It's not perfect, but I wouldn't say it deserves a 5.7.

User Rating: 7.5 | Tomb Raider II PS
This is actually a very good game. I like how it used the original Tomb Raider's gameplay. Like the story of how she tried to retrieve the Scion, in this game she finds herself hunting for the Dagger of Xian. She fights through the Great Wall of China through to the city of Venice and various other locations that I personally found more interesting than the first. It's not better than the actual gameplay.

The gameplay itself is like the original but it has one thing that I do not like about it. It is very hard. It's playable, but sometimes it crosses the line between challenging and frustrating. Let me give you an example - in the second level, when Lara's on the boat driving around, you try to jump onto a platform which hosts an enemy with a gun - but when you jump, you might accidentally fall into the water. Doesn't sound bad, right? Well, it does get annoying because the enemy can keep on shooting at you while you try to get out of the water, causing you to lose your health in an unfair way. Then again, it is adaptable.

The puzzles are too difficult for me. I understand hard games, but I don't like something that is TOO hard for me to get through. You collect secrets throughout levels - the three dragons, that have different colours which are jade, gold and silver. Once you collect all three within a stage, you can have either a new weapon or ammunition and medi packs. Then again, it WAS playable. The game's a bit glitchy but some of those glitches could be helpful.

The graphics... Lara DOES look better. The thing about it, is that the environments look great. It's just most of the time when you're looking around, it might feel strange to you and doesn't look finished. It looks fuzzy, and the frame rate can sometimes be annoying.

Once again, there is not a lot of music, but the situations in which they are used are better than the first, and I think it fits more. The sound effects are great, but Lara sounds a little bit more annoying than in the first. Again, this is actually an adaptable thing.

The thing I liked about the second game is that it has more levels than what it did in the first. What's more, the Croft Manor can be accessed. Unlike in the first game where you merely learn the controls and that's it, here you can actually explore it for as long as you want. Plus, you get to go outside. So the Croft Manor here is better than it is in the first game.

OVERALL: I'm not saying this is a bad game due to the minor problems. I have to say though, I did enjoy it.