Tomb Raider II

I once read a review of a Jackie Chan movie--I believe it was for "Rumble in the Bronx"--in which the reviewer stated something to the effect of "The thing about Jackie Chan is that, after seeing one of his movies, you want to be him." After marvelling at the pool hall scene in the aforementioned movie, that comment certainly held true for me. Until now. Now I want to be Lara Croft.

This game is a masterpiece. Some of the graphics were beyond description so you will just have to check them out for yourselves while the music and sound effects are of the highest quality. I really wanted to give this game Absolute Playstation's first 100% but there will be some kick back on the amount of times you must save a game to simply stay alive. Core should have named this game Tomb Raider 2 - Die and Die Again. It is very tough. By the time I reached the fourth out of the sixteen enormous levels I was saving my progress after every jump just to avoid covering the same ground again. But so what. If you want to wimp out you can always exchange it for PacMan on the MegaDrive. Me? I loved every single minute of it and I'm off to start again to find all of the secrets.

Tomb Raider 2 ist nie unfair, sondern immer mit etwas Überlegung und dem richtigen Timing zu meistern. Nicht zu vergessen die brillante Grafik, die vor allem mit 3D-Karten nahezu perfekt ist. Einziger Kritikpunkt: Ohne 3D-Hardware ist Tomb Raider 2 erschreckend langsam und unter VGA erschreckend häßlich. An den insgesamt 18 Levels haben Sie lange zu spielen, doch die vielen witzigen Einlagen wie die Motorbootfahrt durch Venedig oder der geniale Schlußlevel sorgen für ständige Kurzweil. Besser kann man es kaum machen, wer hier nicht zuschlägt läßt sich das beste Action-Adventure aller Zeiten entgehen. Standing Ovations für Core Design!

Als je het eerste deel gespeeld hebt en je kon dit wel smaken, dan mag je dit tweede deel absoluut niet missen. Als dit je eerste kennismaking met Lara is en je bent niet vies van een actiespel waar je ook nog wat hersenen voor nodig hebt, dan is Tomb Raider 2 ook een spel voor jou.

Bereits Tomb Raider gehörte im letzten Jahr trotz seiner kleinen Schwächen zu den absoluten Ausnahme-Programmen, die aus der Masse der Fließbandproduktionen wohltuend herausstachen. Der zweite Teil der Lara Croft-Saga setzt dem Ganzen aber noch eins drauf: Überraschenderweise ist daraus kein billiger Aufguß des Vorgängers geworden, mit dem man die Fans ohne großen Aufwand noch einmal kräftig "melken" will – nein, Tomb Raider 2 ist eine konsequente Weiterentwicklung des ersten Teils, in dem dessen Gameplay-Defizite fast durchweg ausgemerzt wurden. Das ausgewogene Leveldesign mit seinen anspruchsvollen, aber stets fairen Puzzles ist schlichtweg genial, und die aufwendige grafische Gestaltung der interessanten Locations sorgt für die optimale Atmosphäre. Über die paar Clippingfehler, die als "Altlast" der Tomb Raider-Engine auch im zweiten Teil noch auftauchen, kann man getrost hinwegsehen – sie haben keine Auswirkungen auf den Spielspaß.

So you can tell that Core have not just spent the last year creating fancy new levels, they've actually moved the game onwards a notch at the same time. And the levels designs are still as taxing as ever - and with the ability to save at any point in the PlayStation version, a hazard is often shortly followed by a greater hazard, and so on. But if you have the original Tomb Raider, do you need the all-new edition? Well if you vaguely enjoyed the first one, of course you do. After all, what would Sunday afternoons be without Lara to cheer you up.

Tomb Raider II is a beautiful game and a must-have for any gamer. Despite Lara's scantily clad, robust figure, she does nothing suggestive that would prevent gamers of all ages from playing. Tomb Raider II is a marvel of programming and implementation. It quickly sucks the player into its world and creates an engaging experience. There is rarely time pressure, giving a gamer plenty of time to think through the game, or just enjoy the scenery.

Tomb Raider II er et rigtigt godt spil med masser af langstrakt gameplay der tilfredsstiller de gamle fans - og bestemt vil henrykke alle de nytilkomne.

Core Design hat genau das Quentchen Kurskorrektur angebracht, auf das ich gewartet habe. Gott sei Dank muß ich nicht mehr so oft mit ansehen, wie Lara nach zehn Minuten anstrengender Sprungartistik an der vorletzten Plattform zum x-ten Mal zu Tode stürzt. Statt dessen kann sie nun endlich klettern und darf bei den deutlich besser gewordenen Puzzles vermehrt ihr schlaues Köpfchen einsetzen. Auch kampftechnisch legt Lara einen Zacken zu. Mit ihrem erweiterten Waffenarsenal zeigt sie jedem Muskelprotz, wer die Hosen anhat. Der rechte Knüller ist beim neuen Kampfgerät allerdings nicht dabei..

Tomb Raider II is definitely a great game, but it was just so tough in spots. I fear that many gamers will tire of getting stuck all the time and not want to continue. There is so much to see and do in the game that this is a shame. The switch flipping does get old, but the explorations and animations make up for it. Don't bother renting this game, because you will never finish it in a weekend. One more thing: Lara is not real, so stop your drooling!

