| Reviewer's comments |
"This level started off nicely but then it became a little dull. Something I liked was the gift
store with another Lara as the saleswoman xD. After you pay for the gifts, she'll give them to you
and the level ends shortly after, but if you climb on the counter, security will come for you lol." - alan (30-Dec-2021) |
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| "i did not feel any festive charm here im afraid and the dull grey environment of
industrial and sewers areas for merely just fetch quests was just a bit boring. the
snowy outside area at the beginning of the level i found to be a bit better because of
the semi challenging platforming around higher ledges and balconys that was until i made
it to the tightrope! oh my that was tedious and time consuming. your main aim is to find
keys and items to use to help you progress through the many rooms of the level, you'll
need to find a crowbar and revolver and lasersight also to progress. unfortunately there
isnt very interesting puzzles/tasks, timed runs or traps here and the lack of any
festive tunes or pleasant areas to explore around is disappointing" - John (25-Aug-2021) |
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| "A simple holiday level where Lara runs around a city and sewers in order to grab some money for a gift. I felt like the holiday atmosphere wasn't as present here as it is in other levels of this class. Maybe it's the lighting, which is a bit on the gloomy side. Texturing is decent but a bit wallpapered and warped, and there are a few missing textures and "end of the world" moments as well. Adding to the unpolished feel are the many fountains, which have strange animating textures. Gameplay is mostly climbing up and down while grabbing some keys, and a tricky use of the lasersight (which you don't want to miss, otherwise you have a bit of backtracking to do). A fun detail is that the toy shop owner gets offended if you decide to climb on top of the counter, and sends security after you. I'm kind of surprised that doesn't happen more often to Lara. 31 minutes." - JesseG (18-Nov-2020) |
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| "Another of those Advent levels that don't
necessarily conjure up the festive spirit.
But even so, I don't think I would have
been particularly enchanted by it even if
it did, as there were a couple of downers
in this one. The looks are generally fine,
and the few Christmas objects were a nice
touch, but I grew tired of the tedious
shimmying in the initial courtyards, the
long tightrope walk and the sterile
atmosphere which just seemed a bit bland.
It ends after around 25 minutes, and this
isn't one of my favourites." - Ryan (17-Dec-2017) |
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| "This one doesn't really have the feel of an advent level,
other than the snow-covered environs, but it's a worthwhile
download for a raid of roughly half an hour. Yoav's
walkthrough documents a serious problem that you don't
encounter until near the end. When you descend into the
sewers you're accosted in a couple of places by rats (another
reason why this doesn't seem like an advent level). If they
start nibbling on you, your screen goes black and you have to
reload and try again. I remember quite a bit of tedious
shimmying in the courtyard at the beginning of the level, but
the lighting was good throughout and I had an enjoyable time
here." - Phil (10-Mar-2015) |
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| "And so the 2004 advent calendar concludes with this again very short offering which provides another 15 minutes of gameplay. Getting up to the tightrope actually felt like a decent element but from the rather tedious tightrope on the game never quite felt really satisfying. To the builder's credit there are a few mildly challenging tasks like navigating against the current and it at least ended on a higher note with the charming toy shop sequence, but the rest is fairly uninspired running through very sterile and grey environments with not much Christmas charm. The texturing actually was quite decent throughout and fits fairly well to the respective sceneries, while the lighting wasn't very effective - its monotonous style really did not help to create a proper atmosphere, neither did the large open spaces towards the end which felt very plain. There are a few missing sounds here, and the single camera can be broken with the look button. At least there were a few new custom objects to admire here... although again there were no secrets to find. Oh well, at least you can see how the calendar levels evolved from year to year." - manarch2 (19-Dec-2014) |
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| "It wasn't simply because I played this Advent level in
August that I was less than enchanted with the Christmas
atmosphere;it was probably more to do with the fact that I
spent much of it festively swimming through sewers,avoiding
nasty metallic fans,and crawling through dank ventilation
ducts while shooting lots of rats.
Even the snowy courtyard areas were less than stunning,as
you spent most of the time shimmying and doing a very long
tightrope walk.Music was absent from my game (which was
possibly a blessing),and the gameplay was essentially a prolonged key hunt. The best parts were the grate-shooting
puzzle,and the scene where soldiers come to the aid of the
storekeeper when she inadvertently believes you to be
robbing her Toy Shop.Textures are well applied on the
whole,and lighting certainly does its job;while objects are
used sparingly for an Advent level (although I'm not sure
about all those cuddly bunnies in a Christmas level).
