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Level: Scottish Mysteries back home search
Author(s): phms2010
total rating:5.69 Gameplay &
Puzzles		 Enemies,
Objects &
Secrets		 Atmosphere,
Sound &
Cameras		 Lighting &
Textures
Blue43 5 6 7 8
eRIC 4 6 7 5
EssGee 5 6 5 6
eTux 4 4 5 5
Gerty 5 6 6 6
Jay 5 5 6 5
Kitkat 5 6 5 7
Kristina 5 5 5 5
MichaelP 5 6 7 7
Orbit Dream 5 5 6 7
reborn1995 5 7 5 5
Samu 3 6 6 6
Treeble 7 7 8 8
category averages
(13 reviews)		 4.85 5.77 6.00 6.15

Reviewer's comments

"This is a nice straightforward level and I was actually pleasantly surprised how much I liked it, since the ratings for this one are a little on the low side in my opinion. The game play is pretty easy as there no timed runs or difficult jumping sequences, but the player still has to pay attention because there are a number of spike and blades traps which are more or less damaging to Lara’s health. Some of those spikes are much easier to pass by than it initially looks. There are plenty of climbable walls that are easily identified, some rope swinging, a bit of diving, boulders to avoid and of course there are also several enemies in the form dogs, rats and big Scotsmen. Either my game had a bug or it’s the way it is designed, but I picked up plenty of shotgun ammo and never had a shotgun. According to the walkthrough, which I checked for reference in the end there is supposed to be a shotgun in the game (but not as a pickup). Anyhow, there was a nice atmosphere, but on the downside a couple of very annoying camera angles and one of them got stuck until I reloaded from a save. The texturing was very well done but the lighting was a little flat in certain parts. The game also had some darker areas, but there were enough flares provided. It’s a nice 30-minute raid, that’s easy enough to be recommended to beginners and a relaxing level for the advanced players. Definitely worth the download." - Blue43 (19-Dec-2010)

"A short and straightforward raid in Scotland with no great surprises along the way except for some traps some of which a few can catch you off guard. I hated these thick darkness in some of the caves and corridors underground. The level is not difficult but as you begin with no medipacks because of the new exe, watch out for your health. The level is solidly built and the main interest is to see and fight against two highlanders which are the enemies here with rats and dogs." - eRIC (11-Jan-2009)

"Another pleasant raid that's ideal to be played between massive levels. What you get here is a rather relaxing time as you roam through a castle of sorts. Textures are always nicely applied so you get an authentic feeling. Curiously enough you only get to fight two scots, and for some reason the transparency in the dogs eyes didn't work as it should. 20 minutes, 3 secrets. 04/08" - Treeble (06-Apr-2008)

"A very linear 20-30 minute romp through a Scottish castle of sorts, in search of the Hand of Rathmore. For a first time builder this is a good effort, however there are too many tunnels and not enough interesting areas to explore. The mystery for me was why the two scotsmen had so many books and why their libraries were full of spike and blade traps??? It must be the heaviest guarded library in history. Music was suitably used, cameras were minimal. Lighting was really in need of more attention, with some very dark areas present, with other rooms overly bright. A bit more consistency would have added to the overall atmosphere. The construction of some multi-level rooms (e.g. the aforementioned well-fortified library) shows that the builder has a good understanding of the editor, and with development of interesting gameplay can produce something better in his next adventure. Not bad for a quick raid though." - EssGee (25-May-2007)

"This is a very linear and actually rather pleasant run of about 20 minutes through a fairly standard, but solidly designed Scottish environment. There are occasional, but fairly harmless traps (spikes, blades, boulders) and a few enemies (dogs and rats and the remarkable two Scotsmen that you can easily avoid if you choose to), as well as four not very hard to find secrets. Generally a good debut, now with the next level try to be a bit more creative on the puzzling side of the level and make it maybe a little less linear and we'll have a winner." - MichaelP (08-May-2007)

"This level is very very linear and just all around not very imaginative. i had high hopes for it since i love scottish scenery, but the scenery was actually rather dull. There's really no plot to the gameplay and the spikes are completely overdone. This is one of the very rare occasions where i'd advise you not to even bother playing this level at all." - reborn1995 (03-May-2007)

