Levels listed...
TR5 - 31
TR4 - 3141
TR3 - 177
TR2 - 133
TR1 - 61
72368 reviews (20.4/level)
3532 (99.7%) walkthroughs
445 Hall of Fame levels
1221 levels rated >= 8
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release date: |
15-Dec-2008 |
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# of downloads: |
118 |
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average rating: |
6.97 |
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review count: |
17 |
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review this level |
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file size: |
267.00 MB |
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file type: |
TR4 |
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class: |
nc |
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| Reviewer's comments |
"This huge game undoubtedly has its
enjoyable sections (my overall impression
was that this was a worthwhile raid, so I
haven't lowered my scores as much as some
of the previous reviewers did), but also
some definite annoyances that probably
could have been avoided with a bit of
further testing. The progression
throughout all six levels mainly involves
utilising Lara's moves, which I am
personally all for, but it became quite
repetitive over time as pretty much every
room requires you to do one of these
manoeuvres. A couple of the block puzzles
also outstayed their welcome quite a bit
and a few camera shots froze in place,
which proved quite irritating. The big
downer is that final boss encounter with
Miss Natla, who has now been transformed
into a harpy-like creature. It took an
inordinate amount of ammo and time for her
to finally perish (I actually counted how
long it took me - 18 minutes) and rather
spoilt the ending to what was an otherwise
sufficiently enjoyable set of levels.
Surely it deserved something more than
that. Still, you get some mostly good
looking surroundings to explore around in,
some nice audio choices throughout and
some well placed enemy encounters that are
made somewhat easier by copious supplies
scattered around. If easier gameplay is
what you are looking for, this might be
just the ticket." - Ryan (03-Apr-2019) |
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| "The builder, at least at that time, didn't yet understand that "large" and "new" are often not the better option. It's just so much he tried to put in this game but it still feels empty of ideas or creatitivity and not built with enough care. There are some nice looking areas from time to time, but so many missing or misplaced textures, very messy architecture and many end-of-the-world moments destroy any good feelings. The sound choices are decent at first, but once they loop they become fairly annoying. Cameras shamelessly go through walls or are way too hasty; some clues show nearby opening doors while far doors aren't hinted at all. Bugs appear everywhere, new animations are not correctly set up and even classic ones are messy. There are literally dozens of shortcuts in this game, it feels as if the builder didn't even think about players being able to follow a different than his intended route; there are also some extremely unnecessary tasks instead of which you can do a simple run-jump, but the builder obviously thought that to be impossible. The worst levels were the first level (because of saving being permitted halfway through as otherwise the game freezes) and the Umbrella Corp. one (yo-yo-backtracking and only dozens of switches to find); other levels, like the Peru Caverns one, are more fun to play. I also didn't like that the same platforming task is used again and again (shimmying around a pillar and backflipping to the next one). Enemies are another story. The game also feels much like a shooter, with most enemies being very heavy; strangely the pistols are the most powerful weapon in this game while the revolver or the shotgun didn't even work on some enemies; it's also not nice to face several demigods and other creatures at the same time. The final boss fight was beyond any border, it took me a whopping 12 minutes to kill Natla but without any special challenge - just eternal boredom. There are certainly good design elements from time to time in any regard and at least a halfway decent storyline that holds it together, but all in all this game is just a big mess that should have received much more care before seeing the light of the day. Found all 19 secrets in 3:10 hours." - manarch2 (02-Dec-2017) |
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| "Sometimes a port from later engine into older makes sense, providing classic gameplay in revamped setting. Here it also happens but seriously lacks execution. Initial manor has flyby retrigger on reload but you won't die so if your PC also doesn't and if you endure few hours on the map where tons of empty rooms unlock but a crucial item lies on unfocused windowsill, you will make it to the next level with unlocked loading. What is worth to do as a batch of levels derived but not totally copied from original TR1 unfolds with great enemies, satisfying secrets and fitting audio though once more I think TRA ambiences don't suit longer levels and sound issues occur like a seriously funny howling panther, possibly one of Natla's abominations. To deal with these the author provided a whole arsenal of weapons but somehow the rapid pistols appear the most universal of all. The game also includes a playable title remake with unusual pickup arrangement, and an extended remake of earlier demo where a one-shot secret should get a warning as it's likely missable to imply level replay if unhinted. I would also like a smoother transition, between other chapters as well but especially to and from this one, as the mood changes are definitely too sudden. The final levels are based on corridor network, missing characteristic rooms like explored in previous parts, but the concluding passages nicely lead towards the final fight. This time it takes almost as much faith and bullets as specified in the overused dragonball joke to believe and ensure the boss is mortal - I think she's about as tough as Morgana from KAP so half of that HP would suffice." - DJ Full (11-May-2016) |
