Like so many other Playstation owners, I rushed out to buy this game the
day it was released, eagerly anticipating my much-needed fix of Tomb
Raider action (after having played through the first game twice).  Let me
say right up front, I wasn't disappointed.  Eidos has come through for us
in spades.

First of all, the fundamentals of the game haven't changed -- which is a
very good thing.  You're still guiding Lara Croft through vast, spooky,
extremely varied environments, narrowly making harrowing jumps, blasting
enemies (with the same auto-locking firing system), throwing switches,
finding keys, and collecting ammo and medikits.  Now on to the
differences...

The first thing you notice is the beautiful CGI-rendered intro.  There's
some thin plot about a Dagger of Xian, an ancient sacred artifact (what a
surprise!) which, for no obvious reason, Lara seems to think is worth
risking life and limb to acquire.  The intro provides you with a lot less
plot than the first game, leading you to wonder if the whole plot wasn't
tacked on after the game was mostly finished.  But hey, if we wanted plot,
I suppose we'd be reading a book or renting a film.  On with the show.

Next up is Lara's House, the "training" level.  This has been enormously
expanded from the first game, and believe me, you'll want to play through
this to get the hang of Lara's new moves.  First, climbing -- yes, Lara
can now climb up sheer surfaces, but only in certain places, which usually
look something like ladders or pockmarked cliff faces or something of the
sort.  This is remarkably well implemented, and integrates into the game
quite nicely.  The other new move is the ability to slide down zip-lines
by grabbing a conveniently-placed handle and holding on for dear life as
you zoom down the wire, quite a dramatic experience!  The outdoor training
course in Lara's House gives you plenty of opportunity to practice these
new moves, as well as the usual assortment of jumps, running jumps, and
hanging from ledges.  There's a touch of cute humor as Lara's butler
hobbles around the house and grounds with a tea tray, following you
diligently (too bad he doesn't give the obstacle course a try!)

You'll notice that the graphics are generally of the same style as the
first game, but with even more texture variety, and more detailled
modelling on the characters (especially Lara -- woo woo!)  A nice addition
is the dynamic lighting engine.  In many places you'll have to use flares
to light your way, and the effect is stunning.  You can even light a flare
and throw it down a shaft or hallway to light your way!

Once you're on to the actual game, you'll notice something which at first
gives you a sigh of relief.  No more save crystals!  Yes, you can save at
any point in the game.  However -- and it's a big "however" -- Eidos has
upped the difficulty factor of the game significantly to compensate for
this.  Even if you were an ace at Tomb Raider 1, you'll find yourself
saving your game after almost every completed jump.  Luckily game saving
is accomplished quickly so it doesn't really get in the way of the fun.

The levels themselves are huge, beautiful, well-designed, and extremely
challenging; Eidos have really outdone themselves.  You'll be running
through caverns, the Great Wall of China, Venice, an abandoned opera
house, a sunken ship, a monastery, and more.  Oddly enough, no actual
"tombs" are to be found, leading a friend of mine to joke that the game
should have been called "Shipwreck Raider", due to the profusion of
almost-completely-underwater levels.  The outdoor levels (yes, many of the
levels actually take place outdoors) are very well done; beautiful,
believable skies, and large outdoor areas to run around in (the Tibetan
Foothills in particular are quite convincing).

A major modification to the game is in the enemies department.  The
traditional Tomb Raider assortment of jackals, apes, and lions are few and
far between here; most of Lara's enemies are human, and far more
dangerous.  From thugs with bats to thugs with pistols to, er, well, thugs
with other guns, they're all well-rendered, angry, and gunning for you.
Lucky for you, you'll have some new weapons with which to dispose of them.
For one thing, you start with the shotgun as well as your infinite-ammo
pistols.  Available for pickup throughout the game are Uzis, automatic
pistols (a beefed up version of the magnums from the first game), an M16,
a grenade launcher (it blows your enemies into little chunks of meat!),
and a nifty harpoon gun for shooting the various underwater enemies.  Yay,
violence!  Another new twist is the (occasional) ability to drive
vehicles.  You get the chance to pilot a speedboat and a snowmobile, and
believe me, when you get these, you'll be whooping and hollering and
careening around the level running over the bad guys like some kind of
drunken redneck with a brand-new monster truck.

Now on to the (few) beefs I have with this game.  First, there is a
significant frustration factor here, as many of the puzzles will have you
scratching your head for hours trying to figure out what *this* switch
just did, or where you can use *that* key.  It's not unbearable, though,
and after all, mind-bending action puzzles are what Tomb Raider is all
about -- don't do what a friend of mine did and play through the game with
the strategy guide on your lap, you'll be cheating yourself out of half
the fun.  Second, the lighting.  Eidos seems to have taken advantage of
their nifty new lighting engine by making many, many areas of the game
VERY dark, forcing you to use your precious flares (or the muzzle flashes
from your guns) to light your way.  For me, this got old pretty quick, and
I found myself cursing Lara's lack of foresight in not bringing along a
flashlight.  Finally, the plot; it's very thin, and the cut-scenes (both
CGI and realtime-rendered) while interesting, didn't seem very well
thought-out.

However, these problems are minor.  Overall Tomb Raider 2 is a
marvellously challenging, action-packed, brain-teasing FUN game, a worthy
successor to the revolutionary original.  If you loved the first one,
well, you've probably already bought this one.  If you didn't, of course,
odds are good that you won't like this one either, as it's basically more
of the same.  If you never played it, I do highly recommend this one, but
be prepared for a serious challenge that will keep you busy for many, many
hours.

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review by Dan Burford
gilmore@netacc.net