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Level: San Giorgio back home search
Author(s): Zack or FZ
total rating:8.25 Gameplay &
Puzzles		 Enemies,
Objects &
Secrets		 Atmosphere,
Sound &
Cameras		 Lighting &
Textures
Boris 9 8 9 10
CC 6 6 8 9
Cuqui 8 8 9 9
Dimpfelmoser 7 7 9 9
Engelchen Lara 7 7 8 8
eTux 7 8 9 10
Gerty 7 8 8 10
Jose 6 7 7 9
Juan Carlos 7 8 10 9
Kristina 6 7 8 7
Lorena 8 8 10 10
MichaelP 8 8 10 10
Miguel 8 7 9 9
Monika 9 8 8 8
Navi 9 8 9 10
Orbit Dream 7 7 9 10
Phabius Phodes 8 9 9 8
Phil 8 8 9 9
RaiderGirl 9 8 8 10
Ravenwen 8 8 9 8
Roberto 10 9 10 9
Sakusha 9 7 9 8
Sash 9 8 9 9
Treeble 6 7 9 8
Xxenofex 6 5 6 5
Yoav 9 9 10 10
category averages
(26 reviews)		 7.73 7.62 8.77 8.88

Reviewer's comments

"This time Lara travels to an italian city and explores the St. Giorgio cathedral, but before she can do it, she'll have to work a lot through the streets, buildings and sewers of the city. Although there are some small defects, as some wafer thin walls, the level has a very good aspect, with a lot of new and magnificent well applied textures. there are many dark areas too but enough flares to use and light your way. Enemies are only bats, SAS soldiers and scraggy dogs. Some musics in certain places and few more. Gameplay was bored for me. You'll play all the entire level pulling floor levers to open doors, pulling jumpswitches to open more doors and doing some jumps and a long swim; no interesting puzzles I found in this game. But you can play it if you want to admire the beauty of this italian city." - José (11-Dec-2007)

"The atmosphere of this level blew me away. It makes me want to visit Genoa. I typed "Palazzo di San Giorgio" (Saint George's Palace) on Google Images, and the facade in the level is quite similar to the one in real life. It seems that the author did some extensive research on the decorations (some of the textures are absolutely beautiful). I noticed that some of the murals feature Saint George slaying a dragon. As far as the gameplay is concerned, there is a certain amount of variety. Gameplay consists of jumping over flames, going through mazes (one on land and one underwater), avoiding darts, pulling switches, deactivating lasers (it's the first time I've seen that in a custom level) and confronting enemies. The fog effects were interesting, especially since they can prevent Lara from seeing clearly in the area with the boxes, the burning floor and the slopes. The enemies weren't too difficult, and it was interesting to see Lara deactivate lasers in order to gain access to certain crawlspaces. Even though I encountered quite a few enemies in this level, I only needed to use three medipacks. The secret was intriguing. I suppose that the breast plate was a holy relic that the town received during its foundation, but for some reason, it was placed in a box instead of a sacred space. The only downside is that there are two or three paper-thin walls, but they don't mar the atmosphere one bit." - Sakusha (10-Sep-2006)

“A single part custom level that takes place in some areas of an Italian village. It starts off unsurprisingly in a series of storerooms filled with crates none of which is moveable - on the contrary you have to find hidden levers and open doors that are located in the less expected places. This only gives you a hint of what's to come next though. Mainly it consists of a variety of empty internal areas with the exception of some brief sequences where you explore some terraces and a number of alleys. But this doesn't mean that the level is predictable or easy; there are labyrinthian underwater networks that can drive you crazy and drain your breath; sequences where you must not at any rate step on the ground cause you'll catch fire and die; rooms with identical decorations on every side that can easily confuse you; levers placed near doors that don't open unless you discover and pull a jump-switch far away. This means you have to go back and forth in many cases cause some doors that were closed upon your first visit will be open after you do something in another area (not necessarily pull a lever though!) There is an impressive and imaginative collection of textures brilliantly combined together to successfully give the atmosphere of an Italian village. The external decoration of the church is an amazing piece of work and so is the seemingly innocent decorated room that conceals traps of fire near the end. There are enough enemies (including tough guards big dogs bats) to make the adventure challenging enough but you can easily dispose of them with your revolver which you discover early in the game. Lara's inventory is good - there are plenty of medipacks many of which remain in her backpack cause she doesn't need to use them enough ammo for her revolver and her grenade gun and she also finds the laser sight but never comes to use it (at least I didn't find any place where it could be useful). Also she finds the grenade gun close to the end and doesn't really need to use it by then. The lighting is good although there are many dark areas - but then again you are offered plenty of flares throughout the level so there's nothing to worry about. There are just a few music effects that match absolutely the atmosphere of the moments they accompany helping the player understand what it implies. There are also a couple of amazing flybys in certain crucial moments of the adventure. The puzzles are a bit frustrating at the start but after a while you get the picture and they become rather player-friendly. What's more they become really fun. It's a bit shocking but after all totally entertaining when you run through an endless network of corridors where you run the risk of getting injured by poison puffs coming out of walls and you finally get to the end of this labyrinth only to find out that by doing this you trigger open a door in an area away from there.” - Ravenwen (21-Jul-2004)

