Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered unearths some forgotten Lara Croft treasure

Just a year after Tomb Raider I-III Remastered brought Lara Croft's Core Design entries to a modern audience for the first time, the release of Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered in February gave fans a chance to revisit Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, Tomb Raider: Chronicles, and Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness. While many will appreciate the polished textures, revamped character models, and modernized controls, true Croft-heads will savor all the delicious cut content that developer Aspyr restored to Tomb Raider's sixth entry, The Angel of Darkness.

Considered a major departure from its PS1 adventure-platformer roots, The Angel of Darkness pivoted to a darker tone from its predecessors. It also added a number of new features, including a stamina meter that governed Lara's grip, stealth attacks and hand-to-hand combat, light RPG elements (such as strength upgrades for Lara), branching decision points, and even a second playable character named Kurtis Trent.

 

What was lost from Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness

You don't have to look very far to find information on The Angel of Darkness's cast-offs. According to the archival website The Cutting Room Floor, roughly half the game was sheared off to meet publisher deadlines. Core Design originally envisioned The Angel of Darkness as the first in a trilogy, and you can see some of those plans in an embryonic state on the personal website of the game's writer Murti Schofield. He includes screenplay-style treatments of FMV scenes in locations excised from the final game, like Castle Kriegler. He even includes ideas for the hypothetical sequel to The Angel of Darkness, including the return of Kurtis, further explorations of the mysterious Nephilim race, and possible spin-offs.

A lot of The Angel of Darkness's more ambitious cut content was in nascent or planning stages when the axe came down. In the two decades since release, however, modders and digital "raiders" have discovered a hefty amount of gameplay and level changes buried in the game's code, and Aspyr was able to restore much of it for Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered.

Below are some of the biggest changes.
 

The restored content of Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered

Lara's twin pistols

The Angel of Darkness was the first Tomb Raider game to not feature Lara Croft's signature infinite-ammo dual pistols, a decision that is often criticized by fans. What you may not know is that Core Design originally intended to include the ability to dual-wield pistols in the game by "combining" them, but they were cut for unknown reasons.

As shown in this video, you can obtain two Vector-R35s in the remaster of The Angel of Darkness. The first is located in a small locker on the second floor of the Derelict Apartment Block, though you need to obtain a key from the fourth floor to open it. You can get the second pistol from the security room in Louvre Galleries, and Lara will automatically dual wield them. Alternatively, you can also buy the first pistol from Renee's Pawnshop for 500 Euros.

It's worth noting that these pistols do not have infinite ammo, unlike their predecessors, so definitely watch that ammo count.

Kurtis's Chirugai

Kurtis uses a bladed weapon called the Chirugai during cutscenes, which led many fans to wonder why the player couldn't use it during his sections of the game.

Aspyr restored the weapon's functionality in The Angel of Darkness remaster. You can now throw the Chirugai, attack in melee range, and use it to create a "psychic shield" that lowers the damage you take. It gives this alternative character his own identity, making him feel more distinct from Lara.
 

Paris training area alternate route

These sections of Paris were originally accessible through The Angel of Darkness's debug mode, which has made it one of the most famous pieces of cut content in the game. This alternate route tutorializes many of the game's basic mechanics, such as moving objects, climbing drainpipes, and more. The apartment block section that follows it also includes more aggressive police AI, as well as a number of restored voice lines, including when Lara first meets Kurtis in a cafe.
 

Prague

The Prague level features a smaller amount of restored content compared to Paris, but the changes are significant. It features a number of restored voice lines, subtle additions like a broken handcuff swinging on a radiator, an attack from a strange "bioplant" creature in the greenhouse section, and improvements to the second phase of Kurtis's Boaz boss fight.

Miscellaneous changes

Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered restores some smaller aspects of The Angel of Darkness that you might not notice on a first playthrough, such as purchasing weapons and ammo in the pawn shop, the ability to get poisoned by gas (along with a new "antidote" item), and more notebook entries.

Though fans will never really be able to play the ambitious version of The Angel of Darkness that Core Design originally intended to craft, these restorations go a long way towards making it more playable and complete. If you've always been curious about that one Tomb Raider game that few people talk about, this is your opportunity to experience the best version of it. (And The Last Revelation and Chronicles are also quite good, so there's really no going wrong here!)

Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered is available in the Epic Games Store.