Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness [PS2 - Beta]

The overall result suggested that the development of The Angel of Darkness had been rushed, despite numerous delays prior to its release to possibly improve the final product; difficult-to-overlook plot inconsistencies (or leaps) and frequent continuity errors added to the belief that significant ‘cuts’ were made from the original design. While it was not the first (or last) game to suffer such abridgment, the results were especially jarring and confusing. For example, in the final encounter between Lara and the overall perpetrator, they appear to recognize each other–without it ever being previously established that either even knew of the other.

Criticisms also concerned the lack of actual tombs in the game as the majority of action takes place in large, urban environments (such as a nightclub), as well as abandoning Lara’s trademark akimbo pistols and other aspects of the series (although dual pistols are amongst the hidden features that never made it to release, they can be used with cheats).

The amount of criticism the game provoked caused the series’ publishers, Eidos Interactive, to replace developer Core Design with Crystal Dynamics who developed the latest three episodes of the series. Core had developed each game of the series since its inception.

An interview with members of Core Design in the August 2006 issue of Edge magazine saw the developers claim that the game was rushed to release by Eidos in order to meet quarterly financial targets, despite it not being completed.[citation needed] As a result, large sections of the game (particularly in Paris) were drastically cut down in scale or removed entirely in order to meet the deadline, and play testing – of the control system in particular – was truncated. [Info from Wikipedia]

For more infos: The Making Of: Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness @ Edge Online

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1. Tomb Raider Anniversary Edition (Core) [Cancelled]
2. Tomb Raider Beta [PSX / Saturn / PC]
3. Tomb Raider 3 Beta [PSX / PC]
4. The Lost [XBOX/PS2 - Cancelled]
5. Good Cop, Bad Cop [PS2 - Cancelled]