Some Thoughts on Tomb Raider 2

 

I actually liked the Opera House.

The OG Tomb Raider is a classic and by far and away the best of the original trilogy. Having played Tomb Raider 3 back in the day, I knew how hard it was, and that its difficulty was controversial at the time (one reviewer claimed that it seemed like the game had been designed to sell the strategy guide). Tomb Raider 2, I'd missed, and after enjoying Tomb Raider, I went on to the next game. Right from the start, the Great Wall of China level tries to kill you with trap after trap, demanding instantaneous reactions, lest you end up pinned to a spiked wall or sliced to bits from a giant rotating blade. "Ah, so they upped the ante and assumed you'd played the first game," I thought. "I'm up to the challenge." Several hours later, however, after having plodded through the Wreck of the Maria Doria levels, I'm not sure that I am. The problem is that Core seems to have thought what Tomb Raider 2 needed was more combat, perhaps in response to the popularity of Resident Evil. So they filled the levels with human enemies that can tank several bullets and who have unflinching accuracy that no amount of gymnastic maneuvering can escape. I started entering rooms with my Uzis drawn, just so I had a fighting chance. A majority of the traps, of which there are a ton, have no environmental clue as to what triggers them. You can slide down a slope and fall into a pit of spikes, and the only way you could have avoided such a fate was to slide down the slope backwards. This is Dark Souls, but with puzzles, traps, and unfair enemy placement. What makes Tomb Raider 2 even worse is its bad section of middle levels. Who the fuck wants to explore an oil rig, especially when said rig is just a winding collection of corridors? The concept of the undersea levels is really cool, but every level is a maze of rust and flooded sections full of sharks and giant eels that are unresponsive to any harpoons you manage to embed in their flesh. While it is certainly impressive that they managed to churn out a full sequel to Tomb Raider in only a year, the rushed development shows. Despite adding vehicles, more varied levels, and more weapons, Tomb Raider 2 is a slog, at least so far. I'm really yearning for the China and Tibet levels, which are supposed to be its best. I know Tomb Raider 3 is hard, but at least Lara visits interesting locations for its entire run time. 

The photo mode is freaking cool, though.