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Tomb Raider II is the sequel to Tomb Raider, which may make you wonder where the first game is. Aspyr is packaging Tomb Raider I with a couple of expansions in Tomb Raider Gold, due in early '99. Lara's job in Tomb Raider II is to track down the Dagger of Xian, an ancient Chinese artifact that possesses the power of the dragon. The plot, as in most action-adventure games, remains secondary to gameplay. The real purpose of the game is to move Lara through a series of puzzles and bad guys and get to the next level.
Tomb Raider II's gameplay is a surprising mix of easy and ridiculously hard tasks. The easy jobs consist of auto-aiming (where Lara shoots from the hip to kill enemies) and navigating around the landscape and inside buildings. When you encounter creepy crawlies, just shoot them and they die. Running is the default method of locomotion, so that's easy, as are turning, jumping, and swimming. The hard tasks consist of combining precisely timed keystrokes to make Lara somersault, do swan dives, grab ledges, somersault sideways on and off surfaces, and so on. Sometimes you have to repeat a jump several times to get Lara to grab onto a ledge.
One frustrating element of gameplay is the camera angle. Because the game functions in the third-person perspective, the camera swings to and fro behind Lara and often ends up askew. When you're backed up against a wall, for example, you can't move the camera behind Lara to see where she's going to jump next. For making long jumps, plan on a lot of trial and error. You remedy that, however, by saving often. More than anything, Tomb Raider II makes you a conscientious saver.
Exploiting Lara's agility will prove challenging even for experienced gamers, and the timing of keystrokes will frustrate many casual players. On the other hand, Tomb Raider II's difficulty is what most hard-core gamers welcome. If you have a gamepad, program it and use it to control Lara more smoothly.
Once you master all the fast moves - and we do mean master - Tomb Raider II is a lot of fun to play. Its mix of action, puzzle solving, and adventure is balanced and challenging. Doing a bunch of somersaults off ledges to escape from attacking tigers is very cool. Tomb Raider II also gets kudos for incorporating historic landmarks, which other adventure titles often ignore, and featuring a tough-as-nails female character as the protagonist. Many have criticized Lara as a teenage boy's fantasy with obscene proportions, but that's not quite true in the game.
Tomb Raider II is a long-awaited and welcome addition to the Mac game library. We recommend playing it in Glide (3Dfx) mode for maximum raiding fun. Jennifer Ho
Good News: Good mix of puzzles and action. Runs well on almost every Power Mac. Challenging adventures in exotic locations. Supports RAVE and Glide.
Bad News: Frustrating puzzles. Timing Lara's movements will challenge even veteran gamers.
Rating:3/4
©1999 MacAddict
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
New Nostalgia,
By Brad Lowman (Palo Alto, CA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Tomb Raider 2 (CD-ROM)
"From the waterways of Venice to the icy mountains of Tibet, from the depths of the Atlantic to the hidden bowls of the Great Wall..." This game, where the player takes the role of archaeologist Lara Croft, offered the most interesting puzzles, scariest traps, and breath-taking atmosphere of all the notorious Tomb Raider series. Our heroine is seeking the ledgendary Dagger of Xian, hidden under the emperor's tomb in China. Based on real scriptures from the first Chinese dynasty over 2000 years ago, the emperor's tomb conceals a secret, parallel world, which, if lara acheives her goal, she will enter. But lara is not the only one who wants the Dagger. The evil mafiosa Marco Bartoli is after the prize. It is said that to plunge the dagger into your heart will give you the power of the Chinese dragon. This is what Bartoli wants, for, with this power, he could potentially rule the world. And this is what Lara is willing to stop at nothing to avoid. The trail of her nemisis, and her quest for the dagger, lead lara to Venice, Tibet, the Atlantic ocean, and the hills of China. I especially enjoyed the vehicles available to Lara. Driving the snowmoble over the parilous chasams in the tibetan Foothills was challenging and aweinspiring. Facing off against sharks, electric eels, mafiosa, and even giant spiders, scared me so much that at one point I literally fell backward out of my chair I jumped so much! The graphics are improoved, and Lara now sports a flowing braid, instead of the short knot of hair in Tomb Raider 1. Graphics, scenary, puzzles...all is the greatest in this game. A must-have for Tomb Raider veterans and newbies alike.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Rare Case of a Sequal Beating an Original,
By Chris W. (Kansas City, Missouri, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Tomb Raider 2 (CD-ROM)
From the Great Wall of China to the canals of Venice, Tomb Raider II is the rare case in which a sequel is better than an original. In fact, I find this game to be my favorite of the series. In it the legendary Lara Croft sets out to find the Dagger of Xion. In her quest she navigates the globe, and even takes a couple of trips to strange and magical new worlds.Tomb Raider II offers significant improvements over the original, and its game play exceeds the other games that follow in the series. The game has drastically overhauled weapons and artificial intelligence. Though the puzzles are not as hard as later versions, they still are quite difficult. Lara has new moves, many new weapons, and more dangerous foes. What more could a Tomb Raider fan - or even the casual gamer - ask for? I highly recommend this game, whether you are an avid Tomb Raider fan or somebody new to the series. I don't believe you will be disappointed - in fact, you will probably find many hours of action filled entertainment. And if you do enjoy it, I strongly recommend other games in this series.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good Not Golden,
By
This review is from: Tomb Raider 2 (CD-ROM)
I played Tomb Raider Gold before I picked up Tomb Raider II, so I was used to the quick loading and fluid response from commands of the Gold edition of Tomb Raider I. Even so, Lara is still a kick and the game is fun.
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