However, its not perfect.
As a massive Tomb Raider fan, I was hyped for this game.
Behind closed doors however, the game was in crisis.
The new visuals are higher quality and cleaner.
It simply wasnt ready and required significantly more time in the oven to finish it.
The game was basically held together with duct tape and prayers, and it showed.
This review was conducted on an Xbox Series X with a review code supplied by Aspyr.
Remastered visuals: Carvier(Image credit: Windows Central)
The developers did not see the contents of this review before publication.
Visuals and character models
First up, lets talk visuals.
The Tomb Raider 1-5 Remasters do a beautiful job at remastering how those old games look.
Original visuals: Carvier(Image credit: Windows Central)
With AoD, that hasn’t happened in itsentirety.
Well start with the new character models, which look fantastic.
She now also blinks in cutscenes!
Remastered visuals: Janice(Image credit: Windows Central)
However, oddly, not all characters you interact with have been updated.
Additionally, even the updated models aren’t always perfect.
Her ponytail still does move, however.
Original visuals: Janice(Image credit: Windows Central)
AoDs updated map textures are also a bit of a mixed bag.
In fact, I think some of the updated textures even removes detail in certain places.
Overall, the updated visuals are good, but they could have been amazing.
Remastered visuals: City guide (notice his character model isn’t updated)(Image credit: Windows Central)
Hopefully updates will improve these areas.
Combat and modern controls
The AoD remaster finally brings a more tolerable control scheme to the game.
AoD was originally panned for having terrible controls that didnt lend themselves well to the overall level design.
Original visuals: City guide(Image credit: Windows Central)
you might of course switch back to the classic tank control scheme if thats something you prefer.
The tank controls are much more precise but are harder to master.
Y for picking up items and pressing buttons, and RT for grabbing items and ledges.
Remastered visuals: Lara’s hand(Image credit: Windows Central)
I will say that regardless of the control scheme, Lara appears to move slightly faster in general.
One of the big complaints people had with AoD originally was that Lara was slow.
She moves off slow, runs slow, and stops slow.
Original visuals: Lara’s hand(Image credit: Windows Central)
That said, the modern controls will take a few minutes to get used to.
One area that hasn’t really improved regardless of control scheme is combat.
Combat sucks in the original game, and unfortunately the remaster does little to improve this.
The same scene split between new and original visuals. The new visuals look sharp, but take away a lot of the grit from the original textures.
This is now a weapon the player can use, but the control scheme is frankly painful.
When equipped, Kurtis can no longer jump or strafe.
His movement is slowed, and the blade itself isn’t even that powerful.
Remastered visuals(Image credit: Windows Central)
He moves around like a grasshopper, and his responsiveness drops significantly.
On a more positive note, the remaster does is give Lara back her iconic dual pistols.
Thats now fixed, as the player can now find and equip them throughout the game!
Original visuals(Image credit: Windows Central)
There are two types of dual-pistols that can be equipped by the player dual Vector-R35s and dual Scorpion Xs.
Theyll be treated as dual weapons too, meaning they will deplete 9mm ammo twice as fast.
She was probably keeping them in her backpack.
Remastered visuals(Image credit: Windows Central)
I found Lara now talks to herself a bit more than I remember her doing in the original game.
She’ll lend her thoughts on certain objectives and locations to nudge the player in the right direction.
These seem to only occur when the level design isn’t so clear.
Original visuals(Image credit: Windows Central)
I also noticed that blood effects have been restored, too.
Youll find small improvements like this all over the game, which I really like.
In a vacuum, this is a great addition.
Remastered visuals(Image credit: Windows Central)
However, this is the only part of the game where this mechanic is now implemented.
Once you leave Paris, there isn’t another pawn broker to buy or sell items at.
This means all the items and money you collect from then onwards have no purpose.
Original visuals(Image credit: Windows Central)
This is where restoring an unfinished game like this begins to rear its ugly head.
Ultimately, I am happy to see some of this cut content restored.
It happens randomly, so you might not encounter it at all.
Remastered visuals(Image credit: Windows Central)
I also ran into a bug that caused Lara to freeze in place twice.
The game wasnt frozen, just Lara was.
AI pathing continues to be a weak point here as well.
Original visuals(Image credit: Windows Central)
This was an issue in the original game, and it’s still an issue here with the remaster.
Some areas appear to be missing textures, even in remastered visuals.
The cutscene where Lara and Bouchard are talking in a car has no visuals out the window.
Combat in AoD is still a mixed bag that can be frustrating.
Or maybe the windows are supposed to be blacked out.
you’re able to also enable boss battle health bars now, which are truly helpful.
That’s missing for the AoD version for some reason.
Boss battle health bars are a nice addition.
Final thoughts
Tomb Raider AoD Remastered is the best attempt Ive seen yet at fixing this game.
However, its not perfect.
Updated map and object textures are good, but there’s room for improvement here.
The Chirugai Blade is frustrating to use.
There are also still bugs that I’d like to see fixed with future updates.
Unfortunately, the remaster can’t help the fact that this game is chronically unfinished.
I love Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness, and I appreciate this remaster too.
Lara’s iconic dual pistols can now be used in game.
But sometimes you have to call a spade a spade, and that’s not the remasters fault.
The remaster does lower the barrrier for entry for modern audiences, especially PC players.
The original AoD on PC is terrible.
Cutscenes look fantastic with the updated character models.
It’s difficult to set up, and doesn’t even work a lot of the time.
He breaks down the good and the bad of the original AoD in great detail.
Blood effects have been restored!
Being able to buy health and equipment during the Paris levels is a nice addition.
Bugs like this will crop up throughout the game.
Lara can now equip her iconic sunglasses.
This scene is still tense all these years later.
