Reviewer's comments |
"I think I was expecting too much after the great cutscene at
the start and the initial actions, which were quite nice and
flowing (namely the torch sequence and the very cool bike
ride with some nasty sentry guns to avoid), because
afterwards this turned out to be a pretty ordinary raid with
many, many levers to find and a whole lot of tedious to and
fro. When I finally got back (with another very hard bike
trip) to the church and entered it, I was pretty
disappointed as it turned out only to be a flooded chamber
and there are no great visuals or objects to look at, but –
again – a lot of levers. Don’t know if the teleport was that
necessary as you basically get up to the top of the church,
find the very sneakily hidden item (and maybe a for sure
even better hidden secret) and drop down again. There were a
few too many enemies in this level because when there were
enemies they often came in groups of three or four. The
texturing was solid but it often was too grey and
unicolored, as well as the lighting; the atmosphere was nice
but I think a few more sound tracks could have been used in
this level; at least the flybys were very professional and
some of the fixed cameras showing some waiting enemies as
well. After 40 minutes this level ended with a rather cool
final cutscene in a metro (this one looked very cool!). 41
minutes." - manarch2 (26-Feb-2012) |
"Argh, what the heck was the builder thinking when he built that godawful bike ride? It’s the epitome of overkill: having to ride a motorbike along a high, narrow, uneven, twisting ramp and jumping over gaps all the while being under constant fire by machine guns. And, oh yes, you have to return along the same path (though thankfully the machine guns are off this time around). The gameplay picks up slightly once you get into the church, though it never reaches any spectacular heights. There is some decent exploration and transporting to the top of the church for one of the keys is rather nice.
The enemies are just are tiresome as in Parisian Streets, and this time they’re dressed for the location, i.e. as priests! It’s somewhat bizarre seeing half a dozen priests machine-gunning down poor Lara, even inside the church.
The interior of the church would have been pretty if it weren’t so dark. The caves and warehouse, on the other hand, are extremely bland. The change of location to the subway station at the end is rather surprising, but also apt when you see the beginning of the next level.
Overall: It’s really unfair of builders in group projects to create such a player-unfriendly level so early in the game, because it will prevent many players from being able to experience the later levels by other builders. I nearly quit RoO during this level – the only reason I decided to continue was my eagerness to play TC14’s levels. Other players may not be so eager." - Mytly (23-Feb-2012) |
"The visuals of this level are somewhat simple but functional
and come together well enough to make the setting
convincing. The lighting is flat in a couple of side areas
(like the cave area), but there are also stronger moments
(like the interior of the church itself). The re-skinned
enemies fit well too.
Unfortunately that gameplay is pretty flawed, outside of a
bike-ride section (that's extremely difficult but also
pretty tense as a result), the gameplay almost entirely
relies on hidden objects and switches; some are almost
impossible to find without the walkthrough and I had times
around the middle where I had to check it in almost every
room. There's exceptions and more interesting moments, but a
lot of it is extremely vague and lets it down, and there are
parts I can't really say I enjoyed. It does even out a bit
towards the end though. A little disappointing after the
first level, but the setting is realised decently." - Mman (15-Feb-2011) |
"To be honest, this level suprised me a little. Shooting priests, hellhounds and all were in Holly place. Level was dark, and lot's of flares were needed. I didn't like riding bike, really it was hellish ride. However, this game was great and interesting." - Andzia9 (29-Apr-2010) |
"Perhaps the author is making a statement by creating a church that gives you hell to get through. Keep your eyes peeled for hard-to-find switches, torches, and trapdoors. And then of course is the infamous bike ride with tight turns, timed spikes, and turrets trying to fry or mutilate you along the way. The secret that makes the return trip easier is clever, though I can only imagine how more frustrating it would be without finding said secret. The banana jump is, as always, tricky to pull off and I wish authors wouldn't ask this of players. If you fall off the roof of the church you are locked out and are stuck. It was nice to have the challenge but at the same time I felt some of it was a simply ploy. Nice flybys and textures though." - SSJ6Wolf (05-May-2009) |
