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A look into the depths of Tomb Raider 2 to see how well it holds up
Tomb Raider 2 was my very first PC game.
Well no. That was Redline Racer, but that I got for free with the computer, so it doesn't count.
I played it. I devoured it. I found all the secrets, I mastered the even then ridiculous controls, I fell in love with Lara, and I had loads of fun.
There were some corners, however, which I have never explored. Two places where I never ventured. Was I tired? Eager to move on, only to return to these places later? Afraid? Well yes actually, I was quite scared. I was only 10, it was dark, and Tomb Raider 2 had a tendency to insta-kill you often, which made me jump in my chair. So I skipped those passages.
Yesterday I remembered these plans to return. And Replayed parts of the game. I also had the possibility to see how it played more than a decade later.
Observations:
Insta-death features often. Infuriatingly often. Sometimes it's an avalanche that's impossible to predict, other times the level drops a guy with a flamethrower behind you.
The game still tends to spawn enemies in places you have been to already, accompanied by a short burst of "danger music". It creates them anywhere, anytime, even in already secure places, and I still jump when that happens.
Game-design alternates between brilliant and laughably stupid. Just as I think "yetis can climb stuff, cool" I stumble upon another frustrating issue.
There is a back-breaking amount of "borderline cinematic" scenes. Which suck. There are accompanied usually by several insta-deaths, re-loads, and realizations that the game is cheating (like spawning infinite avalanches), until you notice that this isn't a game, it's a movie, and you haven't been handed the script.
Voice-acting is german. Well, in the version I have. I still can't get my head around the idea of Lara having a british accent, even though I like those.
The graphic scales wonderfully to todays resolutions and widescreens. Only the cutscenes fess up.
The controls. Oh my, the controls. To beginners they are still incomprehensible. To gamers with a low rage-quit threshold they are incomprehensible. Funnily enough, it feels like it hasn't been 12 years since I last played. It am able to recall all special and cool maneuvers, and jump around caves without any problems. Seems it payed off to drill the control-scheme into my head.
After years of post-Lara conditioning I press space instead of ctrl to execute actions. Ugh. I blame all other games ever.
The menu-system is still one of the most beautiful things in existence, combining elegance and satisfaction. Just rifling (ha) through your backpack feels fun.
It's still possible to accidentally press quicksave instead of quickload, thus trapping you forever in a possibly inescapable situation. This ruined my first playthrough back in the day.
So, on to exploring. I'll cheat my way through most of it (let's face it, I haven't got 20 hours lying around), only planning to stop to explore.
Further Observations:
The venice-level still looks beautiful and plays wonderfully.
The water has a certain trasparent charme to it I haven't seen since.
The game is awfully blocky, akin to Minecraft.
Flares are FUN. Yet I have rarely seen them in non-Tomb-Raider games since.
It feels satisfying to light up a flare, and then drop it down a dark chasm or into a deep pool of water.
Fights are short, terrifying bursts of adrenaline. Enemies kill you relatively quickly, and I believe the wonky controls are somewhat resposible for your panic.
The last level, where Laras mansion (from the tutorial-level) is invaded, is still brilliant. Just the feeling of actually fighting in a formerly secure place makes it special. 
Now this is done, let's continue cheating my way through the levels.
After you lose your weapons in level 5 I make it a priority to retrieve my pistols. Even though I have infinite ammo on all other weapons, it just doesn't feel the same way without them. After I arrive in the deep waters near an old shipwreck, I realize I never explored this place either. I swim around, using my 100+ medpacks as breathing-aid. Turns out there is nothing but a huge invisible wall.
I arrive in the mountains. An avalanche rolls towards me, I jump over it. To the left is a small cave. Inside a tiger tries to maul me (making me jump in my chair). Inside the cave is - ammunition.
First checkpoint complete, on to the next one.
Before I can summon the giant reptile/bird-thing in level 14, I climb down the other side into a big chasm, where I press the usual button. The rest of the chasm I haven't explored. It contains - nothing.
So that concludes my exploration of these places I have never been. And although they have been quite empty, I did get the chance to have some nice, warm, nostalgic feeling, and could marvel at the wonders (and atrocities) of the game design.
You should try it. It's quite a good game, this Tomb Raider 2.
Now that I'm done, I remember some places in Tomb Raider 3 that I haven't explored either. Like some of the caves in the Antarctic(of which I was alo afraid). Or all those levels which had a secondary path, thus leaving an entire level-progression unexpored.
Should I go trough Tomb Raider 3 too, in its entirety, to explore these places?
...nah. Maybe in twelve years.
Orignally posted on Matthew on Game Design
//Addendum:
I did go through Tomb Raider 3 after all! Took me a while longer, so it's in three articles. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
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