Tomb Raider 2 will test the best action gamers out there and stands a good chance of frustrating the heck out of the rest of us. It excels in graphical beauty, complex and creative level design, and a richly-rendered virtual world, but it has taken the original Tomb Raider to a new level of challenge that will likely be inappropriate for many gamers. It is hard not to recommend Tomb Raider 2, as I like it very much, but I must say that if you're going to get this game, make it the only game you concentrate on, because it has a fairly steep learning curve and will tax the most logical minds to solve the sometimes arcane and peripheral puzzles that have been somewhat inadvisably added to an otherwise excellent action game. Overall, I rate Tomb Raider 2 an 85 -- it again pushes the technological envelope at the same time that it seems a bit over-designed and a bit unnecessarily provocative for a video game.

Sillä aikaa, kun Tomb Raiderin tähti Lara Croft on ollut poissa peliruuduilta, on hän tehnyt itseään tunnetuksi kaikkialla muualla. Nyt Laran on kuitenkin tullut taas aika palata siihen, mistä hänet parhaiten muistetaan.

But in the end, after you throw out the marketing crap, you're still left with a really good game. Lara is still beautiful, the gameplay is still great, the action will still make your heart skip a beat. It's just not quite as good as the first one, and it's no longer a new and amazing type of game. A fairly worthy sequel to be sure, but still just a sequel. Elvis has left the building.

But in the end, after you throw out the marketing crap, you're still left with a really good game. Lara is still beautiful, the gameplay is still great, the action will still make your heart skip a beat. It's just not quite as good as the first one, and it's no longer a new and amazing type of game. A fairly worthy sequel to be sure, but still just a sequel. Elvis has left the building.

Tomb Raider was all about looks, and Tomb Raider II continues that trend. When running the game with a 3Dfx card, it's often tempting to simply sit back and take in the view. Combining breathtaking landscapes, fluid, Disney-like character animation, and (most importantly) a nicely balanced procession of obstacles, traps, and puzzles, Tomb Raider II is an excellent continuation to the Lara Croft saga.

In definitiva, Tomb Raider 2 era, come il suo predecessore, un gioco da scoprire man mano che lo si giocava, che si svelava a poco a poco, dopo ogni leva, ogni porta che si apriva, ogni nuovo artefatto, che de facto agiva da chiave, per trovare un'altra chiave, per trovare un'altra chiave...

In fact, Tomb Raider 2 is an all around more difficult game than its predecessor. Movable objects aren't as obvious (like the discolored rocks in Scooby Doo that you always knew were going to move). Plus, Core has peppered the levels with bat and gun-toting humans who are significantly harder to kill than the lions and dogs of before. To counter this, you get more ammo and medipacks, and bigger guns sooner. And you can save at any time in the game, something you'll be doing every five minutes if you're smart.

Echt stark, wie viele neue Ideen die Entwickler in den zweiten Teil des rasanten Actionspiels gepackt haben. Endlich darf sich die wohlproportionierte Lara auch unter Wasser gegen Gegner wie Haie zur Wehr setzen, Fackeln anzünden und auch mal ein Motorboot besteigen. Ebenso positiv ist die Tatsache zu bewerten, daß sich viele levels neuerdings unter freiem Himmel vor prächtigen Stadtkulissen abspielen und der Schwierigkeitsgrad ein wenig angehoben wurde. Dies kommt der Langzeitmotivation zugute.

The original Tomb Raider has brought forth more than just a sexy spelunker named Lara Croft, it has also hailed a new generation of 3D action/adventure games which has since inspired numerous imitators. It, therefore, comes to no surprise that the developer attempts to again captivate the gaming community by bringing back our heroine Lara in a brand new adventure. Based on an improved 3D engine first used in Tomb Raider, Tomb Raider II: Dagger of Xian (also known as Tomb Raider II Starring Lara Croft) sports more elaborate level designs, destructive weapons, and of course, formidable enemies.

Although technically an improvement over the original game, playing Tomb Raider II feels like an ordeal. It's basically more of the same with slightly improved graphics and a higher degree of difficulty. This game took me literally months to complete, and I was glad when it was over.

Im zweiten Abenteuer bekommt es Lara mit dem Dolch von Xian zu tun. Einer alten chinesischen Legende nach, soll derjenige der sich den Dolch in das eigene Herz rammt die Macht des Drachen erlangen und unsterblich sein. So geschehen vor langer Zeit mit dem chinesischen Kaiser Qin Shihuang, dessen Herrschaft erst gebrochen wurde als tibetanische Kriegermönche ihm den Dolch entwanden und an der, ihrer Meinung nach, sichersten Stelle der Welt verwahrten, nämlich mitten in der chinesischen Mauer.

Tomb Raider II turns the series into a license-based game, almost as if Lara Croft was the star of a movie, thrown into an uninspired game with hopes of making sales based on the name alone. If the original Tomb Raider wasn't enough to make you sick, Tomb Raider II picks up right where the first game left off. Public Enemy's Media Assassin, Harry Allen, perhaps said it best when he said, "Don't believe the hype."