"A challenging level set inside around and underneath an abandoned church. I quite like the beginning with smart ideas of puzzles , before having to face the famous highlight of the level , a tricky ride with the motorbike; the going was challenging but doable requiring only several dozens of tries (!) but i could not come back later on after getting the first pyramidal key and had to borrow a save to continue. Why making things so hard ? The rest is okay with with breakable walls and jump switches to spot , and some long swims. The setting is solidly done but rather dark , enemies are gunmen and dogs and a few little ghosts." - eRIC (28-Jan-2009) |
"The second level and it would probably have gotten higher scores overall if it were not so very devious and player unfriendly - because many, many times you need to find the almost completely unmarked shootable wall, the almost invisible trapdoor in the ground and don't get me started on the bike rides - cleverly done for sure, but frustrating until you have mastered the tricky jumps. Quite a bit of swimming to do, underwater levers as sneaky to find as several jumpswitches outside. All in all, the work here is to get a total of 5 guardian keys and eventually you reach a subway station. Again about a dozen or more guards and dogs to shoot. What I really liked was good camera work in the long flybys as well as the shorter hints that helped guide your way. 45 min., 2 secrets." - MichaelP (08-May-2008) |
"After a fairly promising start to the game, I was somewhat disappointed when starting up this level. To me it seemed to have all the elements to make it as player unfriendly and lacking of any inventive gameplay elements as possible. To fit the setting (?) you are constantly pestered by hellhounds and murderous priests with guns, thus turning this mostly into a shooter experience, which I not only don't enjoy, but find tedious and a lazy way of making gameplay from the builder's side. I actually found the challenge with the motorbike to be one of the level's highlights (a smart way of dodging a boulder being one of the levels other better moments) despite it being one of the its player unfriendly moments and feeling too artificial and functional (i.e. obviously serving the gameplay's needs and not organically fitting into the environment). The long swims after the switches in the church basement was another one of those unnecessarily annoying moments, so all that summed together I found this level to be a bit too high on the complexity level so early in the overall game. The looks are solid, but nothing special and maybe seem anti-climatic after what the first level offered in comparison. As you can guess, I wasn't too impressed by this level, but I understand that some of the elements here were a matter of taste and might appeal to other players despite my thoughts, and overall it's a solid effort from the builder. On a positive note - I found both secrets of the level." - eTux (25-Nov-2007) |
"In an abandoned church in Paris there lives a bunch of thugs dressed as
white haired priests. What a confusing sight! They certainly weren't there
to tackle the emaciated dogs and changelings. But they were determined to
get rid of anyone attempting to snoop around. But snoop around is what our
girl is good at. Undaunted she searches the dark interiors for well hidden
items and passes through a portal to the roof (a hint about what we will
encounter much later in this series). I was up there a few times before it
dawned on me what I was supposed to do. Good torch actions here, moveable
altar, steaming water room, finding keys, and long, very tough, but well
laid out, bike runs. The interior of the church is intriquing. There are
some very sneaky and well hidden routes here. The flyby shows us where we
have to go, but getting there is the question. If the player is completely
stuck, which they will be, light a flare. We have to open gates in the
flooded basement and get into a large storage area. Opening the exit door
leads to a subway station and to the next level." - CC (07-Jul-2007) |
"What stands out is the bike ride, not at all in favour of the use of vehicles; this one was indeed the pits for me. For the rest it does involve exploring, so look in every nook and cranny. That Revolver behind the gate was the biggest tease I encountered as I for sure did my utmost to get my hand on that thing but there was no way to get it. Nice use of texture especially in the church." - Gerty (11-Jun-2007) |