“I have a tendency to rate levels somewhat higher than their average rating partly because I have a high level of appreciation for the time and creative energy that go into building these releases and partly because I'm a relatively easy-going guy who's easy to please. I downloaded this classic for the purpose of writing a walkthrough for it (although Cher beat me to it) and after playing it I have to say that it's rated about where it should be. It's a fun little exercise with lots of twists and turns that bring you step by step into the stately building and finally to the exit tunnel inside. I found only one secret near the end and that was by sheer blind luck but there were probably three or four more that I didn't find. There are places where I thought it was a little too dark but on the whole I had a good time. If you haven't already played this one download and enjoy. Recommended.” – Phil (16-Jun-2004)

“I wanted to review this level for a long time and I am glad that I do it now. This is one of the best city levels that I played until now. Lara starts the adventure in the great San Giorgio place and she needs to find the way out. Very good gameplay and puzzles cool atmosphere and beautiful textures make this kind of level one of the best and I mean it.” – Yoav (08-Feb-2004)

“If Francesco were building today what marvels might we expect from him? This adventure dates back to the very earliest days of the LE and yet the level of visual creativity is remarkably high. Every texture it seems is original and the location would appear to be based on reality. It's a thoroughly convincing and atmospheric location for much of the levels duration and a delight to play. Having said that the remorslessness of the gameplay (pull lever open door) gets a little wearing toward the end (with the distances between levers and doors increasing as the adventure progresses) and unfortunately provides you too much time to ponder the illogicality of the exercise: if San Giorgio is a historic building why is it so very difficult to access? Wouldn't that jeopardise the potentially lucrative Tourist Trade? The adventure also ends frightfully abruptly leaving the player wondering what exactly the point of it all was. But from a visual standpoint this is masterly. Such fresh visuals and all with a small download. Apparently no-one believes such a thing is possible nowadays for anything less than 10 MB. But this conclusively proves otherwise.” – Orbit Dream (09-Jan-2004)

“Don't quite know if this is based on the Venice or the Rome model for it has the feeling of both - streets doors to open roofs and balconys to hop around even a dark and demanding sewer swimming session. There's an awful lot of levers and doors to find at least the level is supplied with very good camera shots so it's almost impossible to get lost. Lots of new textures especially that lovely palace of San Giorgio (St. George) in Genoa (wonder if this is the real thing!) and has lots of mosaic pictures of him on walls and floors very nicely done. The city itself is very real looking. A handful of guards dogs and bats are the enemies. There are no puzzles or artifacts to collect (that I know of) so I wonder if there is something more to come? I'm thinking this because there was one high up wall switch that I didn't get to pull down and there were so many doors I'm not sure if I opened all of them! A nice easy pleasant and good looking level to play.” – CC (25-Sep-2003)

“This level for the time it was built was very good I guess judging from the tens it got in the two last categories. It’s true that has a good setting and the church from outside looks great. Inside though there are empty rooms and many areas in the entire level have paper thin walls. The game play is very simple push a lever here and there and open a door but a lot of times the doors open by themselves. I am guessing that stepping inside a room opens triggers a door to open elsewhere not a very good idea I would say. Luckily there are cameras most of the time to show you the way. I liked the underwater areas the second part of the level is more interesting with the ledges outside and the camera breaking making it a bit difficult. The use of lasers was nice as well. Bats dogs SAS guards are what you are up against. It is worth taking a look at it for me it lasted forty minutes.” – Kristina (22-Jul-2003)

“Lara starts out in the small city of San Giorgio. Initially there is not much to do. Only levers to pull and guards and dogs to kill. The second part is more interesting you get to see more of the city and the choice of textures was better and overall the graphics improved. Apart from levers there are also traps to overcome and a small water maze. There is also a laser trap but that is easy to avoid. The inside rooms seem a little empty – could have done more with those. Enemies as said are guards dogs and a few bats. Cameras and sound were well used. If you enjoy city levels this is one for you.” – Engelchen Lara (21-Feb-2003)

