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Level: LB Advent Calendar 2003 - December 5th back home search
Author(s): Juttae
total rating:8.12 Gameplay &
Puzzles		 Enemies,
Objects &
Secrets		 Atmosphere,
Sound &
Cameras		 Lighting &
Textures
Aims 8 7 8 9
Akcy 9 9 9 9
Bene 8 9 9 8
bERT 8 8 10 10
CC 7 7 9 9
Duncan 8 9 10 10
Gerty 8 8 9 9
Jay 8 8 9 9
Jerry 7 9 8 8
Jose 7 8 8 7
Josi 8 7 10 9
Kristina 8 9 10 10
MichaelP 7 8 8 9
Mrs rjb 7 7 8 8
Mulf 6 7 6 4
Obig 8 8 9 9
Orbit Dream 6 7 7 8
Phil 7 7 7 8
reborn1995 8 9 9 9
Sash 7 7 8 9
Treeble 7 8 9 8
category averages
(21 reviews)		 7.48 7.90 8.57 8.52

Reviewer's comments

"This small Christmas level is nice to play; a lineal gameplay with no problems with the tasks, a nice environment with some new objects and pleasant musics. Textures are good and colourful, but perhaps with too low resolution; also I missed any puzzles and not only looking for objects to open doors. I missed the timed room the first time and later it was impossible for me to open that door so I had to reload. A level to relax and play quietly if you don't want challenges." - Jose (08-May-2012)

"This is a short little time killer, of about 35 minutes duration, that has colorful, well-lighted and enemy-free surroundings, but it didn't do much to push my hot button. Unless I missed something, there's a gap too long to cross by jumping from a raised block to a ledge in an outdoor area. I couldn't find any other way to get where I wanted to go, so I flew there. Life's too short. Moonpooka, who hasn't been seen around these parts lately, has provided a clear and concise walkthrough, although I suspect I could have found my own way without undue difficulty. Most of the action takes place in an outdoor arctic setting, but at the end you get to explore a quaint little village. The Advent levels of recent years have shown much more in the way of gameplay and complexity. Not a bad level at all, but not really one to rave about." - Phil (29-Sep-2011)

"It's late May;it's a heat-wave;I feel as though I'm melting. What to do? Play a snowy level entitled December the 5th,of course! And very enjoyable it was too,in a slightly 'forgiving because of the Season' kind of way. There's really not much to the Gameplay,other than running through sequential areas and picking up appropriate objects,or throwing levers to open nearby doors.Nevertheless,it flows along smoothly and rather charmingly;and the cute objects add to the enjoyment and are not too overdone.Texturing is fine,although none of the outside areas are particularly ambitious from a creative point-of-view;while lighting is often rather pleasing and evocative. Seasonal levels are often spoiled by an over-use of sentimental music,but it's incorporated tastefully here and helps to enhance the atmosphere rather than lay it on thick with a shovel.A few neat pushable objects and a lovely scene with a drunken Yeti help to lift this 50 minute snowy adventure a little above the norm and makes it just the thing to play when you need to cool down (or,if you must,when it's the first week of December)." - Orbit Dream (21-May-2010)

"An oldie but a goodie! Lara has to find the special key to her own lodge. This level has an excellent use of holiday music. There are two village areas that are nicely decorated. There is also a drunken yeti that scared me to death! There is also a sloped climbable wall--a very clever gameplay element that i don't think i've seen in any other level. Snowy valleys, villages, a throne room for Santa--a very well-rounded level. --Guy" - reborn1995 (16-Dec-2009)

