol is mysteriously painted on the wall during the event.

Lara deactivates the power to a section of the Strahov. Armed men are seen guarding a container suspended over a large pit. As the power is lost, a door to container is broken and some of the men are killed. A strange creature is seen escaping.

The player finds the green-shirted man in bio-research facility. He tells Lara that the Cabal control everything in Prague and Eckhardt is going to make the members immortal after reviving the Nephilim race. He states that they are holding the Sleeper in the Strahov and will use the remains to breed a new generation of the species. He also claims a prototype creature was created. He uses a noxious spray to distract Lara while escaping.

After exploring the bio-research facility, Lara watches as the green-shirted man (named Muller) is chastised by Gunderson for the power being out. Eckhardt  demands that the dome is locked down before the woman in the green sleeveless dress (named Boaz) enters, claiming there is a problem in the Sanatorium. She reveals she was unable to destroy the proto Nephilim (as ordered) because she did not use the Periapt Shard, possessed by the man in the black coat. Eckhardt, angry at his orders being ignored, commands Muller to lower one of his creations, a strange pod, and pushes Boaz into each, which seems to digest her.

Exploring further into the facility, Lara enters a container. She sees the black-haired man outside, who tells her that he is going to re-activate the power and leave her sealed inside the container. Lara then shows him his Periapt Shard she found in the Louvre after he stole the Obscura Painting and then he leaves.

The black-haired man kills the proto Nephilim, using a Periapt Shard, in the Maximum Containment Area and restores the power. Returning to the container, he is surprised by Lara and disarmed more roughly than when he did it before. Introducing himself as Kurtis, he tells her he lost the Obscura Painting at the Louvre and wants to fight Eckhardt until one of them dies. He revels that Eckhardt plans to revive The Sleeper and rebuild the Nephilim race using the Obscura Paintings and alchemically transmuted elements from the bodies of his murder victims. He claims Eckhardt is the original Black Alchemist and is close to finding the final Obscura Painting hidden in a Lux Veritatis vault beneath the Strahov. Kurtis states all three Periapt Shards are needed to destroy the Obscura Paintings and Eckhardt. He also says his father was entrusted with two Periapt Shards (which were weapons possessed by the Lux Veritatis) before he was murdered by Eckhardt. Lara suggests they work together, with Lara seeking the fifth Obscura Painting in the Vault of Trophies and Kurtis finding the third Periapt Shard in Eckhardt’s alchemy laboratory. Kurtis would then defeat Eckhardt by stabbing all three Periapt Shards into him.

Eckhardt, watching on another room, tells the man in the black coat they will allow Lara to open the Vault of Trophies and ambush Kurtis, also revealing he has obtained the last Obscura Painting.

The player retrieves the final Obscura Painting in the Vault of Trophies. Returning to the Strahov, Lara finds Eckhardt has captured Kurtis. Lara gives him the painting on the promise he will allow both her and Kurtis to leave. Eckhardt traps them both on a lower level and releases “Boaz”. Informing them that she was once human, he opens a heavy door to release a strange creature, resembling a giant insect embedded with the body of Boaz. He also throws Muller off the balcony, complaining he failed him as well, who is killed by the monster. Kurtis helps Lara leap onto the balcony and gives her two Periapt Shards. Lara escapes the room.

Kurtis kills the creature. Another monster, resembling a large moth with the body of Boaz, emerges. This creature stabs Kurtis through the stomach and he uses his bladed disc to decapitate it. He falls to the ground weakened with a bleeding wound.

Lara locates Eckhardt in his laboratory. He is attempting to revive the Sleeper using the metal objects hidden within the Obscura Paintings. After putting them together, a surge of blue light (or electricity) is shown emanating from Eckhardt’s body into the objects. A hand twitches inside the Sleeper’s cage, held high above ground. The unconscious Sleeper is released from the prison and suspended above the ground. Eckhardt boasts he has killed many people and used their body parts and will repeat this process with Lara. Stating he is immortal after killing the last of the Lux Veritatis, that he will release higher beings and will fulfil his fate to release hell on Earth (this character really needs to be insulted).

