Recent reviews by sequence

Fix the Steam Input bugs! Can't fish or use brush which is integral to the game. Yes you can get around this with custom mapping or downloading a community layout but you shouldn't ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ have to, especially a game that worked fine FOR SEVEN ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ YEARS. Also fishing is harder because controller glyphs don't appear, instead WSAD does and it's confusing and annoying. The whole point of controller support is that you plug it in and it works and you don't have to rebind stuff.

You can't just turn Steam Input off either because the game doesn't have native xinput support, so if you turn it off it doesn't work at all.

Steam Input is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ garbage, please just make your games work with Xinput natively from now on Capcom and don't rely on this buggy crap.

I know it's not Capcom's fault that the controller API was changed but this needs to be fixed. I wanted to start playing again because of the Kunitsu Gami collab and they JUST NOW decided to break it.

It's been nearly 2 months since the issue was first reported and there hasn't been a response. This will ruin the experience for new players especially ones who came to check out Okami after playing the Kunitsu Gami demo.

♥♥♥♥ steam input man

I'll change/delete this when they fix the official layout

Yeah, it's really ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ good. It just feels so good to play. It's incredibly dynamic and cinematic.

I absolutely loathed Tekken 7 as a long time fan of the series. Tekken 8 is what 7 should've been.

There's still some baffling omissions like Team Battle and Survival, but the gameplay is so good it doesn't sting quite as much as it did for 7.

Plus the new characters are actually good. I think Katarina from 7 has to be the most uninspired character ever made for a fighting game. I'm glad to see her and Gigas gone.

TL;DR: imagine you're playing Doom 64, but you can actually see what the ♥♥♥♥ you're doing and don't need to use a aborted boomerang to play it.

As usual with Nightdive, they've done an excellent job porting this two-and-a-half decade old game to modern systems with modern controls and video options. Technically, it runs flawlessly (as it should) and contains a wealth of visual upgrades such as antialiasing and higher resolutions. Control-wise, WASD keyboard and mouse is the standard here (although some default keybindings are weird: spacebar to sprint?!), as well as gamepad support. Not only that, but a secret episode of 6 extra levels has been included. It's not on the same level as the phenomenal Shadow Man Remastered, also ported by Nightdive Studios, which is probably the greatest remaster ever made, but there has been a huge effort put into this very polished release. As usual, the original feel of the game is preserved immaculately, but made far more accessible (read: not stuck on a long defunct console selling for $50 AUD minimum). The default pricing of $7.55 AUD is actually a bit of a lowball in my opinion. I'd happily pay $20 AUD for this.

Onto the game itself, which was developed by Midway under supervision from id Software in 1997, as a Nintendo 64 exclusive. At the time it was praised for its atmosphere and gameplay but faulted for its lack of innovation and multiplayer; its contemporaries like Quake 2 and the Turok series were seen as more technologically advanced, with 3D models for enemies instead of sprites, more complex level geometry and more platforming abilities such as swimming. The lack of multiplayer was particularly odd, especially for Doom, the originator of the deathmatch, on a console swimming in splitscreen shooters. Goldeneye 64 released a year prior and is still remembered today for its 4-player action. I personally never had any interest in the game, having been far too young to buy it on release and never owning a 64, and with 64 emulation being very poor up until recently.

In terms of gameplay, it's Doom to a T. Armed to the teeth with a wide variety of firearms, all returning from previous games in the series, you play through a linear set of levels, some hidden, dispatching hordes of a variety of distinct monsters. These monsters also return from previous entries, with some absences due to limited cartridge space, and some new additions that are mostly palette swaps, but which are nonetheless welcome. You'll find secret areas, dodge environmental traps such as crushers, push switches to reveal new pathways, and collect coloured card keys. Apart from some slightly more sophisticated level alteration, such as activating a large weight which breaks through the floor, it's the same old Doom.

Really where it differentiates itself from its predecessors is the atmosphere, which will be familiar to those who have played Williams Entertainment's port of Doom for the PlayStation. Sound effects are entirely different, or reused in different ways, some better, others less so. Monsters have had their stats altered slightly, and their sprites are all entirely new, created from CG models. And of course the levels themselves are different, despite retaining the same themes and characteristics; you've still got tech bases and hellish temples, laid out in Doom's trademark abstract style. Coloured lighting returns from the PlayStation version, providing a distinct visual difference from its predecessors.