“This was a small city level which offers a great view of a church at the end. Very nicely designed. There were a few puzzles to solve mainly via switches. Textures were beautiful and diverse. Rather bright and nice warm colours. A pity that the rooms seemed rather empty – one could have done more with them. Cameras were suitable added not a lot of sound but enough. Enemies were dogs bats SAS and Lara found one secret and an armor piece. Medipacks and ammo was plenty around. A nice level for in between not too difficult.” – Navi (14-Feb-2003)

“What a wonderful place! This level is really beautiful and the gameplay quite easy but fun. I found the laser puzzle very original. High quality in atmosphere and textures. I think that's a nice level to play.” – Cuqui (18-Nov-2002)

“Another one of those levels I played in my early TR days and it's very nice to come back to it. I remember that this was actually in the Top 50 9 months ago and it seems now from a different age where a rather simple and straightforward game would take the world by storm. Well there is no denying that it is a bit of a lever feast but you usually get a cutscene that gives you a hint so the backtracking never becomes frustrating. The entertaining course that leads you around this beautifully textured Italian city provides a fast paced gameplay with a magnificent outside area and a cleverly constructed sewer system. You jump from balcony to balcony shoot the SAS guards do a long swim until you finally come to the lasers and poisonous darts. There are a few neat camera angles some good jumps and tons of atmosphere so even if there aren't really many challenges or puzzles I enjoyed it from start to finish. (09/28/02)” – Dimpfelmoser (28-Sep-2002)

“The level starts in an underground area then into a hotel-style place and then finally to the streets of this 'white' city - which was great I must say. I would love to visit such a nice place. Lara will get through the city to get inside the San Giorgio temple which was very nice. I don't know if I missed something as I pulled a switch in the last room which lead me nowhere - and also I got out of the level without any 'reward' so I guess Lara went there for pure pleasure and I believe she didn't regret! As I said it's a very nice place but I just would like to have seen some more puzzles other than the search-and-push-the-lever. 1 hour.” – Treeble (22-Sep-2002)

“What a surprise for my eyes and for all level architects. With a lot of never seen textures fitting well for the ambience. Even when you get no new objects and enemies it is a good level. Underwater passage fire-floor infrared-alarm snipers shooting from balconies - a lot of fun searching there in the streets and buildings. Dogs and bats wanted to stop the adventure of Lara but had no chance - she is jumping shimmying diving and shooting through the streets of San Giorgio. Not so much challenge for the brain but a good and nice ambience with some feeling.” – Miguel (11-Sep-2002)

“You will notice immediately that this is an already older level. The puzzles limit themselves only to pulling of levers with subsequent opening of a door. You need to adapt to the atmosphere a bit mostly it was simply too bright. Certainly the textures were well processed but somehow rather repetitive. Sound was also used however nothing special. One could get rid of the opponents easily actually there were only SAS which removed some energy from me. What I did not like at all was that there were always very long ways because one usually did not know where it continued. Traps were also in short supply except for the firetrap interesting jump combinations were absent. For beginners the Level could be a challenge.” – Xxenofex (20-Aug-2002)

“A beautiful intricate city awaits the player when they begin this level explore the buildings beneath the buildings and even on top of the buildings as you work your way through this amazing level with some lovely fixed camera angles deadly enemies and workable puzzles this is a level that has to be played to fully understand the magic of it.” – Sash (21-Jun-2002)

“Awesome! Impeccable texturing makes this feel like a real place well mostly at least. You have to play it to believe it. Starting in a warehouse like area with a lot of boxes the gameplay is quite straightforward bringing you from level to door to lever to door but as you change locations it never gets boring. You explore the inside of a house then the outside including a long dive and a bit of jumping then back inside up on the roof until you open the Palace gates and have yet to do a bit more exploration in there. Throughout this hour long adventure some SAS dogs and bats are spread but not a big factor. Unfortunately there are a few thin walls and floors and some doors seem to open without the need to push the actual lever but all in all this level is so beautiful that I could not rate it down for that.” – Michael (21-Jun-2002)

