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Slay the Spire 2The Angel of Darkness
Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness (Tomb Raider 6, 2003) was Core Design's last Tomb Raider, a troubled PlayStation 2 and PC game rated 52 and 49 on Metacritic, the lowest of any main-series game. Weeks after it launched, Eidos moved the series to Crystal Dynamics.
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, released on Jun 20, 2003 for PlayStation 2 and PC, is the game that ended Core Design's run: it holds 52 on Metacritic for PS2 and 49 for PC, the lowest Metascores of any main-series Tomb Raider, and on Jul 31, 2003 Eidos announced that the series would move from Core, "the studio that created Lara Croft," to Crystal Dynamics in the US. It was ambitious, with revamped controls, a second playable character and a darker story set in Paris and Prague, and it shipped unfinished. It is now playable in Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered.
Quick facts
| Official title | Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness (Steam: Tomb Raider VI) |
| Released | Jun 20, 2003 (Metacritic's date) |
| Developer | Core Design |
| Publisher | Eidos Interactive |
| Platforms | PlayStation 2, PC |
| Lara's voice | Jonell Elliott |
| Setting | Paris and Prague |
| Second playable character | Kurtis Trent |
| Secrets | None |
| Metacritic | 52 (PS2, 37 critics), 49 (PC, 18), as of Nov 1, 2026 |
| Steam reviews | Mixed, 60% of 1,455, as of Nov 1, 2026 |
| Length | 14.5 hours main story, 18.5 completionist (HowLongToBeat) |
| Buy today | Steam or Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered |
Sources: Metacritic, Nov 1, 2026; Steam, Nov 1, 2026; Stella's Tomb Raider Site, Nov 2, 2026; LevelUp, Oct 31, 2021; HowLongToBeat, Nov 2, 2026.
What is The Angel of Darkness about?
Lara is accused of murdering her former mentor Werner Von Croy and goes on the run, following a "sinister Alchemist" to stop a secret alliance, in Steam's description. The trail starts in Paris, where Von Croy had been hired to find one of five 14th-century Obscura Paintings, and leads to Prague, per Stella's Tomb Raider Site. Along the way she meets Kurtis Trent, a "fellow raider" in Crystal Dynamics' list of her associates, whom you control in several levels.
Levels in brief
Stella's walkthrough numbers 29 levels: 19 in Paris, from the Parisian Back Streets through the Louvre Galleries and the Hall of Seasons, and 10 in Prague, from the Monstrum Crime Scene and the Strahov Fortress to Eckhardt's Lab. Four levels reached from the Hall of Seasons can be played in any order, and two come in two versions, named for Bernard and Pierre in Stella's guide. There are no secrets.
| City | Levels |
|---|---|
| Paris | Parisian Back Streets, Derelict Apartment Block, Industrial Rooftops, Margot Carvier's Apartment, Parisian Ghetto, The Serpent Rouge, St. Aicard's Graveyard, Bouchard's Hideout, Louvre Storm Drains, Louvre Galleries, Archaeological Dig, Tomb of Ancients, The Hall of Seasons, Neptune's Hall, The Breath of Hades, The Sanctuary of Flame, Wrath of the Beast, Galleries Under Siege, Von Croy's Apartment |
| Prague | The Monstrum Crime Scene, The Strahov Fortress, Bio-Research Facility, The Sanitarium, Maximum Containment Area, Aquatic Research Area, The Vault of Trophies, Boaz Returns, The Lost Domain, Eckhardt's Lab |
Source: Stella's Tomb Raider Site: Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness Game Info and Walkthrough, Nov 2, 2026.
What went wrong?
In a 2014 feature, Eurogamer's Richard Moss described three years of development before it was rushed out unfinished, and reported that two of its four planned locations were cut a year into the project and the story arc reworked in haste. The features that did ship, among them a basic dialogue system, ability upgrades, stealth and the second playable character, did not seem fully implemented, in the same feature's judgment. Eurogamer's original review, by Kristan Reed, had called it a "half-baked, unfinished travesty."
