Tomb Raider II is the second game of the Tomb Raider games series. It is an action game with platforming and puzzle-solving elements, similar in concept and gameplay to its predecessor. Most of the gameplay consists of traversing hazardous 3D levels utilizing Lara's athletic skills and solving environmental puzzles. The sequel puts more emphasis on fighting enemies, adding many human foes to the mix. Additional weapons include a harpoon gun, a grenade launcher, and an M16 rifle. Automatic pistols replace the magnums from the first game.
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I feel like such a hypocrite playing Tomb Raider II, as all of the things I enjoyed about the first game seemed lessened, whilst the things I hated there were more of. Yet for some reason, I had so much more fun with this game than the prior.
For most of Tomb Raider II, the atmosphere of isolation and the unknown is completely missing, replaced instead with a fun variety of environments, from the canals of Venice, to the interior of an abandoned Opera House, to the wreck of a ship at the bottom of the ocean, and beyond. The level variety meant I was never bored, always finding it a thrill to explore the different environments, with a much greater variety than the slightly different shades of brown and grey you'd find in the first outing.
The platforming was equally as satisfying here, with very fun to solve puzzles in environments that weren't as tedious to explore when lost, and very creative use of the same control systems that really rewarded you experimenting with all of the movement options available to you.
In the first game, I found combat very frustrating. At first, I felt my stomach drop at the amount of human enemies this game featured - very much fearing for the worst at the new action focus. Yet for some reason, with the change in environments, I found it nowhere near as annoying as the first game. The new weapons, and increase in medkit and ammo drops meant the combat was way more fun. I still found movement during combat an issue, especially towards the end of the game, but overall, an improvement.
One noteworthy level was the Barkhang Monastery. Fighting alongside the monks and exploring the very open level was an absolute highlight for me - probably my favorite in the franchise so far.
The main criticisms of this game probably fall to the last few levels, where the fun did start to wane a little for me. I found the end level especially fairly unsatisfying, though this may just be to playing it all in a reasonably condensed amount of time.
This game has left me thoroughly excited to explore more of this franchise, and really cemented why these games have had so much staying power throughout the years.
For most of Tomb Raider II, the atmosphere of isolation and the unknown is completely missing, replaced instead with a fun variety of environments, from the canals of Venice, to the interior of an abandoned Opera House, to the wreck of a ship at the bottom of the ocean, and beyond. The level variety meant I was never bored, always finding it a thrill to explore the different environments, with a much greater variety than the slightly different shades of brown and grey you'd find in the first outing.
The platforming was equally as satisfying here, with very fun to solve puzzles in environments that weren't as tedious to explore when lost, and very creative use of the same control systems that really rewarded you experimenting with all of the movement options available to you.
In the first game, I found combat very frustrating. At first, I felt my stomach drop at the amount of human enemies this game featured - very much fearing for the worst at the new action focus. Yet for some reason, with the change in environments, I found it nowhere near as annoying as the first game. The new weapons, and increase in medkit and ammo drops meant the combat was way more fun. I still found movement during combat an issue, especially towards the end of the game, but overall, an improvement.
One noteworthy level was the Barkhang Monastery. Fighting alongside the monks and exploring the very open level was an absolute highlight for me - probably my favorite in the franchise so far.
The main criticisms of this game probably fall to the last few levels, where the fun did start to wane a little for me. I found the end level especially fairly unsatisfying, though this may just be to playing it all in a reasonably condensed amount of time.
This game has left me thoroughly excited to explore more of this franchise, and really cemented why these games have had so much staying power throughout the years.
La prima volta che ho chiuso il maggiordomo nella cella firgorifera.
Continued satisfaction of tank-controlled jumps, this time with the added satisfaction of locking your butler in the freezer.
That segment with the boat? Unforgettable.
That segment with the boat? Unforgettable.
I liked Tomb Raider less when she started shooting people rather than wolves and dinosaurs or whatever which is weird because I like animals and dinosaurs more than people.
Okay, looking back, Tomb Raider II is a classic, but it definitely shows its age. Lara's blocky, the controls are real clunky, and some of the level design is frustrating. But man, there's still something about exploring those ancient ruins, fighting off wild animals, and discovering secrets. It's got that old-school adventure charm, plus Venice and the underwater levels are awesome. For nostalgia alone, it's worth checking out, just be ready for a slightly janky experience.
Classic Tomb Raider features a gameplay formula that is still appealing in its uniqueness to this day - I have no knowledge of any games that do this high-stakes platforming with an emphasis on exploration gameplay loop, and it's a shame because it's an idea with A TON of potential if you apply modern design sensibilities to it.
