Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered Review: Out of the Darkness
It's 2025, and I can now pick up my Nintendo Switch and play the first six Tomb Raider games, including the three expansions. I never expected this to happen, and it's a big win for game preservation. But the latest collection, consisting of Tomb Raider IV, V, and Angel of Darkness, is a great example of how things were going at Core Design during the late 90s.
Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered is now out on modern consoles and PC. Although my review of Tomb Raider I-III Remastered was published to an embargoed date last year, I wanted to take my time with this collection for one reason.
This trilogy is very different from previous games in the Tomb Raider series due to a few factors. Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, released in 1999, was made by a mostly new team, and by the time the fifth game, Chronicles, came out in 2000, most of the team had had enough by that point.
And then, Angel of Darkness. A game released in 2003 for Sony PlayStation 2 and PC in an unfinished and rushed state due to Eidos' shareholders, sealed Core Design's fate.
Each game has its share of flaws, and they're not as beloved as the games that came before them. However, all three are still fun in their own right - even though Angel of Darkness is still a broken game, especially during my time with this remaster.
So, now that I've played all three games non-stop over a couple of weeks — what do I think?
Full disclosure, for those unaware: I have been working on a follow-up to my 2021 book, 'The Making of Tomb Raider,' which will tell the story of how Tomb Raider III-V were made. So in the last year, I've been playing IV and V repeatedly, knowing some insights as to why certain levels, enemies, and more were designed the way they were — so some levels and other aspects may be left out of this.
Livin' La Von Croy Loca
Headed up by the same team that did Tomb Raider I-III Remastered, the next three games released between 1999 and 2003 are here:
Tomb Raider IV: The Last Revelation, released in 1999, was meant to be the final game on the PlayStation 1 before the higher-ups at Core wanted another game for the console in 2000.
Tomb Raider: Chronicles, released in 2000, is a mix of locations that tell stories from those who know Lara best after her apparent demise in the previous game.
Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness, released in 2003 for PlayStation 2 and PC, where Lara investigates the murder of her mentor, Von Croy while exploring the streets of Paris and Prague to obtain all five Obscura paintings, before Eckhart, the game's antagonist, does.
As soon as the title screen of Last Revelation appears, you're shown the Flyby screen that many players have seen before, but in a new way thanks to the remastered textures. Everything looks sharp, even the font. As you start the game as Young Lara and her mentor, Von Croy, you'd be forgiven for thinking it's a remake. The textures give Angkor Wat a new look and the lighting transforms certain sections tenfold.
Of course, you're brought back to 1999 with Von Croy's many cut scenes, explaining how to jump, how to shimmy on a ledge, and lots more. Originally, Von Croy was meant to be a guide for the player without these cut scenes but struggles at the time meant that the team had to break up the gameplay. Nevertheless, it would have been good to have seen an option here to skip the first level for existing players, and perhaps move the first cut-scene to the start of the second level, 'Race for the Iris'.
To get to the point: this collection is worth it for TR4 alone. The game still has its faults - it’s too long, and the backtracking can be very confusing due to some focus on hub levels. But the look of it is fantastic - the remastered graphics only elevate that more. Every part of the user interface looks great too, but I can’t help but feel that everything appears ZOOMED IN and stretched on the inventory screen. However, it's great to see a 'Statistics' screen to keep track of your progress, something that was sorely missed in the original release.
I'm not going to get into the intricacies of the game, but what follows is a fun time, with great level design, fantastic textures that give a lot of depth to the tombs and Egyptian history, and a plot this time that's fun to follow from start to finish.
Mambo No. 5ive
Tomb Raider: Chronicles, is, well, a game. In my chats with the Core team, they're proud of how well the game runs and looks, but most recall it as, simply, a project they had to finish for November 2000. Essentially, it's a great example of a game made by a checklist. The remastered edition does a great job of highlighting its wins, though. The Rome and Ireland levels shine with new textures and lighting effects, and the level with the damaged Submarine in Russia is also fun to play. The team, consisting of many from the Tomb Raider Community, have all done another great job in remastering Chronicles, but there's only so much you can do with a game that was made with obligation, not passion.
Still, the game is a good 'weekend' play, but it's a shame Lara's Home didn't make a final appearance before the series finished on PS1. I’ve always seen TR5 as an expansion pack of TR4, so it's at least a nice epilogue to the series at this point. It’s public knowledge that, this is a game most of the team didn’t want to do - a deal had been made so they could make it. And unfortunately, it shows in much of the game. Some of the levels are inspired, but everything else feels tired at this point.
And then, we get to Angel of Darkness.
Not a Redemptive Era
I remember buying Angel of Darkness the same week it came out in June 2003. It was the PC version, and I had such a bad time with it, that I returned it the next day. It was slow, broken, and didn't feel like a Tomb Raider game to me anymore.
