Dom Robinson reviews

Starring Lara Croft

for PC CD-Rom

Distributed by
Eidos Interactive Limited

Price: £44.99

Players : 1

System Requirements :

• Windows 95
• Pentium PC 90 Mhz (133 Mhz recommended)
• 16Mb RAM
• Quad-speed CD-ROM Drive
• DirectX 5.0 (included on CD)
• Supports most major 3D acceleration graphics cards and compatible soundcards through DirectX 5.0

Tomb Raider II is, as the title suggest, the sequel to the immensely popular Tomb Raider which was released in November 1996 to rave reviews everywhere.

The idea behind the game is simple. You take on the role of Lara Croft, a bounty-hunter who has to make her way through various cities, caves and landscapes collecting keys to open doors, medi-packs to restore health, and guns and ammo to defeat the stream of bad guys who are hell-bent on killing you. While this game is like the first one, being that it is a game of get-from-A-to-B-as-fast-as-possible, there is a plot to it and it goes as follows :

Legend has it that when you drive the dagger of Xian into your heart, you acquire the power of the dragon - literally.

In Ancient China, the Emperor was the holder of this power and with his army alongside him, hr was a force to be reckoned with. Thus he staked claim to the vast lands that are China. His final battle, however, ended in defeat. While people fell into submission all around him, the Warrior monks of Tibet would not relent and courageously fought against his evil. Knowing the power of the dagger, the succeed in removing it from the Dragon Emperor's heart - reducing him and his army to carnage. The dagger was returned to its resting place within The Great Wall and locked up for all time...

Now three parties hold the dager close to their heart. And all for entirely reasons.

Lara, forever the adventurer, is one of these. On her travels, she will encounter the other two...

Installing and Running the Game

Installation is simple. When in Windows 95, inserting the CD will autorun the installation process. If you do not have autoplay set up for CDs, then run the 'autorun.exe' file.

You will then be able to select the various graphics and sound set-up options. A 3Dfx selection is available for PCs which are suitably equipped. As the game itself is run from the CD, you don't need any more than 3Mb spare on your hard disk to play it, and you can save as many as fifteen different positions.

Playing the Game

In-game Controls

Cursor Up: Run forward
Cursor Down: Jump back
Cursor Right: Turn Right
Cursor Left: Turn Left
Ctrl: Action
Alt: Jump
Space Bar: Draw Weapon
/ or 0: Draw Flare
Keypad-0: Look
Shift + cursor key: Walk in that direction
End: Roll forward
Delete: Side-step left
Page Down: Side-step right
Escape: Display Menu Rings

Hotkeys:
1-6: Directly select available weapons
8: Use Small medi-pack
9: Use Large medi-pack
F1: Reduce screen resolution
F2: Increase screen resolution
F3: Reduce game window
F4: Increase game window
F5: Save game
F6: Load game

Starting The Game

Passport - main game options

The passport allows you to start a new game, load a previously saved one, or quit back to Windows 95.

Polaroid - Lara's Home

This accesses the training level, and Lara will explain how the controls work.

Personal stereo - sound effects and music

This allows you to adjust the volume level for sound effects and music, each on a scale of 1 to 10.

Key configuration

This selection shows the keys to operate Lara's movements, and allows you to alter those you wish to change.

Actions

Moving

Running, walking and taking side-steps are basic operations that performs as you'd imagine, but after performing a forward jump, pressing down or roll will make Lara somersault in mid-air and land facing the opposite direction. This also works when taking a backward jump if you press up or roll.

Swimming

While underwater Lara can hold her breath for about two minutes, and the direction keys will control where she goes in conjunction with the jump key which will push her forward. She can also pull levers and pick up objects underwater by getting as close as you can and pressing Action.

Lara can also swim on the surface, with the side-step buttons making her swim sideways in those directions. Pressing jump will make Lara dive, while Action will make her climb out.

In this sequel, Lara can now wade in shallow water. Controls are similar to those when walking, except Lara can only jump on the spot, and her movement is slower.

Attacking

Lara begins the game carrying a two pistols for John Woo-style two-handed action, plus a shotgun, but along the way she will find semi-automatic pistols, an M16 gun as well as a grenade launcher.

Other actions

Lara can vault over some obstacles by pressing Up and Action together. It's also interesting to note that when climbing up to a surface that can be jumped onto, you can also stand in front of it, jump up, THEN press action and you'll finish standing on it instead of having to pull yourself up.