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| "It's hard for me to mark down a set of levels that looks as gorgeous as this one does, even if the gameplay seems to be somewhat less than inspired. Nonetheless, my game clock registered right at seven hours when I finished this epic adventure, so you're given ample time to enjoy the luscious surroundings while you play. Unfortunately, a disproportionate amount of this time was consumed at the very end with that unreasonably resilient boss lady. I had read the earlier reviews and knew what to expect, but I stuck with it until she finally exploded after at least 15 yawn-inducing minutes, knowing by the red flashes that my continuous high-powered fire was slowly but surely taking its toll. Even playing in god mode with unlimited ammo this proved to a monumental bore for me, so I've taken a point off gameplay for the sour taste left in my mouth by the builder's misguided ending to what otherwise was a rather entertaining raid. Too bad. There were several undocumented (in the walkthrough) secrets that I didn't take the time to try and figure out, but I did find one at the end of the Umbrella Corp. level that the great Harry Laudie had missed (pushblock room). Recommended for the eye candy and the relative ease of play." - Phil (11-Mar-2016) |
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| "In this compilation of different levels you have definitely a lot to see. I can say that this is one of the most beautiful levelset I have ever seen. Furniture, decorations, plants, pillars, everything is absolutely amazing, and you can say that these levels are packed with objects of any kind, nicely blended in the architecture to make a beautiful vista. Also, Lara has some fancy new moves (sideflipping or backflipping, shimmying, swan dive jump, back roll out of the crawlspace etc) but this is not always for the better. I did not like them all, because they don't look natural, or they are not needed. Despite the fact that the design of these levels is absolutely amazing and rich, the gameplay is seriously damaged by some major and minor flaws. It is obvious that these levels are rather ambitious and that the builder invested a lot of time and effort to build them. However, he failed in many ways to give us one really compelling and realistic adventure. I think that details always matter. For example, if you see a greatly built room, sumptuously furnished, and then see the textures which are twisted or stretched, or lighting that is made bad, with sharp and pitch dark shadows out of place, than the impression is rather spoiled by these details. The overall beautiful vista is seriously damaged by wrongly applied textures, completely wrong and unmatched lighting and many cracks along walls. There are also many wrongly placed doors and ropes (so Lara swings through blocks and walls), and many things that simply destroy not only the vista, but the gameplay as well. Should I even mention that the first level, placed in Lara's home, is so huge that even when you know exactly where to go and what to do, when you know all the shortcuts and skip all the secrets, you still have to play this level for almost an hour, sprinting through endless hallways and around the mansion which is of a size of a continent? Or the endlessly long fight against Natla? It is not at all hard, you can pretty fast find a safe spot, but it takes a half an hour to kill her, so it gets pretty boring and tiresome to keep your finger on Action button for so long. Yes, there are too many flaws in this game, to my regrets, because the levels would have been perfect and the review marks much higher if the builder paid attention to these little but very important details. Puzzles, fights, enemies, climbing, swimming, everything was well imagined and realized, along with aforementioned beautiful vista, but these little things really spoiled the pleasure... The builder should also do some testing before he releases the game, and definitely have the review from them before the game is released. Suggestions from the testers or other builders would improve the overall impression, and these small mistakes would never happen... I recommend this game to everybody, because it is really interesting and beautiful, but still, be prepared to some really annoying moments playing it." - Nina Croft (08-May-2011) |
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"This an ambitious multi level project with modern looks and feel and there were plenty of things in this game that I really liked, but also plenty of things that made me wonder why or motivates a builder to make certain decisions when building a level.
Gameplay and Puzzles: The game play is a mixed bag as there are lots of exploratory sequences that are nothing more than running around in confusing areas (like the mansion) to find keys and levers in order to progress, but in other areas it is quite fluent and straight forward like in the hive. It is not very challenging because none of the timed sequences are very tight and neither are there any really hard jumps or very difficult traps. In some areas the game play became very tedious like the long block pushing parts. There are also many jump switches, which are either placed where they are hard to find or they are just blending in with the texturing well and are therefore overlooked easily. Lara had many custom moves and also some of the animation were customized and not all for the better. The side flip and the backwards roll out of a crawl space looked somewhat strange in my opinion. Pickups were plenty and there was never a shortage of anything other than bullets (see enemy section). All in all I found the game play nice, but with lots of room for improvement.
