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Tomb Raider Anniversary II (Demo 2) by SrDanielPonces Xopax

Allicya 9 8 8 8
Athukraz 10 10 10 10
Ceamonks890 6 7 6 6
DJ Full 7 8 8 8
Gabriel Oliveira 10 8 8 7
Gerty 6 8 8 7
Jay 8 8 9 8
John 7 8 8 8
Jose 6 8 8 9
Larabiker301 8 8 9 9
manarch2 5 7 7 6
MichaelP 6 8 8 7
Nephilim 5 8 7 8
Orbit Dream 7 9 9 8
Phil 8 8 8 8
Raider99 5 7 7 3
Rambo 3 6 6 6
Ryan 6 8 8 7
SeniorBlitz 7 7 8 8
Sethian 6 8 8 8
SlyRaider 9 8 10 8
TimJ 6 7 8 8
Wolf7 6 7 9 8
 
release date: 17-Jan-2015
# of downloads: 108

average rating: 7.53
review count: 23
 
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file size: 92.00 MB
file type: TR4
class: Remake
 


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Reviewer's comments
"I had just played the final demo of this and was curious to see the difference with the previous one. The Great Wall is very similar, but with some details I liked more. It was too dark, but I preferred the textures in this demo than in the last one. Venice is very similar to TR2, but with added bits of gameplay which sometimes feel more like filler than new innovative challenges you'd want to discover. Textures in Venice were good, but it seemed to me that some had jpg artefacts (notably some wood textures). A lot of sound effects were either missing or bugged (gates making sounds of wooden doors or baddies only having a death sound, for example). This demo doesn't really add anything to TR2 to make it worth playing in my opinion. Rambo is harsh in his review but do have a point." - TimJ (15-Aug-2022)
"With a remake of the first two tomb raider 2 levels that ive personally already played to death in the past, i kinda thought there wasnt gonna be much fun, original or fresh gameplay here to enjoy, i just thought it would be the visuals that would be the main difference and while for the majority of the levels that does indeed apply here, i was quite pleasantly surprised with some new areas, rooms, puzzles and new platforming moves as well. The new areas and places are actually additions to the places and areas you visit already so its kinda perfect if you wanna re-live those those classic levels with better visuals but also want something new and fresh to enjoy as well, well done!" - John (02-Mar-2022)
"A much better remake this time around, and I was even able to save my game… at first, at least. More on that later. Altogether, this is a really good re-imagining of the first two levels from TR2, and the authors have done quite a beautiful job at updating certain areas.

Gameplay & Puzzles: For the most part it’s good enough – better when kept in line with the original; okay-ish when the authors have decided to add new things. There was one bit early on in the Great Wall with a jump switch that took me forever to figure out, and of course the solution was: Lara has new moves. When this is the case, this info really needs to be included in the Readme, or a training level needs to be provided. Once you get the new moves down though, it’s all fairly straight forward and easy to figure out. Moving on to the deadly rooms beneath the Great Wall, I was blown away – the traps and their setups were truly something else and a great way to change the level without changing it too much. Once we get to Venice, I thought most of the changes to the gameplay were good, except that this ‘city’ level started feeling a bit too much like a ‘tomb’ in the sense that we were performing ‘magical mechanism tasks’ all over the place – placing a ‘magical’ harp on a pressure pad; placing some ‘magical’ golden balls in hand receptacles – who exactly lives in this part of the city? The way the multiple swing pole traversal was fixed from the previous demo was a huge improvement of course; although I do think that locking away the second boat was a bit much of a complication. One thing I liked a lot about the layout though was connecting the first canal area with the second main canal area by opening those big doors.

Enemies, Objects & Secrets: All the enemies are pretty awesome – beautifully textured and updated. I was a big fan of the tigers, and once again the two new types of baddies in Venice. However, one major problem is that their samples/sound effects seem to be a bit all over the place. The tigers will make TR1 gorilla sounds, while the baddies themselves will growl at you like lions. The eagles will shriek like TR4 Harpies (sort of passable), but then the jump switch will squeal at you like a pig that’s being slaughtered by Von Croy. The rats were quite adorable, however one of them actually left behind a packet of flares for me, and another actually ‘stung’ and poisoned me.