The largest departure is the music, composed by Aubrey Hodges (also the composer of the PlayStation version). Here, other than the introduction cinematic and level end screens, the themes are entirely atmospheric and industrial, rather than the classic techno-metal we've come to expect from Bobby Prince. This is a double-edged sword for me. It succeeds brilliantly at providing an extremely tense and foreboding atmosphere, and combined with the new lighting which is overall far more moody and dark, immerses you in these grotesque environments. However, the original Doom and Doom II were also able to achieve this feeling when necessary, while still providing far more melodic, memorable and frankly far superior tracks. Listen to Bobby Prince's "Sinister" from Doom's Halls of the Damned (E2M6) level for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7MGbUYslrU I understand music is especially subjective, so your mileage may vary, but I won't remember any of these tracks the moment I finish the game.

Overall, it's more classic Doom, presented in a unique and sometimes fascinating way, finally freed of its exclusivity and available on modern platforms. As someone who has wanted an official* way to play this for a long time, I'm very happy with this release. It won't supersede Doom II: Hell on Earth as the pinnacle of the classic games for me, but it's an engaging and satisfying experience nonetheless.

*I do not want to discount the amazing fan efforts that went into recreating and reverse engineering Doom 64 before this port was available. As usual, Doom fans are amazing and provided custom map sets and even whole recreations of Doom 64 far before its official re-release. In particular, Sam Villareal's Doom 64 TC and later Doom 64 EX were instrumental in contributing to the renewed interest in this game and I doubt this would even exist without his ingenuity and passion.

Isn't it amazing that the only gender blob character happens to be a massive pervert who owns sex dolls and hits on everyone inappropriately? They don't even try to hide it.

Disgusting.

I'll start by saying that I don't know much about cars at all. I thoroughly enjoy rally racing games, but I'm not a hardcore player; I use automatic transmission and a PlayStation 4 controller. Just to keep that perspective in mind: essentially I'm a casual fan, so I do not understand the intricacies of the sport or much about cars in general. I prefer more casual or arcade experiences, but can enjoy more realistic sims from time to time. I'm just not good at them.

Codemasters' DiRT series has been the pinnacle of rally games for the last decade or so, and have been my go-to for any offroad racing action I've craved accordingly. However, with their DLC practices regarding DiRT Rally 2, mixed recepetion to DiRT 4 and 5, and worst of all recent acquisition by EA (which I can predict with 100% certainty will exacerbate these issues tenfold), I've decided to jump ship to the official WRC games.

I'll be starting with WRC 4 - FIA World Rally Championship (not WRC 4 on the PlayStation 2, developed by Evolution Studios), which is the earliest game in the series still available on Steam. Unlike all later entries, this one is developed by Milestone, whose output seems to be consistently 6/10, barebones, no frills titles that just about get the job done. I have played further entries in the series up til WRC 8, but only to try them out.

WRC 4 FWRC (hereafter referred to as WRC 4) is slightly better than that, but not by much. What is here is a solid, functional rally game with arcade-style handling. At least, I assume so. I've found it much easier to handle cars in WRC 4 than even other casual racers like DiRT 4. Tracks are nicely laid out, not overly long and satisfying to navigate. The pacenotes provided by your co-driver are timely, accurate and clear. Damage isn't just cosmetic, and requires repairing between stages; too much time spent repairing (with the time needed increasing based on severity and the component damaged) means you suffer a time penalty for the following stage, and modifications cannot be made to parts being repaired. This is mostly mitigated by the automatic tuneup settings that the game does for you, which is suitable for a casual player like me, but can be customised depending on your preferences.

The career mode, which is the meat of the game, has an almost superfluous team management and event calendar, as well as "news" and "emails" that are essentially Mad Libs, fill-in-the-blanks style statements, and sometimes it doesn't even autofill them correctly, unless my driver name magically changed to %DRIVER_NAME% and I just didn't realise. Being able to name your co-driver is nice; having my inept navigator boyfriend reading pacenotes in a timely manner is pretty funny, as well as an accompanying portrait that looks nothing like him. The effort here is lacking, so I wish they'd just skipped adding all this fluff as a framework for races. Just have a simple region select and cup system, like Gran Turismo or something, or go all out with the career system - something that the sequels, particularly WRC 8, do marvellously.

