Tomb Raider: The Angel Of Darkness Officially Returns This Spring

Longtime Tomb Raider fans will surely remember the controversial release in the ongoing series, Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, which first launched way back in 2003 as the sixth mainline entry in the series. Intended to reinvent the series with a new tone and direction for the legendary Lara Croft, developer Core Design’s vision was met with quite a bit of pushback.

Due to being rushed to market too soon, the original release of The Angel of Darkness was riddled with bugs and poor performance, not to mention a ton of ideas and cut content that never made it into the game. That said, it sold over 2.5 million copies, and remains a niche cult favorite among hardcore fans of the series, with a much darker story and vibe that had a ton of potential.

Understandably, Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness never saw a proper sequel or continuation to resolve some of its major plotlines, despite the game setting itself up for what was meant to be a trilogy. With Core Design being removed from the series entirely and the narrative abandoned, the game is considered to be a more or less dead entry in the timeline—that is, until now, as it’s officially just made its 2026 return (via Gaming Heads and YouTube).

The Angel of Darkness herself is making an official return this spring with the beautifully crafted Lara Croft Angel of Darkness 1:6 scale collectible statue from Gaming Heads. This is a limited-edition, intricately detailed statue was “inspired by the cover art of the game with Lara holding both of her pistols straight ahead of her, with a steely determined expression and all while she stands atop a stone slab.” It’s a new addition to an ongoing collection from Gaming Heads featuring representations of Lara Croft from across the series.

The “Exclusive Edition” of this Angel of Darkness statue is available to purchase now at a whopping $429.99, with a slightly cheaper option available in the Standard and Collective Edition. Standing at a foot-and-a-half tall (18 inches, or roughly 45cm), it features “Lara wearing her sunglasses with the Chirugai (Kurtis’ mystic weapon) in her right hand while she points her pistol skywards with her left hand.”

The Exclusive Edition of this statue is limited to just 500 units total, and “also includes the parts that come with the Standard edition statue, which are Lara holding her dual pistols pointing straight head.” The more affordable versions of the item have already nearly sold out, and it’s unlikely the Exclusive Editions will be in supply for long given interest seems quite high, despite the price tag.

While it wasn’t the most popular Tomb Raider entry in the series, The Angel of Darkness had massive potential, and if the lackluster gameplay itself hadn’t damned this entry from the get-go, it’s possible we would have seen this darker vision of Lara Croft take the franchise in a completely different direction.

Tomb Raider

Systems

Released

November 14, 1996

ESRB

T For Teen // Animated Blood, Violence

Developer(s)

Core Design, Aspyr

Publisher(s)

Eidos Interactive

Engine

Crystal Engine

Multiplayer

Local Multiplayer