Core never published its own account. What the record shows is what Eidos did. Two weeks before the move to Crystal Dynamics, Eidos said Jeremy Heath-Smith, Core's managing director, was stepping down, after a lukewarm consumer reception for the game, which Game Developer reported was plagued by quality-control problems. Claims that Eidos forced an early release to meet its financial targets are widely repeated, but no source we could verify confirms them.
Reception
Critics were harsh: on PS2, 6 positive, 16 mixed and 15 negative reviews out of 37. Steam's players rate the PC original Mixed, at 60% positive of 1,455 on Nov 1, 2026. It still has defenders: fans have spent years patching its controls and restoring cut content, the subject of Eurogamer's 2014 feature.
The end of Core's era
Its story, with Kurtis and the Obscura Paintings, was never continued in a game. Crystal Dynamics restarted the series with Tomb Raider: Legend in 2006, and Rebellion bought Core Design's staff and assets that year while Eidos kept the Tomb Raider rights. The full history is on Core Design and Crystal Dynamics.
How to play it today
The PC original is on Steam as Tomb Raider VI: The Angel of Darkness. Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered (Aspyr, Feb 14, 2025) includes it with The Last Revelation and Chronicles, the trio Crystal Dynamics calls the "Darkness Trilogy."
Frequently asked questions
Why is Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness considered bad? Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness shipped unfinished after a long development, with cut locations, awkward controls and bugs, and critics gave it 52 on PS2 and 49 on PC on Metacritic, the series' lowest scores.
Is The Angel of Darkness Tomb Raider 6? Yes. Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness is the sixth main Tomb Raider game, and Steam sells it as Tomb Raider VI: The Angel of Darkness.
Was Angel of Darkness the last Core Design Tomb Raider? Yes. On Jul 31, 2003, weeks after The Angel of Darkness launched, Eidos moved Tomb Raider development from Core Design to Crystal Dynamics.
Who is Kurtis Trent in Tomb Raider? Kurtis Trent is a fellow raider who meets Lara in Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness and is playable in several of its levels.
Is The Angel of Darkness worth playing today? The easiest way to judge Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness yourself is Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered, where players rated the collection Very Positive on Steam, 89% of 1,552 reviews, on Nov 1, 2026.
Sources
- Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, Metacritic, Nov 1, 2026
- Tomb Raider VI: The Angel of Darkness (2003), Steam, Nov 1, 2026
- Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered, Steam, Nov 1, 2026
- Lara Croft, Crystal Dynamics, Nov 1, 2026
- Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered, Crystal Dynamics, Nov 1, 2026
- Eidos Transfers Lara Croft To Crystal Dynamics, Game Developer, Jul 31, 2003
- Rebellion Acquires Core Design Assets From SCi, Jason Dobson, Game Developer, Jun 16, 2006
- The fans who would fix Tomb Raider's most broken adventure, Richard Moss, Eurogamer, Oct 12, 2014
- Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness Game Info and Walkthrough, Stella's Tomb Raider Site, Nov 2, 2026
- Tomb Raider: actrices de voz originales de Lara se reuniran en nuevo juego de la serie, Mardokeo Galvan, LevelUp, Oct 31, 2021
- How long is Tomb Raider, HowLongToBeat, Nov 2, 2026
- History of Tomb Raider (1996 - 2018), Nick930, Sep 7, 2018 (video)
Moments
History of Tomb Raider (1996 - 2018)
Nick930
- Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, released on Jun 20, 2003 for PlayStation 2 and PC, is the game that…
- Lara is accused of murdering her former mentor Werner Von Croy and goes on the run, following a "sinister Alchemist"…
- In a 2014 feature, Eurogamer's Richard Moss described three years of development before it was rushed out unfinished…
- Its story, with Kurtis and the Obscura Paintings, was never continued in a game. Crystal Dynamics restarted the series…
Related
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Shadow of the Tomb RaiderShadow of the Tomb Raider (2018) ends the Survivor trilogy, with Lara Croft trying to stop a Maya apocalypse in the jungle. Eidos-Montréal led it with Crystal Dynamics; critics liked it less than the two before it, at 82 on Metacritic for Xbox One and 80 on OpenCritic.
