Tomb Raider II

"Quest for the Dagger of Xian"

Adventure games that revolve solely around exploration and thought as opposed to just mindlessly blowing things up, really don't come along that often, or enough to make you stop and watch. Tomb Raider on the other hand, and all of its subsequent sequels has captured the attention of a small amount of gamers with the intricate puzzles, wide and expansive stages and intense action! In the previous outing, you took the beautiful and rather developed Lara Croft through several different world locations that included Egypt and Greece, all of which came together in the quest for the Scion.

This time around, you guide Lara on a quest for the Dagger of Xian, which gives the wielder the power of an ancient dragon. In this, it inevitably brings the attention of Lara and the attention of some pretty powerful crime figures that are out to find the Dagger for themselves! The basis of the game hasn't changed, although you are given some new weapons, and a couple of new vehicles to use in your quest to find the Dagger, so anyone who was a fan of the first Tomb Raider will find the game play to be pretty much the same, even though the locations have changed.

-The Game Play-

The tested exploration system is back again, and this time has plenty of new places to go and venture through as well as a couple of new features that weren't present in the first. These come in the forms of new weapons, like the harpoon gun that you can use underwater, and other items such as flares that you can light to see your way through dark corridors and even underwater to light your way. You'll find that the actual exploration hasn't changed, and in fact, you can hone your skills via the mansion training grounds that allow you try out all of the different moves and such that you'll need in order to advance! The puzzles, which made up a good portion of the first game have come back, and with a vengeance in terms of the difficulty, and even the timing that you need to get through some of the more basic puzzles.

You'll find that the battles are easy enough to get through, and the aiming system that locks onto the nearest target will give you plenty of opportunity to get used to the different gunfights. The biggest part of the game is the control, and even though the control hasn't changed much since the first game, you'll now have to learn how to operate and roll through the different scenarios that include underwater travel and operating the two different vehicles! You'll find that the puzzles don't require much in terms of precise control, but the platform-to-platform movement will take some time to get used to. The PC control, especially the keyboard, isn’t known for its precise timing nor it's pinpoint accuracy, so if you fall to your death a few times, it only proves that you have to switch tactics in how you move!

-The Visuals-

Stunning in the way that detail and design comes in, you'll find that the same problems that plagued the first Tomb Raider are back. While the locations are huge and expansive, it does suffer from camera angles that don't improve but hinder the action, and several cases of polygon break up when you're moving through the stages! Other various problems occur when you're moving through the stages, and the three-dimensional objects don't quite look the way they are supposed to. Enemy designs are nicely done, and even the FMV sequences are beautiful, but the meat of the game still looks like it could use some visual tweaking!

-The Audio-

Still tried and true, the sparse music only highlights the different situations and emphasis is put on the more critical events. The sound effects sound great on a stereo system, even though they are the same fare that you may have heard in the first Tomb Raider. With the amount of music that is lacking, you'll find that if you're into action games that have plenty to listen to, you're more or less immersed in a world where you're watching it as Lara would, which is in silence!

-The Verdict-

Even with the extra weapons and the new locations, Tomb Raider really hasn't fallen far from the Eidos tree in the way it plays. Gamers who are familiar with the control and the expansive, as well as challenging game play, will find that Tomb Raider 2 hits home with just the right amount of action while the exploration remains key. Gamers who aren't into exploration, but more into blowing things up can side step this game, and those who are into challenging puzzles, and more thinking and thought than brawn can apply for the weekend, or even more depending on the commitment level they may have!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/02/02, Updated 10/02/02