Νο ,I love Wreck of the Maria Doria-,, second best level on TR2 ,, best level Opera House and Ice Palace or Temple of Xian and the worst is Diving Area.
Barkhang Monastery is my favorite level soley for the gimmick with the monks. You can get away with doing very little fighting, giving you a chance to stock up on ammo and med packs.
I think my favorite is The Deck, I know how odd it is but back then when I played TR2 for the first time, I was a kid obsessed with the Titanic, and little did I know Maria Doria was based off of it, so I'm still really fond of this level
The ice palace is actually one of my favorites, because it intertwines with the catacombs of talion and my favorite feeling in Tomb Raider is when I revisit places from another perspective (loved palace midas in tr1 for this reason)
I can't believe your channel has so few subscribers. You narrate your episodes well, your diction is clear, and I have to agree with you for the most part regarding the ranking of levels you created in this video. Best regards, and I'm looking forward to more videos! I'm subscribing to your channel now!
Loved the video!! Was a nostalgia trip. I like this game but do feel all the blue water levels drag it down! I agreed with a lot of your picks!! Especially your #1 pick!! after playing the DLC levels recently i feel like furnace of the gods is my new fave level 😊
While I think Temple of Xian and Barkhang monastery are absolute PEAK it's hard for me to find a level in this game I don't like. Maybe 40 fathoms is the one I'm always less excited about, but in general I love the whole Tomb Raider 2, even the infamous Maria Doria part XDDDD
Barkhang has gotta be what Palace Midas is for TR1, top atmosphere and perfectly balanced between action and puzzle work, I also love how the level starts with an acapella main theme, giving that monastery vibe! Least favourite is Catacombs.
They are a pain due to invisible levers, tedious box moving, the key next to the captain cabin perfectly blending with the background…they could have been better with adjustments, the setting is beautiful though!
@@TheTombRaiderChannel No, but 40 Fathoms, Maria Doria and The Deck are all easily better than Offshore Rig, Ice Temple, the Dragon's Lair, Home Sweet Home etc. imho.
@@toprak3479 TBH I count Offshore Rig as one of the water levels (everything from Lara losing her weapons to the Deck), so it adds to "water levels are the worst" take.
This is a very interesting list! I love such ranking videos! I rank the levels too after finishing each game! Here is my list: 1. Venice 2. Barkhang Monastery 3. Diving Area 4. Bartoli's Hideout 5. Ice Palace 6. Catacombs of the Talion 7. Offshore Rig 8. Tibetan Foothills 9. Home Sweet Home 10. Floating Islands 11. Wreck of the Maria Doria 12. The Dragon's Lair 13. The Great Wall 14. Opera House 15. The Deck 16. Living Quarters 17. 40 Fathoms 18. Temple of Xian It's funny that your favourite is my least favourite! I was excited when I first entered the Temple but as the level was progressing I started to feel a sense of panic ahahaha! I guess it's my least not because it's not interesting but mostly because of its difficulty! It wasn't finishing! After every corner I was expecting to reach the end but no! More struggles, more traps, SPIDERS, go back, pull the lavers, find the keys, come back again....Just thinking of it all makes me feel anxious but in no way I consider it a bad level! It's an extremely challenging one and perhaps at the time when I played it I was not in the mood for such a long journey! I was so glad when it ended. We both have Home Sweet Home at number 9 and Brkhang Monastery at number 2. I had to put Venice at number 1 mostly for the nostalgic reasons. I loved it as a kid and I do still love it now!
I cannot argue with Venice at number 1, the music is brilliant. Barkhang monastery will always be a favourite but Temple of Xian tops it for me, it's expertly made!!!
@@Darwaxion I agree! It represents 100% what tomb raider is for. It just demonstrates it in the hardest way. I think because TR2 didnt have any tombs or ancient places, Lara had to explore areas outside of the usual, they made this level to match up and give it all back to the fans in one level that had it all to make up for it. As a concept it's definitely my favorite area but as far as gaming goes I had to recognise it as one of the hardest and least enjoyable.
This game has amazing level layout and puzzle. I just wish it had more tombs and unique hidden locations. We needed more levels like the xian temple and cave
@ agreed. We could also say the same about 3. Not too many tombs in that game either and once again my fav level in that game is temple ruins. That level is a masterpiece
The levels are all great, and I wouldn't really like to rank them. However, Opera House is my favourite. The rest are all great and make TR2 the best Tomb Raider game ever. It might be nice to see an updated version. More than last year's remaster. A reworking. On the other hand, it would be hard to make it better, so maybe not. I believe that there is an updated version being made by fans, but I don't know if that is true. It it is, where do I get it?