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The Last RevelationTomb Raider: The Last Revelation (Tomb Raider 4, 1999) is Core Design's Egypt game, in which Lara Croft frees the god Set and must imprison him again, and which ends with her apparent death. Metacritic lists no critic score for it, but its users rate it 8.3.
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Tomb Raider (1996)Tomb Raider (1996) is the first Tomb Raider game, made by Core Design in Derby and published by Eidos Interactive in late 1996 on Sega Saturn, PlayStation and PC. Lara Croft hunts the Scion across 15 levels in Peru, Greece, Egypt and Atlantis; it sold over 7 million copies.
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Tomb Raider (2013)Tomb Raider (2013) is Crystal Dynamics' reboot, Lara Croft's origin story on a stormbound island, published by Square Enix on Mar 5, 2013 with Camilla Luddington as Lara. It scored 86 to 87 on Metacritic and had sold 11 million copies by 2018, though Square Enix first called its sales below target.
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Tomb Raider 2Tomb Raider 2 (Tomb Raider II, 1997) is Core Design's first sequel, sending Lara Croft after the Dagger of Xian from the Great Wall of China to Venice, a sunken ship and Tibet. It holds an 85 on Metacritic for PlayStation, one of the best scores in the series.
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Tomb Raider 3Tomb Raider 3 (Tomb Raider III: Adventures of Lara Croft, 1998) is Core Design's third game, in which Lara Croft tracks four artifacts carved from an Antarctic meteorite through India, Nevada, the South Pacific and London. It scores 76 on Metacritic and is the longest classic Tomb Raider to finish.
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Tomb Raider ChroniclesTomb Raider Chronicles (Tomb Raider 5, 2000) is Core Design's fifth game, four short flashback adventures told by Lara Croft's friends at her memorial after The Last Revelation. It scored 57 to 63 on Metacritic, and its PC version came with the Tomb Raider level editor.
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Tomb Raider I-III RemasteredTomb Raider I-III Remastered is Aspyr's Feb 14, 2024 collection of the first three Tomb Raider games and their expansions, with new graphics you can switch off at any time, modern or classic controls and a photo mode. It scored 75 on Metacritic for PS5; a Challenge Mode came on Mar 12, 2026.
See also
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Core DesignCore Design was the studio in Derby, England, that created Tomb Raider and Lara Croft, made the first six games from 1996 to 2003 for publisher Eidos, then lost the series to Crystal Dynamics. Toby Gard, credited with creating Lara, left after the first game and returned at Crystal Dynamics in 2004.
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Crystal DynamicsCrystal Dynamics is the California studio that has made Tomb Raider since 2003, from Tomb Raider Legend to the Survivor trilogy. Owned by Embracer Group since 2022, it is making Tomb Raider Legacy of Atlantis with Flying Wild Hog and Tomb Raider Catalyst, both published by Amazon Game Studios.
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Tomb Raider IV-VI RemasteredTomb Raider IV-VI Remastered is Aspyr's Feb 14, 2025 collection of The Last Revelation, Chronicles and The Angel of Darkness, with switchable new graphics, modern controls and an expanded photo mode. Critics were lukewarm (69 on OpenCritic), players warmer (89% positive on Steam), as of Nov 2, 2026.
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Tomb Raider: LegendTomb Raider: Legend (2006) is Crystal Dynamics' first Tomb Raider, a fast, short adventure in which Lara Croft hunts the pieces of Excalibur to learn her mother's fate. It scored 82 on Metacritic and shipped over 2.9 million units in its first months.
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Lara Croft Spin-offsThe Lara Croft spin-offs are the Tomb Raider games outside the main series, led by the co-op games Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light (2010) and Temple of Osiris (2014), the puzzle game Lara Croft GO (2015), the runner Relic Run (2015) and Tomb Raider Reloaded (2023).
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Rise of the Tomb RaiderRise of the Tomb Raider (2015) is Crystal Dynamics' second Survivor game, sending Lara Croft to Siberia in search of the Lost City of Kitezh. Critics rated it among the best Tomb Raider games, at 86 on both Metacritic and OpenCritic.