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DEVELOPER
Core Design
PUBLISHER
Eidos Interactive
AVAILABLE
Now
MEDIUM
CD Rom
PLAYERS
One
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 omb
Raider 2 is immensely enjoyable in ways most other games this year could
only dream of. Take for instance the scene where Lara stands precariously
on the ledge outside a broken window in a luxurious mansion, overlooking
the distant blue-green water of the Italian canals winding around the compact
wood and bricks of the city. It's not immediately evident whether she should
jump to a distant awning, climb around to another ledge, or simply fall
to the water below.
Further on in her journey, Lara leaves the city and finds herself underwater
on a docking fortress which eventually opens into a sunken ship that rests
in a series of caves and flooded alcoves. After escaping the musky darkness
of the ocean depths, she soon finds herself in a Tibetan temple for even
more awesome encounters. In the temple, an enormous alter sits in the heart
of the religious complex where Lara pears at the venerated idle from vertiginous
heights as chanting quietly plays in the background. So much has come before
-- snowmobiling in the mountains, swimming in the ocean -- and so much
is left to discover.
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Why mess with success?
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Anyone who has played the original Tomb Raider will be familiar with
the mysterious exploration requiring hours of finding switches, pushing
boxes, and jumping from ledge to far off ledge where jagged rocks and protruding
sharp objects wait for a missed landing. Tomb Raider 2 continues the transfixing
adventure of the first with little change other than a slightly more complex
system of control with wall climbing and the occasional use of a boat and
snowmobile. Offering capacious level design of life-like architectures
fashioned in superb and captivating details, Tomb Raider 2 is a visual
wonder, an imaginative and compelling scene from start to finish.
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Lara comes complete with a new set of moves.
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What separates Tomb Raider 2 from the original the most is the added
dimension of action. Lara is armed with a multitude of weapons, and this
time, she is constantly required to use them. Whether this is good or bad
is up to you to decide. Having the wonderment and realism of the land Lara
is tracking builds a level of subtle mystery, and having to pull out a
grenade launcher to fend off the attacks of hoards of thugs spraying machine
gun fire is an unfortunate distraction. Run around aimlessly, shoot, get
ripped apart by the aggressive enemies, and open up a medical pack -- an
annoying break in the exploration better left to action games, and better
left to a more competent combat system. The occasional action sequence
that requires a more careful and thoughtful approach to survival would
be a nice touch, and at times such as situation occurs, mainly at the beginning
of the game, but overall I just found the difficult enemy encounters and
frequent dying to undermine the enjoyment of the game.
But even at its most frustrating lower points, Tomb Raider 2 satisfies,
and when at it's peak of effectiveness, the game is a soaring masterpiece.
-- Brady Fiechter
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