This was the first Tomb Raider game I ever played. Only levels I would say are forgettable for me are both the rig levels. My top levels would be The Opera House, Temple of Xian, Barkhang Monastery and Floating Islands. Here is my full list 1: Temple of Xian 2: Floating Islands 3: Barkhang Monestary 4: Opera House 5: The Great Wall 6: 40 Fathoms 7: Wreck of Maria Doria 8: Catacombs of The Talion 9: Venice 10: Bartoli’s Hideout 11: Living Quarters 12: The Deck 13: Tibetan Foothills 14: Ice Palace 15: The Dragon’s Liar 16: Home Sweet Home 17: Offshore Rig 18: Diving Area
We have the same favourite level, but the worst one for me is Tibetan Foothill. I hated the Snowmobile, although I agree with you that it does look nice.
Tibetan foothills for me is a great level, the music track is insane and the snowmobile is an interesting addition, although it can be a pain to drive at times 🤣
@@TheTombRaiderChannel Yeah, the music was great. Classic Tomb Raider always had great music. It was just the snowmobile which made me hate the level. It was too hard to control, and plus, you had those cunts with the black snowmobiles running over me and killing me with one hit lol
I always hated Temple of Xian because of the giant spiders. I am afraid of spiders and I had quite the shock to see the GIANT ones floating next to me. The better graphics in the Remastered made them worse.
I completely understand the mixed reaction of the underwater levels. But when I saw Living Quarters was bottom, I couldn't agree more! I remember after the high of Maria Doria (block puzzles aside), I reached Living Quarters and couldn't recall a single thing about playthroughs in the past! I only liked the theater and the unintentionally hilarious Fiamma Nera guys going peekaboo behind a curtain! 🤣 That's it! I hated it! Great list, I enjoyed your TR1 ranking too! Keep up the good work and look forward to the TR3 list!
Hi, the underwater levels in general for me don't live up to the hype, living quarters whilst looks great and is cool traversing a flipped up ship, features awkward puzzles. I am currently in the process of tomb raider 3 levels, thanks for watching 😁😁
1.Opera House 2.Wreck of the Maria Doria 3.Ice Palace 4.Temple of Xian 5.Deck 6.Bartolis Hideout 7.Floating Island 8.Venice 9.The Wall 10.Home Sweet Home
You've put your finger on it, Im honestly starting to wonder if the developers meant to put the Great Wall level near the end of the game then shifted it back to the beginning??
Originally The Great Wall was a demo level, and so to build the hype they made the level extra exciting - however once the game was released it was clear how difficult it was compared to the levels that followed
@ I should be clear, it is not a bad level and I do like it. However, I just find it tiresome in all honesty. Hears a trap, here’s another trap. Oh look, one more trap for you. I think it is a level that really enjoyable to watch being played by a master of the game but just so tedious to play. Additionally, I think The Great Wall is a masterpiece in terms of a first level and I adore the serene horror of Floating Islands.
@@TheTombRaiderChannel Got the 1-3 remastered for xmas and headed straight for TR2! Agree with Wreck of Doria being bad, but love the other water levels 😍
Temple of Xian best? Wow...couldn't be more opposite to my preferences. I can't stand that level....it depresses me. I almost always skip it if I can. Ice Palace also too low for me, but yes Barkhang is a strong one.
As a kid i managed to finish the original Tomb Raider but struggled to even get past the early levels of TR2. It seems they definitely ramped the difficulty up for this one?
I was never a big fan of any of the shipwreck levels. Also not really a big fan of Floating Islands or Tibetan Foothills... it's mostly the gameplay, the visual design is fine. However, very solid picks for the #1 and #2 spots, Barkhang Monastery is my favorite level in the game, Temple of Xian is probably #2 for me though. And technically it IS an extension of the Great Wall level, since it actually takes place right behind the door you reach at the end of that level!
Excellent 1 and 2 picks :), yes you're right actually, temple of Xian is a follow on passed the from great Wall! Barkhang monastery will forever be amazing
I would swap 40 fathoms with Wreck of Maria Doria, and IMO Temple of Xian is overrated, it has those trampolines from Ice Palace and offeset jumps near the end, which are just annoying. I would put Bartoli's Hideout as easy number 1 with Venice as 2, I agree with most other placements.