Otherwise, everything else is quick, snappy and straight to the point. You do races, there's not many (if any) cutscenes, nor pretentious, masturbatory diatribes about motorsport that Codemasters is known for (and get worse with each new game of theirs - check GRID Legend's "Story Mode" and try not to die of embarrassment). You gain access to new regions, which increase in difficulty, and your cars increase in rank and specifications. Overall, an accessible, penetrable experience for casuals, and probably lacking depth for more experienced players.

There's also single races and tournament modes, but they're not really my thing. Some people like to just jump in and do a race, which is perfectly fine, but I need a career mode and something to unlock to keep me going. But for those who want them, they're there and there's a fair amount of customisation!

Now, onto everything surrounding that. This game has a bunch of issues - the kind of issues I'd expect from a game made 2 decades ago, not one 7 years old. The graphics are competent, but nowhere near the quality of its contemporaries or even games released 3 or 4 years prior. If you care about games looking good, this probably won't cut it. I personally couldn't give a ♥♥♥♥ as long as it's acceptable and runs decently. Which it doesn't, if you want to have V-Sync tuned on to alleviate the horrific screen tearing. This caps the game to 30fps, regardless of what refresh rate you have set in the LAUNCHER (for God's sake, if your game isn't an MMO, don't use a launcher). A workaround for this is to force V-Sync through your GPU's per-game settings, from which it will then run at 60fps fine, but it's still an annoying issue. There's no button prompts, even for Xbox controllers, which have been the standard gamepad on PC for a decade and a half at this point. Instead, there are keyboard prompts that are in the SAME COLOUR as the appropriate Xbox button. Why be so lazy with it?

Then there's the initial load time, which is ridiculous. Definitely more than a minute, maybe even two. I have no idea why it takes that long to load, but it's not my system. Once you're past that the load times are fine, instantaneous mostly, but along with the aforementioned LAUNCHER, it just screams console port. Finally, at the end of every race (at least in the Career mode), it attempts to upload your time to a leaderboard, which I assume has long since been offline. This means you can't skip through post-stage results screens, because it defaults to "Yes" meaning waiting around for that stupid spinning circle without being able to cancel it. Jesus Christ, just have an "upload time" button instead of forcing it. Not everyone cares about leaderboards.

Lastly, and this is just personal preference, but the music is pretty bad. The main menu music sounds like the theme to a reality TV show about dangerous animals, with abysmal timing on the percussion. The career menu theme sounds like it could fit an employee induction video for an insurance company. I know, it's a racing game, who cares? Most people, myself included, probably play with their own music or a stream on, or with the music turned off. But it's just another thing I thought I'd mention.

In the end, it's a rough but otherwise competent start to my new rally series. Kylotonn games have overtaken development from Milestone, and from the looks of the general reception of the series going forward, has improved the games with each entry. I would recommend this to casual rally fans who have a bit of patience dealing with its technical issues, which can be fixed and mostly ignored with a bit of work.

6/10 - slightly above average.

Do not waste your time.

My partner and I have been reading Raging Loop feverishly over the last week and were absolutely absorbed in its world and characters, particularly its fantastic flawed, human protagonist.

The Scenario Chart is fantastic and it should be part of every visual novel. You don't need to look up specific routes or choices, it shows you a whole route map in game and tells you the requirements for each. Fantastic and it cuts down on a lot of skipping and looking up guided.

The voice acting and music is phenomenal too. The game is fully voiced and the soundtrack is moody, energetic and atmospheric when it needs to be.

However:
The advertising material for this game is a lie. The whole Werewolf/Mafia thing is just a plot device. Not only do you have no control over it (which would be fine, I have no problem with linear visual novels) but it merely plays a pointless and convoluted role in the ending.

Speaking of which, the ending is without a doubt the worst I've ever seen in a game. Ever.

33 hours of brilliant and tense horror, crushing sadness, welcome humour and excellent character development is wasted in an ending which spits in the face of the reader.

The best parallel I can think of is the original ending of Neon Genesis Evangelion: universally hated by everyone except contrarians who think plot craters and storyboard frames in place of actual animation is good anime. Except rightfully so, the ending was amended with a movie because the creators realised what a horrible thing they'd done.

Not here, though. All you get is some side stories and more exposition (if there's anything this VN doesn't lack it's ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ exposition), but my partner and I are so exhausted and disappointed that we can't bring ourselves to even bother.

