Lara Croft Tomb Raider : The Angel of Darkness

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness brings Lara to PlayStation 2 for a dark, story-led adventure set in Paris and Prague. Developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive, this 2003 entry begins after the events of Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation and Tomb Raider: Chronicles. Lara is summoned by her former mentor Werner Von Croy, only to find herself caught at the scene of his murder. With the authorities treating her as a suspect and memories of the attack incomplete, she goes underground to uncover who killed Von Croy and why.

The investigation leads through rain-soaked Paris streets, apartments, nightclubs, abandoned buildings, sewers and the Louvre, before shifting to Prague and the Strahov Sanitarium. Lara follows clues connected to the Obscura Paintings, a series of artefacts tied to an ancient threat, while a killer known as the Monstrum casts a shadow over the case. The result is a Tomb Raider mystery with secret societies, occult history and a more urban setting than the series’ usual run of isolated ruins.

Play unfolds from a third-person view, combining exploration, environmental puzzles, platforming and combat. Lara climbs ledges, shimmies along narrow surfaces, crawls through tight spaces, swims, swings, moves objects and searches locations for useful items. The PlayStation 2 game also adds wall-hugging, peeking around corners, stealth attacks and hand-to-hand encounters, giving certain spaces a more cautious pace before the action resumes.

The Angel of Darkness introduces a strength system that affects particular climbs and jumps. Completing selected physical actions can improve Lara’s ability to tackle later obstacles, so the route forward sometimes depends on more than simply finding the next door or key. Conversation choices with non-player characters appear during the early investigation as well, placing dialogue alongside the series’ familiar switches, locked rooms and perilous traversals.

Lara is the main playable character, but the story eventually gives control to Kurtis Trent. First encountered as a mysterious opponent, Kurtis has his own connection to the events surrounding the paintings and the struggle against the Cabal. His chapters broaden the final stretch with a second perspective, combat-focused encounters and his distinctive Periapt Shard weapon, while keeping the central investigation moving toward its confrontation.

This PlayStation 2 release was the first Tomb Raider built for the console generation after the original PlayStation era. Its environments, character animation and cinematic presentation were designed around a new engine, and its orchestral score supports the noir-tinged mood of the story. The game is a single-player adventure that leans into atmosphere and narrative as Lara races to clear her name and stop a ritual with consequences beyond the murder that began her search.

The original PS2 version is the game described here. It was released alongside a separate Windows edition in 2003, followed by a Mac OS X port handled by Beenox and published by Aspyr; those versions should not be confused with this console release. It is also separate from Tomb Raider IV–VI Remastered, the 2025 collection that revisits the classic entries with updated presentation and features.

For players exploring Lara Croft’s original Core Design chronology, The Angel of Darkness stands as the sixth main Tomb Raider adventure and a direct continuation of its late-1990s storyline. Its mix of European investigation, supernatural conspiracy, stealth, traversal and puzzle-solving offers a distinct chapter in the series: Lara is not simply searching for a lost treasure, but pursuing the truth behind Von Croy’s death while navigating a world where every lead may conceal another danger.