Tomb Raider II

Tomb Raider is probably my favourite videogame franchise. From the very first time I saw the raiding of the Chinese Wall in a friends house I knew this was the real deal. Lara Croft was the lady James Bond, with all the cockyness and the travels around the world. Puzzles are good, gameplay is frustratingly fun, and the story is completely over the top, as anything from the nineties. I wish new tomb raiders were a bit more like old ones.

Full in dept review -in spanish- in the link below, you can always use a translator.

The first time I played this game, I came dangerously close to not liking it as it's a bit of a departure from the first game due to it having a much higher emphasis on item management. I bring this up because I can see people being turned off by this game if they dive into it immediately after the other games in the franchise due to how limited the resources are in the game.

Don't think for a second I bring this up as a complaint towards the game as once you realise you have to be smarter with your resources, the game is intense and worth your time as it also puts a higher emphasis on combat in addition to the clever puzzle solving that the series is known for. Lara’s move set has also received an upgrade as she can now climb ladders and operate many different vehicles throughout her adventure. The vehicles also take some getting used to due to the somewhat clunky tank controls the game is built on, however you'll quickly get the hang of it just like Lara’s tank controls. Another improvement here are the visuals as they've received a major upgrade from the first game (further accentuated with the beautiful unscaled visuals of the remaster released nearly three decades later.) This is due to the locations bring more varied in this game as Lara travels to China, Tibet, Venice and an underwater shipwreck which looks similar to the titanic (this came out around the same time as the film after all) each of them having a distinct art style that compliments their respective levels rather well. The only exception being the titanic as I'm not a fan of its dreary colour pallet, I get it's a symbolic tomb of its passengers, however I just feel really depressed playing these levels which is a feeling I don't have in any other location in the franchise. I mentioned there's a much higher emphasis on combat in this game compared to its predecessor, this is due to having humans as regular enemies in addition to the varied wildlife Lara slaughters throughout the series (nobody show these games to Peta, we'd never hear the end of it otherwise.) These fights have our hero equipped with a better selection of weapons she had from the first game, although the mk1 can be clunky to use and the harpoon gun is situational at best. I could go on with the positives, but I think you get the point with how much this game has to offer.

I should also bring up the golden mask expansion pack as that doesn't seem to have its own entry on this site, it's a great expansion that's miles better than unfinished business due to each of the four levels combining the best parts of the main game and creating their own unique environments. Admittedly the visuals are fairly dull due to them mainly being ripped from the Tibet levels (something the remaster fixed by stylising the hell out of them) however the puzzles are each well thought out and just like tomb raider iii, you get access to an admittedly crappy bonus stage should you search out the secrets in each level.

It's a brilliant sequel to an already fantastic game that's filled with a ton of references to real world history in each area, check it out if you haven't already.

Lara Croft returns on an adventure to find the Dagger of Xian; a weapon which has the power to turn its bearer into a dragon. On her adventure, Lara will be travelling through China, Venice, underwater through the wreck of Maria Doria, Tibet, then finally back to China. Lara will have a few outfitts this time round. Starting off with her familiar outfit, then changing into a wetsuit during the underwater levels, and a flight-jacket during her time in Tibet.

The graphics look dated and basic, with the environment being constructed out of square panels and bland, flat textures. In the previous game, I often found I missed areas due to lack of visual clarity, but didn't find it as much of a problem this time. You now need to light flares in dark areas which take advantage of the new lighting model. Some areas are frustratingly dark though, so it was a combination of using a flare and turning up the monitor brightness to get through it. Lara has more drastic graphical improvements. Now she has more curved features, rather than the triangle boobs in the first game. She now has her iconic ponytail which sways as she runs.

In some ways, Lara is very agile with fluent movement. Lara can run, jump, climb, flip and roll around the environment and is well animated. However, the controls can feel a bit awkward until you get used to them. You also have to be in fairly precise positions to interact with switches or to pick up items. This can be a bit fiddly to make Lara slowly step to the required position. Also, it's quite easy to die by falling off ledges due to the controls, but I seemed to adapt quicker than the previous game. You can save anytime, which means it's not too frustrating when you do die.

The gameplay consists of a mix of combat, platforming and puzzling; the same as the first game. There are switch puzzles, timed areas, and block puzzles. I found the levels to be more straight forward though, rather than the complex block puzzles and back-tracking in the first game. There's not many tombs that you raid either, so you will be on land or underwater. I found this less interesting as a result.

There's loads of levels within the game, but annoyingly, a large part of them involves water. A lot of people find the Venice levels to be great, but I found navigating the thin pathways on a speedboat really clunky and awkward. It also feels unfair with the combat, given that the enemies are humans with guns who get a few free shots on you before you can get to ground to pull out your guns.

This is actually a common problem throughout the game really. In the first games, humans were a rarity, so you were mainly battling animals such as bears, lions, alligators and more mythical beasts such as raptors and Egyptian demons. Now you are mainly up against gunmen who often don't give you enough warning they are approaching before firing shots at you from range.

On the plus side, they do often drop guns and medi-packs so you can use more powerful weapons against them, and heal your wounds afterwards. Lara has unlimited ammo in her standard dual pistols, but other ammo is limited. Aiming is automatic if Lara is facing the correct direction, which leaves you to concentrate on the acrobatics to stay out of harm's way. There's new weaponry like the harpoon (for underwater battles with sharks, barracudas and scuba divers), the powerful M16 rifle and the surprisingly weak grenade launcher.

There's three dragon statues to find in each level which give you a large stockpile of ammunition if you manage to find all three of them.

Tomb Raider doesn't excel in combat given that it consists of auto-aiming and firing until the enemy dies; so it's a shame combat seems to have a larger focus than before. This game is at its best when it feels more like the original game which is levels like Ice Palace and Temple of Xian. It's still a decent game despite its age, but I preferred the original instalment.