Please do not waste your time. The other reviews mentioned how bad the ending was, but it really is so awful to the point that I immediately uninstalled the game from my library.

Just play Fata Morgana if you want mystery, horror, sadness, an occasional laugh and an actually good ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ending that respects the time you put in.

If you don't mind playing an inferior version of a fantastic visual novel, then disregard this review and refer to the many other deservedly positive reviews. The game itself is marvellous. But I cannot in good conscious recommend an edition of the game that is so inferior to another one that is readily available.

I've only completed Chapter One and I'm completely captivated with the story. I LOVE this visual novel so far. So much that I went to see if its developer, Novectacle, had a website or catalogue of other games. I found their Twitter which stated that there's a much better version of the game available EXCLUSIVELY on PS4 and PSVITA, the Dream of the Revenants Edition.

The Dreams of the Revenants version has:
- Much better, crisper, redone, HD visuals in widescreen
- Much better music quality which does the amazing soundtrack justice
- The base game and its prequel which are available on Steam
- A lot of side stories to provide more background
- A new voiced episode Reincarnation
- The option to rewind in-game which is very convenient

What's more is, Novectacle have stated that there's no (current) plans to port the Dreams of the Revenants version to PC, due to licensing or ownership issues. They may update the base game and prequel with the better visuals and sound from the PS4 version, but the extra content will remain exclusive for at the very least, a while.

I do not blame Novectacle; they are a very small company and most likely the only way they were able to put these extra stories out is if they stayed exclusive to PlayStation platforms. However, I loathe having an inferior version of a game so I've applied for a refund on Steam (which I probably won't get) and purchased the game on PS4 instead.

It does also irritate me that the PC version supplied the money for a better version that won't appear on its original platform which facilitated its existence in the first place... but I digress. This happens often with Japanese games and I should've done my research better.

*Also note, the PS4/VITA version is only available in Japan and North America. So you'll have to make a North American PSN account and use PSN cards to add funds if you're not in the US.

This will be a little different from my usual reviews, it'll be more a first impressions/summary thing.

Pros:
- Awesome base game to begin with. Tons of characters, arenas, and 2 games in one.

Cons:
- There's no 3D backgrounds or arranged OST
- Messy translation
- Online is currently very hit-and-miss

Currently, online is a mess. However, Code Mystics (the developer) have addressed this issue and are working on fixing it. It shows they actually give a damn about criticism and I commend them from that.

I will change my review to a Recommended rather than a Not Recommended when they fix the online.

Legend has it that the fabled Tomb Raider series was doomed to a life of purgatory, after the unfortunate creation of a buggy, rushed but well-meaning mess of a game called "The Angel of Darkness", and the franchise was to remain stagnant for many eons. Alas, a hero named "Crystal Dynamics" emerged, and a mere 3 years after Core Design's unsightly and depressing demise, brought Lara Croft back to life. The name of their triumphant return? The short, but incredibly sweet, Tomb Raider: Legend.

Oh, how I love this game. It got me into the Tomb Raider series way back when it was released in 2006. I'd dabbled in the older entries on the PlayStation but could never beat them (until recently that is. Check out my reviews for them! No shameful self-promotion here!), but Legend piqued my interest in the series and alas, $20 later, I have the entire series on Steam. And what a brilliant way to start again. Tomb Raider: Legend is precisely what Lara Croft needed: a beautiful, seamless and user-friendly transition to the (then) next generation of gaming.

The majority of Tomb Raider's lore is retconned, but the essentials are all here. We still (of course) have Lara Croft, and man, has she recieved a facelift. And a boob job. And a butt job. I'm gay and even I can't stop staring at her. She's still the kickass, no-nonsense, incredibly acrobatic, academic and elegant explorer who we've come to know and love. And the same applies to the gameplay; you still raid tombs, you still discover hidden treasures while globetrotting, and shoot the ♥♥♥♥ out of bad guys and angry cats. All in a beautiful new engine.

Man, this game is pretty. It just looks phenomenal. It has a unique, semi-cartoonish style in terms of character models, but the environments are bursting with detail and realism, and the use of effects like bloom and motion blurs are used just enough not to take away from the experience. Textures are crisp, ragdolls are hilariously bouncy, animations are smoother than jelly, and the detail is immaculate. The first time Lara emerged from water, actually visably wet and her clothes drenched, I was in awe.