"Aha, I thought, a Scottish level; time for some fun and games in lovely heather filled glens and beautiful lochs. Nope, lots of running and crawling through dimly lit passages (some with benefit of spikes and knives), intermittent swimming, the occasional dogs, rats and a couple of homicidal Scotsmen with terrifying beards. It’s a short, linear level and the gameplay is a little meagre, but it passes the time well enough and shows quite a lot of promise for a first time build." - Jay (27-Apr-2007)

"Kind of a 'cute' effort from a first time builder, if you can describe a level that way. But since I'm growing tired of constantly using 'decent', 'great', 'fine', 'good' you'll have to live with it this time. So why cute? Well, it's pretty linear, takes up to 15 minutes to get through and doesn't offer a whole lot of challenges to face during its run, and I dare say has a touch of enjoyable naivety from the early days of Tomb Raiding to it too. The darkness at some points might not be so great, and the freedom and possibility to explore the hillside meadows at the beginning of the level should've been avoided, but actually is a fun side task to do, as the areas are detailed to some extent (maybe some gameplay ideas that never got realized?) and there aren't that many outside areas to explore in this little adventure in the first place. Nothing excruciatingly wrong with this debut, but then again nothing that fully grabs your attention as well - worth the play if you like Scotland inspired adventures." - eTux (27-Apr-2007)

"Despite contianing no horrendous mistakes (and therefore being a perfectly competant first level) this never really grabbed me. It's a terribly linear (occasionally booby-trapped) jaunt through that type of Castle environment (seen many times before) which can't seem to decide whether it ought to be semi-realistic or completely surreal.As a result there are interestingly designed rooms full of unlikely traps (spikes and blades) interspersed with plain rectangular and empty rooms full of 'castle things'(bookshelves;boxes;scotsmen). It all looks decent enough and there are no obviously mis-applied textures to offend the eye,but it lacks that certain something. Maybe it's the short duration (less than 30 minutes),or the fact that you're never anything less than certain about the correct way to proceed.Whatever it was,this well put-together debut adventure is regrettably little more than average." - Orbit Dream (24-Apr-2007)

"This is a straightforward level. Nice traps, nice secrets, some enemies and lots of swimming. The outside area where you start, you can jump to the castle on the left but there is nothing to do. There are illegal slopes in that area. The texturing could use some tweaking I thought and I saw one missing one in a dark area, thanks to the binoculars though. For the rest the hunt is on for the Hand of Scots and with the Hand of Rathmore in her backpack, Lara left this castle. Nice first attempt and keep going as I see potential here." - Gerty (21-Apr-2007)

"You start off in a Scottish Glen and quickly find yourself in some library/catacombs under an old castle. It is a very linear path to your ultimate goal – the Hand of Rathmore. But that path is not smooth; it is littered with rats and dogs and further into the level spike traps and rolling balls. There are no real puzzles to speak of and the gameplay consists mainly of rope and monkey swinging. Oh, and you did remember your swimming costume, didn't you? Because there is a fair amount of swimming too. The large, empty rooms add to the apprehensive atmosphere as you progress - When will the next spike trap 'pop' out in front of you? The secrets are mainly out in the open and easy to find, which isn't necessarily a bad thing sometimes... At one point I had a problem with a camera view that didn't change even when Lara turned a corner, it made avoiding a spike pit and climbing down from a crawlspace just that little bit more challenging! The level is perhaps overly dark but the textures are applied well, especially in the outside areas. Even though this is a short level the gauntlet of traps keeps you on your toes." - Kitkat (17-Apr-2007)

"It’s darkish level with Scottish textures and library rooms. The enemies are rats, dogs and the big red beard guys. The gameplay is simple with a hand to find, some swimming and climbing and spikes to around to. The four secrets are easy to find but apart from that there is nothing innovative in the level. It lasted only twenty minutes but it was a nice break from the large complicated games." - Kristina (12-Apr-2007)

"It is very important to give a good first impression for players and author has truly managed to do it. The starting area is quite big and looks very good but rest of the game is much worse. Environment looks mainly very simple and it consist of many empty rooms that are not memorable. Gameplay is neither especiall. There are no puzzles, hard jumping tasks, exploring or anything else that would make this level challenging and interesting. In fact there are some traps to avoid and few battles to accomplish in this level but they are only gameplay elements among the easy jumping tasks. This is not a bad level at all despite there are many things to improve to make future levels better. I'm just trying to tell what could be done better." - Samu (11-Apr-2007)
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