The objects in general were quite good, although as already mentioned, for Venice some of it was a bit too much of the tomb-y/magical-Venice-BTB feel with mystical harps and golden balls that open secret chambers to forbidden realms. One nice added bit of realism though are the trash cans and the empty bottles in one of the baddy’s ‘dens’ – for once Venice actually feels like a real city with humans who litter, and not a porcelain Barbie mansion. Why those trash cans are placed up on rooftops though is a mystery to me. There is one very tiny hard to spot Iron Key – the only reason I found it is because I remember finding it in the original. Considering all the other keys in Venice seem to be about 10 inches in length, this little 4 inch Iron Key could’ve been endowed a bit more. The objects used for the Great Wall level truly enhanced everything about it, and whoever designed those new traps is a genius. I also liked the graphically enhanced skeletons, but I’m not so sure about some of the suicidal Nemo-fish that seem to jump out of the pool of water and then lie dead on the shore.

Secrets are done quite well – some are similar or close enough to the Secrets in the original game; some are changed completely or acquired in slightly different ways. I thought this was a good change and refreshing addition to the gameplay. I also liked the generosity with the ammunition given – both if you find Secrets and if you don’t. If you get all Secrets in the first level, the gift of the Grenade Launcher is a true blessing and makes the second level that much more fun.

Atmosphere, Sound, and Cameras: As already mentioned, the samples for a lot of the enemies are bit off, most notably the growling masked Italians. The audio and music choices are spot on though, and give the two levels great atmosphere. I really liked the shift to the Caves ambience once we go underground in the Great Wall (something that sadly doesn’t happen in the original TR2 and should have!) and I also liked the choice of the TR5 Rome ambience for Venice. Camera setups are good and helpful for the most part, however it is a bit frustrating that for the final timed boat ride to Bartoli’s Hideout, one cannot break out of that camera sequence in order to save a few precious seconds – because boy is that a tough timed run!

Texturing & Lighting: The textures are beautiful, but applied a bit strangely in some places, and there are lots of cracks in the underwater rooms and water’s surface that could’ve been fixed. One thing that is a big no-no for me is how certain windows are shootable objects, but others are simply wall textures – even though the shatterable object and transparent wall-window have the exact same texture. I would’ve preferred some realism and consistency with this. The lighting all around is good, although it does get a little dark when you’re on your way down into the ‘lost valley’ part of the Great Wall and it becomes hard to see which way one is meant to go. And, since this involves a bit of climbing, shimmying, and dropping, a flare doesn’t help much since the last thing you need is for her to be caught in “throwing-away-me-flare-now”-mode when she refuses to grab the next ledge and instead plunges to her death. But, since this is a route towards a Secret, I can’t fault that extra difficulty too much.

