Lost Media Archive

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Lost Media Archive
Lost Media Archive
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Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness

cover of TR:AoD

Tomb_Raider_Angel_of_Darkness_BETA

Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness BETA

Beta footage

After the release of Tomb Raider Chronicles, Core Design's final Tomb Raider game for the original PlayStation, Eidos was more than eager to produce a new installment of their action-adventure platformer franchise for the next gen consoles. Core had the story planned since 2000, at the earliest but, to the displeasure of Eidos, the production had many setbacks: the PS2's hardware was tricky for Core to handle as well and a conflict among the team in which direction they wanted to take the game. Even after more than three years of development, Angel of Darkness was still not ready. To coincide with the release of the next Tomb Raider movie, Eidos forced Core to finish the game by the Summer of 2003 as part of a marketing ploy. The final product resulted in a unfinished story with many plot holes and inconsistences caused by missing content. Although it was one of the most anticipated titles of 2003, Angel of Darkness resulted in, critically, the worst Tomb Raider installment and mediocre sales. Allegedly, the released game was only half of what Core envisioned.

Cut Content[]

  • Lara Croft wielding her iconic dual pistols was seen in early trailers
  • Kurtis Trent, the second playable character created for the game, would have had his Chirugai Blade as a usable weapon.
    Tomb_Raider_Angel_of_Darkness_BETA_2-0

    Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness BETA 2-0

    Beta Footage 2

  • Many inventory objects, such as a GPS and a Cell Phone. Also included was a magical amulet that would somehow be part of the game's strength-building mechanic
  • An animation of Lara hiding in a trash bin
  • The Parisian Ghetto level was to be twice as big as the final level
  • An alternate route through the first level
  • Extra rooms in the Louvre Catacombs
  • An explanation for how Lara survived the events of Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation. This includes 
    Tomb_Raider_Angel_of_Darkness_Beta_Tombs

    Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness Beta Tombs

    Tombs that did not make it in the final game

    Putai, a North African Shaman who nursed her back to health. Putai was cut from the game, yet her character bio was featured on the official website.
  • A German castle level. Lara would learn there about the history of Eckhardt (the main antagonist), as well as obtaining the Periapt Shard (a weapon needed to kill him), which mysteriously appears in her inventory halfway through the game
  • A scene that explained how Lara knew Karel, the 
    Making_of_Tomb_Raider_Angel_of_Darkness

    Making of Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness

    Making of Angel of Darkness

    right-hand man of the main antagonist and the twist villain of the game.
  • Possibly a scene explaining the fate of Gunderson, a mercenary leader forgotten about by the end of the game.
  • Core had originally intended for Angel of Darkness to be the start of a new trilogy of games. Due to its failure, any future Tomb Raider games from Core were cancelled. At the end of the Making Of video featured with the game, Core developers claimed that Angel of Darkness was the first few chapters of a book the
    Tomb_Raider_-_Angel_of_Darkness_-_Deleted_Scene_-_Shaman

    Tomb Raider - Angel of Darkness - Deleted Scene - Shaman

    Recently released unfinished scene from Angel of Darkness

    y wrote. It's plausible to assume that the novel is the entire story of the planned trilogy.

References[]

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