It wasn't until COVID-19 hit that I decided to give the game another chance, mainly thanks to how the Tomb Raider community managed to fix it up for PC, and it was a good time. Flawed, but a good time.
Many had been hoping for Angel of Darkness to see a redemption for this remaster. Indeed, in talking with those for the books, the game has been mentioned as a source of regret and, I'd go as far as to say, still painful for many involved in how development went. I've had a fine time with it, although I had to reload the Hall of Seasons level, as a glitch at Neptune's Hall meant I was stuck after collecting a crystal, with the game being confused with a water level, meaning I couldn't escape. There have also been moments of enemies clipping through walls or having to select certain objects repeatedly until they did their function. In my testing with the Switch version, there's a long delay when bringing up the inventory, which can be frustrating when you quickly want to look at Von Croy's notebook. And how come there isn't a 'flick to the latest page' option?
The Photo Mode is back, but it ironically exposes many of the game's flaws. Have you spotted the Truman Show-like rain effect in the above screenshot for instance?
I contacted Peter Connelly, composer of Tomb Raider IV, V, and Angel of Darkness, about his reaction to the games now available on modern platforms after all this time. "I am overwhelmed and processing that, after 20-25 years, games I worked on that, at one point, I had pretty much put behind me, have been remastered. It feels surreal but I am honoured they’ve been given a lease of new life and the loving they deserve."
I also asked Connelly how that Mona Lisa photo featuring his face ended up in the game. "The photo was crafted by Tom Scutt (AI Programmer), just for giggles, and, as I was talking to Andrea Cordella (Lead Artist), whilst we were working on the Louvre level, I saw the Mona Lisa he had in place so mentioned the photo to him… Andrea asked if I would email it to him… a decade later, I realized he had used Tom's legendary edit."
When all is said and done, the design of it is flawed - not the gameplay, nor the graphics. It's why I’m reluctant to call Angel of Darkness' addition as a remaster. The foundations were shaky to start with in 2003, so it’s more of a restoration.
I also think a reality needs to be met here. It’s a broken game with broken promises. It always has been and unfortunately always will be unless Crystal funds a remake. This isn’t a redemption era, it’s a reminder era of what happened when Eidos’ shareholders decided to release the game in its unfinished (and infamous) state.
Yes, the story is great, as is the Gothic design throughout, and Connelly's music is amazing — some of his orchestral tracks carry many moments throughout the game. The helicopter chase near the start is a great example of this.
Having Angel as part of this collection makes sense for narrative and game preservation reasons, but not much else. It’s a lot for any team to work on two PS1 games to remaster for modern systems, then go to this, all within 10 months. Far more sections here required lots of fixing, instead of remastering. I've heard there were struggles to get Angel in shape for this collection. A beer or three is owed to everyone involved to get the game, and the collection as a whole, over the finish line in time.
"I think Angel of Darkness needs as much love as it can get," Connelly tells me. "It’s an epic but, sadly, flawed release with an epic storyline. A remaster is cool but a full remake would fully redeem its genius - so much could be done. The basis of a perpetual masterpiece needs to be addressed by the powers that be… they simply need to acknowledge that."
Angel is something that, as one of the series’ original inspirations once said, ‘belongs in a museum’. This collection fulfills that request.
I also want to mention how the PR company distributed the review code for this collection. For Tomb Raider I-III Remastered, there were early impressions followed by a review. This time, it was just a review, with code distributed to some outlets and then to others after the collection was made available. It’s a shame this occurred. There are plenty of fantastic folk in the community who could have given this collection a fair shake and who don't need to add in SEO terms. This felt like a big miss to me. I hope this improves if the LAU trilogy is planned to be remastered next.
It's important that Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered exists. It's a reminder of what happens when a new team takes the full reigns of an incredibly successful franchise and runs with it, as well as when ambition doesn't meet reality.
Tomb Raider IV is a great time. The atmosphere is one of the series' best, with an engaging narrative and great levels and puzzles to boot. Tomb Raider V is incredibly iffy, a game made by necessity, and in some places, you just know that the team has had enough. But regardless, the Ireland and Rome levels are some of its shining highlights.
When it comes to Angel of Darkness, it's ultimately flawed. It's flawed at its foundations, flawed in its design, and flawed in its promises. If the series' current proprietor, Crystal Dynamics, sees sense and looks into a fully-fledged remake, much like Resident Evil 2 from 2019, that's when the game will truly see redemption. But not right now. It's playable, but no matter what's been restored and what bugs have been and will be fixed, it's a massively missed opportunity that deserves a remake.
Overall, it's an impressive collection and worth it for Tomb Raider IV on its own. It's only heightened further if you grew up with one or all three of these games. I have heard that patches are en route, so make sure to let Aspyr know of any bugs you come across. I already have.
Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered is available now for PS4/PS5, Nintendo Switch/2, Xbox Series, and PC. Code was supplied by Aspyr.