Home Sweet Home, Great Wall, Dragons Lair I don't think deserve to be ranked so high. Ice Palace, Bartoli's Hideout and Tibetan Foothills I would have ranked higher.
A glaring flaw i've noticed in TR games is that after the tightly-designed and engaging get-go, the middle section devolves into a thinly-streched, unfun fillerfest, before transitioning back to a climactic finale. This is principally transparent in TR2. China, Venice and Tibet are magnificent, but the oil rig and the underwater segments are god-awful. I'd hope to revisit these environments someday, albeit executed so that it does not make me desire to rip my hair out. In general, the new locations were compelling and great. However, the stages are littered with bad level design, such as forced damage, or Lara shoving her hear into a saw as opposed to carefully picking it up. Due to these, and the overabundance of enemies, I enjoyed this instalment the least out of the original trilogy, even though I would rank it very high. With that stated, I think my favorite is Floating Islands, its aesthetic is gorgeous. In fact, all of the China levels are top-tier. Tibet was exquisite. I love that it brought back some of the isolated feeling from Tr1, and its mechanics were nice. Venice was also spectacular, I enjoyed it. But the oil rig and the underwater bits were absolutely atrocious. Nice video 💜❤️
Thanks for your comment, now you say it you're right, the beginning and final levels seem to have more time put into them, with the China levels being some of my favourites as well!!
And there's Tomb Raider 2, the fan fave game which I have mixed feelings on. To sum it up in easy words: I dislike the first half and love the second. The first level I love is The Deck with it's weird and unique atmosphere, it doesn't get boring in both challenge and speed runs. My favourites overall are Deck, Barkhang, Ice Palace and Floating Islands I'd say. However, there's one level I HATE with a passion, and that is Wreck of the Maria Doria. In casual, it was 40 Fathoms, but it quickly shifted to that monster. 25 minutes of pushing and pulling blocks with much forced damage, only to get killed by a shark camping in front of the secret is one of the most frustating experiences I've ever had with Tomb Raider. Only TR 5's Red Alert can come close to that. I need to mention the Tomb Raider 2 Gold here, which is superior in every way to the main game, especially Furnace of the Gods and Kingdom are highlights of the whole franchise for me! Have you played them? So, next up is my fave TR game of all time and I feel it's gonna be controversial, hehe. :D Great video!
The monastery is the only level that I really like in this game. While I have a great affinity for the first Tomb Raider, I simply do not enjoy this sequel. Its predecessor can be quite challenging at times, but it's generally a very relaxing experience, whereas the second entry is trying too hard to be an action game with heavy gunplay. If I wanted that in 1997, I'd play Goldeneye.
Yes this was some of the common criticism of tomb raider 2, it was too action packed and not enough tomb raiding, I personally also prefer tomb raider 1
I think the game spends too much time underwater and Venice level can be infuriating and last few levels bit boring . It’s good game, first one is better.
I found the average TR2 level to be a step below TR1. Offshore rig to The Deck was a fairly weak stretch of the game, and even the levels towards the middle of my ranking would absolutely stack below TR1s middle tier levels. Regardless, here are my thoughts 17. 40 Fathoms (thrilling and iconic opening, but rest of the level is a confusing drag. Not a good sign when a fairly short level feels like a drag) 16. Diving Area (Less of a drag overall than 40 fathoms, but the combat was generally a bit much, and lacked any good platforming. Dull environment too) 15. The Dragon's Lair (Looks good, and the boss was fun, but really nothing else going for it) 14. Living Quarters (Piston room was cool, but it's generally very forgettable. Game would have been better paced without it) 13. The Deck (Would have been a good deal higher, but figuring out where to go and the ridiculous amount of backtracking if you make a wrong turn knocks it right down) 12. Offshore Rig (Dull environment and wastes the no-weapons feature, but aside from that, a good mix of everything, and the level is well structured) 11. Home Sweet Home (Hard for levels this short to stack up against full length levels, but the remnants of the cult rushing Lara's mansion as a last ditch attempt to get the dagger was genius idea that was executed very well) 10. Catacombs of The Talion (Solid all round, and the yeti room was delightfully spooky) 9. Ice Palace (Catacombs part 2, just slightly better) 8. Bartoli's Hideout (All round very good level, chandelier room was great, but aside from that, nothing that stands out too much) 7. Opera House (Like with you, it really grew on me. Love the atmosphere, even if it was a rather confusing level to navigate, but far less annoying than The Deck) 6. The Great Wall (A far more thrilling opening compared to TR1, and has one of the coolest secret areas. Only held back by its short length) 5. Wreck of The Maria Doria (Feels like a marathon, but the upside down 'feature' was a great twist and had a great mix of everything from a gameplay perspective) 4. Tibetan Foothills (An absolute thrill ride of a level, where death by crashing your snow mobile tended to be funny) 3. Venice (Very good opening level, and once you get to the main zone, the entire puzzle unfolds in a rather beautiful way) 2. Barkhang Monastery (A joy to explore and a great mix of everything. Only Lara locking onto the monks when I try to shoot the cult members stops it from reaching perfection, as everything else about this level is just fantastic) 1. Temple of Xian (TR2 is a cut below 1 and 3 as a whole if you ask me, but neither of those games had a level that is on the level of, what I consider, to be the best level in TR history. Might go down as one of my favourite levels in gaming history.) Really enjoying the content on this channel!
