Tomb Raider 2
I learned my lesson when I bought the first Tomb Raider game for the Sega Saturn. Until saving in general became more accessible in a game like this on consoles, PC was really the only way to play it. And so, when Tomb Raider 2 came out, I was sure to buy it for my home computer instead. This means I actually got quite far in Tomb Raider 2, I may not have beat it, but I still got further than in any of the original Tomb Raider games. Which is great, because it really had a lot to offer in terms of level diversity, varying costumes and different environments. Unlike the first one, where I really only played the first level about a hundred times.
Tomb Raider 2 still featured the same, albeit slightly higher poly-count, busty protagonist Lara Croft; who I still really just viewed as a modern, female version of Indiana Jones. And being a huge Indiana Jones fan at the time, was more than happy to take this in lieu of an actual Indy game since there really hadn't been one since the Fate of Atlantis adventure game. I mean, they even went so far as including a level that takes place in Venice where you can drive around in a wooden motorboat similar to those featured in the Last Crusade. Which was actually my favorite part of the whole game. It was really nice to introduce some useful vehicle components to the series.
Tomb Raider 2 did a great job of taking us to some new locations. Going full circle starting from the Great Wall of China, to Venice, an sunken ocean liner, a monastery in Tibet and then back to China. The ocean liner included some great underwater sequences and the use of a speargun to fend off sharks, the Tibetan level included the use of a snowmobile and as I mentioned earlier, you get to drive a boat in Venice. Everything felt quiet, creepy and abandoned. Which is easy to accomplish in early games, but still made the whole 'tomb raiding' aspect feel more accurate. The new game engine allowed for some real time lighting, which also helped as some sequences you actually had to use flares for your only light source while exploring. Which was something quite new at the time for games.
I also still have to say, knowing that Lara Croft really is a big example of games as a 'boys club' and how she is obviously designed to attract male players, I still really just thought she was a kick-ass character. I've mentioned before how I really appreciate female protagonists and how there were a lot less to choose from back when this was released. So really, Lara may have been somewhat shallow and admittedly being 'kick ass' really isn't enough of a personality trait to consider her as strong as a lot of other player characters at the time; and so I guess I probably just imagined her as being deeper than she really was presented. But truthfully, Lara really was one of the first dominant female protagonists and probably paved way for a lot more who came after her. And so, I'll always have a soft spot for the series if even just for that alone.
In general, Tomb Raider 2 was just the right kind of sequel. It added lots of new content, cleaned up the engine and controls and really added in areas most fans would have wanted to see fleshed out. In fact, I really should go back and play this one again because the more I think about it, the more solid it was and may even be really comparable to a lot of the newer ones developed by Crystal Dynamics. It's not like I don't still have the copy sitting on my shelf, maybe I'll install it when I get home tonight.
I learned my lesson when I bought the first Tomb Raider game for the Sega Saturn. Until saving in general became more accessible in a game like this on consoles, PC was really the only way to play it. And so, when Tomb Raider 2 came out, I was sure to buy it for my home computer instead. This means I actually got quite far in Tomb Raider 2, I may not have beat it, but I still got further than in any of the original Tomb Raider games. Which is great, because it really had a lot to offer in terms of level diversity, varying costumes and different environments. Unlike the first one, where I really only played the first level about a hundred times. Tomb Raider 2 still featured the same, albeit slightly higher poly-count, busty protagonist Lara Croft; who I still really just viewed as a modern, female version of Indiana Jones. And being a huge Indiana Jones fan at the time, was more than happy to take this in lieu of an actual Indy game since there really hadn't been one since the Fate of Atlantis adventure game. I mean, they even went so far as including a level that takes place in Venice where you can drive around in a wooden motorboat similar to those featured in the Last Crusade. Which was actually my favorite part of the whole game. It was really nice to introduce some useful vehicle components to the series. Tomb Raider 2 did a great job of taking us to some new locations. Going full circle starting from the Great Wall of China, to Venice, an sunken ocean liner, a monastery in Tibet and then back to China. The ocean liner included some great underwater sequences and the use of a speargun to fend off sharks, the Tibetan level included the use of a snowmobile and as I mentioned earlier, you get to drive a boat in Venice. Everything felt quiet, creepy and abandoned. Which is easy to accomplish in early games, but still made the whole 'tomb raiding' aspect feel more accurate. The new game engine allowed for some real time lighting, which also helped as some sequences you actually had to use flares for your only light source while exploring. Which was something quite new at the time for games. I also still have to say, knowing that Lara Croft really is a big example of games as a 'boys club' and how she is obviously designed to attract male players, I still really just thought she was a kick-ass character. I've mentioned before how I really appreciate female protagonists and how there were a lot less to choose from back when this was released. So really, Lara may have been somewhat shallow and admittedly being 'kick ass' really isn't enough of a personality trait to consider her as strong as a lot of other player characters at the time; and so I guess I probably just imagined her as being deeper than she really was presented. But truthfully, Lara really was one of the first dominant female protagonists and probably paved way for a lot more who came after her. And so, I'll always have a soft spot for the series if even just for that alone.In general, Tomb Raider 2 was just the right kind of sequel. It added lots of new content, cleaned up the engine and controls and really added in areas most fans would have wanted to see fleshed out. In fact, I really should go back and play this one again because the more I think about it, the more solid it was and may even be really comparable to a lot of the newer ones developed by Crystal Dynamics. It's not like I don't still have the copy sitting on my shelf, maybe I'll install it when I get home tonight.
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