Eckhardt is defeated by the player and he slumps to the floor in front of a pillar, dying. Lara charges towards him, holding a Periapt Shard aloft. Just as she is about to stab Eckhardt with her weapon, the man in the black coat appears, takes the weapon from her hand and knocks her to the ground. Lara removes her guns and points both her pistols at him. After a brief standoff with Lara, the man in the black coat (named Karel) stabs the Periapt Shard into Eckhardt’s forehead. Karel praises Lara for finding the third Periapt Shard and claims that Eckhardt was unwittingly working for him, but he has ceased to become useful. He asks Lara to join him to complete the Great Work and become part of a benign new order in the world, before revealing himself to be a Nephilim. Demonstrating his ability to assume the form of a number of characters and claiming to have helped Lara in her quest, he offers her his hand. After seeing the mysterious symbol present at the Monstrum killings imprinted on his palm, Lara remembers it was him, disguised as Eckhardt, that murdered Professor von Croy. She refuses him and he attacks her. The player jumps towards The Sleeper and Lara, hanging from the creature’s foot, places the metal object  from the Obscura Paintings (stolen from Eckhardt’s corpse) onto the creature’s skin. The Sleeper screams as the object causes his body to be filled with a light, which pierces Karel’s body, and the monster explodes. Lara escapes and reaches the room where Kurtis fought the Boaz creature. She finds the room completely empty except for a pool of blood and Kurtis’ bladed disc. Picking up his weapon, it guides her to an open door and she walks through.

The Review

By the time this game was released, there had been five previous Tomb Raider games. These games used the same controls (with extra abilities added in each game), were played in the same way and all involved the player searching for ancient, mystical objects to defeat a villain. Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness appears to be a game that was intended to introduce change to the Tomb Raider series. Even the story seems to highlight this aim. Professor Werner von Croy, appearing in two games and being introduced as Lara’s mentor in a previous story, functions as the most recurring character in the series. The murder of this figure at the beginning of the game seems to symbolise that this game wants to sever it’s ties to the previous stories and develop independently of the series. This game also seems to add realism to the series and form a grittier story (which seemed to be a fashion at the time of the release).

The story itself (and the way it is presented) is very different to the previous games. The previous games seem to include Lara Croft exploring the world, looking for objects that possess a mystical power, and include a fairly simple storyline. This game, however, is much darker in tone. The game begins with Lara being suspected of a series of violent murders and seems to avoid using mysticism. Like many other series, this game appears to replace mysticism with science fiction (such as creatures formed through biological research). The story itself is more complex, with references to past events (particularly the history of the Obscura Paintings and the Lux Veritatis’ battle with the Cabal). The story also seems similar to the plot of the Da Vinci Code book, released before the game. Both stories involve a brutal, ritualistic murder, a main character suspected of killing their academic friend, finding hidden objects within the Louvre, finding hidden things within old paintings (one symbolic, the other physical), ancient orders (with dangerous knowledge) being hunted by another group and references to Christian mythology. The Lux Veritatis are even described as an offshoot of the Knights Templar.

The plot also discusses the return of the Nephilim race. According to the book of Genesis, “In those days as well as later, when the sons of the gods had intercourse with the daughters of mortals and children were born to them, the Nephilim were on the earth; they were the heroes of old, people of renown.” (Genesis 6:4). It is suggested that the Nephilim dies in the flood from the story of Noah, though there does seem to be references to them later in the Bible (where they seem to be giants).

The story is told in a more complex way. Unlike the previous stories, this game features dialogue heavily and more frequently (so that plot details are revealed during levels, rather than during cutscenes at the end of certain levels). Aspects of the plot are also revealed at random points in some of the levels, this does make the plot seem more relevant to the levels, but also increases the danger of missing details. Strangely, a lot of the background to the story is revealed in Professor von Croy’s notebook, but a lot of this information is repeated during the game.

