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Level: Back to Basics - Rapid Fall back home search
Author(s): Marksdad
total rating:6.59 Gameplay &
Puzzles		 Enemies,
Objects &
Secrets		 Atmosphere,
Sound &
Cameras		 Lighting &
Textures
Bene 8 8 8 8
Bogey 8 6 5 6
CC 6 4 6 6
Cory 5 6 6 7
Deekman 7 6 7 8
Dimpfelmoser 6 3 6 5
Dutchy 7 6 6 7
eRIC 8 7 7 6
EssGee 8 7 6 6
eTux 6 4 5 5
G.Croft 5 5 5 5
Gerty 6 5 6 6
Gill 7 6 7 8
Horus 8 6 6 6
Jay 7 8 8 8
Jenni 8 7 7 6
Jorge22 7 6 7 7
Jose 9 7 7 8
Kristina 5 4 5 5
manarch2 8 5 7 6
MichaelP 8 6 6 6
Mman 7 7 6 5
Moonpooka 8 7 8 7
Mrs rjb 8 7 7 7
Mugs 7 7 8 8
Obig 7 6 7 6
Phil 8 8 8 8
QRS 8 6 8 7
rjb 9 7 8 7
Ruediger 7 6 4 4
Sash 6 3 5 5
Staticon 8 7 8 8
Sutekh 9 5 7 6
Whistle 7 7 7 8
category averages
(34 reviews)		 7.24 6.03 6.59 6.50

Reviewer's comments

"Water is a major theme here (which seems to be kind of a consistent thread through the first Back to Basics). Design and lighting is okay but very simple outside of a couple of small temple areas, one large cave-type room was a bit too basic though. Gameplay is quite fast paced and has a couple of original puzzle (and texturing) ideas that work well, the rest is some simple platforming and traps with the only slip up being a "death pit" that comprises of a few skeletons; death tiles would be much better. What's there manages to be more fun than some of the more elaborate levels that rely too much on being "cute". Unfortunately, this entry is easily the shortest in this BTB and it suffers for that, and rating it has to take into account that there was much less to polish." - Mman (27-Oct-2012)

"This level was quite good even if it was very short. Lara falls into a circle area and she has to go around to find the lever that floods the starting room to finally get the gem away from the area that will be destroyed soon. Texturing was OK, lighting was not really good. There only were few enemies (skeletons) and one secret that is not really hidden but nice to get to. There also were two logic puzzles and hard jumping sequences. If you search for a short level that has plenty of tasks in it give this one a go. It's worth to play." - manarch2 (12-Mar-2011)

"A small level lasting 20 mins overall. A nice room to start with filled with waterfalls and the idea of having it as a kind of hub room was nice. The puzzles were very easy to do and even the fast paced gameplay was easy. The boulder slide however was very clever where you have to drop down into a crawl space. The texturing was quite nice with some places where it could have been slightly improved. A nice level which doesn't take much time to play." - Cory (02-Mar-2008)

"Yes! Swimming, jumping, block pushing. My idea of TR Heaven. If only I could have stayed here for just a little longer. Loved the skellie/rolling ball passage - it took me two or three attempts to get that right and, just when I thought I was safe, another spiked ball hits me. Marvellously devious. Thanks for a great - if somewhat short - adventure, Ian." - Staticon (26-Nov-2005)

"Level of largish areas with not a lot to do. The game play, apart from the switched time swim (realising that the tile is a switch), is quite straight forward. The puzzles can be worked out using without much brain strain. Enemies are two skellies, both of which can be avoided with little damage. There is in the level plenty of swimming with the odd tricky route by the pillars, as well as MS and jumps. The atmosphere I found rather on the bland side, and did not notice the music much at all. The graphics (especially the tiles textures) appeared in too many areas and made the sections alike (may be the author meant this to be so??. Rather shortish level but worth the time to play." - Whistle (26-Oct-2005)

