Difficult, though ultimately rewarding
Tomb Raider 2 is a highly enjoyable game. While it does nothing new in comparison to its predecessor, it just seems that little bit more polished. The graphics are sharper (though this is to be expected considering a year passed between the release dates of the two games), the environments are more realistic, and the game simply seems a little more sure of itself. The problem is that it is no longer pioneering. Since the release of TR1 other games have done the same thing (though not as well), which means that we were really looking to TR2 to push the boundaries just that little bit further. It doesn't, simply being a polished version of the original.
That is not to its discredit though, after all there is no need to fix something that isn't broken. TR2 has excellent gameplay, being full of very large levels, interesting puzzles that require logical thought, and some challenging battles. The puzzles tend to be the pull lever, push block, jump over spikes, avoid boulder style that we are used to from TR1, but they are still fun. What I particularly like is that none of the puzzles require huge leaps of intellect - everything makes sense. In almost every situation you can see what you have to do, you simply have to work out how to do it; the difficulty is in the execution rather than in the vision.
The battles are quite tricky too. This game is very fond of suddenly pitching Lara into battle with no warning. Enemies will appear in dark corners or from the side seemingly out of the blue, meaning that you need to be alert all of the time. Most of the enemies will fall relatively easily, though likewise Lara will fall quite easily if the enemies get a few clear attacks on her. For this reason all enemies need to be kept at a good distance and dispatched with some urgency. Many of the difficulties arise in the fact that often enemies will attack during difficult manoeuvres or when Lara is in a small area with spikes/large drops/painful death all around, meaning that you cannot simply leap around, firing manically. In fact, the only relief you get in terms of the relentless difficulty is the fact that ammo and medi-packs are frequently found.
So we come to sound. Now I'm told that the sound is pretty good, with cool menu music and some smart one-liners from Miss Croft interspersing the adventure, however the game seems to select what sound it will allow me to hear and what sound it won't. I understand that this is a pretty common problem for owners of the Sold-Out Software published version of the game. To begin with I couldn't even play the game on my Windows 2000 machine, with SOS informing me that the game only runs on Windows 95 or 98. Then recently, on the internet, I discovered an altered version of the ".exe" file produced by Core that enables the game to run on Windows 2000/XP, thus enabling me to play the game, albeit with no sound during cut scenes. I get some sound during gameplay and during the FMV sequences, but not during cut scenes. This meant I had to find a script of the game on the net and simply read the story as I completed the levels. This is not ideal but to be honest this is better than not playing the game at all, so I am grateful to Core for releasing this update.
Aside from the sound and compatibility issues there are no bugs in the game, thus meaning that I was able to play through it completely. This in itself is an achievement, considering that the game is damn hard. I played TR3 when it first came out in 98, when I was 14, and it was a severe challenge for me. Relatively I would have to say that TR2 is tougher. It is not as long but requires some intricate and perfectly timed sequences of manoeuvres and some tough battles. It's taken me one week of almost solid playing to complete it. I enjoy the challenge though. If you get easily frustrated with games or don't like games that are too difficult then this isn't for you. If however you are like me, and enjoy the challenging puzzles, battles and execution of moves then you will love TR2. It has its flaws, it is not revolutionary like its predecessor, but it is still a hell of a lot of fun.