Tomb Raider II

"Bash Lara all you want, but this is a grand adventure."

Sometime after the release of Tomb Raider II it became very popular to bash Lara Croft and her adventures. Many accused Eidos and Core of milking a big hit with a derivative sequel, giving more attention to unrealistic hype and the appearance of Ms. Croft than to innovations in gameplay. I admit that quite a bit of that is true--the subtitle on the cover does say “Starring Lara Croft” as if she’s a celebrity, but it’s a mistake not to judge Tomb Raider II on its own merits. The game retains a lot of what was good about the first game, as well as some things that were genuinely irritating about the original, and it adds some new elements that help it stand out. Frankly, that sounds like a decent formula for any sequel to me (certainly for one that appears on the same platform as the first game), and I think Tomb Raider II is a worthy successor.

The story behind the action in Tomb Raider II involves The Dagger of Xian, a weapon that supposedly gives one the power of the dragon when plunged into one’s heart (ugh). Lara is after this item, and, not surprisingly, so are a couple of other people who will help make life rather difficult for our heroine. The game takes place in several different locations this time around, starting at the Great Wall of China, and moving from there to Venice, a sunken ship, Tibet, and back to China again. I like the variety of locations and scenery in the game, and there’s an interconnection between levels in the same geographical area that wasn’t in the first game. It’s also worth mentioning that Lara’s mansion, the training area, has been greatly expanded from the first edition. There’s an outdoor obstacle course, complete with timer, that covers most of the important moves in the game, and there are plenty of new rooms to explore within Lara’s abode. Lara even has a hedge maze and a stupid butler that is constantly following her, as well as other goodies that make it worth going through even if you already know the moves.

One of the biggest complaints with the original Tomb Raider was the lack of enemies, specifically human enemies. One could assume that this is part of a psychological need for definitive “bad guys” with evil agendas, as opposed to all the endangered wildlife, acting solely on instinct and with no immoral motives, that Lara was mowing down throughout the game. That, or players just want more stuff to kill. Well, Tomb Raider II features plenty more human opponents throughout, but the game is still not going to win the approval of PETA, because there are also a lot of animals that get in Lara’s way, including jaguars, tigers, eagles, and great white sharks.

Anyway, the abundance of human opponents adds more challenge to a game that is already pretty difficult. Many of these guys are packing their own heat, and some of them possess most of the same climbing skills as Lara. Add this to the ridiculous amount of ammo it requires to take down just one of them, even if they’re not wearing any armor whatsoever, and you’ve got some serious trouble. One thing that seriously irritates me about the new enemies is that they often appear out of thin air. I wish the developers had made a better effort of handling enemy locations. There were times when I was running along, only to have a guy miraculously appear right in front of me blasting a machine gun in my face or beating me over the head with a club. That’s cheesy and not much fun. I’m sure that some of the game’s detractors were most upset at the game’s high level of difficulty. I don’t mind a good challenge, but I do think the designers could have done a better job of balancing things; the very first level features some very difficult sequences, and the game never lets up after that.

Lara does have some new weapons to help keep things from completely getting out of hand. Along with the standard pistols, the game brings back the shotgun and uzis, and it introduces grenades, an M-16 rifle, automatic pistols, and a harpoon gun. All of the new weapons are welcome additions, with the exception of the harpoon gun, which is the only weapon you can use underwater. It is so slow and absolutely useless, that you’re better off trying to take out any aquatic enemies from dry land. The game also features flares that work anywhere, including underwater, that really come in handy in those dimly lit and pitch black areas. The big disadvantage with flares is that you can’t hold any weapons at the same time, though you can climb with them in your hand.

Another big help for Lara, and the sanity of players everywhere, is the improved save system. The save gems from the first Tomb Raider are gone, replaced by the ability to save anywhere at anytime, for an unlimited number of times. Used effectively, this eliminates a lot of the mind-numbing backtracking that plagued the first title. I can’t fully express how happy I was with this change.

