Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness vs Tomb Raider: Underworld
Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness is an action-adventure game from Core Design (2003) while Tomb Raider: Underworld is an action-adventure open-world game from Crystal Dynamics (2008).
Quick answer: Tomb Raider: Underworld has the higher Metacritic, 80 to 49.
Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness
What each one is
Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness is filed under Action-Adventure. In contrast, Tomb Raider: Underworld under Action-Adventure and Open-World.
Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness is a 2003 action-adventure game developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive for PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Windows. A Mac OS X port was developed by Beenox and published by Aspyr the same year. It is the sixth instalment in the Tomb Raider series, acting as a direct sequel to Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation (1999) and Tomb Raider: Chronicles (2000). The storyline follows Lara Croft as she attempts to clear herself of being the suspect of her former mentor Werner Von Croy's murder while investigating the activities of a black magic cult. The gameplay follows series tradition, with Lara navigating platforming environments while incorporating stealth and character growth elements.
Tomb Raider: Underworld represents a new advancement in exploration-based gameplay. As fearless adventurer Lara Croft explore exotic locations around the world, each designed with an incredible attention to detail resulting in breathtaking high-definition visual fidelity that creates a truly believable world and delivers a new level of...
Story, characters and reception
Plot
The Angel of Darkness follows on from events in Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation and Tomb Raider: Chronicles , where Lara Croft was presumed dead. An unspecified time later, Lara arrives in Paris at the request of her former mentor, Werner Von Croy, who was tasked by a man named Eckhardt to find a set of artifacts known as the Obscura Paintings. The city, and Von Croy, are gripped with fear over a serial killer the press has dubbed the "Monstrum". (Wikipedia)
Reception
Sales Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness received strong initial sales, mostly driven by an aggressive advertising campaign. The game reached 6th place in the UK Top 20 sales charts, but dropped to 13th by the following week. The game's PlayStation 2 version received a "Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 300,000 copies in the United Kingdom. (Wikipedia)
Plot
The story begins in medias res ; Lara Croft navigates her home Croft Manor after an explosion, then is shot at by her tech assistant Zip. One week earlier, Lara is investigating a sunken island in the Mediterranean Sea as part of her search for Avalon , hoping it will lead her to an explanation for the disappearance of her mother Amelia and salvage her father Richard's academic reputation despite the scepticism of Zip and her research assistant Alister.… (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception Tomb Raider: Underworld received generally positive reviews from critics. The Xbox 360 , PC and PlayStation 3 versions of the game were generally highly praised, with many critics comparing Underworld to older titles in the series, such as GamesRadar and The Guardian . In reviews, the environments have been widely praised, many reviewers also praised Lara's motion captured movements and the much less linear style of gameplay, while some… (Wikipedia)
At a glance
| Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness | Tomb Raider: Underworld | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | — | 6.8/10 |
| Steam rating | — | Mostly Positive (77%, 6,883) |
| Critic aggregate | 49/100 | 80/100 |
| Price | Unknown | $0.98 |
| Install size | — | — |
| Steam Deck | Untested | unsupported |
| Released | 2003 | 2008 |
| Developer | Core Design | Crystal Dynamics |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness vs Tomb Raider: Underworld, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
Tomb Raider: The Angel of DarknessAction-adventure gameTomb Raider: UnderworldAction-adventure open-world gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
Tomb Raider: The Angel of DarknessNo descriptive tagsTomb Raider: UnderworldAdventure, Action, Female ProtagonistThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Tomb Raider: The Angel of DarknessMetacritic 49Tomb Raider: Underworld ✓Metacritic 80Metacritic's critic aggregate, from the game's Wikipedia reception where it was never on Steam.
Content and scale
Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness—Tomb Raider: Underworld6,883 reviewsReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Tomb Raider: The Angel of DarknessUnknownTomb Raider: Underworld$0.98Read live from Steam and subject to change.
Tomb Raider: Underworld takes 1 of the marked rounds to 0. That is only what a number can decide, not which you will enjoy more.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The better reviewed of the two: Tomb Raider: Underworld (Metacritic 80)
Where they differ
AdventureActionFemale ProtagonistThird PersonPuzzleSingleplayer
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. Tomb Raider: Underworld is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
System requirements, side by side
| Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness | Tomb Raider: Underworld | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | — | — |
| Minimum CPU | — | Intel Pentium 4 3+GHz |
| Minimum RAM | — | 1 GB |
| Install size | — | — |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness · Tomb Raider: Underworld.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 0 accessibility features for Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness and 1 for Tomb Raider: Underworld. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness and Tomb Raider: Underworld in scope?
Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness lists little scope data. Tomb Raider: Underworld has drawn 6,883 Steam reviews.
Is Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness or Tomb Raider: Underworld better?
Neither carries enough reviews for us to score it reliably, so we do not call a winner. The table above shows what each does have.
Which is cheaper, Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness or Tomb Raider: Underworld?
One or both do not have a current listed price, so a straight comparison is not possible. See the table above.
Should I get Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness or Tomb Raider: Underworld?
Tomb Raider: Underworld has the higher Metacritic, 80 to 49. It also depends on what you want: the "which to pick" section above calls out which is cheaper, lighter on storage, better on a Steam Deck and the safer bet by weight of reviews.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
All comparisonsHow we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.