Least is probably The Deck- it's huge, hard to navigate and it's never super clear which level you're even supposed to be on. Favorite is Barkhang Monastery- it has the same pacing and concept as Palace Midas (which is imo a near-perfect TR level)
Am I the only one who loves Wreck of the Maria Doria?
😁😁 yes maybe
Νο ,I love Wreck of the Maria Doria-,, second best level on TR2 ,, best level Opera House and Ice Palace or Temple of Xian and the worst is Diving Area.
Far too many block puzzles, from what I remember 😅
Nah bro These lvls are my favorite
@@Chilliisftw interesting!
I %100 agree with your number one. Temple of Xian is just a massive masterpiece
Indeed!
BARKHANG MONASTERY!! my favourite level ❤❤ thanks for the video can't wait for the TR3 one
Barkhang Monastery is a journey!!! TR3 will be next!
Barkhang Monastery is my favorite level soley for the gimmick with the monks. You can get away with doing very little fighting, giving you a chance to stock up on ammo and med packs.
This is true, the level is unique and beautifully designed!!
I think my favorite is The Deck, I know how odd it is but back then when I played TR2 for the first time, I was a kid obsessed with the Titanic, and little did I know Maria Doria was based off of it, so I'm still really fond of this level
It's clever they based it off the titanic, interesting level for sure!!
This is a very unpopular opinion on the community. But The Deck is also my favorite level of TR2
I love the underwater levels, it’s my favourite section of it 😂
No way!!! 🤣
@ yeah I must be a psychopath 🤣 cuz no one I know likes them
The ice palace is actually one of my favorites, because it intertwines with the catacombs of talion and my favorite feeling in Tomb Raider is when I revisit places from another perspective (loved palace midas in tr1 for this reason)
You're right, it's always great going back on a level!
Good video 👏🏻
We share the number 1 level. It's great.
It is a well designed level :)
I can't believe your channel has so few subscribers. You narrate your episodes well, your diction is clear, and I have to agree with you for the most part regarding the ranking of levels you created in this video. Best regards, and I'm looking forward to more videos! I'm subscribing to your channel now!
Hello and thank you for your subscription :) I am in the process of tomb raider 3 levels ranked so I hope you enjoy!!
Loved the video!! Was a nostalgia trip. I like this game but do feel all the blue water levels drag it down! I agreed with a lot of your picks!! Especially your #1 pick!! after playing the DLC levels recently i feel like furnace of the gods is my new fave level 😊
Yes some of the DLC levels of tomb raider 2 were amazing I must agree, thanks for watching glad you enjoyed!!!
I really dont understand why so many people dislike the Maria Doria section. All of the 5 missions I enjoy the most
They're not for me!
While I think Temple of Xian and Barkhang monastery are absolute PEAK it's hard for me to find a level in this game I don't like. Maybe 40 fathoms is the one I'm always less excited about, but in general I love the whole Tomb Raider 2, even the infamous Maria Doria part XDDDD
Most levels are great and then the underwater ones are tough 😂😁
Barkhang has gotta be what Palace Midas is for TR1, top atmosphere and perfectly balanced between action and puzzle work, I also love how the level starts with an acapella main theme, giving that monastery vibe! Least favourite is Catacombs.
The vibe at Barkhang is unmatched, a truly enthralling level
Great video. I would agree with you completely on the best level. These games are simply so much fun.
They are great fun, thank you ☺️
The bias against the underwater levels here is crazy.
Oh yes, it's very real! 😅
Water levels in Tomb Raider is like sewer levels in other games, they're disliked by a lot of people.