Although the 35 minutes were generally entertaining,this was
lacking in the magic usually associated with seasonal
adventures of its type." - Orbit Dream (27-Aug-2012) |
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| "Some last minute shopping in this Christmas level. Gameplay is okay with climbing the the roofs, exploring the sewers. There are problems with the enemies, the soldiers, they didn't fit an Advent level, and there is a bug when rats bite Lara. The first areas looked nice, but later the textures were quite boring in the sewers and the final areas. Still an enjoyable level, but not as good as the others in the calendar." - Akcy (06-Jan-2007) |
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| "The third level from the author leaves us with a Christmas level. I'll get the bad out of the way first... For a start there is a bug in this game which causes the player to have to reload tomb raider. The gameplay is uneventful and little on the boring side, however this is a xmas level after all. The couple of enemies are rats and a couple of soldiers who are unimaginative and lack any real purpose. The texturing is ok but I must admit the scenery is nicely done. The level feels a bit disjointed without a real flow to the gameplay. The ending is quite good and the voice acting sounded ok too. Overall, not a bad level from the author but could have done with some improvements. If I had to give this level a grade I would give it a B, a distinction." - The Aussie Adventurer (13-Apr-2005) |
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| "This was the level with the less feel of Christmas, but still was rather interesting. Gameplaywise I think this one was really varied, although I'd have discarded the long shimmy through the rooftops to get the lasersight (had to check the walkthrough when I needed it, near the end). You will get through this village, save a shop from two baddies (lol I think that's why the woman screamed) and meet several rats (don't get close to them, if you do, restart the tomb4.exe). I thought it was rather interesting to go into the shop and buy the Christmas gift, though when you're about to pick up the fluffy teddy bear the level ends. As Michael put, this level does finish the Advent Calendar in great style, though, and just as all of the others it's not to be missed. If you like city environments this one is perfect for you. I know March ain't Christmas time, but I really needed to play something and I decided to have a go at these levels, heard wonders of them and now I know why. 40 minutes. 03/05" - Treeble (13-Mar-2005) |
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| "When you pick up the lasersight, you can jump over the roofs and access to the room where the crowbar is, so you don't need to go over the rope to get the Garden Key to climb to that room. Even if you had the revolver, you could access to the final area of the level and finish it without having the Red Key and solve most of the puzzles. The rats bug is a pain. In my game, when a rat touch Lara, the graphics crashed and I had to go back to Windows and load the game again. The image of the battery doesn't appear in my inventory, only the name. What's the use of the crawlspace and the room with the big fan? Gameplay and puzzles are well implemented, but there were few enemies (only some rats and two soldiers), few guns and few weapons. I've not find secrets. Objects are the best of the level, very well in this part. Sounds and cameras are poor, but textures are excellent. A good level but with some design defects." - Jose (04-Feb-2005) |
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| "Who doesn't suffer from frantic last minute shopping at Christmas well even Lara does and in this adventure she has to get to the toy store and buy her niece a lovely stuffed teddy. The thing is as Lara is an only child how can she be an aunt hmmm maybe she has an adopted Cambodian sister that we haven't heard of and there's also the little matter of Lara having to go on the scrounge looking for a couple of coins around the city so she can pay for the present I always thought Lara was immeasurably wealthy but it looks like hard times have hit I personally blame the tax man but like Willy Nelson Lara will bounce back I'm sure. Anyway you get the gist of this 30 minute level hunt a city for coins with the search involving finding keys and the like and doing some fun little moves like a long tight rope walk and some roof jumping. There is a couple of bugs in this level which took the edge a little off the levels entertaining nature the first being a rat bite in a sewer area that makes the screen go kooky and you have to exit the Editor to fix it (this rat is a little hard to get around at times so you have to be quick) and the second bug was that the final door in the toy shop that holds your niece's present sometimes doesn't open even if you pay the money to have it open this I think is a save/reload bug as I went back to just before the rat that bites very deadly and played the rest without saving and the door opened for me the first time round when I saved it didn't but there isn't anything to do in the end room so if you don't get that door open you don't miss anything. This in the end is a nice xmas level but for me it is in the medium range of levels out there neither horrible nor brilliant." - Sash (26-Jan-2005) |
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| "I liked this level very much. And one of the reasons is that it is in the same vein as a base level. A lot of searching climbing shimmying jumping swimming offices rooting in cabinets tightrope walking. It's not as Chrismassy as the other Advent levels even though there are snowmen trees and presents. Unfortunately the level has a lot of problems. One being the texturing of fountains and getting stuck in different places forever. Just so people can enjoy it (because that is idea) they need to know that when they see rats shoot them immediately because if they get too close the game will crash. Also I'd recommend saving a lot and occasionally exiting the game to keep the savegames or after each crash you'll have to redo a lot of stuff. I loved the idea of going into the toy shop and if you have no money to buy anything and decide to hop over the counter the shop assistant (in Lara Croft costume for the day) will scream and bring guards in to kill you. So you need to go and find some money. In my game even when I got the money the door didn't open for me to go in and choose my toy. I particularly liked the roof hopping near the start and the sewer type area with the rising platforms. But having said all that this is a good little level and as it's the last it brings to a close the excellent Advent Calendar levels of 2004. Thank you all very much for creating these little gems for our entertainment." - CC (19-Jan-2005) |