The character of Eckhardt seems interesting. It is stated he originally created the Obscura Paintings and he is heavily involved in the story (as the Monstrum and the leader of the Cabal). Part of the background also discusses the history of this character. He seems to resemble Natla (villain of the first game), both have history with the main artefacts and feature heavily in the backstory. He is also voiced by Joss Ackland (from Lethal Weapon 2, Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey, etc.), who becomes one of the only famous actors to have a part in the Tomb Raider series of games. I also find the Obscura Paintings interesting. I like the idea of collecting these strange images. The fact that these pictures are supposed to be used in alchemy allows the designers to produce some creative ideas and the Obscura Paintings that can be seen do seem very unusual and disturbing.

One of the main flaws in the story of the game is the lack of explanation. Apparently, the game was intended to form the start of a trilogy of Tomb Raider games (this is according to Wikipedia, but I also remember hearing some discussion of releasing a sequel at the time). I am not sure how the story would continue in the sequel, but there are some mysterious elements of this game that may have been explained in later games. The character of Kurtis seems to require an explanation. Coincidentally on a quest to stop the Nephilim, he begins the game as a mysterious character watching Lara, interested in the Obscura Paintings. Later, as he loses his mystique, he retains some characteristics that remain unexplained. He clearly has a number of strange powers (moving objects with his mind and a farsee ability) and a weird weapon, but what he actually is (human or Nephilim) remains unexplained. The game actually ends with him seeming to die following his battle with Boaz, but Lara finds his body gone and his treasured object leading her through an open door. Is this where he has escaped to? Or is it a location that could explain this character more? Why would he leave his weapon behind? The character of Eckhardt also requires slightly more explanation. It is suggested that Eckhardt has survived for many centuries and has died at least once. Is this the same Eckhardt? Or is the Nephilim Karel the actual Eckhardt? Lara clearly sees Eckhardt using his covered hand to kill someone and a mysterious symbol appearing on a nearby wall. What is actually happening? What is the meaning of the symbol? Why is it on Karel’s hand later in the game? According to the story in the instruction manual, the Monstrum killings have occurred over the previous fifty years. What happened then? Was it a failed attempt to retrieve all the Obscura Paintings? It is also suggested that around seventeen people had been murdered by the time Professor von Croy was killed. Who were these people? Did they hold the other Obscura Paintings? Who killed Bouchard? Lara finds his dead body, but not the symbol that formed during the other Monstrum killings. Was this a trick by Katel? Why does Bouchard look like a nightclub owner from a film from the seventies? Why is Lara angry at Professor von Croy after he saved her from the ruins of the pyramid after she released Seth?

I actually find the character of Karel also confuses the plot. The story revolves around the idea The Sleeper is the last Nephilim and is needed to create a new race. When Karel reveals himself as a Nephilim, it does suggest this aspect of the plot is incorrect as Karel could create a new race himself. Why does he kill Eckhardt? As Eckhardt already shares his vision of creating as new race of Nephilim, wouldn’t he make a better ally than Lara? After she retrieves the fifth Obscura Painting, isn’t it Lara, not Eckhardt, who has become useless? It also suggested, after he demonstrates his ability to assume the form of a number of characters Lara has met, that he has helped Lara in her quest. It is not really clear when he helped Lara. This effect can allow the player to re-examine the story to determine when this character helped them (such as when Luddick gave Lara a pass card he had mysteriously retrieved).