What we have here is definitely not modern, with tank controls and a clearly less than graceful dev cycle. I'm two games in, and I can already tell that Core's development pipeline for this franchise was absolutely insane (no doubt because of pressure from Eidos), and these games very much needed more time to breathe. Level design feels overtuned at times, with beginner's traps, and in the final couple of levels some incredibly awkward jumps, and I think it goes on for too long - It's 17 (big) stages plus an epilogue. The first level throws a trap gauntlet at you, that probably discouraged many players, the final boss requires you to do an action that isn't entirely clear, this game with fall damage thinks it's a good idea to have levels with springboards, among other things.
All of this is alleviated thanks to saving anywhere. I would have done that regardless with save states, because I've played TR1 as intended (i.e., you can only save on one-use crystals) and wow, what a fucking unhinged idea for this kind of game. I'm interested in revisiting TR1 with free saves now.
TR2's bigger emphasis on combat initially greatly annoyed me, but I just got used to it, and the game drowns you in ammo and health packs, and using Lara's arsenal is actually fun. Combat is mega clunky don't get me wrong, and armed enemies have god-like accuracy, but I didn't think it was a tragedy or a deal-breaker.
TR2 strikes an interesting balance between linearity, and key-scavenging exploration, and my biggest issue in solving puzzles actually ended up being the low quality of the graphics: multiple times, there was a switch that just blended into the background, or maybe it was too damn dark and underwater, and I simply didn't notice it. This game has some rather poor visual conveyance at times, the Floating Islands level is a great example of the clusterfuck pipeline behind this, it felt like a series of randomly placed platforms. It really is abundantly clear that Core Design did not have the proper structure to do annual releases for games like these.
And sorry to purist fans of the series, a game like this absolutely needs an in-game map, and it's mental that it doesn't have one - and I'm well aware that no game in the series has this feature. I can't stress how much better it would have been with a map, could even be a Hollow Knight-style map, where you fill it in as you progress through the level.
I've decided to go for the original PS1 release here, but when I get to TR3, I'll certainly just play the remake. The tank controls were kind of annoying at times, and the framerate dropped to some headache-inducing stuff.
Classic Tomb Raider is hella clunky and kinda rushed, but the still fresh concept and formula make the series interesting enough for me to continue my journey through the franchise.
What we have here is definitely not modern, with tank controls and a clearly less than graceful dev cycle. I'm two games in, and I can already tell that Core's development pipeline for this franchise was absolutely insane (no doubt because of pressure from Eidos), and these games very much needed more time to breathe. Level design feels overtuned at times, with beginner's traps, and in the final couple of levels some incredibly awkward jumps, and I think it goes on for too long - It's 17 (big) stages plus an epilogue. The first level throws a trap gauntlet at you, that probably discouraged many players, the final boss requires you to do an action that isn't entirely clear, this game with fall damage thinks it's a good idea to have levels with springboards, among other things.
All of this is alleviated thanks to saving anywhere. I would have done that regardless with save states, because I've played TR1 as intended (i.e., you can only save on one-use crystals) and wow, what a fucking unhinged idea for this kind of game. I'm interested in revisiting TR1 with free saves now.
TR2's bigger emphasis on combat initially greatly annoyed me, but I just got used to it, and the game drowns you in ammo and health packs, and using Lara's arsenal is actually fun. Combat is mega clunky don't get me wrong, and armed enemies have god-like accuracy, but I didn't think it was a tragedy or a deal-breaker.
TR2 strikes an interesting balance between linearity, and key-scavenging exploration, and my biggest issue in solving puzzles actually ended up being the low quality of the graphics: multiple times, there was a switch that just blended into the background, or maybe it was too damn dark and underwater, and I simply didn't notice it. This game has some rather poor visual conveyance at times, the Floating Islands level is a great example of the clusterfuck pipeline behind this, it felt like a series of randomly placed platforms. It really is abundantly clear that Core Design did not have the proper structure to do annual releases for games like these.
And sorry to purist fans of the series, a game like this absolutely needs an in-game map, and it's mental that it doesn't have one - and I'm well aware that no game in the series has this feature. I can't stress how much better it would have been with a map, could even be a Hollow Knight-style map, where you fill it in as you progress through the level.
I've decided to go for the original PS1 release here, but when I get to TR3, I'll certainly just play the remake. The tank controls were kind of annoying at times, and the framerate dropped to some headache-inducing stuff.
Classic Tomb Raider is hella clunky and kinda rushed, but the still fresh concept and formula make the series interesting enough for me to continue my journey through the franchise.