"Once again Lara Croft has lost her keys—silly girl would forget her head—, only this time it’s not the key to her own mansion she’s missing, as she’s spending her holidays in an unspecified location somewhere in Winter Wonderland; so the ultimate goal here is retrieving the key for the front door of her hotel. In order to make this a less pedestrian objective for a quest taking place in Winter Wonderland, the management resolved to issue more fanciful (if not exactly seasonal) ‘Hands of Sirius’ to their guests instead of the usual keys. There will be some more fanciful items to collect along the ensuing course through ice caves and valleys that will take you back to the beginning, all of which retain an Egyptian TR4 name, though not necessarily the original one; thus, a remeshed Portal Guardian is named ‘Eye of Horus’. I would have expected the author to come up with names for these items less detrimental to the fairy-tale atmosphere she was going for, seeing how otherwise there’s quite some imagination at work in this level. Most of it went into the creation of objects (of varying quality) though, much less into gameplay and design. As it is, gameplay mainly consists in running through the aforementioned caves and valleys, with some tasks interspersed that are easily dealt with: a few pushables (only one of which is of the ‘looks like a piece of the wall’ kind, thankfully), a jumping sequence across some pillars, some shooting of shatters, a timed run that you probably wouldn’t recognize as such if it weren’t for the tick-tock audio that announces it. There’s not much backtracking, on the whole it’s flowing along nicely and sufficiently varied so as to not become boring too soon; the secrets may be a little too piece-of-cake, though. As regards design, the level seems a bit out of balance; there are some rooms which are boxy, wallpapered, and have little or no lighting; others have been conscientiously constructed so as to avoid that boxiness, while the lighting is rather flat throughout. It’s snowing in this level, but only in erratic patches; what Treeble terms a ‘3D floor’ didn’t convince me here anymore than it did in Jeyem’s “Lost Valley” (it’s used in only one room anyway); the Santa room looks vaguely Babylonian but unimpressive, and the retextured Karnak statue looks positively ugly; the Weihnachtsmarkt near the end is made up of 32-pixel textures whose fuzziness can bring tears to your eyes. However, this Weihnachtsmarkt also provided the best moment in the game: When the cardboard cut-out Santa suddenly gave out a loud ‘ho-ho-ho’, it made me jump in my seat—much like the fake mummy in TR4’s ‘Egyptian Adventure’ when I played it the first time through. Extra point for the scariest moment in a Winter Wonderland level! The second best moment was obviously the encounter with the first drunken yeti (the second one is quite gratuitous). As regards audio, the idea of editing an ambience track by having a short christmas carol sample fade in and out seems just right for this kind of level, but I’d be at a loss when asked to explain why the author decided to use the “Coastal Ruins” loop for this, since ocean waves and seagulls do not otherwise figure prominently in this level. All things considered, this might have been the paradigm of a christmas level if the author had spent more care on plot, scripting, and level design, and if the gameplay was just a little bit more challenging." - Mulf (14-Dec-2009)

"This is one of the first advent calendar levels and it impresses by its cute selfmade xmas objects and later in the game with a nice little xmas market. Apart from this the atmosphere is wintery rather than christmassy. The gameplay is quite linear with some block pushing, some puzzle items to collect and a short and easy timed run. Be assured to have a good laugh when meeting a funny and harmless yeti doing somersaults. :o)) But watch out not to miss an essential object on your way or else you have to do some backtracking to find it. Besides I missed some more camera hints now and then. But overall it was a nice game no matter it was built more than 5 years ago." - Jerry (06-Jan-2009)

"Lara goes through icecaves, valleys to reach the town. Very nice setting and atmosphere, a great Advent level, full of little nice things, deers, pidgeons, Christmas decorations in the town. The yetis were funny, also when Santa wished Merry Christmas. I really enjoyed this level, found 5 secrets." - Akcy (26-Dec-2006)

"This was one lovely level, set in a village and some snowy valleys. Loved the use of a 3D floor, and even though Lara would walk through it it didn't look bad at all. There were several new kinds of pushable objects, different shapes and one particularly well hidden. It has a nice gameplay, flowing pretty straightforward although people may easily overlook the main quest artifact - the Hand Of Sirius - which I found to be sneakily hidden in one of the buildings in the village. I was lucky I could backtrack, but I wish I shouldn't have. The textures and overall feel of the level were awesome and I simply loved the cathedral with the sneaky crawlspaces in the pillars. Make sure you don't miss out this one! 30 minutes, 4 secrets. 03/05" - Treeble (13-Mar-2005)

“As in the author's ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ this level is filled with fairy tale charm. This level has no enemies or traps but still Lara needs to keep her eyes open. I loved the storybook village Santa on his ‘throne’ and the mummies re-textured as yetis overdoing the holiday cheer. I hope everyone takes the time to play this one.” – Duncan (03-Jan-2005)