It sounds amazing, too. The effort that went into the soundtrack is very admirable. Troels Brun Folmann has crafted a dynamic, unique to each level musical score which only adds to the already excellent atmosphere. Voice acting is also great, a tad unbelievable but very cinematic. Keeley Hawes brings a regal and more mature tone to Lara which I was very glad to hear.

Plot-wise, it's good! I mean, nothing really new or special here. It's the typical "artifact in multiple pieces go around the world to collect them and then something happens when they're all together then boss battle". But there are some lovely villains, there's traitors, there's emotion, there's consistency, and there's enough to keep you interested in what's going on. I don't think as much effort was put in here as in The Angel of Darkness, but it works and it wraps up nicely, hinting at a sequel without resorting to an irritating cliffhanger. That said, the research that Crystal Dynamics did into ancient lore, such as that of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, do give the story a lot more depth.

The gameplay itself? Stellar. It feels so incredibly natural when Lara is rope-swinging, vaulting, shimmying, dodging, shooting, pole-climbing, swimming, and even riding a Ducati™ (yes, there's product placement) motorcycle. The levels are incredibly varied, and I don't miss the older blocky engine one iota. Movement and combat is far less restrictive, control is pitch-perfect, and the addition of Lara's grappling hook adds a lot more than one would think to the game. It's very smooth and well done. There's also tons of unlockables, which I absolutely LOVE. What happened to unlockables?! There's (many) costumes, weapon upgrades, art, models, cheats and a video to unlock, and all this encourages replayability.

Which brings me to the few negative points I have about this game. My main gripe is the length: there are only eight levels in Tomb Raider: Legend (nine, if you count Lara's Mansion, which makes a welcome return), and even with the added collectibles and time trials for each level, the game is over quickly, especially for people who don't care about 100% completion. The fact that it's quite easy (regardless of the difficulty setting) also adds to this; the game is constantly providing you with tutorials, even in the sixth level of the game, and you can utilise Lara's magical binoculars to help you solve puzzles (none of which are remotely complex).

The game is also buggy from time to time, mostly in the visual department. I noticed this especially in Kazakhstan, during a motorcycle section in which areas of the map were simply missing or transparent. Turning on "Next-Generation Content" in the video settings adds dynamic lighting and better textures, but kills the framerate (sometimes regardless of your gaming setup) and throws even more glitches into the mix, including misaligned ropes and distorted faces, and even crashing the game on some levels.

One final thing: Lara's new sidekicks bug me, a lot. They just don't shut the hell up. "Watch out Lara!" "Wow Lara, that was great!" "Whoa, I don't like the look of this!". Even Lara herself gets audibly annoyed with them. It's totally nitpicking on my part but I feel it's a valid criticism. Just shut the hell up Zip and Alister! She doesn't need your help!

Do I recommend this game? Absolutely. Legend was the start of something new, a rebirth that Tomb Raider so desperately needed. After Legend came onto the scene, the equally awesome Anniversary, Underworld, Guardian of Light and the 2013 re-imagining followed suit. What an excellent way to get us exploring again!

4/5

The story of Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness might be one of the heartbreaking in videogame history, although I don't think many people see it that way. It saddens me to see something so set up for success, so fresh in an aging series in serious need of a facelift, end up like the final product that we have today, which remains the lowest rated main entry in the series thus far. Angel of Darkness was in development hell for 3 years, and Core Design wanted Angel of Darkness to be different. They wanted it to compete with other successful titles such as Metal Gear Solid 2. Eidos wanted the game rushed to the market in order to make sales. And unfortunately, they got what they wanted: Angel of Darkness was commercially successful, but a buggy, broken, unfinished mess.

This is why it's such a shame that Angel of Darkness ended up like it did. There's evidence everywhere that this game is unfinished. Every addition to the game feels half-assed. There's elements like sneaking which you never have to use at all, ever. You can just as easily run up to guards and shoot them in the face. Taking out guards in sneaking mode requires them to be still and you behind them, and most of the time they're mobile so there's just no point. Hand-to-hand combat is again, more trouble than it's worth. Sprinting moves you faster but serves no purpose at all, unlike in previous entries. The infamous RPG elements in which Lara gets stronger by pushing boxes or kicking open doors could easily be removed entirely, and replaced with keys and switches. Collecting valuables and items to sell and purchase weapons and the like only appears once in the game, at the start, so for the rest of the game you're carrying around useless artifacts like rare records and vintage wine. Combat is also quite poor, and hampered further by the controls, which I'll cover in an entirely seperate paragraph.