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| "This is also a wonderful Christmas level. We are adventuring in the district and basement of a city to finally find Money and buy some things in the small shop. The salesman is also interesting. Looks totally similar to us ourselves. :) There are some rats on this level and two hostile gunmen too. They don't really suit this level. We have to find Keys and a Crowbar and for this we are walking on the high rope shooting out windows ruining railings to get on. The level is a little bit buggy in the sewers the textures are crashing sometimes but as I noticed only when rats can bite us. So don't let them. The textures are wonderful the rest of the added sounds are dialogues speaking in German to us. You can find a Hungarian walkthrough (as we don't have English version) savegames and pictures here: http://www.treditor.hu/15/just_in_time.htm " - Obig (18-Jan-2005) |
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| "Lara forgot to buy a present for her niece and has to get one at the last minute. That is the story anyway and Lara wouldn't be Lara if there isn't an adventure involved. The start of this level reminds us it is Xmas but this level isn't as Xmassy as the others as there are foes to slay. There are two endings in this game and better keep a saved game before you go into the toy shop because if the girl shouts for help you won't be able to get the present so you can go back to the save and do it the way one should do it. The readme also says that the rats might poison Lara and the screen will go haywire. If you are quick and shoot them all it won't happen. That was the only gripe I had in this game. 20-12-2004"- Gerty (04-Jan-2005) |
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| "Well I had fun shooting out railings and running around on balconies tightrope walking and opening drawers. Watch out for the rats in the sewer though - there's a bug that can really mess things up if you let them touch you. The level ends with a brief visit to the toy shop that is rather nice. Another short fun raid from the excellent Levelbase Advent calendar." - Jay (01-Jan-2005) |
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| "Interesting level with Lara needing a last minute gift and the money for the purchase. I didn't find any secrets but there is an area that seemed perfect for one but it was empty. Some nice ideas here. The shop with the stuffed animals and the xmas colored fountains are memorable as are the rats. If you can shoot them quickly you won't have a problem. Otherwise you'll need alt/F4 to get out and then start over. There's a tightrope that can be avoided although that's not what the author intended. A nice addition to the Advent Calendar but perhaps not as suitable for the younger children." - Bene (29-Dec-2004) |
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| "A solid Christmas atmosphere in a City setting classical music in the background and a flyby that shows you the initial area. Sounds cosy. Well it isn't as Lara still has to get this last present and that turns out to be quite an ordeal. I enjoyed the acrobatics in the first courtyard although you can actually avoid the tedious tightrope walking altogether by making your way to the window across the roofs and drop into the room from the top. In fact you don't even need to drop into the room at all as you can short cut to the area with the fountains via the roof and thus miss quite a bit of the level. This level is not as 'friendly' as most of the Advent levels as there are poisonous rats and deadly fans in the sewers and if Lara gets to the toy shop without money she will even have to deal with two SAS (nice idea though). I also liked the custom objects used (like the battery and the raising elements) but the gameplay overall became a bit tedious after a good start and I was quite happy when it ended after about 40 minutes. Onwards to watch the Dec 24 title flyby to finalise my Advent Calendar 2004 experience - which was just as wonderful as it was one year ago." - Michael (28-Dec-2004) |
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| "The final installment of levels in the advent calendar of this year this level isn't that hard and can be finished in under an hour. The level takes place in a city where Lara goes to do some last minute Christmas shopping for her niece but it seems that Lara was in a hurry so she didn't get dressed properly. The city surrounding is nice and I liked some parts of the sewer. The tasks here consist of climbing jumping and swimming. Once some money is found then you head on over to the store to buy a gift for Lara's niece. Though I didn't get to the gift when I paid and apparently Lara didn't pay enough! Also there is a rather annoying bug that when a certain rat bites you the screen gets all messed up. Anyway this level was good though it didn't have much of that Christmas feeling. The enemies in this level were rats and if you were dumb enough to bother the clerk at the store who looks like Lara you would get a couple of SAS." - Relic Hunter (26-Dec-2004) |
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| "I enjoyed playing this wonderful Christmas level only it didn't have any decorations or tree. The usual snowy setting though is there along with fountains that spring red water. There are beautiful areas roof tops and balconies that Lara has to access big fans to avoid and generally it's an interesting level. The only enemies are rats and if you make the mistake and annoy the cashier who surprisingly resembles Lara very much she'll call the guards. The last room has some nice stuffed animals but make sure you get the money to pay otherwise you won't finish the level. All levels of this kind are fun to play capable of spread the holiday spirit and suitable for kids." - Kristina (22-Dec-2004) |
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