After all, Tomb Raider 4: The Last Revelation is where the development team finally had enough of Lara Croft and decided to kill her off, making it the last title in the series. That didn’t last long, though, as Eidos Interactive mandated more Tomb Raider titles, resulting in two new games. The first was Tomb Raider: Chronicles, an anthology of standalone tales meant to honor Croft’s legacy by milking it for more money.

Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness is the other – a sequel/soft reboot that saw the return of Lara in a way that so many fans demanded: A stealth action-adventure title with another playable character. Alongside Chronicles, it’s considered the absolute lowest point of the series. While critics and fans mercilessly panned it, at least it catalyzed Crystal Dynamics to take over and reboot everything with Tomb Raider: Legend.

A remaster of either title, let alone both together, just doesn’t seem ideal, and yet, the developer is going through with Tomb Raider 4-6 Remastered. Launching on February 14th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch, the compilation includes several new features like a fly-by camera, an option to skip cutscenes, and an ammo counter. There’s even some restored content in The Angel of Darkness, which provides “more context” for the story.

Above all else, the biggest appeal of these remasters is the visuals, and the developer, thankfully, continues killing it in that regard. Let’s dive into each title and compare their visuals to the original games to outline all the improvements.

Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation – Original vs. Remastered

Even with the development team at Core Design feeling absolutely burned out on the franchise, Tomb Raider 4 upped the visual quality in numerous ways. Character models felt more natural thanks to additional facial features; levels sported improved lighting and 3D architecture – the PC version even had bump mapping.

Its presentation felt more fluid and seamless, especially with how players communicated with each other in cutscenes. Of course, as endearing as the character animations and environmental design, the lighting was also commendable, especially with light shafts through windows at specific points.

The remaster improves on all that in some truly incredible ways. First off, the character models are much more detailed, right down to better faces and more natural reactions. The prologue is also the perfect showcase for the revamped lighting and shadows, with more pronounced beams that more naturally illuminate Lara’s surroundings.

Of course, the environmental textures are completely overhauled and brimming with new details, including new foliage, sharper tree textures, and more. That skeleton on the ground in the beginning? It’s now much more detailed, with the colors more fitting the environmental tones. Even the leaves dangling from above are individually outlined and rendered to look natural and less like clumps of green.

Perhaps the only downside is that some sections can look a little washed out compared to the original’s vibrancy. It’s fine when wandering through darker sections, especially with the muzzle flash from Croft’s weapons naturally lighting up the surroundings. But some places definitely feel more subdued in color tones than the original.

Tomb Raider: Chronicles – Original vs. Remastered

Since it was built for the PlayStation One and meant to call back to the previous titles’ gameplay, Chronicles didn’t sport much of a graphical leap for the series. It still sported some interesting lighting and texture work, though the former didn’t exactly feel like the most realistic. The environmental textures also felt a bit uneven and less seamless in places, which isn’t the case in the remaster. Once again, they’re completely overhauled, from the gorgeous pavement with more discernible cobblestones to proper door arches and window sills.

The hanging foliage is also presented yet again with individual leaves, looking less messy than the original. Such is the clarity of the environmental textures that the signs are more imminently readable and less fuzzy. It’s also worth noting the lighting improvements, which can transform a room where Lara might tight-rope walk into a sequence where environmental features are more easily discernible. Overall, everything inherent in Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation’s remaster is just as pronounced here, even if the locations aren’t necessarily as detailed.

Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness – Original vs. Remastered

As awful as the game was, you have to give credit where it’s due to Core Design for the original visuals, even if the art direction and overall fidelity were far from top-notch at the time. This being the first Tomb Raider developed from the ground up for PlayStation 2, it sports noticeable upgrades to the lighting and shadows, including starker tones to match the overall edgier atmosphere. The environmental textures and assets sport higher polygon counts and details, while atmospherics like smoke and fog further add to the mood. Lara’s model is also a step up in almost every way.

Its remaster is perhaps the most surprising upgrade yet in terms of sheer quality. The rain in the opening level is much more pronounced, right down to its hitting the floor, and the multitudes of different lighting feel much more natural, especially in the shadows created. The textures are more detailed by leaps and bounds, better fulfilling the dingy and dark tones that Core Design doubtless sought.

Conclusion

Though it maintains much of the animation work and cutscene direction of the originals, Tomb Raider 4-6 Remastered does more than just radically transform the environments, lighting, and shadows for modern platforms. It also ensures a uniform design for Lara Croft’s model throughout, ensuring she looks the same in The Angel of Darkness as she does in The Last Revelation and Chronicles while still presenting immaculate details.

Environmental objects which you acquire even sport more detailed 3D models, fitting in with the rest of the revamps. And, of course, it all runs at a silky smooth 60 frames per second throughout, with nary a frame drop in sight on PS5.

So, you could debate the necessity of bringing Tomb Raider 5 and 6 back in remastered form, even if the developer said it just didn’t feel right to only remaster the fourth game in. However, there’s no denying that Tomb Raider 4-6 Remastered is the best way to experience these games. Maybe it’s in the sheer amount of features and quality of life changes, or finally learning what the heck is going on in The Angel of Darkness. Either way, they’re an essential part of history and complete Croft’s original journey stunningly.

