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TOMB
RAIDER 2: THE DAGGER OF XIAN
DEMO
| WALKTHROUGH
| MICROSITE
The
second instalment in the series of
Tomb Raider games invites you to join
Lara as she travels around the globe
to retrieve a precious artefact before
it falls into the wrong hands. The
legendary artefact, the Dagger of
Xian, is said to give its possessor
the power of a fire-breathing dragon.
Lara's
search for the dagger begins at the
Great Wall in China, where she learns
she has competition in her quest:
a sect by the name of Fiama Nera (Italian
for Black Flame), led by Marco Bartoli,
wants to possess the artefact and
would do the impossible to reach it
before Lara does. A frantic race for
the dagger ensues, with each side
trying to outwit the other at every
turn.
Lara's
odyssey takes her to different parts
of the world; from China where she
starts her journey, to the famous
Venice, then to a sunken ship searching
for clues that may help her with her
quest. From there, the plot thickens
as Lara is compelled to visit one
of the harshest climates of the world,
Tibet. As she discovers more and more
clues, she finds herself face to face
with Marco Bartoli back in China,
but if only things were that simple
- Marco isn't giving up without a
fight.
This
second installment of Tomb Raider
retains the charm and atmosphere of
the original, while introducing exciting
new features. Lara faces more enemies
than she did before, resulting in
action-packed and often challenging
combat sequences. A new Lara Croft
game model has been introduced, as
well as somewhat improved graphics
- and let's not forget plenty of new
weapons.
In
addition to better puzzles, harder-to-kill
enemies, and a large variety of levels,
a new and very successful appendage
has been introduced to this game:
vehicles. The game puts Lara - and
you - behind the wheel of the speedboat
and the snowmobile, introducing high
octane action to the broth.
Indoor
environments, as befits places long
forgotten, have undergone an atmospheric
decrease in illumination - and the
addition of Flares allows Lara to
light her way through the darkest
tombs.
Controls
remain much the same as in the previous
game, with the addition of useful
new movements: wall-climbing opens
up new perspectives in level-design,
while the acrobatic midair turn -
also performable during the swan-dive
for a graceful effect -comes in handy
during combat.
With
more combat naturally comes a bigger
arsenal, and Tomb Raider 2 has no
lack of new weapons. The powerful
M16 Assault Rifle, the harpoon gun
to fight off underwater enemies, the
grenade launcher and many others are
all at Lara's disposal.
For
example, Lara doesn't need to get
closer to some rather distant enemies.
Now, with the help of M16 she can
do it from the distance. Only few
shots from this monster will topple
the largest of enemies.
Having
troubles underwater? The new harpoon
gun helps you defeat all sorts of
swimming nasties, from enemy scuba
divers to vicious great white sharks.
And as for the grenade launcher -
the cream of the crop - it tends to
take care of things right away, shattering
your opposition instantly.
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