Some walls are climbable, and in one of her new moves, Lara can climb up a wall by pressing Up and Action to jump and hang onto a handhold. Pressing the cursor keys will move her in the direction required, and jump will make Lara jump backwards away from the wall.

If Lara is near to a ledge while jumping, holding the Action key will make her grab the ledge in front of her and hang there. She can then either shimmy across from side to side or pull herself up.

The Action key can be used to pick up objects by standing in front of them, be they objects already on the ground, or left behind by dead baddies after they have fallen to the ground. Similarly, the Action key will activate switches in front of her.

When Lara is in the correct position to use one of the objects she has collected to solve a puzzle, pressing Action will call up the Inventory Ring enabling you to select the required item.

When in a dark area, a flare is available to illuminate the situation. These last for about a minute, and will remain in Lara's hand while vaulting, running or climbing. However, if Lara draws her weapons she will drop it. It can, however, be thrown a short distance first by pressing the flare button again.

The look button, when used in conjunction with the cursor keys, allows Lara to look in all available directions. If you're not facing forward when trying to line Lara up for a jump, pressing Look on its own will make her face forward.

When using vehicles, the cursor keys will take her in the requisite direction. Holding down 'Walk' will make her vehicle travel slower, while 'Action' will make her travel faster or fire weapons if the vehicle has that capability. Pressing Jump and either left or right, will choose which side to exit.

Hints and Tips

Contrary to popular belief, there never was a "Nude Lara" cheat for the first game despite many magazines printing the supposed codes for it.

Level Skip Code :
While in a level do the following with Lara :
Press the Forward Slash key (/) so that Lara will draw a flare. Now, holding down the walk button, take one step forward, take one step backward, turn around 3 full times (doesn't matter which direction), release the walk key and then do a Forward jump.

All Weapons Code :
While in a level do the following with Lara :
Press the Forward Slash key (/) so that Lara will draw a flare. Now, holding down the walk button, take one step forward, take one step backward, turn around 3 full times (doesn't matter which direction), release the walk key and then do a Backward jump.

Graphics, Sound and Playability

The graphics are first-rate in this game, and if you've played the first game you'll know exactly what to expect. Crisp graphics, detailed locations and pin-sharp enemies are to be found on all levels. You could almost feel as if you're really there...except when I went interrailing in 1992, I don't remember being chased by too many men in Venice with clubs and machine guns (!)

Depending on your processor's capabilities, a function is available to control the graphics definition as well as the screen size, but a 3D graphics card will maximise your PC's potential.

The sound effects are on a par with the first game, and similarly the music is fantastic and quite John Williams-esque. To be honest I could sit and listen to the music on the start screen alone. Anyone who's already seen my review of this game will remember I had a problem with the music before as it wouldn't come on, but I have since solved that.

When I originally installed it, the setup program automatically installed it to : "c:\Program Files\Core Design", but I found that by uninstalling that and reinstalling it to : "c:\Program Files\Core Design\Tomb Raider II\", things are running much more smoothly and the music and voices are now in the game.

The setup screen allows something that's not explained at all in the manual. After selecting a generic or Media Vision soundcard, the microphone position can be selected to either "Camera" or "Lara". This means that as you play the game, the camera might sometimes be situated in an alternative position to where Lara is (eg. looking at her from a far distance or underwater). In this case you'll hear whatever is situated by either the camera or Lara's ears.

The playability is as spot-on as the first game. The controls allow Lara to move simply around the environment be it simply running, or running along up to a ledge, performing a forward roll and then pressing Action to hold onto the ledge before swinging forward to clear certain items such as large glass fragments - something you'll come across in level 4 (Opera House). That description is more than a clue to retrieve one of the secret objects, but don't ask me exactly how I did it as it just happened by fluke and I couldn't manage it again!

Overall

Since the first game, Lara Croft now has a superbly-animated ponytail which cleverly floats on water, and her persona has become something of a cult figure, her body proportions being based on that of model Natalie Cooke's, but more recently portrayed in real life by FHM cover girl Rhona Mitra (right) who has appeared at computer game fairs as Lara, and will be releasing a pop single in January 1998, under Lara's name, called "Raiders".

In fact Lara has become as big a household name as previous well-known computer game characters Sonic The Hedgehog and Mario, and was one half of a double-sided poster in Playstation Plus, the other half being the spiced-up Nikki from Pandemonium 2.

The game itself is the most important thing while you're playing it of course, and it's one that simply does not disappoint. Taking the premise of the first game, adding bigger locations, more moves for Lara, and more weapons and items to make use of, and you have a sequel that is going to keep you just as hooked as the original from start to finish.