"It seemed to me that I was floating from one puzzle to the next, making my way through this flooded comlex. I really enjoyed the traps, some were really nasty (but I like it like that ;-) ), including the timed swim at the beginning. There were not many enemies and I did not find any secrets. The lighting could be improved, just as the texturing, for me it was all a bit too bright. Hard to say much more about this level as it took me only 17 minutes to get through." - Horus (07-Oct-2005)

"Wow! This was a short one. I did play Loren's level before this one and the 25 minutes this took me really felt like 10 compared to that one :) I liked the idea of this level. The rapid falls. A few things to do in the rooms before the sinks transported you back the the next one etc. Very linear but also very interesting a fun! The only thing this level lacks is hard to find secrets and enemies. I will try out more levels by this author, because I really like the style of the rooms and the gameplay. Good work Ian! 2005-08-28" - QRS (28-Aug-2005)

"This was the level I liked the least of all. There are no items to get, only completing passing from room to room. In each of the rooms we have some tasks to do, but they are not so hard. There are two timed swims, but these cause no difficulties either. Maybe placing more pickups would be better, because we can't pick up anything more but some medipacks. At the end we have to dodge skeletons, because we don't have weapons against them. However there's good point that can be mentioned, the ‘mottled’ room, where up and down, various symbols ornament the place, and these determine where to push the movable pillar. Though the game shows it, the idea is original. There's one secret on the level, a small medipack. Because of the simple gameplay, I'd rather propose it for beginners. You can find a Hungarian walkthrough (as we don't have English version), savegames and pictures here: http://www.treditor.hu/15/back_to_basics13_rapid_fall.htm " - Obig (22-Mar-2005)

"I like swimming, but I had extensive underwater headaches. It was driving me crazy until I figured out how easy it actually was. Super short level and a fun raid, once I figured out my headaches were needless." - Deekman (03-Mar-2005)

"This seemed like a game of three parts, an interesting beginning, a frustrating main part and an excellent end. The dramatic fall, a very visible crawl space near a slope that is too good to be true … and so it is … you can’t go through it! The actual crawl space is well disguised but accessible. The bulk of the game consists of puzzles that are, I found, fairly frustrating as many of them were timed and, in almost every case, the puzzles should have an extra one or two seconds. Surely it is better to keep timed runs, swims, curving jumps etc at a level that is taxing, takes care and attention but that is not so tight that it takes so many attempts that it loses any interest. The relief when eventually accomplished does little to alleviate the frustration at the time seemingly wasted. The timed section jumping over a toxic pool on safe squares, setting off from a pressure pad that triggers an underwater door, I found particularly frustrating as, negotiating the safe squares by curving jumps, simply to find the door regularly shutting at arrival was…… (I leave that to your imagination!) Having said all that, I did like the end section of the game. One highlight room involved crossing a pool of sloping pillars with climbable wall, back flips to slopes, a monkey swing, a rope swing and curving jumps to slopes and was particularly interesting and fun. The appearance of skellies at the end was another innovative touch and escaping the spiked boulders was fun, exciting and, most importantly, possible. The pleasant symmetry of the level is shown near the end, as you exit a crawl space, now filled with water that was the one you couldn’t enter at the beginning. Overall it was quite enjoyable but I found it too frustrating to be very enjoyable." - Mrs rjb (03-Mar-2005)

"Aaaaah! *Plunge!* So begins the adventure, appropriately named 'rapid fall'. It's so rapid, the level ended for me in 15 minutes time, but there's plenty to do in that time, despite the duration. Tight timed runs, movable puzzles (this one didn't really make sense to me), lots of swimming and a room full of climb and jump sequences, after which you return back to the start of the level - now flooded just so much (the storyline indicates that Lara has to find a game before the tomb is flooded), so Lara could conveniently reach the desired gem (she already must have a huge collection after the 18 BtB levels, methinks). I really believe more work could've been put into the looks, as they were pretty uninspiring, boring, and maybe if it had been longer it had taken off better as well, but all in all despite some of the flaws this is just as enjoyable as any other level of the competition, so don't miss it out!" - eTux (01-Mar-2005)