Temple of Xian is the best. Probably in the series. I think they tried to replicate it in TR3, hence more traps and less enemies in most of the levels
Temple of Xian is amazing, full of traps and puzzles with a great aesthetic!!
Temple ruins in TR3 is also a masterpiece
I'd place Wreck of the Maria Doria top 5, certainly top 10 but otherwise it's a good list.
An interesting top 5, thanks for your comment!!
The Floating Island and Temple of Xian are my favorite, a mix of action, adventure and fear ,anything that I love on video games.
They are both insanely good levels, and unique in their own right
I am shocked people don’t like the ship wreck levels. They are my favourite in the whole series.
They are too dark and maze like for me!!
They are a pain due to invisible levers, tedious box moving, the key next to the captain cabin perfectly blending with the background…they could have been better with adjustments, the setting is beautiful though!
I dislike 40 fathoms way more than Wreck because the start gave me panic attacks when I first played it 😆
Diving area is also major buns.
The start is a nightmare 🤣
The underwater levels were great
Better than Temple of Xian?
@@TheTombRaiderChannel No, but 40 Fathoms, Maria Doria and The Deck are all easily better than Offshore Rig, Ice Temple, the Dragon's Lair, Home Sweet Home etc. imho.
@@toprak3479 TBH I count Offshore Rig as one of the water levels (everything from Lara losing her weapons to the Deck), so it adds to "water levels are the worst" take.
Longest ladder in gaming history?il raise you metal gear solid snake eater!
I've had that before 🤣
Are you planning on doing similar videos for the expansion levels, perhaps all three expansions for the trilogy ranked together?
that's a good idea, I will get this created onc I have done tr3 rankings :)
This is a very interesting list! I love such ranking videos! I rank the levels too after finishing each game!
Here is my list:
1. Venice
2. Barkhang Monastery
3. Diving Area
4. Bartoli's Hideout
5. Ice Palace
6. Catacombs of the Talion
7. Offshore Rig
8. Tibetan Foothills
9. Home Sweet Home
10. Floating Islands
11. Wreck of the Maria Doria
12. The Dragon's Lair
13. The Great Wall
14. Opera House
15. The Deck
16. Living Quarters
17. 40 Fathoms
18. Temple of Xian
It's funny that your favourite is my least favourite! I was excited when I first entered the Temple but as the level was progressing I started to feel a sense of panic ahahaha! I guess it's my least not because it's not interesting but mostly because of its difficulty! It wasn't finishing! After every corner I was expecting to reach the end but no! More struggles, more traps, SPIDERS, go back, pull the lavers, find the keys, come back again....Just thinking of it all makes me feel anxious but in no way I consider it a bad level! It's an extremely challenging one and perhaps at the time when I played it I was not in the mood for such a long journey! I was so glad when it ended. We both have Home Sweet Home at number 9 and Brkhang Monastery at number 2. I had to put Venice at number 1 mostly for the nostalgic reasons. I loved it as a kid and I do still love it now!
I cannot argue with Venice at number 1, the music is brilliant. Barkhang monastery will always be a favourite but Temple of Xian tops it for me, it's expertly made!!!
Temple of Xian is true tomb raider challenge. A massive masterpiece.
@@Darwaxion I agree! It represents 100% what tomb raider is for. It just demonstrates it in the hardest way. I think because TR2 didnt have any tombs or ancient places, Lara had to explore areas outside of the usual, they made this level to match up and give it all back to the fans in one level that had it all to make up for it. As a concept it's definitely my favorite area but as far as gaming goes I had to recognise it as one of the hardest and least enjoyable.
Well said!!
The longest ladder in gaming history? The ladder to Grozny Grad in MGS 3 has entered the chat!
🤣🤣🤣 okay you win
DUDE, I instantly though the same 🙌 You totally win on this !
Yeah, that ladder is like at least double the length, maybe even triple of TR2's ladder.
This game has amazing level layout and puzzle. I just wish it had more tombs and unique hidden locations. We needed more levels like the xian temple and cave
I agree, for a game called Tomb Raider, the level of tombs is far lower than that in Tomb Raider 1!!
