Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered Review: A Fresh Coat of Paint on a Crumbling Relic

Nostalgia is dangerous. It makes you think things were better than they actually were. It convinces you that old-school 3D game design is “timeless” when, in reality, it’s just outdated. And Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered proves exactly that. 

This collection brings back The Last Revelation, Chronicles, and Angel of Darkness with a fresh coat of paint. Visually, they look better than ever. But underneath, these are still the same clunky, frustrating, and painfully slow games that should have stayed in the past.

Even with the new “modern” control scheme, Lara still moves like she’s wearing lead boots. Every jump has to be lined up perfectly. Every action takes just a little too long to register. The controls were bad in the ’90s when we didn’t know better and were just in awe to be playing in 3D. Now, after 30 years of gaming evolution, they feel even worse.

The grid like movement of yore is back and only serves as a reminder of how painfully rigid these games are. Every step forward is still is followed by a jump back to make sure you’re aligned perfectly. Every jump still a gamble making an already clunky experience feel even more outdated. Besides, by the time these games came out, smoother movement was becoming a thing on the PS2, so there’s no excuse really.

This is especially brutal in Angel of Darkness, which to its credit tries to add an RPG-lite upgrade system but just ends up making everything even more sluggish. Want to climb that ledge? Sorry, no can do, stamina bar is empty, since when has Lara been so weak!?  It’s baffling game design, and no amount of remastering can fix it.

Classic Tomb Raider levels were big, complicated, and full of secrets. Back then, that was impressive and awe inspiring every level was the start of a new adventure. Now? It just feels like a waste of time.

There’s no clear direction, meaning you’ll spend half your playthrough aimlessly running around, backtracking, and wondering what you’ve missed and where you’ve missed it. This is especially painful given the god awful controls and camera. Solutions to puzzles are often hidden in obscure corners, forcing you to either check a guide or wander in circles for hours or throw you controller. And let’s be honest—nobody has time for that anymore, especially with controls that are constantly fighting your gaming instincts. You could argue that controller muscle memory has a lot to answer for, which isn’t strictly the game’s fault.

You see, modern games have figured out how to do exploration properly. They guide the player just enough to keep things moving without holding their hand. These games don’t do that. They expect you to suffer through trial and error, and honestly, it’s just not fun.

Gunplay in Tomb Raider IV-VI isn’t great. Enemy AI is dumb as rocks. They either charge straight at you or stand still, waiting to be shot. And manoeuvring around to get a shot in is near impossible. There’s no weight to the combat, no strategy—just spam that fire button and hope for the best.

Angel of Darkness, which tries to mix things up with hand-to-hand combat and stealth sections. Clunky animations, terrible hit detection, and enemies that either spot you instantly or ignore you completely makes it a missed opportunity to mix things up a bit.

One of the few modern additions to the remaster is trophy support. And sure, for trophy hunters, this might be enough incentive to slog through the games. But really, all it does is highlight how tedious these experiences are. Only now you’re just rewarded for your suffering.

There are also minor quality-of-life tweaks, but nothing that actually fixes the core problems. A more refined camera? Sure unless you’re in a tight space, and I mean room sized tight spaces. Some UI updates? Great. But when the fundamental gameplay still feels like you’re trying to maneuver a fridge through an obstacle course, it hardly matters.

The good news is that the remaster itself is actually solid. The visuals are great, the lighting is nice(ish), and there are some welcome fixes, such as check points and autosave points which are essential.

However, there’s a reason the Tomb Raider series had to be rebooted in 2013. The old formula doesn’t work anymore. Games have moved on, and players expect better. Smoother movement, better pacing, actual combat mechanics—basic things that make a game feel good to play. This remaster doesn’t fix anything. It just polishes a frustrating experience and sells it back to you as nostalgia.

Ok look, I know this review is overly negative, and it’s a game of its time and all that, but I just want to point out that I have played every Tomb Raider game from the very start on the days of the original Playstation and loved them all. They were a fresh challenge and gave us amazing worlds to explore at time when all we were used to were pixelated trees and side scrolling mechanics. The Tomb Raider games rightly belongs in the hall of fame of game progress along with the likes of the original Doom and Mario 64 as a franchise that pushed gaming in new and exciting directions. However, in this day and age, they have lost their magic and players will find it hard to go back and enjoy them no matter how many ‘feels’ it gives you when looking at the screenshots. They should have done a Mafia and remade them from the ground up for modern audiences. For the same price (or maybe less) you can pick up the Uncharted trilogy which will give you all your tomb raiding frolics you could ever need.

Verdict: Some Relics Should Stay buried

If you played these back in the day and want a nostalgia trip, go for it. But if you’re hoping for an experience that still holds up in 2024, you’re in for a rough time.

Old-school game design like this has no place in the modern world. Games should be challenging, not frustrating. They should be rewarding, not time-wasting. You should be battling monsters and marines, not controls and cameras.

Tomb Raider 4-6 Remastered released on February 14th 2025 for PlayStation 5 (review platform), PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC via Steam.

Developer: Aspyr
Publisher: Crystal Dynamics

Disclaimer: In order to complete this review, we were provided with a promotional copy of the game. For our full review policy, please go here.

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