3.1  How can I keep Lara alive?

    The TR games are basically adventure games.  They're not just shoot
    'em ups like Doom, Quake or Duke Nukem, they take a little thought,
    patience, and time before you can complete them.  During all that
    relaxed contemplation however the game does its best to kill our
    heroine off... repeatedly... in dozens of memorably horrible ways.
    The following is a list of ways to help achieve a certain longevity
    for poor Lara.

    * Conserve ammo: use the pistols whenever possible.  Never waste the
    heavy stuff (ie. grenade launcher) on the smaller creatures (ie.
    rats and spiders) - sure it's lots of fun, but it's also very very
    wasteful. Keep the big stuff for the opponents who deserve it.

    * Sometimes you have the range on your opponents with the right
    weapon (the M16 for example has a very long range).  Use this
    advantage to its utmost.

    * Move around a lot while shooting.  Having Lara stand still makes
    it too easy for the Blastable Nasties to hurt her.  Jumping from
    side to side is better than backwards and forwards.  The one handed
    weapons, such as pistols and uzi's, can be fired while flipping and
    generally have a wider field of fire than the rifles and bigger
    stuff.

    * On the underwater levels be aware that Lara can outswim the
    sharks, and that the best overall method of dealing with the fish
    and frogmen is to hop out of the water and shoot them from dry land.
    Unsporting we know - but it works!

    * Walk when near edges - it's really frustrating falling from great
    heights when you last saved the game about 20 min ago....

    * The safety drop: If the drop from a particular height looks too
    big then fall backwards off the edge pressing the action key as you
    do so. Lara will grab hold of the edge and reduce the distance you
    fall (and therefore any damage you might take) by her body length.

    * If possible try to kill the BNs from a position of absolute
    safety; T-Rex's can't fit down tunnels and dogs can't follow you up
    on to blocks. Again we know this is demonstrating a great degree of
    unsportsmanlike behaviour, but just put your conscience aside and
    keep your finger on the trigger -- you know the bad guys deserve
    it...

    * (TRs 1-4) Remember that Lara remains 'autolocked' on the target
    whether it's in view or not (not true in TRC though).  Take
    advantage of whatever cover you can find. Keep your finger down on
    the Fire key, leap behind some cover (finger still down) and then
    back out again.  Lara's guns will remain locked on the target and
    fire immediately when the target is visible again.

    * In TR2 and TR3 there are hotkeys (TR2: 8 & 9, TR3; 9 & 0) that can
    be pressed to use the small and large medpacks respectively. This
    makes it much faster to heal rather than going to the menu ring.

    * Lara can move forward slightly faster if you jump while running
    (but not as fast as she sprints in TR3 and later).

    * Save games often.  It's not cheating to save before you have to
    make a tough jump or take on a nasty opponent. I had well over 300
    saves before I completed TR2, and nobody has ever completed either
    of the games without resorting back to a saved game as we know of.