Tomb Raider II: Golden Mask

Tomb Raider II: Golden Mask is the 1999 bonus adventure associated with Tomb Raider II, Core Design’s Lara Croft action-adventure. Also released under the name Tomb Raider II Gold, it packages the 1997 Tomb Raider II campaign with a separate Alaska-set scenario, The Golden Mask. Eidos Interactive published the original Windows release, while the expansion later reached Macintosh and was included with selected subsequent editions. Although it uses the familiar Tomb Raider II technology and controls, Golden Mask is a self-contained expedition rather than another chapter in the Dagger of Xian story.

The adventure begins when Lara investigates reports of the Mask of Tornarsuk, a legendary artifact said to possess the power to restore life. Her search takes her to the fictional Aleutian island of Melnikov, where an abandoned Russian mining operation and older local mysteries point toward the mask’s hiding place. The campaign’s route moves from frozen industrial spaces and snowbound caverns to the remains of an Inuit settlement, then into stranger and more fantastical territory. That changing backdrop gives the compact side story an identity of its own while keeping Lara’s archaeological pursuit at the centre.

Golden Mask plays from the third-person perspective of Tomb Raider II. Players guide Lara through interconnected 3D rooms, using the series’ deliberate tank-style movement to judge runs, standing jumps, swan dives, ledge grabs, climbs, swimming passages, switches, keys and movable objects. Success depends on reading the architecture as much as reacting quickly: a doorway, slope or apparently unreachable platform can conceal the next route, while traps and environmental hazards punish careless movement. Lara’s dual pistols remain her standard weapon, and ammunition, healing supplies, flares and stronger firearms reward thorough exploration. Enemies, including armed human opponents and dangerous creatures, turn some encounters into tense combat, but navigation and puzzle solving are the campaign’s essential rhythm.

The Golden Mask scenario contains five additional levels, with the first four forming its main trek and the fifth, Nightmare in Vegas, serving as a bonus stage tied to secret-finding. Its level design reuses the underlying Tomb Raider II engine but builds new locations and challenges instead of simply revisiting the main game’s Venice, Tibet and China settings. Snow and ice create precarious outdoor routes, mining structures introduce vertical interiors and machinery, and the later areas broaden the quest beyond its realistic Cold War-era traces. As in the main game, save functionality and careful use of supplies let players approach difficult platforming and combat at their own pace.

This edition is notable for clarifying how the late-1990s Tomb Raider Gold releases worked: it was an expanded PC-era version of Tomb Raider II, not a new numbered sequel and not part of the original 1997 PlayStation game. The Golden Mask levels were first distributed online in 1999 and then bundled with a Tomb Raider II reissue; existing owners could obtain the extra content separately. Later releases have not always included it, but the campaign returned as part of Tomb Raider I–III Remastered in 2024. For players exploring the classic Lara Croft series, Tomb Raider II: Golden Mask offers a focused extra adventure built around the movement, exploration, secrets and environmental puzzles that defined the original game.