The Last Days Of Classic Croft
HIGH Fantastic improvements and modernizations.
LOW There are still some rough spots, despite said changes
WTF The music track that plays in the nightclub level slaps hard.
Last year, Lara Croft’s earliest adventures were given a chance to shine again in Tomb Raider I-III Remastered. These classics featured numerous improvements, such as a new optional control scheme and a photo mode that allows players to capture moments from Lara’s classic adventures. Now, a second collection has arrived offering Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered, which contains The Last Revelation, Chronicles, and The Angel of Darkness respectively, and iterates upon the first compilation’s tweaks.
TR 4—6 are action-adventure puzzlers that were published between 1999 and 2003, and they were the last titles developed by Core Design before the franchise was passed on to Crystal Dynamics. However, many at this time believed that Lara’s adventures had become stale, so these latter three changed up the gameplay.
As with the previous collection, players can toggle between a set of classic and modern visuals. In TR 4 and 5, the visual changes are sharp and gorgeous. In TR 6, the changes are a little more subtle, but many character models and background elements are still greatly improved.
While all the last collection’s improvements are applied to these titles, there are also new features like the “Retro FPS” toggle, which allows for a new first-person view at either 30 or 60 FPS. In addition, players will find many small quality-of-life tweaks, like being able to see hotkey shortcuts for the controller without opening the menu.
Additionally, the FMVs in this collection look mush better this time around. TR 1—3 Remastered’s new visuals had a ‘smeared’ look when the movies would play. In TR 4-6, however, they’re great.
However, the most important changes in this collection are found specifically in the sixth installment, Angel of Darkness. The original content was pretty bare, and it was hard to figure out the plot at times, resulting in widespread critical pans on release. Now, it’s better than it’s ever been, mostly due to the restoration of the original’s cut content.
For starters, a missing portion of the tutorial area has been added back in, covering a section for the commando crawl move. This gives new and returning players a choice in how to get through that specific section, each route giving its own rewards.
Additionally, the pawn shop and herbalist in Paris will now sell items to Lara for the first time. Before, she could only sell valuables or ask for info. This change is incredibly helpful, since it provides players a way to stock up on healing items and ammunition early on.
The later sections of the adventure where the player controls a character named Kurtis have also been updated. This includes a new throwable weapon and a psychic shield to help make his sequences a little easier, and helps preserve his scant resources.
All of these changes and expansions make AoD feel more complete and give players a glimpse at some of the elements the original development team had originally wanted to include.
As for other extras in the collection, there’s a bonus level for TR4 that’s available right away — The “Times Exclusive Level”. This was a collaboration between Core Design and The Times of London. Using the discovery of another section of Tutankhamen’s tomb as the catalyst for the adventure, Lara is tasked by then-senior editor, Peter Strothard, to track down and recover objects from the tomb. It’s a rather unique (but brief) adventure, lasting only around 15—30 minutes. Despite the brevity, it’s an interesting cultural snapshot of how popular Lara was. So popular, in fact, that a major newspaper was willing to take part in the creation and distribution of a videogame level.
Unfortunately, it’s the only bonus for this collection. While I understand that there weren’t any other expansions released for TR 4-6, there are certainly other Core designed games that were made during this period. There are two Game Boy Color TR games, for example, that would’ve been a welcome treat, and a fantastic way to experience some of Lara’s handheld adventures.
Another gripe I had with this collection was the remastered visual mode’s lighting engine, which was also a problem in the last collection. It’s often so dark in certain areas that I’d have to switch to the original visuals to see — a big issue when looking for switches, especially those on the ceiling that Lara has to grab. I’d contend that if a new lighting engine is going to be made, it should match how the original was lit. However, that isn’t the case here — it’s commonly too dark to see anything, with Lara’s flares or without.
While I’m glad all the original Tomb Raiders are available on modern platforms, there were plenty of problems with these titles back then that a simple polish-up can’t really address. Chronicles’ shorter collection of stories meant they can’t make a big impression before it’s time to move on. Angel of Darkness is still fairly janky, even with improvements. I also encountered numerous bugs as I made my way through, such as unintentional clipping and fiddly movement, even using the modern controls.
The last issue — and it’s a big one — is the lack of auto-saves. Tomb Raider titles can be difficult thanks to various traps, hazards, and enemies. If a player dies, they have to backtrack from their last manual save, if they remembered to save. While the new, modern convenience of being able to save at any time is nice, the lack of an auto-save feature feels like a relic today.
Despite some baked-in gameplay issues, the lack of auto-saves, and sparseness in the collection’s content, this remains a fantastic way for modern players to enjoy Lara Croft’s classic escapades. While this trio may not be everyone’s favorite, the efforts to smooth them out are excellent overall, and modernize these titles in a meaningful way.
Rating: 7 out of 10
Buy Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered: Steam, Epic, GOG, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo
Disclosures: This game is developed by Aspyr and published by Aspyr and Crystal Dynamics. It is currently available on XBO/X/S, PS4/5, Switch, and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on PC. Approximately 21 hours were devoted to the collection overall, and it was not completed. There is no multiplayer mode.
Parents: This game has an ESRB rating of T for Blood and Violence. There isn’t a detailed description from the ESRB, but the content features the player fighting monsters, animals, and humans who shed blood when shot. The player can be killed in a variety of ways including impalement, falling, gunshots, being crushed, set on fire, animal attacks, and more. In one instance, a man engages in an act of self-sacrifice by using a truck full of explosives to kill a monster.
Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind options.
Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: The game offers subtitles. Subtitles cannot be resized. There are no closed captioning options for sound effects, such as enemy sounds or environmental effects (like noises for traps) so this game is not fully accessible.
Remappable Controls: Yes, this game’s controls are remappable.
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