“The snow must make Lara happy ... it's a super start to the level and sets the atmosphere. As she can't get into her home it's locked she sets off to find the necessaries so that she can get in! The first half of the level contains jumps moveable blocks a shootable wall and a timed run. (I find it hard to realise that I actually did that without too much of a problem as I'm definitely not known for my prowess in this direction!) This first part of the level seems a bit 'blue' as walls ice fields water etc all seem to be ..... yes! you've guessed it .. blue. The second part however I found totally magical. In this there are buildings of great charm music that is totally appropriate to an Advent level Father Christmas saying 'Ho Ho Ho' reindeer shopping bags Advent crowns ... the whole works! The secrets four of them are ice roses and quite attractive. Do have a go at this charming level after all it’s got snow!” – Mrs rjb (22-Dec-2004)

“Another nice little Christmas level. Lara has been out shopping at the local mall but the silly mare has only gone and left the star she needs to open her front door there! As it is closed she needs to find a different route and reclaim it. I do hope that as soon as she got home she called a locksmith to fit a lock with a key onto her door so we don't get a repeat performance! Has noone told her that star locks are out of fashion? lol anyway the jokes aside... this was a very nice level very colourful and very Christmassy. The beginning was great as there is snow falling! I also didn't realise that the things outside the door were bags! I honestly thought it was a weird gnome statue that had fallen over if you stand at an angle the left bag looks like the head with eyes the middle the body and the right legs. Ok is that just me going mad? lol there are no enemies in it which is good but there is a retexured zombie that looks like a drunk yeti kind of made me jump and as I sat there laughing he gave me a dangerous left hook! Steer well clear of it! lol The mall was lovely too xmas decs hanging round a wooden Santa statue which said ‘hohoho’ when you went near it and in the other part of it a little nativity display. It might have been me going mad but I'm pretty sure I heard Lara's butler making sounds from the centrepiece... a great level recommended to everyone and best to play it at xmas makes you feel very Christmassy! ;)” – Aims (01-Jun-2004)

“This is a nice level and is not particularly difficult. Although sometimes you must look around carefully for observing the snowy and icy moveable blocks. The story takes place amongst snowy rocks in caves and quarters. The 3 Secrets are not easy to find. There’s a not too difficult timed run. There are no enemies on the level expect 2 yetis but they are slow as the mummies and you don’t have to hurt them. At many places you must shoot the ice-wall for getting on. Your objective is finding a Blue Crystal 2 Eye Pieces 2 Cartouche Pieces and The Hand of Sirius. The textures are great as well as the added sounds which give festive mood to this great level. You can find a Hungarian walkthrough (as we don't have English version) savegames and pictures here: http://www.freeweb.hu/treditor/12/december_5th.htm” – Obig (01-Mar-2004)

“This is definitely one of my more favourite of the Advent levels. The reasons for this is that although you don’t come across any enemies there are a couple of backflipping yetis but they are harmless or traps there is still a very interesting game involving movable object puzzles chunks of ice and tables a timed run a bit of block jumping and the best of all at least 4 frozen rose secrets well that’s how many I found. There is even a nice little storyline where Lara standing in front of her front door having just gone shopping has realised she has lost her keys somewhere in the lovely little town so she has to go back and retrieve them this is all the more enhanced by the beautiful texturing throughout the level including snow you actually stand in instead of just stand on and I could easily have spent more than the nearly 40 minutes it took me to play still there. So if you’re looking for a purely delightful level without any bloodshed then this is a very good place to start.” – Sash (24-Jan-2004)

“And yet another beautiful Christmas-level great outside areas a lovely village and a hilarious big ape a must play in wintertime really great!” – Josi (13-Jan-2004)

“Another charming Christmas level from the excellent Advent Calendar. Marvelous settings with snow falling and delightful music playing. Use flares constantly or you will undoubtedly miss moveable/shootable blocks. The highlight of the level has to be the inebriated yetis - they alone are well worth the download. I found four secrets and had a lovely time.” – Jay (03-Jan-2004)

