Tomb Raider II (PS1) Gameplay

This is just some gameplay of Tomb Raider II on the PS1 as played on the PS2 with texture smoothing on. This isn’t the best run I ever did, it’s not perfect, but I did manage to beat the entire first level of the game without dying on my first try on a cold run. This is my favorite one in the series, but mainly because it was the first one I played. I’d say overall, the original is the best, but TRII is my favorite. Some people say that this is where the series lost it’s track, because you don’t raid tombs the entire game, but I say Lara is the tomb raider, so you it really doesn’t matter where she goes just so long as the level design is of the same quality. TRII retains the incredibly imaginative level design of the original, and the tense atmosphere of the original. In the game, you still get that same feeling that you indeed are alone, at the bottom of the world, and the sense of danger that rivals survival horror games. If you’ve never played the original series, I suggest you do, the controls will frustrate those accustomed to modern games, but it’s a game that takes time to master. I’ve been playing the series since Christmas 1997, and I still occasionally have trouble with the controls. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, Tomb Raider deserves more credit for it’s role in shaping 3D games, and modern gaming in general. Look at the gameplay mechanics here. They seem relatively simple, and common by today’s standards, but where do you think games like Uncharted, Assassin’s Creed and Prince of Persia (the 3D ones) got their gameplay mechanics? Sure, people say Tomb Raider just took the original Prince of Persia’s gameplay and translated it into 3D, but successfully taking 2D design, and making it work in 3D is also something that deserves credit. As I’ve said before, Prince of Persia in 2D begat Tomb Raider in 3D, but Tomb Raider in 3D begat Prince of Persia in 3D, as well as so many other games that were inspired by Tomb Raider. Not to take anything away from Mario 64, because it deserves a lot of credit for it’s effect on modern 3D gaming (though I’d say Wolfenstein 3D and Doom deserve the most credit for pushing gaming into 3D than any other games), but Tomb Raider which hit in the west a few months after Mario 64 (and had been in development for three years prior), also deserves a big chunk of credit. Screw all the “it cemented the role of women in gaming“ and all that women’s lib bullpoop, Tomb Raider deserves credit for cementing gameplay mechanics that helped shape the way we still play games, and like Mario 64 is a testament to great early 3D design in gaming. It’s controls may not have aged well (the modern controls we have today are from years of tweaking, and experimenting to get just right), but it’s level design, play mechanics, and use of atmosphere have left it’s mark on gaming.