One of the most successful video game series of all time returns from a hiatus with Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness. This latest adventure starring modern-day adventuress Lara Croft sends her to Paris, Prague, and a number of dangerous, ancient, subterranean catacombs. As before, Lara will need to run, jump, climb, shoot, and think her way through various trials and tribulations, and certain death often lies at the bottom of a long drop that is just one miscalculated step away from where she needs to be. In development for years, this latest Tomb Raider was intended as a reinvention of the series, with a darker edge and all-new gameplay elements. That is indeed the case, but unfortunately, it's easy to tell that Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, despite all the time spent in the making, shipped before it was completely finished. Numerous bugs and glitches, some superficial and some serious, as well as a cumbersome and often frustrating control scheme seriously hurt the game, making it considerably less enjoyable than it could have been. Nevertheless, hard-core Tomb Raider fans and other particularly patient players should be able to overlook these flaws and enjoy this new installment for its engaging storyline, death-defying action sequences, and impressive locations.

Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness begins in Paris, when a heated argument between Lara Croft and her mentor ends with a deadly twist--the old man is killed, and since Lara is the only one present at the scene, she spends the first part of the game eluding the authorities, who assume she did it. As Lara desperately searches for answers to why her mentor might have been killed, she becomes increasingly aware that a notorious serial killer is apparently shadowing her wherever she goes, leaving you to wonder whether she is indeed to blame for the crime in some way.