"I like it when a builder provides puzzles fitting the storyline of his level. It's the case in Rapid Fall, with the use of timed underwater doors, and the level of water raising at the end helping Lara finding the blue gem. With a fast paced gameplay, the level is short but fun, with some challenging parts. I really enjoy the big room with a rather tricky jump to the rope, action you must do quickly to not be crushed by a spiked ball. There is also a couple of puzzles with symbols, hints are provided by the textures or by the camera. Some more actions and traps to perform all in a good clean fun. Why not spending more time on texturing and lighting?" - eRIC (01-Mar-2005)

"This rather short offering at 20 minutes stands out for two things - some clever puzzle ideas and a few devious boulder traps. I enjoyed the timed sequences, the texture hint puzzles and the use of waterfalls and sinks throughout and the jump/climb room was good fun. Special mention also to the pit with no return where you get hacked to death by three skeletons. On the downside the architecture and lighting is rather plain, a few more cameras would not hurt and the one and only secret is kind of hard to miss." - Michael (01-Mar-2005)

"Rapid by name, rapid by nature. This quick 18 minute level filled it’s short duration with a nice amount of things to do such as timed swims, tile jumps, and movable object puzzles, but when I finally got to the gem, your aim, at the end it felt like this level should have just been starting. And this is what makes this level such a shame as the ingenuity was obviously there but it never really got to branch out and grow. I ended with a mere one easy secret and having met along the way only 5 skeletons in one small hall, three of these in a pit I never actually came in contact with." - Sash (18-Feb-2005)

"This short level consists of a series of timed sequences, traps and puzzles. The setting is characterized by water, and there is a lot of swimming to do. On a few occasions, I think that the builder has been rather mean. For example, it is not very pleasant to be trapped in a crawl space by a skeleton." - Bogey (14-Feb-2005)

"This is a quite a short level to play, but many obstacles and traps lay in your path, which you need to avoid in helping you to progress. You start your adventure in a trench filled with water, and you need to find ways in figuring out how to open doors by finding and stepping on certain tiles. You will be doing some tricky jumping sequences in a pool room, avoiding spike boulders and doing a rope swing. There are some timed water swims that you need to master, the first one was not too difficult to accomplish, but the second was a bit more tricky, as you needed to jump back onto certain tiles and swim into that underwater door before it closed. Your enemies are skeletons, one being rather sneaky and following you into a crawlspace, while you are trying to dodge a spiked boulder in the process, and once this has all been accomplished, you are able to retrieve your prized gem and leave this wonderful little adventure. In general, the lighting was extremely good, there was no need for any flares here, textures was nicely done and the rooms were beautifully laid out, which made it a real pleasure playing this level. This is a nice little level, game-play was fairly easy, nothing too tedious here and it's well worth visit. 12/02/2005" - Gill (12-Feb-2005)

"This was the easiest of them all, I think. There was even a timed run in it that I sailed through as I didn't know it was a timed run LOL. I had more problems as the swimming through the underwater pillars took quite a while to accomplish so Lara was out of breath, with hardly no life left when she surfaced again. The pulling and pushing of the pillar was a bit tedious and the solution did take a while to figure out. The unattainable medipack is a big give away who this builder is and so is also that bloody boulder on top of Lara when she finally thought she was save. The only secret is in plain sight, that is a first for me though. This was the only game I did finish in the time it said one could. 22-01-2005" - Gerty (11-Feb-2005)