@ agreed. We could also say the same about 3. Not too many tombs in that game either and once again my fav level in that game is temple ruins. That level is a masterpiece
My favourite was venice i just loved music and boating had to go. Brilliant level imo
The music was special 😁
The levels are all great, and I wouldn't really like to rank them. However, Opera House is my favourite. The rest are all great and make TR2 the best Tomb Raider game ever. It might be nice to see an updated version. More than last year's remaster. A reworking. On the other hand, it would be hard to make it better, so maybe not. I believe that there is an updated version being made by fans, but I don't know if that is true. It it is, where do I get it?
Opera for sure is a unique level and has some beautiful elements to it!! I am unsure of a fan made remake of tr2 though!
Currently playing and Barkhang Monastery is my fave so far
It's amazing 😍
ahahah! Before starting the video I was telling myself... "I would start with living quarters".
Good instincts 😂
Barkhang 💚then the blue levels ⚓️… just hate Floating Islands 😱
Whaaaat Floating Island is amazing!!
I agree. But i would like to place the diving areas higher. greets
Even with that ladder? 😂
This was the first Tomb Raider game I ever played. Only levels I would say are forgettable for me are both the rig levels. My top levels would be The Opera House, Temple of Xian, Barkhang Monastery and Floating Islands.
Here is my full list
1: Temple of Xian
2: Floating Islands
3: Barkhang Monestary
4: Opera House
5: The Great Wall
6: 40 Fathoms
7: Wreck of Maria Doria
8: Catacombs of The Talion
9: Venice
10: Bartoli’s Hideout
11: Living Quarters
12: The Deck
13: Tibetan Foothills
14: Ice Palace
15: The Dragon’s Liar
16: Home Sweet Home
17: Offshore Rig
18: Diving Area
All excellent levels!!
We have the same favourite level, but the worst one for me is Tibetan Foothill. I hated the Snowmobile, although I agree with you that it does look nice.
Tibetan foothills for me is a great level, the music track is insane and the snowmobile is an interesting addition, although it can be a pain to drive at times 🤣
@@TheTombRaiderChannel Yeah, the music was great. Classic Tomb Raider always had great music. It was just the snowmobile which made me hate the level. It was too hard to control, and plus, you had those cunts with the black snowmobiles running over me and killing me with one hit lol
I always hated Temple of Xian because of the giant spiders. I am afraid of spiders and I had quite the shock to see the GIANT ones floating next to me.
The better graphics in the Remastered made them worse.
Yes that is a strange and terrifying area of the level!
@@OvidiuMirauta2012 THAT'S THE BEST BIT 😅😅😅
They're the same top three I'd pick
Great minds think alike 😉
Your two least favorite levels are my two favorite levels. 😆 The longest ladder in gaming history is Metal Gear Snake Eater
So I've heard 🤣
I completely understand the mixed reaction of the underwater levels. But when I saw Living Quarters was bottom, I couldn't agree more! I remember after the high of Maria Doria (block puzzles aside), I reached Living Quarters and couldn't recall a single thing about playthroughs in the past! I only liked the theater and the unintentionally hilarious Fiamma Nera guys going peekaboo behind a curtain! 🤣 That's it! I hated it! Great list, I enjoyed your TR1 ranking too! Keep up the good work and look forward to the TR3 list!
Hi, the underwater levels in general for me don't live up to the hype, living quarters whilst looks great and is cool traversing a flipped up ship, features awkward puzzles. I am currently in the process of tomb raider 3 levels, thanks for watching 😁😁
1.Opera House
2.Wreck of the Maria Doria
3.Ice Palace
4.Temple of Xian
5.Deck
6.Bartolis Hideout
7.Floating Island
8.Venice
9.The Wall
10.Home Sweet Home
@@CarlPanzram-pt6qu The wall deserves a higher place 🫣
For some reason I'm never keen on playing the winter levels in TR2. Venice and Floating Islands are my favourites
Floating island is amazing!!
You've put your finger on it, Im honestly starting to wonder if the developers meant to put the Great Wall level near the end of the game then shifted it back to the beginning??
Originally The Great Wall was a demo level, and so to build the hype they made the level extra exciting - however once the game was released it was clear how difficult it was compared to the levels that followed
did you just clal the ocean a "large pool"?
Maybe 🤣
Floating Islands is my personal worst level in the whole trilogy series :/ It doesnt feel like Tomb Raider
No way!!!
It is the Maria Doria right!? 🤔
Think so? 😺
I dont like the Water Levels but thats because I am still afraid of these great white Sharks. :(
40 Fathoms was terrifying as a kid 😭
My favourite level is Tibetan Foothills. Worst level is Diving Area.
Good choices
Unpopular opinion: excluding The Dragon’s Lair, Temple of Xian is the weakest China level.