The setting for the game is much darker in tone than previous games. In previous games, at least some of the levels usually took place in magnificent ancient structures (even if the rest of the game used modern or technological environments). This game, however, seems to avoid exploring ancient cultures. Instead, it focusses on modern, industrial and gothic environments. The game seems to present with a very grim mood, with dim lighting and bare environments (even the streets of the Parisian ghetto are lit with a depressing dawn light with moody music). This effect increases particularly in the Sanatarium level. Many of the levels set within the Strahov seem to present a sad atmosphere, with bare walls and industrial architecture, but the Sanatorium seems to add to this mood. The idea of the level is Kurtis exploring the area of the Strahov where the human test subjects are kept for experimentation, as a result, the location resembles a prison (with bare brick walls and heavy doors), appears to be falling apart, has strange-looking men walking around in brown straight-jackets and the dead bodies of people attacked by the prototype Nephilim. Some of the levels also resemble the scenes of horrific murders, with dead bodies and symbols painted in red. More effort has also been spent creating blood effects, so that shooting enemies leads to small spurts of blood appearing, rather than flashes of red. I actually have memories of playing this game and being surprised at finding it was a bright summer day due to the dark nature of the game. I, personally, preferred the older games preference for magnificent structures to the grim environments of this game, but I did like the levels set within older structures and felt their design was creative and interesting.

The controls and gameplay of the game are also more complex than previous games. In previous games, each gun usually had an unique characteristic (such as speed, power, etc.), ammo was displayed as a total, each item collected was used and had a specific purpose and health was refilled using either a small or large healthpack. There is a common joke about it being lucky Lara always takes her dual pistols with unlimited ammo. In this game, however, there are a lot of changes. The collected items are kept under separate categories of weapons, health and items. The guns seem to mostly consist of single handguns and ammo is displayed as ammo in a clip and clips left (Lara also has to reload while firing). Lara has got rid of her dual pistols and only uses them in cutscenes (I was always wondering if this was to add realism to the game). Health can be regained using a greater selection of items, such as healthpacks and medication, and the amount replenished depends on the item used. The game begins with Lara being able to find a partially eaten in a wet alley and regaining health after eating the rancid food. During the part of the game set in the Parisian ghetto, Lara can collect a large number of valuable items and the player has the option to sell these objects to a pawnbroker (collecting money is also a new addition to the game). This makes it so that the player can collect items that they do not use. This aspect also introduces a morally dubious concept whereby Lara can steal bottles of wine and jewellery from Carvier’s apartment and sell them for Euros at the pawnbrokers.

An interesting addition to the items menu is Professor von Croy’s notebook. Lara retrieves this document following her meeting with Carvier. This document serves a number of functions, it provides background information to the story (which is usually repeated elsewhere), it gives clues to how the player should progress (there is even a new icon used to visualise when a new clue is written in the journal) and it provides a solution for one puzzle in the game (the lock in the archaeological dig).

There are also changes to the controls of the game. This game appears to use “modes”, so that pressing a button will activate “walking mode” and prevent Lara walking off edges, while another button controls “stealth mode” and allows Lara to move quieter. The “walking mode” is an improvement to holding the “walk” button as the player no longer reaches an edge, feel their finger slip and watch their hero fall to her death. There also efforts to add fluidity to the controls. The player does not need to repeat the mechanical walk to the edge, jump back, run and jump as the game encourages a more dynamic run flowed by a jump. Tapping the “jump” button causes Lara to perform a small hop (rather than needing to measure a long jump correctly to clear small gaps) and Lara can also vault over obstacles. She can also climb up vertical bars (such as pipes), she can climb walls in diagonal directions and follow a twisted wall. Her movements while shimmying are more dynamic, instead of robotic. In some sort of attempt to increase realism to the game, Lara has a grip gauge which limits the amount of time she can cling to an edge, rather than hold on indefinitely. The game also uses icons to denote when Lara has entered information in the notebook, increased in power or can interact with her surroundings. The way Lara fights has also changed. She can no longer fire her weapons while jumping (which used to be the most efficient way of defeating previous enemies), but she is able to use unarmed combat (a button allows her to perform a slightly robotic sequence of impressive punches and kicks) and is able to use an effective take down manoeuvre after sneaking up behind an enemy using the “stealth mode”. Strangely, it seems to be harder to hit the smaller bats with the guns, so that the bats (once the easiest enemy to defeat) have become extremely deadly.