"A puzzling name for this level. I thought I'd be doing a lot of climbing high up in an enormous room, and one false step would result in a 'rapid fall'. But what we actually have here is a level of puzzles. Do one to get to another, to another, and so on until the end, which doesn't take long as this, to me, is the shortest of the back to basics levels. Lara starts in a cave with a small waterway, waterfall, crawlspace and two closed doors. Nicely hidden entrance to find so you can get out of here. We have to swim past columns under water - not so easy. Then underwater timed swims from particular triggers. Onto a room that's a little hard on the eyes with a patchwork of textures and a pillar. Took a while to figure this out as I was paying attention to the ceiling rather than the floor, as in other levels. Another room looks similar, but you'll find out quickly you can't walk on all the textures, and fall into a toxic pool. Aha! so perhaps this is where the 'rapid fall' comes in. Then there's a boulder run to a crawlspace, and a good climbing and jumping sequence over lava. And finally a gauntlet of spike balls and skeletons, jumps and slide, to finally claim the gem. I found no weapons, but there was no need for them." - CC (04-Feb-2005)

“Very very short level (and very average). Starts with a huge fall into water and ends before you get to put your hands on the Blue Diamond. Lots of areas with water as this is a tomb slowly being filled up with water that Lara must search before it is too late. So swimming and jumping a moving pillar puzzle and a timed run/swim. Hardly any enemies except for a bunch of skeletons near the end.” – G.Croft (25-Jan-2005)

“This is a shorter level compared to some of the other B-to-B levels. It contains some interesting puzzles and challenges. There's a neat timed run but that may not be obvious to you at first a checkerboard style pushblock puzzle which although I solved it I was not convinced that I actually did it through a planned strategy. Well I had a plan and while I was following that hunch I suddenly noticed the door was open. So I think the correct sequence may have been a lot simpler than I was trying to make it. The sliding / jumping / rope swinging challenge will keep you on your toes too. The architecture and lighting were too plain for my liking in this one and kind of didn't support some clever gameplay. With a bit more effort and an eye for detail this level could have been substantially better. Enemies were used more to hinder Lara's duties rather than as an impact or challenge. Enemy placement was at times a little illogical to me. I was 35 minutes in this tomb and didn't score any secrets.” – EssGee (25-Jan-2005)

“A ‘Back to Basics’ level using the catacomb wad so I won’t go into detail about enemies and objects - you know the score. There are some rather well hidden crawl spaces and passages in this level and be prepared for quite a bit of swimming. There’s a nice pillar moving puzzle and an enjoyable bit of sliding and jumping (with added boulder ouch). One of the shorter levels in the series but fun.” – Jay (23-Jan-2005)

“Short and sweet but a great level. Puzzle-solving based instead of object-gathering: solve the puzzle to gain access to the next room – I love solving puzzles so it’s right up my alley (that and sloped block runs are always good fun so I did enjoy the slopes and rope in the large pool room). It had a feeling of solitariness though Lara didn’t even have anything to shoot at and many of the rooms were quite sparce though on the flip side lack of clutter means the task at hand was easy to unravel. It seemed a little bright in some rooms whereas it was quite dark in the timed pillar-jump room which made it hard to see the other side. Still it was an enjoyable level and a great effort.” – Jenni (20-Jan-2005)

“Quite nice but from the looks of the textures and from certain details I could almost say the builder mustn't be very experienced (hope I'm not wrong!). This is a short straightforward level where Lara must open some doors and solve some puzzles in order to get a blue gem and finish the game. By the way having Lara get back to the very first room now flooded through the intriguing tunnel she can't access in the beginning so she can reach a room above the ceiling was an interesting touch. That having been said the puzzles are a tiny bit boring even the timed run puzzle and the room with the small medipack secret is boring too because Lara has to climb and monkeyswing and shimmy along the wall (boring once) and then she has to get back to the start and repeat the same thing over again (twice boring). Near the end I found two minor flaws... On one hand when Lara hides in a small entrance to escape a boulder a skeleton comes after her she gets all tangled up in his legs and then it's full of wrong animations Lara may even disappear for a while. On the other hand just after that Lara monkey swings a bit and at the end of the monkey swing if she falls into the pit with skeletons there's just no way she can get out. All in all though this is a nice enough level with some interesting touches to soften its relative mistakes. (January 18 2005)” – Jorge22 (18-Jan-2005)