It’s really very good and a huge improvement from the last TR2-Anni-Demo. However, apparently, once I exited the game briefly at the very end (I was stuck performing the timed run with the boat and wanted to take a break before finishing) I noticed that then when starting up the game again, it crashed when I tried to load my savegames. So, thankfully, with this demo I was able to save and load whilst in-game unlike the last demo, however upon exiting and starting up again, the same crashes occurred… and right before the glorious finish. What a shame. Still, a good experience all around though." - Sethian (18-Aug-2020)
"It's sure it is quite an HD version than a real game, as it kinda replicate the real first 2 levels of tr2 without changing a lot of it. The gameplay is quite the same apart some little changes, to the secrets and to some locations. What of course shines the most is the incredible nostalgic atmosphere of the game, as seeing again an old tr2 level being polished is incredible since tr2 is the first tr game I had ever played and it has of course a special place in my heart. Not quite worth playing for the gameplay, but for a nostalgic look is perfect! Wolfy Regards." - Wolf7 (09-Mar-2019)
"It was probably the wrong choice to play this version before the first, but I guess I'll go ahead and send this review in anyway. I must be among those players who aren't that fond of remakes of official levels - for me, nothing can top the original levels. But I will admit that this one does have merit for those who like them. The areas are more sleek and attractive than the original (minus a few odd and dull textures), enemy placement is well executed and the gameplay is mainly similar, but with a few new tweaks added in both levels. It still didn't succeed in changing my views on remakes, but I shall look forward for the full version nonetheless, in the hope that the gameplay is more creative." - Ryan (03-Mar-2018)
"This is definitively an improvement over the first demo, I liked the level design alterations on the first part and the atmosphere was also very nice, the second level was also expanded and I liked the different areas you could explore. Overall it was pleasant, I look forward to this project." - SeniorBlitz (23-Jan-2018)
"I'm slowly getting tired of misunderstanding the concept of remake. It now means to copy original locations, fill it with larger textures, higher-polygon objects and even more sinister traps while keeping identical placement of switches, enemies and secrets. And it's all here. The difference are some new rooms we can explore, of which that Venetian segment extending from the second boathouse to the rooftops above is particularly interesting and makes the second level a bit better than it was in the root form. Also here we can witness a rare case where new animations are really nicely done. On the other hand the authors misplaced or lost some samples on the way, and didn't care about fixing seams between waves. The underwater mines exploding even if Lara jumps 3 metres above them were quite funny. SUMMARY: A rather accurate picture of the TR2 prologue, with the second level advanced in comparison to the first demo. Still, it's a long way for the full version to fit the definition of true remake." - DJ Full (25-Jan-2016)
"First, thanks for remaking this using TR4 engine. This is a very cool custom level. 9 to gameplay and puzzles because its very similiar to the original TR2 and that's a good thing. 8 to enemies, objects and secrets: they're good, but it could be better if we could see more variation. 8 to atmosphere, sound & cameras: noticed a few issues but its good. 8 to lighting and textures: very well used. But noticed some wrong textures applied. Conclusion: Clearly, this custom is good, but deserves more time and attention to improve and become way more good looking. Anyway, anyone that likes Tomb Raider MUST play this." - Allicya (22-Jul-2015)
"A pity that these talented builders are not creating an original level. For now doing yet again a Great wall version and another Venice one, is a bit boring. The Great Wall was at my end rather dark and even pitch black at the end. Not seeing where to shimmy or where to jump is a pain in the neck. The Venice one also was too dark when you went under the buildings. Don't get me wrong the demo is not a carbon copy of the original ones, but as I said before, I rather see something new." - Gerty (15-May-2015)
"It notices the touches from good builders, the design of new (few) areas, well applied textures, well balanced enemies, good use of the camera hints... However the gameplay, even when the tasks are not hard, is mostly similar to the original, and players can get bored when replaying the same old levels umpteenth. If this proyect goes on, I think builders could think about more changes in the next levels and more new areas and puzzles so players can get more fun." - Jose (02-Apr-2015)
"To pick up where my previous review for the initial demo eneded: Personally, I would hope these talented builders shift their focus to creating some original games... - well, instead of doing that, they chose to give us a version 2, now with the Great Wall Remake thrown in on top of the Venice level for good measure. And as said before: Yes, it looks good with the more modern touch to it. Yes, it has a few nice tweaks added vs the originals. But unless you are a die hard fan of the original games that cannot wait to play them over and over again, it gets a bit tiring to play further renditions - even if they are as well made as this one." - MichaelP (16-Mar-2015)
"Congratulations to the builders, I loved these two remastered levels of TR2! Musics, sceneries, levels... are very good. If I have something to say however, it would be against the baddies that I find very different (and younger!) and the light which put Lara in black color. Otherwise, the addition of new rooms is a great idea, it enables to revisit TR2 with new puzzles. Two levels to be tested for all fans of the original game!!" - SlyRaider (16-Feb-2015)
