I don't recall Tomb Raider II being this hard on the Playstation back in 1997. I just gave up trying to get through Venice. Lara dies within seconds when up against the bad guys with guns. I tried a trainer from Cheat Happens but it doesn't work with the GOG version. And I don't believe there are any infinite health cheats, only ammo.

I still have my old Playstation completed save games (with the unlocked cheats) on a Sony memory card, but that's not much use on the PC.

I've won TR2 a thousand times on PC. I have a million playing recs and a great tip page if you want them. Just let me know, no problem. I love this game and I love talking about it.

I didn't think it was that hard, just the stages were a little too big. Towards the end of a stage I would start feeling really bored with it and I couldn't wait for the next one.

Nope, all the help doesn't seem to be working for me.

It's the last bit before jumping the ramp in the speedboat. There's the guy in the alcove with the switch. I can't get to the switch without dying almost immediately. Literally I drive the boat in there and in the time it takes to jump out and grab the ledge Lara dies from being shot by the guy there.

It's not like I even have a chance to sneak in there or make it quick, the second my boat enters the alcove he starts shooting and Lara's health is gone in about five seconds. I'm not exaggerating, health is gone in FIVE seconds and has sees Lara and starts shooting straight away, it is just not possible to do this (not without spamming health packs anyway but I don't want to waste them - there's a lot less of them than Tomb Raider 1. I finished TR1 with about 35 mini health packs left).

If you've played the PC version multiple times and you don't have a problem with this bit there must be something wrong with the GOG version, or something wrong with the one I've got because it definitely wasn't this hard on the Playstation.

I've actually tried this same bit about twenty times and have now given up - it is impossible. A bug or something?

Then yeah there might be a bug. If you get really bored (I mean REALLY bored) get me a screen shot because I'm perplexed, but there are so many alcoves in the Venice level I'm a little confused by which one you are refering to. Also you might try that Stella Venice walkthrough Step by Step just in case you missed something (she also tells you were you can snipe so as to avoid some guys from even seeing you).

Let me qualify this by saying that given what you've been through I wouldn't blame you for never going near the level or the game again; I only mention it because I dig TR2 so much and you are missing out on some really cool stuff in later levels.

I've just tried that bit in the GOG version, and did it fine. Lost a bit of health, but didn't have to use a health pack to survive.

Try to get Lara to jump out of the boat directly onto the ledge rather than jumping into the water and then climbing up; it saves valuable time.

Alternatively, leave the boat outside and swim inside, staying underwater until you get right up to the platform. If you stay underwater, the baddie sometimes won't see you until you're right there.

The Ice Palace level is the hardest imo.

Ever try the Monastery when you accidentally shoot a monk? :D That AIN'T easy, trust me! :P

So they aren't supposed to attack you?

Are you serious? :D So long as you make sure not to harm any of them they leave you alone and will actually kill 75% of the bad guys that show up. You have to be carefull because if you try to help one out, your gun may automatically target one of them, so your best bet is just to leave them alone when they fight. Wait till you hear a painfull groan and then investigate. If the Monk has won, just grab the loot from the dead baddie and continue. If the Monk losses just draw and finish off the the dead baddie, which should be easy as he'll be close to death already.

FYI the winner and losers of those fights seems to be totally random AND if at any time you harm any of the Monks then ALL of them will attack you for the rest of the game. If not, you're cool.

Damn I killed all of them and felt kind of bad about it too. And it did feel a little harder than it should be.

Damn wish I knew that before! I always killed them all.

I managed to get through Venice by way of using Cheat Engine, thanks to some hacking help. I have enough med kits now to play without cheating, the other levels seem easier to me and at least my favourite (all the Maria Doria ones) are simple enough.

Thats funny. I enjoyed Maria Doria but I have never gotten so lost so much on one TR level. :P

I recently completed it for the first time ever (having played part-way through it a couple times previously), and found it pretty hard for the first few levels mostly because of the lack of ammo and health pickups (and flares since I didn't want to cheat by turning my brightness up on the monitor).

Congradulations! Onto 3. :D