Game info

• Title Tomb Raider II
• Developer [Core Design Aspyr]
• Publisher [Eidos Interactive Aspyr]
• Year 1997
• Platform Playstation 5
• Genre Action

Join Lara Croft as she searches for the Dagger of Xian. Involving story line sends Lara to the far-off locations of Venice, Tibet, and a sunken ship. Dynamic lighting allows for new, even more realistic environments. New moves allow Lara to climb up walls, wade in shallow water and more. Lara sports new clothing, including a wet suit and bomber jacket.

Player Select

If I think about it too much, I get a bit stressed at the weird order I’m playing these Tomb Raider games in, but I couldn’t hold off playing Tomb Raider II any longer. This is the first TR game I ever played, and therefore holds massive nostalgia for me. But even with that, I do think it’s an incredible game - such great levels and locations, perfect puzzle play, and a good story to hang it all on.

It’s in the Game

With Lara chasing after the Dagger of Xian, we start off in China, and then to my personal favourite Venice. The boats and the canals, the balconies to jump around, and then ending up at the opera house which is one huge puzzle, it’s just a joy to play, even when I’ve already played it many times over. The second half of the game is less familiar to me, but the shipwreck is great, and I’m just about to start exploring the Tibetan foothills as well.

The controls are similar to the first game, and we’re still very much in the grid-based system so that makes jumps and puzzles a bit more structured to try and figure out. There’s a lot of swimming which is not something I’m particularly good at, and the breath timer really does make me anxious, but I guess if you’re exploring a sunken shipwreck, you have to expect a bit of water.

This play through I’m still really loving following Stella’s walkthroughs, because there’s no way I would find some of those secrets without her expert guidance. I know later in the levels there is the floating islands nonsense which isn’t as great as the rest of it but so far, I’ve loved every moment of playing Tomb Raider II.

Thoughts

It’s just a straight up classic, enhanced by my own fond memories of it, but really standing on its own two feet. For me, Venice is an absolutely iconic Tomb Raider location, but the whole game is a joy (so far). The joy of these original games is that the grid system makes it accessible, and the fact she aims at the bad guys means my terrible aptitude for shooting is not so much of a hindrance. I love it!

End of level boss - Feb 26

We finished off this game, and I have to admit, whilst I love some of the opening levels of this, it really drops off towards the end. The whole second visit to China isn’t the best, and Floating Islands is absolute nonsense! But we fought the dragon and finished the game, and I can happily remember Venice and forget the rest.

Rating: 5 / 5