“A good but short level. The initial crawlspace was well hidden! Puzzles are good but there was few enemies weapons and ammo. Could be some cameras more to animate the game and locate the doors. Where are the sounds? Light and textures are correct. Some puzzles like the timed run to the underwater door can be turn more easy thinking a little the hard turns easy (Good!).” – José (18-Jan-2005)

“This is a very short level fourteen minutes for me and has hardly any puzzles or enemies in it but more like interesting moments. You start off nicely inside water but as you progress disappointment kicks in as there’s nothing to please the eye as far as textures are concerned or any real designing. All the rooms are textured plain and without many objects. The only room that came close to good gameplay and I liked was the one with the slopes the ladder and a rope. Then the rest wasn’t hard to manage two timed swims a spike ball to avoid and one moveable object. I encountered one skeleton that must have been very lonely in that level but what does he do when he sees Lara instead of inviting her for coffee and some chit chat he attacks her with a sword. I guess he must have had a long time to see a woman as well so I understand. One secret found that was dead easy and in plain view. A nice effort but not what I would call a complete level.” – Kristina (17-Jan-2005)

“Although ‘Rapid Fall’ offers a couple of interesting puzzles well-timed doors and also demands a sharp eye so you won't overlook little crawlspaces somewhere it's among the 3 least favourite levels of mine in the BtB challenge. The large empty rooms are somewhat uncharming lacking atmosphere. The design is not very natural look for example at the little waterfalls right at the beginning: they don't end in the canal they end in boxy holes whereas the water streaming into the canal comes out of a stone it seems. Many rooms are too bright the underwater rooms don't look like being under water at all.” – Rüdiger (17-Jan-2005)

“Always interesting to start a level when falling rapidly! It took me some time to see how to leave the very first room only because I didn't check everything properly. We then come to a room without an exit! Curiouser and curioser. When we've solved that little dilemma a water current will soon be sweeping us along to another rapid fall. Yes there are moments to catch our breath but they are deceptive lulls before sudden dramatic action. A tricky little timed swim using pressure pads underwater then another current rushes us forward again. (Did I say we could catch our breath?!) A timed run to reach a door while dodging many squares-that-are-not-squares that is quite tight then we are rushed forward once more to the room that we may recognise as the 'loading screen' room. Why does the fly-by show us part of the ceiling I wonder? When we have solved that room too we come to a pair of rooms - one large and watery the other narrow and 'slidery' that had me stalled yet again wondering how to proceed. Just how do we reach that monkey swing? Are we supposed to pick that up? (A nice bit of mis-direction that may cause us to leave a secret that is in plain view!) Then there are the slides the boulders and the skeletors. How DO we avoid that happening every time?!! And we find that the end of the game (which can be a mere 10 minutes computer time because we are encouraged to move quickly so often) brings us right back to the start (with an important difference). A 'fun' game that doesn't take itself too seriously – ‘We're not playing for the Town Hall clock’ as my father-in-law used to say. It reminded me of Roe Croes' intricate custom level 'Tricks & Traps'. I liked this game and the author's tricky ways despite its briefness. Perhaps the ('loading screen') room with all its different tile types where we had to spot a 'co-incidence' was actually a bit too jumbled unfortunately and some of the other 'decor' though 'solid' enough was a bit 'bland' dare this non-builder say such a thing. A designer who really likes puzzles who refuses to be too 'serious' about all this and just wants things to be both thought-provoking and 'fun'.” – rjb (16-Jan-2005)

“This is a fairly straightforward game. A succession of timed runs and swims will bring you ultimately to the coveted gem. Enjoyable! I of course am one of those players who spent hours trying to squeeze Lara's body into that opening at the very beginning. I love it when I do stupid things like that - especially when I know from a practical standpoint it can't be done. Too funny! Okay gents place your bets: Harley.” – Mugs (16-Jan-2005)