No way!!!!
@ I should be clear, it is not a bad level and I do like it. However, I just find it tiresome in all honesty. Hears a trap, here’s another trap. Oh look, one more trap for you.
I think it is a level that really enjoyable to watch being played by a master of the game but just so tedious to play.
Additionally, I think The Great Wall is a masterpiece in terms of a first level and I adore the serene horror of Floating Islands.
Knew Temple of Xian was number 1 immediately 😂 amazing mission! Floating Islands is less than 18th though. Horrible level
No way!! Both of the levels are epic and unique! Thanks for your comment! :)
@@TheTombRaiderChannel Got the 1-3 remastered for xmas and headed straight for TR2! Agree with Wreck of Doria being bad, but love the other water levels 😍
Temple of Xian best? Wow...couldn't be more opposite to my preferences. I can't stand that level....it depresses me. I almost always skip it if I can. Ice Palace also too low for me, but yes Barkhang is a strong one.
Temple of Xian is peak tomb raider!!! As well as Barkhang monastery :)
Who is Moria???
The Moria Doria is the name of the sunken ship you are exploring
As a kid i managed to finish the original Tomb Raider but struggled to even get past the early levels of TR2. It seems they definitely ramped the difficulty up for this one?
Yes for sure, even the great Wall is difficult!
They probably made it with fans of TR1 in mind, but yeah, it would be brutal for newcomers.
Catacombs is very linear, my kind of level...
Yes very linear;
Currious about TR3 and what will e the worst level. I am sure Lud's Gate won't be the top :D
You're very close 🤣🤣
Why is the game footage so compressed? It's hard to watch...
My apologies 😐
I was never a big fan of any of the shipwreck levels. Also not really a big fan of Floating Islands or Tibetan Foothills... it's mostly the gameplay, the visual design is fine. However, very solid picks for the #1 and #2 spots, Barkhang Monastery is my favorite level in the game, Temple of Xian is probably #2 for me though. And technically it IS an extension of the Great Wall level, since it actually takes place right behind the door you reach at the end of that level!
Excellent 1 and 2 picks :), yes you're right actually, temple of Xian is a follow on passed the from great Wall! Barkhang monastery will forever be amazing
I would swap 40 fathoms with Wreck of Maria Doria, and IMO Temple of Xian is overrated, it has those trampolines from Ice Palace and offeset jumps near the end, which are just annoying. I would put Bartoli's Hideout as easy number 1 with Venice as 2, I agree with most other placements.
The trampolines are a tricky and strange addition to Tomb Raider 2
@@TheTombRaiderChannel yes and Temple of Xian has TWO areas with them, and that strange diagonal jump place, which knocks it down for me.
Home Sweet Home, Great Wall, Dragons Lair I don't think deserve to be ranked so high. Ice Palace, Bartoli's Hideout and Tibetan Foothills I would have ranked higher.
They are epic levels, where would you place them?
A glaring flaw i've noticed in TR games is that after the tightly-designed and engaging get-go, the middle section devolves into a thinly-streched, unfun fillerfest, before transitioning back to a climactic finale. This is principally transparent in TR2. China, Venice and Tibet are magnificent, but the oil rig and the underwater segments are god-awful. I'd hope to revisit these environments someday, albeit executed so that it does not make me desire to rip my hair out.
In general, the new locations were compelling and great. However, the stages are littered with bad level design, such as forced damage, or Lara shoving her hear into a saw as opposed to carefully picking it up. Due to these, and the overabundance of enemies, I enjoyed this instalment the least out of the original trilogy, even though I would rank it very high. With that stated, I think my favorite is Floating Islands, its aesthetic is gorgeous. In fact, all of the China levels are top-tier. Tibet was exquisite. I love that it brought back some of the isolated feeling from Tr1, and its mechanics were nice. Venice was also spectacular, I enjoyed it. But the oil rig and the underwater bits were absolutely atrocious.
Nice video 💜❤️
Thanks for your comment, now you say it you're right, the beginning and final levels seem to have more time put into them, with the China levels being some of my favourites as well!!
And there's Tomb Raider 2, the fan fave game which I have mixed feelings on. To sum it up in easy words: I dislike the first half and love the second. The first level I love is The Deck with it's weird and unique atmosphere, it doesn't get boring in both challenge and speed runs. My favourites overall are Deck, Barkhang, Ice Palace and Floating Islands I'd say.
