Natla’s Mines

After the abundance of unworldly enemies from the last three levels, Natla’s Mines are refreshingly sparse in population.  There’s only three enemies in this round, all human, although there’s also a hell of a lot of boulders trying to make up for that fact.

Although fun, Natla’s Mines aren’t very photogenic, so we’ll start with some random shots from the FMV that precedes the level:


Best.  Lara.  Facial.  Expression.  EVER.

I’d explain what’s happening here, but that would detract from the awesomeness of the picture.  Every time I’ve ridden a bike, a small part of me has always wanted to emulate this stunt.

Lara sneaks onto a boat crammed full of armed gunmen who have been paid to kill her, not to mention an Atlantean queen in possession of a powerful artefact, and she decides it’s the perfect place to take a nap.  I’m beginning to think Lara’s stupid.  Incredibly lucky, yes, but ultimately, stupid.  It would explain a lot of things, actually.

Lara wakes up alive and gets off the boat, triggering the start of the level.

Apparently, Natla Technologies didn’t have enough spare dosh to kit out their speedboats with luxury extras (such as sides).  Maybe they had to cut funding to the vehicle department so Natla could continue showering in bank notes.

Thanks to her inability to master the art of crawling, this fuse will have to be retrieved another way.

In the world of Tomb Raider, a couple of cracks on the outside of a crate makes it three times lighter and therefore moveable.

Such damage means the crate no longer has to obey the laws of physics, either.

This bad Larson tribute act is one of the three humans in the level, and has taken your magnums hostage.

 


The people that stole Lara’s weapons decided to hide her pistols in an elevated portakabin, remove the fuses that allow her to winch the cabin down and scatter them about the level in various hazardous places.  Bear in mind they travelled over miles of open sea between mugging Lara and getting here.  They couldn’t have just, I don’t know, tossed the things in the sea?  No?

Ah, the obnoxious skateboard kid, Travis Bickle and Marty McFly’s least-favourite lovechild.

Hold on, is the skateboard kid not a twelve-year-old child?!  All the hoo-hah about killing endangered animals, and this nobody minded.

The shotgun guy goes from “black” to “deeply tanned” in the space of a level.

That has to be one of the most foreboding corridors in this game yet.  I almost considered shutting the game down and giving up, especially as I know what lies in that cursed place.

The end!  I thought I was really quick on this level, but the stats don’t lie.