“There is so much that is distinctive in this level. The custom objects including medipacks flares Santa pic and reindeer on the walls......and was that bERT's bike I spotted? There's a sneaky shootable wall and a not impossible timed run - did it in one try. There's an unusual side climbing wall that can have you stumped before trying it. Shopping bags and a xmas market town and I can't fail to mention the falling down drunk yeti. Much to see and enjoy here. Lots of fun.......just what an Advent level should be. Very imaginative and different. And of course my favorite thing.....falling snow.” – Bene (03-Jan-2004)

“Of course I played this immediately after it came up for a download but forgot to write a review. Not at all sorry as it still is great fun to do it over again. Do not rush through the level as there are so many little things to admire. The market place a white dove sitting on a fence some shoes the drinking cups and even Bert’s bike LOL. There is some block pushing shooting of walls and even a timed run and with Jutta you know that it is a timed run as she has a clock ticking. The surface of that slope that one could climb took a while to figure that one out and I loved the search for the 4 secrets. And again I had a good laugh seeing that yeti doing some somersaulting. Great level. 28-12-2003” – Gerty (01-Jan-2004)

“A level full of enchantment. Beautifully textured and lighted rooms and areas. Loved the deer near the beginning tried to get up to them but couldn't. I thought that timed run in the caves was very good I did it first time with a sprint across the bridge. The secrets are ice roses (I found four) there's also a star a cartouche that is now half an xmas present and the beautifully retextured hathor head and stand. This level is a lot bigger than I first thought. Traveling through caves buildings canyons and ending up in a gorgeous little mountain town. I got the feeling that some of those house doors could be opened but they never did. And there's a clever object pushing exercise in the market square. The funniest sight I've seen for a while is the drunken long-haired yeti in the caves he's too drunk to even attack Lara he just stumbles about and gets in the way. So there are no enemies to deal with but that doesn't take away from the enjoyment of the level. Great job and much appreciated Christmas spirit from all the authors in the Advent Calendar.” – CC (01-Jan-2004)

“I am enjoying the Christmas levels more and more every day. I have to say a big thank you to the builders and those who collaborated and produced the calendar. The level is again within the Christmas spirit and the snowy setting gives the right atmosphere. There are many blocks and short gate-like objects to push/pull and quite a few breakable walls in the level. Of course there were no enemies which made it even more pleasant. You are searching for a gem and a spire of some sort and get to visit various areas from the outside with a bridge cut in middle and the area with the many houses appropriately decorated. Levers will help you proceed when necessary and a sneaky ladder near a slope which had me fooled for a while. The yetis were funny the way they were falling on their well butt but I presume that was because something had to be done to prevent them from attacking Lara. There were also two deer outside which a nice touch. The audio is very nice with Christmas carols and cheerful music. I found three white roses as secrets. Don’t miss any of the Christmas levels; I was smiling the entire time I was playing.” – Kristina (27-Dec-2003)

“Jutta and Bocky have a great imagination and redecoration skills. This is a wonderful snow and ice level perfect in tune with the Christmas festivities. Take the Christmas market place for example that is so cute you could wander around in it for hours. Really cute were the two doves (I admit I tried to shoot them yes I'm a real bastard sorry!). Also wonderfully recoloured and reshaped where the pharao's knot and other thingy. There's quite a lot to do in this level too not too hard but not too difficult either: breakable walls to find things to move and you have to look around real good here and there. And there's even a timed run and that's about the only thing I have a little complaint about because you get stuck as soon as you push the lever and don't make it at once. No matter what I did with the ground lever it would only open the door once. The rest was perfectly done though and the end slide is truly original as was the whole level.” – bERT (27-Dec-2003)

“The third level of the Levelbase advent calendar and again a beautiful little romp of just over half an hour through an outside area with snowy rocks and icy caves with some new pushable objects a short jump sequence an easy timed run a gem and kind of portal guardian to find as well as the all important key to the house (a hand). The drunk yeti/gorilla is quite hilarious and I really liked the texturing a lot and the little town that you reach with its Christmas Market. Found four ice roses as secrets.” – Michael (26-Dec-2003)
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