Review: Tomb Raider 4-6 Remastered (PS5) - Definitive Package Closes Out the First Chapter of Lara Croft Adventures

Storied developer Aspyr has been knocking it out of the park recently. It followed the first three Tomb Raider remasters with an update of the beloved Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver games. More recently, the studio threw a satisfying curve ball with Star Wars: Jedi Power Battles, a remaster nobody knew they needed. It now brings us a concluding triptych of Lara Croft adventures — two uniformly great entries alongside one of the most notorious franchise failures in history.

This collection will be a fascinating prospect for some, if only to see The Angel Of Darkness carved into the kind of shape it was always meant to be in.

All the bells and whistles of Aspyr’s remaster template are represented here. Each game has a shiny new skin, with the ability to instantly swap between vintage boxy visuals and the sleek new style. The smooth look is more pronounced with the PS1 titles, but Angel Of Darkness's bold and moody art style also benefits from a lick of paint.

Presentation is not without issues, with some notable texture pop-in throughout Last Revelation and Chronicles where the camera bites off more than it can chew.

The modern control scheme returns from the first bundle, and it’s just as fiddly to get to grips with if you’re a series veteran. The old tank controls are not better per se, but the new scheme often feels counterintuitive to the traversal mechanics of Last Revelation and Chronicles.

Photo mode is back, and it’s accompanied by a flyby feature that allows you to send a virtual camera across custom paths, creating dynamic action shots. This is a fun toy that’s great to play with in this collection’s diverse set of environments.

Another neat addition featured in all three games is the cheat system. In a nod to the notepad-and-pen action of yesteryear, Aspyr has reproduced cheats using the same button combinations that some will remember fondly. Rounding out the updates are customisable UI options and fully re-mappable controls.

It's also worth noting before we delve into the games themselves that these titles are faithful remasters. Much like the first three games, they represent decades-old game design trends, with none of the streamlined convenience of modern genre titles. Exploration and puzzles are often frustratingly obtuse and the combat systems feel ancient. Now, let's raid some tombs.

We kick off with Last Revelation: a departure from the epic globetrotting of Tomb Raider 3, it takes place mostly in the dusty tombs of Egypt. The story sees Lara battle the Egyptian deity Set, who has possessed her mentor, Verner Von Croy. Featuring an iconic tutorial level in which you play Lara as a cocky teen, this fourth instalment is an enjoyable adventure, only brought down by its lack of visual diversity.

There’s a bonus level alongside the main game, previously only available on PC. In this mini-raid, Lara pokes around in the ancient archives of the Times newspaper. A rewarding diversion, it's worth playing to see a high-res image of British legends Paul Daniels and The Krankies in the Times editor’s office.

Next up is Chronicles, an episodic tale in which three of Lara’s closest allies recite stories of derring-do in the wake of her apparent demise. Light-hearted and action-packed, Chronicles is a nice tonal transition between parts four and six. Lara 5.0 offers the most refined version of the series formula and re-introduces a more varied aesthetic. Shifting between locales, from European streets to high-tech facilities, makes part five a worthy contrast to its sandy predecessor.

Finally, the black sheep of this 30-year-old franchise. The Angel Of Darkness was the hotly anticipated PS2 entry. Releasing to negative reviews that cited its many technical issues, it also had a mixed reception from the fanbase. The final game in Core Design’s tenure with the franchise has many staunch defenders, but its initial release was undeniably flawed. Developed alongside Chronicles, the game suffered due to a dev team trying to reshape the series template within the constraints of time and unfamiliar technology. It comes to us now with every fix and improvement added in the wake of its original launch, including cut tutorial content and many squashed bugs.

That said, it remains a rough experience.

All of the core mechanics that make up a Tomb Raider game are broken here to some degree. The control scheme butts heads with the platforming constantly. Make friends with the quicksave function, because even the most basic jump might be a one-way ticket to a broken neck.

The combat is dull and restrictive, encouraging the use of a woeful stealth system. After playing the other two games in this collection, scrounging for ammo and collecting money to buy guns feels like a drag.

At the very least, the story is compelling, following Lara as she goes on the run for murder and joins forces with playable deuteragonist Kurtis Trent. Eckhardt is a great baddie and after the initial urban slog, we do get some nice locations to explore. The shift towards a darker colour palette also really works; it was a bold design choice that offers an engaging tonal contrast when presented in this bundle.

Yet, as admirable as the attempt to shake up the formula is, The Angel Of Darkness is still the clunkiest adventure in Lara’s first cycle. Its reception would ultimately lead to the franchise being completely retooled under a new studio.

Overall this is another solid collection from Aspyr. Paying respect to titles of yesteryear with good-looking visual upgrades and a plethora of modern options. Last Revelation and Chronicles remain series classics, but the big draw here is to experience the fascinatingly flawed The Angel Of Darkness.

Conclusion

With another generous set of remasters, we finally have the complete inaugural generation of a Playstation icon. The ports aren't perfect, but a generous selection of modern options balance out the imperfections of Tomb Raider: Last Revelation and its sequel Chronicles. Having The Angel Of Darkness in a good enough state to revisit might be worth the price alone.