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.