"Gameplay & Puzzles: Remakes like this are pointless. The gameplay is different a bit so some points for it, but most is work of someone else and not new to me. Boring, boring and again boring! Do something on your own instead! Enemies, Objects & Secrets: There is some work here on enemies and objects which is good, but there are badly placed objects (pole, underwater door) and the secrets aren't very different. Atmosphere, Sound & Cameras: This is quite a bit better than before, yet not great and as the gameplay mostly copied. Lighting & Textures: Not very much care, there are a few mistakes, but it looks good overall and as the objects the textures are rather new. The lighting is sometimes good but sometimes odd. Total: 5,25/10, the builders should make something better than a rather close remake, even Anniversary (the official game) was quite fun and not so similar to TR1." - Rambo (07-Feb-2015)
"It's always rather nice to have the nostalgia of the much loved TR2 levels with the added benefit of an up to date Lara with some of her new moves in place. I've always loved bouncing around on the awnings in Venice, but a few swing poles about the place don't go amiss either. The Great Wall section has some fun traps that largely follow the original layout and the Venice section will be familiar, not only from the TR2 Venice, but also from the builders' recent demo - this has only been slightly tweaked here and there to give some improvements. You may of course not really want to play this section again so soon, but, own up, messing about in speedboats is always fun and that jump through the bridge window never gets old!" - Jay (06-Feb-2015)
"I begrudgingly give this two-parter the scores they would deserve if this were a stand-alone release. I echo the other reviewers who have grumbled about releasing a remake of a quite recent demo, even if a new level has been thrown in. The bugs of the earlier release, especially that game-killing swingpole bug, have been addressed, and I actually had a good time replaying the Venice portion with the gameplay tweaks that have been added. The Great Wall portion is mainly a trapfest, but it keeps the player on his toes. A good work, but please, no more demo releases until you're ready to give us the full package." - Phil (27-Jan-2015)
"Positives: Improved textures compared to the original TR2; a few added nice objects such as the pond, railings, wall decorations and bookshelves; added areas like where the stone dragon secret in the first level is put, the location of the first key for the door to the entrance of The Great Wall, etc; a darker cave; spiders not exploding. Negatives: Most of the time I already knew what to do, where to go, and when to spot the enemies; I agree with Raider99 about flyby sequence for showing opening doors, it was annoying that I sometimes didn't need them that long and I couldn't press the look button in order to get back to Lara. Suggestions: Instead of using the same map with a few added or removed areas, you could actually just use the concept of the level, and make different puzzles for the same goals. E.g. yes it's the same cave with traps, but you could make different traps and routes of your own, it's the same Venice with the boat behind the gate and we must find a way to open the door into the dark area and to another Venice houses complex, but you could do more experiments with Venice architecture (there are actually more than those in the original TR2) and change a few routes or at least change the way we get there. I feel somewhat optimistic that I will enjoy this remake with a few fixes, and I'm excited to play the final release. Wish the best of luck for you guys!" - Nephilim (26-Jan-2015)
"This demo of the previous demo was alright in terms of a remake albeit, a nicely done one at that. For starters, the texturing job is just pretty much superb. The texturing has been redone for remake purposes and it's a nice touch. The atmosphere off the charts nice with the new engine providing colored lighting and other sorts of neat atmospheric devices. Although, it was dark in some areas. Enemies were your standard Tomb Raider 2 enemies only that they were retextured or were different models. Secrets were in the same place only with a few being different. There was one secret I couldn't obtain due to a trap but I thought that was a little nice addition. Gameplay wise, it's the same thing. Yes, the author did add a few extra rooms in both levels (you play the Great Wall of China, and Venice) but they were so short, it didn't feel like too much was really added. The puzzles did help with the remake in not being to copyish from the original Tomb Raider 2. But they're far in between so there's not that many. Overall, it's still a nice demo and a very good remake. I can't wait to see this actually completed." - Larabiker301 (25-Jan-2015)
"Do we really need a revised Demo of an earlier released Demo? Are reviewers now being regarded as public beta- testers? Can we not just wait patiently until the final level-set is ready for release? If you put those questions to one side,you will have to acknowledge that this two-level remake is a goodly sized and well constructed Demo,with many of the annoyances of the earlier version remedied.There are bugs remaining (in the Great Wall level,one ladder is difficult to shimmy onto;the save game bug prevents spiked walls from moving;and Lara's animations are occasionally glitchy);but the Venice level has been well crafted,with plenty of new/revised areas to explore;interesting acrobatics to perform;and excellent enemy placement.Throughout,the textures have been very well applied (aside from a few mis-alignments);the areas all look convincing;and the atmosphere in both levels is exceptionally well caught.The size of the Venice level is far greater than the original (I really felt sorry for that poor campanologist,whose arms must have been aching by the time Lara sped across the Finish Trigger);and indeed both have interesting and well integrated new areas to explore.For a 100 minute adventure,this works really well - but,if we must have a 'work in progress' release,would it be too much to ask for a different set of levels to play next time?" - Orbit Dream (22-Jan-2015)