Tank controls usually refers to a control method in which the player character moves forwards and backwards by pressing up and down, and turning by pressing left and right. Here, it seems that tank controls has been taken too literally, as Lara now has to accelerate from a snail's pace walk into a jog, and by the time you've started jogging, she sluggishly pulls to a halt and stands still for a couple of seconds. Vaulting objects and ladders simply requires Lara to stop next to them and press forward. Most of the time the game understands what you're doing, but other times Lara will just do a 180, vault over a railing and fall to her death. Vaulting from a crawling position back to standing (ie, crawling out from a vent) requires you to hold down walk and forward, which took me ages to figure out because it just made no sense. Looking requires you to be still and holding down the Sprint button. Combat changes the control system from tank into generally three dimensional movement, but your character will flail about like a moron, and the sudden change from tank to free movement generally means you'll run straight into your adversary and take unnecessary damage.

Let's not forget the bane of all banes in this game: the bugs. Lara will fall through solid surfaces, fail to grab onto ledges, will run forward diagonally in aiming mode if you press left or right, bump into ledges that lead to her inevitable death, manage to hang from a ledge from a standing position, but then not be able to get back up, and can run faster sideways on stairs than she can on a flat surface. Quicksaving works the majority of the time, but don't rely on it too much, especially in the final boss battle. The game will crash in some levels depending on what video settings you're using. Textures clip through each other, the camera clips through pretty much everying, halls of mirrors appear on just about every level, unfinished 3D objects only look right from one angle, cutscenes will play music but sometimes not sound or dialogue, items will randomly multiply in your inventory (I had 28 Periapt Shards at one point, even though there's only 3 in the game and they're key items), scripted encounters sometimes fail to spawn (the Cleaner proves irritating to most unlucky users, but thankfully I didn't run into this) and countless other bugs make their unwanted appearance. The Steam overlay freezes the game and alt-tabbing doesn't work most of the time. It's such a damn shame, because despite all the quirks, the engine is actually pretty solid, and with just even an extra month of time to work out the kinks, it could've been far better.

So what's good about this game? Thankfully, there's just as many good things as there are hideously broken things. It's aesthetically pleasing on all fronts. Environments and textures are incredibly detailed and far more believable than the previous five games. Character models could do with a bit more work, but they still look great. There's tons of graphical tweaks in the game's launcher, meaning that this game can look far better than its PS2 counterpart. The soundtrack is awesome, and the best in the series since the first. But by far the best thing is the plot. It's very well executed and genuinely emotional. Lara's transformation into a more cynical, badass and resilient heroine is a welcomed change to the one dimensional Lara from the previous games. In fact, the whole style of the game has undergone this change. Gone are the days of "wow this item is legendary artifact I must go to interesting country #4 and retrieve it to stop hackneyed villain #56 from using it for their own ends", and in its place is a muder mystery, horror-themed dark trek through Europe's criminal underworld and a cult who uses it as a front for their own plans. It's engaging and definitely the high point of the game, even if a lot of it was cut for the final release. Secondary characters have a lot of depth and you actually care about them.

And the gameplay itself isn't that bad, once you get used to it. You learn to control Lara soon enough, even if it is a hassle. You still raid tombs, however scarce they are, the puzzles are pretty good, the environments are varied and refreshing (again, a lot of these were cut), and at least it's something different from fatigue that's set in after five years of the same thing. Dealing with the bugs becomes just another enemy to deal with, and the game still works. Just think of it as a beta! With all the crappy Early Access games flooding Steam nowadays, you can easily just imagine that Angel of Darkness is simply another one that will never be finished!

I'm going to end my review by saying that this game was worth it in the end. It made me sad to think of what it could've been had Eidos not been greedy bastards and rushed it. It basically spelled the end of Core Design, of which the CEO resigned after the poor critical reception, and the company itself only released further disappointing casual games until its demise in 2007. It spelled the end of the first era of Tomb Raider. Crystal Dynamics took over and rewarded us with Legend, Anniversary, Underworld and 2013, all of which were critically and commercially successful. Finally, here's a Eurogamer article detailing more about the depressing story of Angel of Darkness, and the awesome community efforts being made to transform it into the game it deserved to be.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-10-12-the-fans-who-would-fix-tomb-raiders-most-broken-adventure

3/5