“Rapid indeed…A rather easy level some parts were put together quite nicely as other parts were rushed I think. Lighting was too bright overall so there was little atmosphere. The timed swim was nice with that second Tile that wasn’t needed. Liked the Boulders/Skellies part. The puzzles weren’t too hard but the jumps through the water room made up for things. 19 minutes of play and one ½ MP used. Too fast…” – Dutchy (14-Jan-2005)

“A short six rooms set each with a nice well-thought and different puzzle to solve. You don't feel that Lara's life is jeopardized until the very end when it becomes a tad more challenging thanks to a couple of (well-placed) boulders and a bunch of skeletons. Lacks a bit in the esthetic department though with no apparent care given to lighting or setting. Not ugly just average. I did appreciate the bright light for a change but the starting cavern made me feel like I was in some weird warehouse. Too square. This said and again the puzzles are indeed enjoyable and although those rooms would be much better if scattered through a ‘real’ bigger level a perfect moment of relaxation.” – Sutekh (14-Jan-2005)

“This is one of those levels that I liked more and more as I progressed and it has one of my favorite things: slopes that Lara can stand on. Lots of timed sequences some underwater that are not too difficult once the player knows the correct starting trigger. I was stuck at the first underwater timed swim as I had no idea where to start. In a search for a blue gem Lara will also encounter some fun puzzles involving a movable statue and spike balls - complete with a slide to sudden death. Memorable with a good solution. Very easy when one knows how. Lol There are skeletons but no weapons to combat them. At least I never found any but there is also no real need for weapons here - merely outrun them. Having put this one away after being stuck I am very glad I went back to it.” – Bene (10-Jan-2005)

“This is a nice little level that clocked in at just under 40 minutes. It's quite linear and non-taxing although there are a couple of areas that most gamers will probably have to replay several times until they figure it out and get it right. The well lighted surroundings are a welcome change from the past few levels I've played in the BTB series. There are two timed sequences near the beginning of the level that aren't too difficult once you realize what's going on. The extended sequence in the large pool area is especially challenging since a single misstep will plunge you into the water and force you to start all over again. And the ending sequence is nothing short of sadistic where you have to shoulder your way past five skeletons (without even the small hope of killing the bastards later) while avoiding two rolling spike balls and having the presence of mind in the middle of all this to do a rolling flip turn so you slide backwards down a slope. Lots of fun although it was too short by about a third.” – Phil (09-Jan-2005)

“By far the shortest and most linear Level of the B2B batch (well I haven't played all of them so far). It clocks in just below 20 minutes. In fact it's not so much a level but rather a succession of 6 rooms with their respective tasks/puzzles where only the theme of water serves a loose way to connect the various places. There is some jumping a pushing pillar ordeal timed doors and a spot-the-pattern-of-those-tiles puzzle. All quite original in itself but never amounting to anything more than the sum of its parts. Where there any enemies? Not that I can recall. In fact halfway through I had the uncanny feeling that this level must be by Robert LaChapelle but then he is not even taking part in this competition is he?! There are some secrets though. For instance one small medipack in the in plain sight on a pillar that that you just have to jump to. Not that you will need it cause as I mentioned earlier there are no enemies. The setting is a bit bleak and atmospheric lighting is almost completely absent thus giving the impression as if the whole thing was a rather rushed job. There is some good camerawork though.” – Dimpfelmoser (09-Jan-2005)

“This is rather a short level but it has some rather fun gameplay to make up for that. Lara drops into the catacombs then begins her journey tackling timed tiles an object moving puzzle an under water timed door which had me tearing my hair out and a boulder run to get into a crawl space whilst a skelly is on your heals all was great fun. You will simply move on from room to room though and there wasn’t much to see by way of catacomb additions such as pots and ornaments this left it rather dull to look at I’m afraid but this level did have a nice atmosphere which I always find important. Collect the gem to end the level which took me just over twenty minutes. I wish this had been a bit longer then I could have said more but all in all this was fun and I have no complaints.” – Moonpooka (04-Jan-2005)
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