Lara also has a couple of new ways to get around the world. Tomb Raider II brings two vehicles into the fray that help access new areas. A motorboat aids in covering territory in Venice, and snowmobiles come in very handy in Tibet. Controlling these new toys can take some getting used to, especially the snowmobile, which has a nasty habit of straying off track. You only take damage if you ram into a wall while accelerating. Also, if a vehicle explodes, and you’re in it, that’ll hurt, too. Another new mode of transportation is the springboard, which will catapult Lara high into the air, giving her access to otherwise unreachable areas.

Despite all the new stuff Tomb Raider II features, the game engine hasn’t learned many new tricks. Lara still has to jump to and from cube-shaped ledges, find keys and other items, flip switches, etc. But the levels are so well-designed and realized that I didn’t give too much thought to that. The puzzles are the kind that give you a true sense of accomplishment for having figured them out. Of course, some of the stuff that occurs in the game doesn’t exactly make a whole lot of sense when you think about it in a real world context, but when you see if from a video game logic perspective, it’s just brilliant stuff. Secrets can still be found throughout each level, but this time they’re in the form of three differently colored statues, so you know exactly what you’re looking for. That’s a nice improvement, but the further along in the game I got, the less I cared about finding them; plus, some of them are just impossible to get.

The most noticeable and annoying holdover from Tomb Raider is the control scheme. I don’t know anybody who likes the way Lara Croft gets around in her games. She’s slow and awkward, and all her movements are filled with starts and stops that can really hurt you when the action gets fierce. This makes for a relatively methodical game, a big negative for many players, but I don’t really mind the slow pace most of the time. It just takes some getting used to, especially during confrontations with gun-toting mercenaries. These can get pretty frustrating because of the targeting system, where if you don’t let go of the fire button after an enemy is killed, you’ll keep pumping lead into the corpse instead of other advancing enemies, who will be unhurt even if they get between your line of fire and their fallen comrade. I just don’t understand that. Another little thing that bugs me is that Lara has to be directly over an item before she can pick it up, so close isn’t good enough for Lara. I don’t think it would kill the designers to expand the detection area around items a little bit, and it would speed things up a tad.

The graphics for Tomb Raider II are on par with those of the first game. There are some improvements, mostly with the animal enemies and, of course, with Ms. Croft. She’s less blocky than before (I’m trying hard to be discreet here), and she’s sporting a ponytail that seems to have a mind of its own at times. I’ve seen that thing continue to move and twitch while Lara is lying in a crumpled heap at the bottom of a pit. Other than that, the game looks very familiar, with the same strengths and weaknesses as before, including ladders that look like they’re painted onto the rocks. Things tend to look terrific from a distance, but not so great up close, typical with the PSX. It’s clear that the Playstation simply can’t handle what Eidos and Core want to do graphically with this series. The seams show in many areas, and the game can be jittery at times. On a more positive note, the framerate and animations of the game are constantly good, the lighting in this game is absolutely incredible, and the FMV has been substantially improved as well.

The audio department in Tomb Raider II is excellent, and it goes a long way towards creating the tense atmosphere of the game. The music tends to be a little too sparse for most players’ tastes, but it does a great job of punctuating the exciting moments. The developers did include more atmospheric soundtracks in the game that reminded me of the music in the PSX Doom games, and they can be quite unsettling. Sometimes I think that not enough players appreciate how effective silence can be at generating suspense. It also helps you hear important audio clues from approaching enemies, and you won’t want to miss the great sound effects in Tomb Raider II. I panicked every time I heard the roars of the Tibetan yetis, and their death cries are just as disturbing. I guess I should also throw in that Lara has some new grunts and groans for all her exertions. Hurray.

The highest compliment I can pay Tomb Raider II is that I played it from start to finish, and there were times I found it nearly impossible to put away. It has its problems, but there’s just too much game here to ignore it. It’s a long adventure that can’t be trampled in a weekend, so it’s well worth a purchase.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/26/00, Updated 09/26/00