However, there's one level I HATE with a passion, and that is Wreck of the Maria Doria. In casual, it was 40 Fathoms, but it quickly shifted to that monster. 25 minutes of pushing and pulling blocks with much forced damage, only to get killed by a shark camping in front of the secret is one of the most frustating experiences I've ever had with Tomb Raider. Only TR 5's Red Alert can come close to that.
I need to mention the Tomb Raider 2 Gold here, which is superior in every way to the main game, especially Furnace of the Gods and Kingdom are highlights of the whole franchise for me! Have you played them?
So, next up is my fave TR game of all time and I feel it's gonna be controversial, hehe. :D Great video!
Tomb raider 3 is in the works 😁😁, yes the tomb raider expansion is great!!
The monastery is the only level that I really like in this game. While I have a great affinity for the first Tomb Raider, I simply do not enjoy this sequel. Its predecessor can be quite challenging at times, but it's generally a very relaxing experience, whereas the second entry is trying too hard to be an action game with heavy gunplay. If I wanted that in 1997, I'd play Goldeneye.
Yes this was some of the common criticism of tomb raider 2, it was too action packed and not enough tomb raiding, I personally also prefer tomb raider 1
I think the game spends too much time underwater and Venice level can be infuriating and last few levels bit boring . It’s good game, first one is better.
I do prefer the first one, and yes I think the underwater levels slowdown the pace of the game, whether for better or worse.
I found the average TR2 level to be a step below TR1. Offshore rig to The Deck was a fairly weak stretch of the game, and even the levels towards the middle of my ranking would absolutely stack below TR1s middle tier levels. Regardless, here are my thoughts
17. 40 Fathoms (thrilling and iconic opening, but rest of the level is a confusing drag. Not a good sign when a fairly short level feels like a drag)
16. Diving Area (Less of a drag overall than 40 fathoms, but the combat was generally a bit much, and lacked any good platforming. Dull environment too)
15. The Dragon's Lair (Looks good, and the boss was fun, but really nothing else going for it)
14. Living Quarters (Piston room was cool, but it's generally very forgettable. Game would have been better paced without it)
13. The Deck (Would have been a good deal higher, but figuring out where to go and the ridiculous amount of backtracking if you make a wrong turn knocks it right down)
12. Offshore Rig (Dull environment and wastes the no-weapons feature, but aside from that, a good mix of everything, and the level is well structured)
11. Home Sweet Home (Hard for levels this short to stack up against full length levels, but the remnants of the cult rushing Lara's mansion as a last ditch attempt to get the dagger was genius idea that was executed very well)
10. Catacombs of The Talion (Solid all round, and the yeti room was delightfully spooky)
9. Ice Palace (Catacombs part 2, just slightly better)
8. Bartoli's Hideout (All round very good level, chandelier room was great, but aside from that, nothing that stands out too much)
7. Opera House (Like with you, it really grew on me. Love the atmosphere, even if it was a rather confusing level to navigate, but far less annoying than The Deck)
6. The Great Wall (A far more thrilling opening compared to TR1, and has one of the coolest secret areas. Only held back by its short length)
5. Wreck of The Maria Doria (Feels like a marathon, but the upside down 'feature' was a great twist and had a great mix of everything from a gameplay perspective)
4. Tibetan Foothills (An absolute thrill ride of a level, where death by crashing your snow mobile tended to be funny)
3. Venice (Very good opening level, and once you get to the main zone, the entire puzzle unfolds in a rather beautiful way)
2. Barkhang Monastery (A joy to explore and a great mix of everything. Only Lara locking onto the monks when I try to shoot the cult members stops it from reaching perfection, as everything else about this level is just fantastic)
1. Temple of Xian (TR2 is a cut below 1 and 3 as a whole if you ask me, but neither of those games had a level that is on the level of, what I consider, to be the best level in TR history. Might go down as one of my favourite levels in gaming history.)
Really enjoying the content on this channel!
Temple of Xian seems to be a favourite amongst many, as well as Barkhang monastery, great list!!
@@TheTombRaiderChannel I completely forgot Floating Islands! That would probably be number 3. Seems like we'd share the same top 3 stages then!
Least is probably The Deck- it's huge, hard to navigate and it's never super clear which level you're even supposed to be on.
Favorite is Barkhang Monastery- it has the same pacing and concept as Palace Midas (which is imo a near-perfect TR level)
The deck is a big open level with lots of confusion, Barkhang monastery encourages exploration in a beautiful area!