“I have wanted to play and review this wonderful level because I think that it is worth to go into the Top 30. The level has exceptional graphics with original textures much care taken of the details. Lara has to find the way to go into the palace of St.George among jumps on the balconies and secret passages under water and in the palace killing dogs and guards. When Lara succeeds to go into the palace she has to disarm some laser screen and then she arrives in the final room with the image of St.George on the walls and the level ends. I have found a secret no bugs and I have ended the level in about 1 hour. My personal compliments to the author that succeed to reproduce faithfully real environment.” – Boris (21-Jun-2002)

“This is a large level that is constantly changing and full of surprises. Starting in a warehouse full of boxes you'll go through many well designed and realistic looking buildings alleys rooftops balconies an underwater area and a palace before you reach the exit. There are a lot of great new textures used here and are some of the most realistic I've seen so far. There were a few areas where I wasn't sure what to do so I backtracked and found newly opened doors without figuring out how I had opened them. There was also a jump switch near the end that I never figured out how to reach but still had no problem finishing the game. This was a fun creative level and I found it to be very entertaining.” – RaiderGirl (21-Jun-2002)

“Very beautiful level. The adventure takes place in an authentically recreated city with a very good-looking cathedral. As with other FZ levels the cinematographic camera work is one of the high points as it enhances the atmosphere a lot especially towards the end of the level when you must cross the outside part of a building. Enemies’ placement and puzzles are also very good and the gameplay is highly entertaining. Download it!“ - Fabio “This level is well pleasing for the eye. Original textures it takes you inside buildings as well as outside. There were some unusual jumps and that was great. The gameplay exist of pulling a lot of levers and for most of them you had to guess where to go next. The enemies are dogs (they had me jumping in my chair as they do tend to sneak up on you) SAS men and bats. Ammo and flares more than enough. Never found the grenade gun and also nothing that needed the grenade launcher. There were some dark places that did serve a purpose but not all of them. I probably missed something in this level as there was still a jump lever way up on a wall I couldn't pull and another one I pulled and although I retraced all my steps couldn't find anything changed.” – Gerty (21-Jun-2002)

“Very beautiful level. The adventure takes place in an authentically recreated city with a very good-looking cathedral. As with other FZ levels, the cinematographic camera work is one of the high points, as it enhances the atmosphere a lot, especially towards the end of the level when you must cross the outside part of a building. Enemies’ placement and puzzles are also very good and the gameplay is highly entertaining. Download it!“ - Phabius Phodes (21-Jun-2002)

“This level is one of the most beautiful works aesthetically talking. Unfortunately in gameplay is one of the easiest and more obvious games. Almost every switch opens the next door and there isn't real emotion through the game. The atmosphere is wonderful the use of cameras is perfect. The map is a great work textures are very Italian (beautiful). The game remembers TR2 in Venice. Just a few textures short and triangles not rotated correctly some rooms without lights (why?). Almost all the level is a perfect work in textures and lights. Anyway I recommend to play this level it is like a pleasure trip in Italy.” – Juan Carlos (21-Jun-2002)

“This is a very good game principally in visual look. If you want a beautiful level this is the one; but if you are looking for a big adventure forget it.” – Lorena (21-Jun-2002)

“Coming from the station of Genova Principe Lara finds again herself between the caruggi of the old Genoa that will straight carry it straight to the Saint palace George! But not even here circular in freedom can! All the alleys and the palaces are under besiege! Lara must only arrive to the high plans of the palazzo.. will succeed ? At times Tr1 at times Tr2 at times the 3 and in Tr5 last phase Saint George prevails for its new use textures and new atmospheres that resume the real architectonic styles of Genoa.” – Roberto (21-Jun-2002)

“One should really not only play the new games. This older one for instance has its own charm. The texture is not always too good; sometimes the walls are wafer thin. But then I liked the walls in one room with the Moorish like tiles and the image of St. George on the floor and on the wall is just wonderful. The game goes more or less straightforward and takes you through Genoa. Lara has to pull and push switches to open doors. The camera usually showed where to go next. The laser puzzle was an interesting idea and Lara better takes a deep breath before going into the underwater tunnel. The enemies are SAS awkward looking dogs and bats. The revolver came in really handy. I found some grenades but no grenade gun. Playing time about 90 minutes for me.” – Monika (21-Jun-2002)

“A very nicely put together level. Every thing in this level looked real. The texturing was great the atmosphere amazing but it was quite boring. You started here from somewhere beneath the city and then had to find your way to the palace. The lasers late in the game where well thought out but the ending just didn't give the satisfaction of completing a good level that this is. I'd recommend to try out this for yourself.” – eTux (21-Jun-2002)
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