I really enjoyed Angel of Darkness (AoG). I am a tomb raider (TR) fan so I could appreciate what Core was trying to do in this game. AoG introduces a lot of new elements to the tomb raider formula, some work some don't. If you are new to TR you probably will not enjoy this game. First thing is the controls are just bad for the whole game. Laura does not react very fast to any of your inputs and sometimes will move forward when you want her to move backward. They are very clunky. There are times where you will take control of Kurtis, a new character, and his controls are even worse. Like any game over time you will get use to the controls. The game adds a lot to the formula and most of it feels like they never developed it fully. Like it never got past the idea stage. The game introduces a stamina bar, upper and lower body “strength” upgrades, a stealth mode, a pretty wide assortment of guns (most you never use), and a interesting dialog system. Most of these are pretty bad, but I appreciate them trying something new and not just putting out another game. The graphics are pretty solid compared to the Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation. By 2023 standards it looks bad, but I did enjoy the look. The game has a darker tone and Laura has a more determined look than in her other adventures. Core was taking the character in a new direction for once, which I think was a good thing. This game was planed to be part one of a three part trilogy, but the sales were so bad Core got pulled from making them and they rebooted the whole thing with another developer. Again, I really enjoyed it because I could see they were trying to take the series in a new direction and some of the ideas are interesting. The stamina system is nice and depending on what dialog choices you make, you get more information from certain characters. If you are looking for a classic Tomb Raider experience, this is not it though. I finished it with no fixes and an xbox controller.
Short review: Average game with bad user interface (UI). Really for Syberia fans only. Long review: Having just finished the game I will say I enjoyed my time with Syberia 3. Let me start with the bad stuff, the interface. I found both controller and mouse were both not good and I switched back and forth a lot. Sometimes the curser would just disappear, other times the controller would not pick up the hot spots on screen, generally the interface is slow to register your actions and a bit clunky. After a while I got used to most of it, but you might not. This game was made with Unity by a small dev team so I was not expecting anything amazing from the visuals. They are fine, nothing amazing and nothing ugly. What I did enjoy was the world, puzzles, and music. The game has the same atmosphere that the first two had with empty town streets or a rusted amusement park and more. I liked it. The puzzles were fine. Nothing new for these types of games. The music was very good and added to the atmosphere well. The story was fine. In the end I did enjoy the journey even with the bad controls. In closing, I would only recommend this game to fans of the first two since it has the atmosphere, puzzles, and pace of the first two games. For newcomers, I would urge you to play the other two first and if you like them buy this game.
I have played a LOT of the the Tomb Raider games, but lost interest a little over the years. The original Tomb Raider is still one of my favorites for its early 3D design and focus on exploration. I still have a few to play, but I decided to write a short review of Tomb Raider 4 and 5. Having finished Tomb Raider The Last Revelation (TR4) a while ago and just recently finished Tomb Raider Chronicles (TR5), I have to admit, I enjoyed Chronicles much better. I really did not like the open level nature of TM4 and wondered around endlessly looking for some small lock the game gives almost no clues about. I actually liked the more linear level design in TM5, which to me felt more like the classic Tomb Raider. I really liked the chapter structure of TM5 as well, since no stage felt too long and it gives you a nice variety of locations and gameplay It is odd that people think TR4 was more exploration focused with less combat. I will say TR4 is much longer, but comparing the first 10 or so levels between the two games Chronicles has less combat. The 3rd chapter in Chronicles does not even give you a weapon. I just found TR5 to be less focused on combat than TR4. Neither game is perfect. The final level in Chronicles is a bit too glitchy for me; enemies getting stuck in places or not taking any damage, certain doors not opening when they should, etc. TM4 was much more stable and it had a much better story. My personal view would be to play the original Tomb Raider and its sequel and skip Tomb Raider 3, 4, and 5. If you like the old school stiff controls, then go ahead and play them all. If you just want to see great early 3D design, just stick to the early ones. The newer Tomb Raiders were fun, but not great. Now I am off to start Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness which I have heard nothing but how good it controls...LOL -Long time Tomb Raider fan