"I loved the gothic and dark atmosphere in this level (which is the second from the Revenge of Osiris project). Lara has now to explore an abandoned church and its surroundings (including the underground areas and the roof), and doing so involves wandering in caves, searching crypts, fighting mean priests and ghost dogs, driving a bike up the most inconvenient surfaces (which is, imo, the highlight of the level). I have to say that I was quite intimidated before playing the levels of this project, because of the comments I had read at the forum about those bike rides. As it turned out, they were not that bad and to be honest I enjoyed them a lot (but I just love bike rides in custom levels anyway, so I somehow expexted this :D). They offered two of the most challenging moments in the level, and it felt so great when I made it through in the end (although I don't know why it was impossible to save during the second part of the second one, as Lara would be on fire with every reload, meaning you have to do it in one go). Of course there's lot more action in the level, and many more challenges to face. The atmosphere is very creepy, almost terrifying. Several times you have to examine the surroundings very carefully, so as to discover things (I found out by chance that a certain crypt was shootable). I liked the teleporting close to the end; I didn't realise at first that I also had to look for a secret there though, as there were no hints anywhere." - Ravenwen (12-Apr-2007) |
"I seem to remember this builder's name in connection with an older level of harrowing difficulty. Indeed, this was the place in Osiris where the flycheat became enabled for me. That motorbike ride was to me unreasonably difficult, so I used my temporary superpowers to glide through the tunnel and return to the church area where I finished the level on foot. The rest of the level was pleasant enough, although too dark for my tastes. And I've never been in a church before where the attendants look like Duke Nukem and shoot at you. That aside, I had a good bit of fun here." - Phil (02-Apr-2007) |
"As the first, this second level is good too, but another time you can't dispose of extra weapons (there was a revolver I couldn't get) and you have to do another nasty banana jump. This kind of jump was implemented only for builders in custom levels with the TRLE, but it's something unnatural out of reality (I've never seen it in official games) and it never means fun for the player; I always subtract 2 points in the gameplay when I have to do this manoeuvre; I prefer the very tight ride with the bike through the narrow bridges than this jump, at least I get satisfied at the end when leaved that inferno, but that jump never produce satisfaction to myself. Tasks are not very original too, only look for hidden switches, hidden keys, hidden trapdoor, hidden passages,... but design and architecure were good, and enemies very well situated. Almost the same textures as the first level, the best for me were sounds and cameras. A hard level, you must be very patience." - José (28-Mar-2007) |
"After the badly frequented streets of Paris you arrive in this Church where you aren't more welcome. As soon as the loading bar disappears a flyby cam begins showing you the beautiful Church and a clue (the camera stops some seconds showing you a shatterable wall) and also some angry priests with big guns. Take yours and fight. After that you'll have to find a torch in a little alcove where you'll surely be stuck because of a fence as long as you won't have thought to the lateral jump. It was a clever idea and liked it but this exemple is here to show you the spirit of Rapetou. You'll have to do a lot of precise moves if you want to progress in the level. After having burned a cross with the torch and avoided a rolling ball you'll arrive in a room where dangerous and shady priests were waiting for you. Fight again. Do you still have some medipacks ? You'll need some. In this room is a bike and it won't be funny to ride it. As soon as you have climbed the slope with your vehicle a machine gun lower your health and makes you jumping from your chair! If you weren't too surprised you surely have managed to turn on the right and even to crush a priest before falling on the water below. Well. It seems just surprising and easy isn't it ? Wrong. If the first turn wasn't too hard the jumps and the second turn (you'll also have to do with a jump) will require several reloads. It might have been funny if there weren't these stressing machine guns or if there wasn't a raised edge which prevent you to jump where you want. It think noone like this bike trial because it needs too much reloads. It would have been better to simplify it a little bit and I'm sure it wouldn't have been difficult to do. I believe that I told you Rapetou. Anyway the rest of the level is quite nice and more easy. The level is quite nice and the Church really beautiful. I have nothing to say about the atmosphere because it was good and I wasn't stuck because of a lack of cameras. It's a good point. In spite of all the end was weird. The big black corridor leads to nothing except the crawling space and I think that for more realism I would have made something else. I think I'd give a 9 for lighting & textures if the end didn't seem not finished for me. The last storage room was monotonous without any light and it's a pity. Also the caves before the second pyramidal key weren't really good in this point. Anyway it's not an excellent and unforgettable level but it's quite good." - TimJ (21-Mar-2007) |