A strange aspect of the game is the “feeling stronger” power up. During the game, Lara will be unable to perform a physical activity because she “does not feel strong enough”. While exploring the surrounding area, the player may do some less exhausting physical exercise and Lara will state “I feel stronger” and will now be able to complete the former activity. This can seem very odd, particularly when the strengthening exercise does not resemble the other activity. It can also be annoying if you are unable to reach a hidden area and need to search the location for a block to move or door to kick (particularly if she had managed to perform the activity before).

This is also the only game to allow the player to play a character different from Lara Croft. After Kurtis Trent locks Lara in the container within the Strahov, the player controls him to reactivate the power. The controls for Kurtis Trent is the same for Lara, but the way he moves is different and he uses different items. It is also an interesting way of developing his character. While controlling him, the player learns he has a “farsee” ability, which seems to allow him to travel outside of his body (like a scientologist). He also seems to be a more humorous character than Lara, as he makes some jokes during his adventure (this is probably quite lucky, considering he is exploring the Sanatorium level, the most depressing level of the game). It would be better to learn more of his mysterious past and his motivations.

This game also introduces the idea of the player having greater control in the story. This is accomplished by the player selecting what they want Lara to say during conversations with other characters. Unfortunately, Lara still retains her hostile attitude to others and it can be hard to find a diplomatic option to select. I am not sure about this point, but I feel it is possible to miss plot points because of a bad selection, I know Carvier can make it harder to obtain the notebook if Lara is rude to her. The effect can be annoying as the game can force the player to pursue a line of conversation they may not particularly want. There is an option during the discussion with Bouchard which, if selected, causes the conversation to become an argument, leading Bouchard to remove his gun and kill Lara. There is a character who, if Lara talks to him, will force the player to take part in a bet, with no option to leave. Similarly, there is a character who offers to help for a price, but, if the player declines once, he will refuse to talk to them again.

This game also presents with a number of glitches, or mistakes in the game design. A new addition to the game is that Lara can use number pads to open locked doors. Whenever I have used these doors, I have entered a sequence I had found, only to find nothing happening, until I attempt to re-enter the sequence. Lara also changes clothes at random points in the story. For example, she starts to explore the Strahov in trousers, watches Luddick dying while wearing shorts, changes to trousers afterwards and changes back into shorts in a later level. Apparently, sometimes Lara face disappears during conversations. Sometimes, if you shoot a man next to a wall, he will jump into the air and perform some amazing acrobatics before dying. Sometimes, after Lara dies from a fall, she will continue screaming in a continuous, haunting pattern while the game is re-loaded, which adds to the sinister feel of the game.

This as a few extra features. Without completing any extra tasks, the player is able to view a “making of” documentary and a trailer for the Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life film. I have not watched the documentary, but it seems like a bit of a fashion at this time for game to include information about the production of the game to extra menus. I do not know if this has anything to do with the expansion of the DVD market, where viewers are able to watch the film and extra that discussed the making of the film. The trailer is a little strange. The films of Tomb Raider are not critically adored and follow different plots to the game, but there is something interesting about the fact Tomb Raider was shown on two mediums in two different ways. While Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness is gritty, grim and gothic, the film is lighter, more mystical and shows more attractive environments. A similarity is that both stories feature male companions who are more seductive to Lara Croft, a concept that does not seem to be repeated in later stories.

In conclusion, I felt this game was one of the weakest in the series. I, personally, preferred exploring the ancient, creative environments, to the gothic structures of this game. I did enjoy some of the levels that seem to be designed to be more ancient and I also felt that, while I personally preferred other levels, the designs did create a good atmosphere of horror for the levels. I also liked the complex and involving storyline and was interested in the character of Eckhardt. This game has also attempted to introduce some new concepts to the series and some of them work well and are interesting, such as controlling another character and using “modes”, but others could be improved, such as the conversations. While this game is fairly famous for ruining the Tomb Raider series, I feel that is it is saved because the trilogy was never expanded. If two more games were made in a similar way, the games would go in another direction and I would have ignored the horror games that may have been made. Instead, Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness seems to remain as a stand alone game, it’s difference to the rest adding mystique and originality to the game and the unexplained parts of the story adding mystery.