Mini Series Announcement – “Memorable Moment Monday”

You may have noticed that we have been sharing a memorable Tomb Raider moment every Monday for the past few weeks. To appreciate those moments a little more, we decided to create a mini series of memorable Tomb Raider moments, which will feature a random Tomb Raider level, boss, background story and so on every Monday.

No one really likes Mondays, so we thought we could maybe help a little by making it better with remembering the past, present and maybe future Tomb Raider games with you. So, get ready to take a trip down memory lane!

Depending on where you live, it might already have got a little colder outside, autumn is coming! This is the perfect time to remember a wonderful warm location our beloved heroine Lara Croft visited in Tomb Raider II – namely Venice.

https://sally-jackson.deviantart.com/art/Tomb-Raider-2-Venice-581886784 — Fanart: *Tomb Raider II – Venice by Sally-Jackson*

The Venice area levels consists of three sub-levels; Venice, Bartoli’s Hideout and the Opera House.

Lara Croft travels to Venice after talking some sense (guns were helpful, too) into this nice guy on the right, who finally starts blathering about Mr. Bad Guy himself, Marco Bartoli.

Lara uses the wide range of the world wide web (in a cave) to find Bartoli’s location – “Aha! Gianni Bartoli. Via Caravelli, Venice.” And there we go…

After arriving safely in Venice, Italy, Lara has to shoot her way through a lot of Bartoli’s grunting goons (and their badly behaved dogs), has to climb several awnings and balconies, and finally finds a way to Bartoli’s Hideout by unlocking the speedboat (remember how much fun that boat was?!).

Speaking of fun… after having some actual fun with breaking several gondolas in pieces (with the kind help of the speedboat), Lara continues her journey to find Bartoli, again encountering grunting goons, badly behaved dogs, and deadly balconies and awnings.
Since this website is dealing with Tomb Raider, here’s a puzzle for you: close your eyes and listen to Nathan McCree’s wonderful track below and try to remember in which part of the level you heard it!

Lovely tune. At least the track’s title reveals the actual danger and deadliness of this part of the level (no screenshot here, this is supposed to be a puzzle!).

So, after having survived the deadly jumps accompanied with Nathan’s wonderful tune, Lara decides to have a break at the library and read some books.
Well, of course not. Instead, she climbs several pretty high bookshelves, shoots some grunting bad guys, and finally finds her way out to a much more beautiful place. The library’s exteriors are breath-taking!

Of course we can’t leave this level without destroying something big. Really big. Like a house – big. Our desires shall be fulfilled!
To complete the level and get to the next part of the Venice levels, Lara grabs the chance to blow up this beautiful house – apparently, it is blocking Lara’s way! Lara roots for the fuse in her iconic backpack and is ready to enjoy the demolition of the house.

BOOM.

Kindly notice – if Lara had remembered to bring the house key, this would not have been necessary. So, never forget your keys anywhere! You may end up feeling the urge to blow the house up to access it again.

Now Lara can continue her journey to the next part of the Venice area – the precious Opera House.

Swinging boxes are a thing here – as well as loads of broken glass and deadly fields of oversized shards.

Ms. Croft finds her way into the Opera House with no further trouble (grunting goons don’t count), and soon finds herself enjoying the beautiful Opera House from the inside. Have you ever asked yourself why there is a swimming pool where the orchestra pit should be?

Lara needs to find a relay box to continue her adventure and make it to the next levels of Tomb Raider II. When she finally finds that mysterious relay box, she is able to open the exit of the Opera House. Heading out to Bartoli’s seaplane, Lara already is in a fever of excitement to board a flight (can you spot a bit of the Venice skyline at night on the left?).