"The church has underground areas, underwater tasks to complete and a challenging bike ride which most, including me, will dislike a lot. In general I found it very interesting and I like difficulty but the problem here is that the sentry guns plus the sloped, cut-off surfaces make the course even more difficult. You’ll be visiting the roof top of the church as well and the secrets I found are two in this level. I liked this one as well even if I got upset at some point with that bike ride." - Kristina (19-Mar-2007) |
"Leaving off where the first level ended, the continuation is still quite good. For a church though, I expected something more of a calm and serene atmosphere, yet I'm greeted with zombie dogs and gun toting priests, and there often will be many of them to deal with at a time. The main attraction here would have to be the bike ride, which is probably one of the most frustrating situations ever encountered in a custom level, but the sense of accomplishment after getting through it did well to offset the frustration. It's mostly a straightforward level that can be a bit hard at times, but in a nutshell, it's not bad at all." - Relic Hunter (04-Mar-2007) |
"When I first arrived I thought what a beautiful Church with the stained glass windows, boy was I in for a surprise. With zombie dogs & priests that were trying to take me out. What kind of priests were they anyway! Very interesting concept for this church with a lake, spike boulders and one of(if not)the most difficult bike rides I have ever encountered. I am proud to say I survived that bike ride without resorting to a saved game from someone. On the Revolver issue-just cruel to make me salivate trying to figure out a way to attain it." - guss18 (01-Mar-2007) |
"There are contrasts in this level. A fun teleportation to the church roof top, followed by an unmarked ladder leading to a secret. Unmarked ladders are never any fun. A 'hell' of a bike, made, I think, unnecessarily difficult followed by the easy but fun room inside the Church. Once again, in a recurring theme of this community project is a lack of medipacks or sufficient weapons for continued play. Ah yes, weapons. Brings to mind the authors' revolver 'joke'. Well, jokes work best when all laugh, not just the builder." - Bene (28-Feb-2007) |
"I think that the highlight of this level is gameplay and puzzles because this
level is hard enough and has a lot of various tasks to solve. You have to
explore, find well hidden keys and switches and I liked also very much the
underground bike ride. I think that this level has almost everything which
is needed to design good gameplay and puzzles. In contrast to the good
gameplay the environment contains some areas that are quite simple
looking and not very interesting. There are also some weird texture
choices in some of the rooms. Good example is the modern glass texture
on the floor in the room which is near the underground bike ride area. At
all events this level is created very well but just a little more effort could
have been done to make the environment better looking." - Samu (24-Feb-2007) |
"Lots of disturbingly ecclesiastical looking gunmen and zombie dogs. Nice. This level contains the most amazingly hairy motorbike ride ever devised, hard enough just to achieve (and I’ll own up, I couldn’t do it) without having sentry guns dotted around the place as well. On reflection, those probably are members of the clergy who are trying to gun Lara down, considering she’s setting crosses on fire and flooding the church. An interesting level that may well have you stuck on more than one occasion. If in doubt, try lighting a flare." - Jay (20-Feb-2007) |
"The Church is the second sub-level of this series and quite a bit more difficult than the first. I was thrown aback to see priests pumping me with lead (yikes), but figured they were just pretending to be Catholic priests, right? Anyway, this was the strangest Church I have ever been to with it's underground lake, rolling spike boulders and an extremely treacherous motorcycle trail on the grounds. There were many areas that didn't make any sense and the motorcycle trip was just downright evil (but I didn't need any help from forum members). The little mindgame regarding the revolver was just unnessary and cruel. I was ticked off most of the time during this sub-level, but not enough to chuck the whole game." - Shandroid (17-Feb-2007) |
"There were a few spots in this levels that I really loved. The church itself, the bike ride and most of all the teleport to the upper part of the church! Followed by a cool secret involving a climb down the church wall! There were however a few spots that I did not find funny at all. The constant loss of health packs during the bike ride back and the tricky way of getting the torch up from behind the fence. Other than that you get a lot of action and the best reward is the fine architecture of the church! The lighting and textures are great and so is the atmosphere. A very solid second level! Time to hit the Airport!" - QRS (13-Feb-2007) |
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