Wreck of the Maria Doria

The “deep under the sea” levels continue with Wreck of the Maria Doria, Bartoli’s dad’s sunken ship.  I was forced to play this level in several sessions, thanks to the second computer breaking down and my husband’s insistence on using my one, his laughable justification for stealing valuable tomb-raiding time being that he needs to work and that it was him that built the computer with his own hard-earned money before I waltzed into his life and monopolized it and therefore it’s not unreasonable to ask to go on it for an hour a day.  I mean, honestly.

Anyway, I think maybe being forced to play this level in bite-sized chunks somewhat marred the experience.  I mean, it was fun enough, but considering this is the level that stands out in my mind when I think about the sea-based levels in Tomb Raider II, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I imagined I would.  Also, the soundtrack is the same as that of Caves, which meant I kept expecting a bat to fly out and kill me mildly irritate me.

Deep under the ocean, Lara uncovers the wreck of Gianni Bartoli’s ship, the Maria Doria.  However, she’s not the only one to make this discovery…

We’re back to corridors, I see.

 

The Maria Doria, like all good shipwrecks, was completely flipped over before it settled upon the ocean floor.

 

Lara stares longingly at the silver dragon but, alas, she still doesn’t know how to crawl.  That was probably going to be the first gymnastic class after she got back from the Himalayas, and we all know how that turned out...

 

Finally fed-up of running around on metal and broken glass on her bare feet, Lara eyes up a pair of boots on a dead goon.  “Dammit, fourteen sizes too big!”

 

The upside-down ballroom.  What is it with the Bartoli family’s love of blue and orange?

 

This room was pointless.  Absolutely pointless.  I’m still flabbergasted by the pointlessness of it.  I want the two minutes and forty-eight seconds spent fruitlessly exploring this room back!

 

So, I laughed at the game developers for a few moments because they’d stuck the keyhole on the wrong way round, then I remembered that the whole ship was upside-down and this was, in fact, impressive attention to detail.  I’m pretty sure this happened the last time I played, too.

 

What is it with villainous organizations and not putting sides on their boats?  Although I can imagine this time it was due to stupidity rather than frugality.  Like, whatever goons Gianni Bartoli hired to build the things considered ‘barriers to stop people falling off the side of the boat’ to be an optional extra.

 

This may not look like a particularly impressive yoga position until you realise that Lara has managed to propel herself several feet into the air.  Those who have yet to conquer the laws of gravity should not try this at home.

 

I just really love pictures of scary corridors, and man, does Tomb Raider cater for that.

 

Bartoli’s henchmen, foiled once again by that well-known unbreakable material, glass.

 

Can you see that?  No, me neither.  Probably the most well-hidden secret location since the first level.  It sure as well makes up for 40 “it would have been more impressive to complete it without getting any secrets” Fathoms.

 

After running around the nicely decorated part of the ship (well, as nicely as something can be decorated when the Bartolis are involved), we find ourselves and the ship-steering part of the…uh…ship.  I haven’t got many screenshots of this area, mainly because it creeps me the hell out.

 

The ocean bed is littered with predators, and also those pretend snakes that pop out of fake cans of nuts.

 

The end of another level.  All three secrets.  You know the drill.