All Three Titles and Expansions

As indicated by the name, Tomb Raider 1, 2 and 3 are included, but that’s not all. The Remastered collection also features all their expansions, specifically Unfinished Business, Golden Mask and The Lost Artifact. Even the Secret Levels, unlocked from finding all the secrets in Tomb Raider 2’s expansion and the base version of Tomb Raider 3, are included and updated for a modern generation.

Original Source Code

When a remaster is announced, there’s always the concern of whether it will feel like the classics. Fortunately, Aspyr is working with the original source code and engine. As director of product Chris Bashaar said on the PlayStation Blog, “Magic can’t simply be rebuilt. We had a firm belief that the gameplay of Tomb Raider 1, 2, and 3 is timeless, and with our use of the existing source code, we had every jump, secret, enemy, and puzzle exactly as the original development team designed and intended.”

Classic and Remastered Visuals

Because the remasters use the original source code, players can switch between the classic and remastered visuals at any time. It’s also possible during regular gameplay and even when capturing images in the new Photo Mode, in case you want to compare the visual differences.

Gameplay Loop

Of course, those who never played the original games may wonder – what is the gameplay loop? All three titles are action-adventure games where archaeologist Lara Croft ventures to ancient ruins in different locations to search for artifacts. Croft would solve puzzles, navigate traps and devious platforms and much more in her quest. All three titles follow a tried and true formula, with minor new additions here and there, and all three received positive critical acclaim (though the first game garnered the most).

New Character Models

Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered maintains the classic design of Lara Croft and her various outfits but utilizes new models with more details. Higher polygon counts, more detailed hair, discernible expressions, better-looking clothes – the list goes on, and the result is a much higher quality Tomb Raider. The various enemies also get new models, resulting in some threats – like the half-man, half-bird Guardian of the Talion – looking much more imposing.

Revamped Environments

While the models look great, the remastered environments look even better. An area in Croft Manor with flat sprites for its trees and negligible detail on the ground now features revamped 3D trees, some weeds and more detailed shrubs. Textures are sharper, especially indoors, as you can make out more details, while the water looks and flows more naturally. It’s a big step up and arguably worth the price of admission alone for fans of the classics.

Baked and Real-Time Lighting

Further adding to the immersion is the use of baked and real-time lighting. When the sunset sets in an area, the skybox, structures and surrounding vegetation are naturally illuminated. A slightly cloudy sky during the day also casts realistic shadows and subtle sunbeams.

VFX and Animation Updates

Along with the character designs, the visual effects, animations and textures are also in line with the original games. That being said, these have been updated to ensure they’re in line with the remastered visuals. Again, if you want the original look, blocky models and all, you can switch back and forth at any time.

3D Models for In-Game Items

If you ever found it strange that items like ammo, health kits and more had 3D models in the game’s menus but 2D sprites in-game, the remasters address this. They’re now fully rendered 3D objects in-game, retaining the immersion.

Classic and Modern Controls

As renowned as all three titles are, the tank-style controls won’t be to everyone’s taste. You can still experience the original control scheme, but new modern controls have also been added, with full camera control on the right stick and movement depending on the camera’s position.

Health Bars for Bosses

Another annoyance in the older games is not knowing how much health a boss can have and when is the best time to switch to different weapons. The remasters thus add health bars for the bosses without any other alleged changes to the UI. It’s the best of both worlds, though it’s unknown if players can turn off the same for the original experience.

Over 200 Trophies on PS4 and PS5

Each title was a massive success back in the day, and that was in small part due to its PlayStation One port. So it’s more than fitting that there are 200 Trophies to earn on the PS4 and PS5 versions of the Remastered collection. From locking Lara’s butler in the freezer (presumably for pouring milk before the cereal) to using Photo Mode, there is a lot in store for Trophy hunters.

Photo Mode

As noted before, Photo Mode allows for switching between the classic and remastered visuals with options for different poses, facial expressions, outfits, weapons and more. The full slate of options, from the filters and settings, hasn’t been detailed, but there should be enough to highlight the collection’s stunning new visuals (or just pan around the world while the game is paused).

System Requirements

The PC requirements for the remastered collection are interesting…because they’re different on Steam and the Epic Games Store. Steam doesn’t list recommended requirements, instead noting that you need an Intel Core i3 3240 or AMD FX 4100, 4 GB RAM, an Nvidia GeForce GT 730 or AMD Radeon R7 240 and 5 GB installation space at the minimum.

However, while the Epic Games Store lists the same CPU and RAM for its minimum requirements, it instead specifies 6 GB installation space and a Geforce GT 630 (2 GB), Radeon R7 249 (1 GB) or a Radeon HD 6450. Even weirder is that the recommended requirements say you should have a Pentium 4 or Athlon 3000+ and a GeForce 6000 or Radeon X Series GPU – all discontinued. Regardless, the remasters should run fine, even if your hardware is a few years old.

4K Ultra HD, +60 FPS on Xbox Series X

Though it isn’t confirmed yet on PS5, Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered is listed as supporting 4K Ultra HD and +60 FPS on Xbox Series X. Smart Delivery is also listed, which means you only have to buy it once for playing on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. It also supports Xbox Play Anywhere, which means also being able to play the PC version if you buy the game on Xbox.