My review of
Tomb Raider II
stated the additional moves allowed in that game, and what follows is a summary
of the new moves for game No.3.
Moving
Sprinting is now a possibility. Need a quick burst of energy? Don't
have another doughnut, just press the Sprint key. A small energy bar will
appear and when that bar depletes Lara will revert back to a run.
Other actions
Lara is now able to Duck and Crawl by pressing the crawl key and holding
that down whilst using the cursor keys. If Lara is not able to stand up, then
holding this key down is not necessary, but when she is able to stretch her
pixelated legs, she will resume her erect position.
Monkey is not only the name of a highly-popular Japanese TV show from the
1980s, but is also one-half of the phrase Monkey Swing and if Lara
discovers an overhead frame she may decide to "Monkey Swing" across it.
To perform this, press the Jump key and then Action to jump and then cling onto
the frame. Keep the Action key held down whilst pressing the cursor keys to
move Lara in your chosen direction.
Pressing the Left and Right cursor keys will cause Lara to rotate, while
releasing the Action key will drop Lara like a stone.
And one other thing...
Unlike the first two games, after completing the India levels, you will be
presented with an Area Selection screen, allowing you to choose which one of
the three remaining areas to visit first: London, South Pacific or Area 51.
You can choose each of these in any order and upon completion, you shall finish
up in Antarctica for the final leg of your journey.
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 :
Take out your pistols (number 1 key). Then, walk one step backwards, then
one step forwards, turn around 3 full times (doesn't matter which direction),
squat then release button and then do a Forward jump.
All Ammo And Items Code : While in a level do the following with Lara :
Take out your pistols (number 1 key). Then, walk one step backwards, then
one step forwards, turn around 3 full times (doesn't matter which direction),
squat then release button and then do a Backward jump.
Lara Bug?
It appears there is a bug in the game that will cause corruption of the map
data. Standing on a certain tile in a certain room and saving the game will
cause invisible walls to come up and prevent the player from completing the
level. Core have released a patch which will rectify the problem on the PC, but
there is no such solution for the Playstation version.
In "Temple Ruins", if you save your game in the room with the statue (at the
bottom of the slope) and then go back into that room later in the game, despite
the fact that you don't need to, then you won't be able to go through doors
that have already been opened, thus you won't be able to complete the level.
The solution is not to save the game in that room and never to return to it.
The patch will also fix problems that some PC owners (not including me) may
have had with the sound, even though it affects the AWE 64 sound card (which I
have). Core used compression sound in the game instead of the audio CD tracks
used in the first two games.
Graphics, Sound and Playability
As in the first two games, the fluidity and movement of the graphics engine is
unsurpassable. Crisp, fast and smooth graphics is what's on show here and
anyone used to this will know what to expect... but things haven't changed
for Lara in a long time so I'd like to see some improvements made.
The sound effects and music match this too. From the music on the start
screen, to the special effects and music which shout out at you during the game,
everything is very good indeed, but still the same.
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. Sounds like a complicated
manoeuvre, but it could be the sort of movement you'll need to perform many
a time.
Overall
Three games on and the cult of Lara Croft continues. When Lara was portrayed
in the media by model-turned-Pepsi Chart Show presenter Rhona
Mitra, Ms. Mitra was due to release a single early last year in the UK
called Raiders. It never materialised in this country, but France were
allowed to hear her dulcet tones on an album entitled Come Alive which
was more like an extended 12" single, since most of the tracks are remixes,
but on the plus-side, it was produced by Dave Stewart.
Afterwards, came Man-O-Man chicken-skinned-bimbo-turned-model
Nell McAndrew (real first name: Tracey). It was when she appeared naked
and bald that she came to the fore, but I really wished she'd been left at the
"three" as she turned out as appealing as Sinead O'Connor's lesbian sister.
The model on the right, though, is current Lara, Lara Weller, although
the film version will be portrayed by Angelina Jolie.
About the game though, we all know what the game is like. This version reviewed
here is a budget re-release with five new levels. However, why can't I play
these extra new levels from the off without going through the first level
again?
GRAPHICS SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC PLAYABILITY ORIGINALITY ENJOYMENT
OVERALL
If you're after some more info on Eidos Interactive's games, you can check
out their official Website at
www.eidosinteractive.com or
the
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
