This week on Critical Arcade, Dave and Nick dust off their dual pistols, crank up the early-2000s angst, and step into the shadowy, conspiratorial world of Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness—the game that tried to reinvent Lara Croft… and occasionally forgot how legs work in the process.

Fresh off being framed for the murder of her mentor Werner Von Croy, Lara finds herself plunged into the underbelly of Paris. She escapes through rain-soaked streets, dingy back alleys, and the world’s grumpiest cafés while trying to unravel a string of occult murders tied to a secret society known only as the Cabal. Their motives? Mysterious. Their fashion sense? Impeccably leather.

As Lara goes on the run, Dave and Nick try to keep track of all the new “features” this game introduced: morality systems that don’t really matter, stealth segments that no one asked for, and strength upgrades that somehow require Lara to repeatedly push boxes like she’s training for the Olympics. Meanwhile, Nick insists the game’s moody Paris soundtrack is underrated, and Dave keeps asking why every locked door looks like it might actually be a puzzle but… isn’t.

To complicate things further, the boys meet Kurtis Trent, the trench-coat-wearing, telekinesis-dabbling enigma who may or may not be flirting with Lara—or the player, depending on the mood. While Lara chases ancient artifacts tied to the Nephilim, Kurtis does his best to appear cool.

Their journey eventually leads them from grimy nightclubs and abandoned museums to high-security compounds and eerie, centuries-old catacombs. They’ll face mutated monstrosities, secret experiments, and plot twists that feel ripped straight from an early 2000s sci-fi channel marathon.

Find out as Critical Arcade tackles one of the most ambitious, bizarre, and surprisingly charming entries in the Tomb Raider saga—a game that may be flawed but still shines with atmosphere, attitude, and enough early-2000s energy to power a thousand leather jackets.

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