The digital delights of Sony’s scrumptious PlayStation Network service know no bounds. Aside from letting punters compete in online gaming, stream films, browse the Internet and more, its premier attraction rests in the copious supply of downloadable games ripe for the picking. From PSN exclusives to PSOne Classics, minis and plain old add-on content, Sony’s online space is chock full of goodies battling it out for your hard-earned digital dollars.
Welcome back to another installment of Inside PlayStation Network, where every Monday – Friday we’ll pluck a PSN release—be it new or old—and put it in the spotlight for a thorough dissection. Fancy getting a new PSN game but don’t know what one to plump for? Perhaps this feature will help. Didn’t realize that a game was available in your region until now? We’ve got you covered. Or, perhaps you were musing over what those lucky Japanese folk were tucking into over in the Land of the Rising Sun? You can be sure our coverage will extend to those rare regional exclusives as much as those firmly embedded on the public consciousness.
Today, we shine the spotlight on Lara Croft’s seminal adventure sequel, Tomb Raider II.
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Developer: Core Design
Region(s) available: North America
Players: 1
Tomb Raider II marked the beginning of heroine Lara Croft’s annual adventures on Sony’s grey box of tricks, a trend that would continue for the next couple of years before culminating in 2000 with the retrospective PSOne swansong, Revelations. Released in 1997, Tomb Raider II represents a time in Croft’s illustrious career that the public were practically salivating at the lips for another chance to hop into those brown boots. After a stonking start with the original 1996 classic, Croft found herself catapulted to mainstream success, becoming permanent staple of modern pop culture; a testament to this feat can be seen in the fact the nimble heroine found herself as a centrepiece on Irish rockers U2’s PopMart tour. Unsurprisingly, TR II sold like hotcakes.
The sequel finds Miss Croft on the hunt for the legendary Dagger of Xian, a quest that takes her from the underground catacombs of the Great Wall of China to a mobster’s hideout in Italy, the chilly mountain of Tibet to the sunken remnants of a sprawling cruise liner. TR II chucks in plenty of fresh additions, though the meat-and-potatoes of the action remains very much your standard TR adventure. Playing as Lara, you’ll traverse numerous environments, clambering up precarious cliffs and structures while capping pugnacious, gun-wielding goons and wildlife. There’s plenty of secrets to pick up along the way in the form of the Stone, Jade and Gold Dragon statues found in each stage; nab them all, and you’ll be rewarded with a heap of goodies for your troubles.
As mentioned, TR II sees plenty of new highlights. Chief among these include the addition of vehicles – now a series staple – allowing Croft to commandeer the likes of speedboats and snowmobiles. Enemies have also received a kick up the backside, and the general consensus among fans that TR II stands as most action-packed of Lara’s outings will remain abundantly clear once you get past the first stage – the game is jam-packed full of foe, notably the human variety. In addition, there are also plenty of new creatures to put back on the endangered species list, including crows, spiders (both the regular and oversized variety) tigers, eels, barracudas, yetis and more.
Of course, what would a Tomb Raider title be without the obligatory weapons upgrade? Sure enough, Croft’s second adventure is packing serious heat, with new additions such as the automatic pistols, the grenade launcher, M16 and Harpoon Gun fleshing out the original’s somewhat conservative line-up. Of course, Lara still has her trusty pistols to fall back on (complete with infinite ammo) and other favourites such as the Shotgun and Uzis also make a comeback. You’ll need them too, as aside from filling bog-standard henchmen and wildlife full of lead you’ll also come up against some pretty fearsome adversaries including a T-Rex, mob bosses and ancient, floating warriors. Oh, and then there’s the end boss, which…well, I won’t spoilt it for you. Suffice to say, do not waste those Uzi clips or Grenades.
Join us again tomorrow for another look Inside PlayStation Network.