"So the expanded demo that I alluded to in my review for the previous version of this project, has now been officially released. But how does it fare in comparison to the earlier demo that came out over three months ago, at time of writing? Well unfortunately, while its most certainly a step in the right direction(including a lot of the same high-quality enemy/object models, textures, lighting effects and a limited amount of completely original areas among a portion of new content), it still generally leads to a rather mixed affair overall. And it pains me to have to say this, but it really does(with a lot of the gameplay aspects remaining practically unchanged from both TR2 and the original TRA2 demo itself, alongside a number of new bugs and bizarre texture oddities that regrettably weren't dealt with before being let out the door for players to enjoy.) But oh well. I suppose there are some issues that can even slip under the most thorough beta tester noses rather sneakily too, I guess. So in conclusion, while it was not the '10/10' teaser that a lot of potentially intrigued raiders were expecting at the end of the day, this is again still a step-up from the last demo. And if you're someone who's still waiting impatiently for the full version of this project to be completed by the builders in question, then this is probably one of the least offensive remakes that you'll find yourself spending time on. Recommended especially if you're bored, but do go in with reasonable expectations before starting up." - Ceamonks890 (22-Jan-2015)
"So this is a slightly improved version 2 of the large remake project and while I still can't see much sense in that, I at least found it to be a more decent effort. The first level is probably one of the most remade official levels and I found it horribly boring to get through, there are only a few changes here and there in the gameplay and a few extra areas added. I had quite some problems with the pole because the jump key worked very rarely on it. The secrets are also a bit different but not a very large change either. What worked better for me was the choice and placement of textures and rather good lighting which are creating a new kind of atmosphere; there still were way too many mistakes in the texturing though and a feeling of wallpaper still came up at times. The second level is mainly the same as in version 1, with one secret being different and also the buggy poles being replaced by a small extra area to explore. The architecture of the setting has been improved in that most buildings now have roofs and overall the presentation is more clean than before, yet there are still lighting and texture cracks en masse, especially on room connections, and there are also a few architecturally not well worked areas which can be seen from the 'new' section. Overall the gameplay design hasn't been much changed, but it at least doesn't that much feel like a only a little spiced up remake. There's still much that should be altered and better worked upon in a final version but with the improvements of this game I'm more hopeful than before. 40 minutes." - manarch2 (18-Jan-2015)
"A hundred times better! But I want to say about a few things that I wanted to ask you guys, please, please, fix it before the final release. I noticed that some water rooms in Venice are still showing that water animation issue that isn't following the movement of the other water room. I guess the first enemy in the first level was triggered very soon... because of that Lara can't stop to look at the helicopter in the sky since she's shooting the enemy. I guess the waterfall is missing its sounds. Some textures in the first level are not well placed, right at the beggining I noticed a sand/rock texture among with grass. Also, I can see that the builder used very strong shadows in some areas, and I guess that would be a lot better if you guys could manage to keep the intensity not exaggerated. I'm really looking forward to the final version, as I'm for the improvement. Congratulations for both builders. Remaking a whole game it's not easy to do, and thank you so much for this. TR2 is my favorite TR classic! Good luck with the building process." - Gabriel Croft (18-Jan-2015)
"There are some improvements comparing to the earlier demo, but still, this one feels like a mess. First off, there are some new areas you can explore, but some of them didn't really make sense in my opinion, for example Venice, you open the door to use pushblock so you're able to use floating button? It's really basic, but you should think a bit more about realism... Enemies were alright, some on the same places like in the original, some are new. Luckily we had enough ammo and weapons (maybe too much) so it was easy to kill many of them at once. Secrets weren't really hard to find, but require some exploring. Some sounds are missing and the pistol sound hurt my ears, it sounds really irritating. I wonder, did you use only flyby sequences for showing the door open? You know you don't need to waste them and instead use fixed cameras. But there were enough hints what to do. Lighting and textures... one huge mess. You should really pay more attention to this, there were too many light cracks and textures, which are looking great were often misplaced, wrongly rotated and squished. Overall, these builders should take some break and try to improve their skills before doing this project which obviously requires more experience." - Raider99 (17-Jan-2015)
"Breathtaking demo, was very excited for it. It indeed turned out better than the first one. The full release should be full of surprises." - Athukraz (17-Jan-2015)