Enemies, Objects and Secrets: Some secrets were well hidden and I frequently checked with the walkthrough and theoretically I should have found them all, but some did not register in the secret counter. The enemy section is another part of the game that ranges from great to really bad. While the early enemies during the game are rather normal and enjoyable like the groups of Raptors or the T-Rex there is a steady increase in enemy"durability" toward the end of the level that gets to the point where it becomes outright ridiculous. There are plenty of shootable zombies, exploding guards, great looking panther mummies, winged mutants, demi-gods and centaurs - all manageable. 2 winged devil women are also in the mix and while they are already very tough to kill, it is just a taste of things to come. First I welcomed the TR1 Torso boss and was excited to see the old foe from the original game, but after spending 10 minutes using all ammo and countless unlimited revolver ammo that thing just wouldn't die so I just reloaded a save game and just outran it. The final boss Natla, who must be killed because she drops a key, was rather harmless looking but is real nasty one and after expending the whole arsenal Lara finally has to kill her with the pistols what seemed like an eternity and really spoiled the otherwise very good gaming experience.
Atmosphere, Sounds and Cameras: Actually this is one of the strong parts, especially sounds were used nicely with good soundtrack ambient loops and created a good atmosphere. There were plenty of cameras used and while all the flybys and screen shots after a lever pull were definitely welcomed for the help, I noticed that in many cases the camera got stuck and even the look button wouldn't bring it back. Lara had to jump off the tile she was standing on - which proofed to be fatal in several cases.
Lighting and Textures: Very well done for the most part. Certain areas in the game have a really beautiful look to them with almost all high resolution textures and lots of decoration to break up the rooms, on the other hand there was a lot of wallpaper in some of the really big rooms or some outside areas. The lighting was very nice for the most part but for whatever reason it seemed a bit dark and dull in the Peru levels.
Conclusion: While it isn't perfect it and does have it's flaws; it is a good game with lots of eye candy and a variety of different places to visit. The only really annoying part is actually the final boos. I definitely enjoyed this adventure and would definitely recommend that you play it. I think it is far better than what you might expect from the rather low average scores it has received. (5 hours, 48 minutes - 10/19 secrets found)" - Blue43 (04-May-2011) |
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"Croft Manor (3/8/8/7, 45 mins, 5 secrets): I do not particularly enjoy the running around in Manor levels in the best of cases, but this one was huge and I am sure you could spend days without finding anything if you do not look out carefully, so it was a painful experience indeed to find the 5 secrets here. Of course, you could just leave through the front gate quickly and avoid all that if you were so inclined. I thought the audio choices, the wealth of objects, the bike ride and the jumping around in the gym was sort of fun, but I was still glad when I could finally leave to the next level.
Peru Caverns (7/8/8/8, 40 min, 2 secrets): Much better than the initial home level for me. I liked the Peru setting and the level is more linear without being boring in its progression. You get a few tasks with push and raising blocks to resolve, need to use the new climb/jump moves quite a bit and kill a few bats and many raptors along the way. Towards the end is a room which eventually leads to the crowbar that obviously could be skipped if you brought it along from the manor.
City of Vilicamba (6/8/8/7, 50 min, 1 secret): More of the same Peru setting here and some ambitious ideas for gameplay that fall rather short in execution. You can avoid the entire run around in the T-Rex area due to a fairly obvious shortcut in the area with a few missing textures for example. And the final big room where you fill layer after layer with water is also odd, because it does technically not fully work and felt like there were several levers I never used. Nor was the timer actually for anything timed - or maybe I missed a secret? There are also a few too many illegal slopes and doors placed the wrong way round and squashed textures throughout. And worst of all, the gameplay is too slow and tedious with long push object and shimmy sequences. This part could have been much better with some decent beta testing and only a little bit of extra work.
Tal Rashas Tomb (7/8/7/8, 35 min, 3 secrets): Changing location to Egypt now, this was also a fairly fluent level with plenty of activity and a significant increase in terms of battle with a dozen or so demigods and panthers, crocodiles, scorpions and a few of those flying Atlantis mummies to kill. I had fun in this one as it is fairly bright and the push blocks do not have to be pushed far.
Inside the Great Pyramid (7/7/7/7, 40 min, 1 secret): You will be very familiar with the initial rooms in this part as they are a straight copy of the title level. More and tougher enemies to deal with here, with combinations of tinmen, willards and more of the flying mummies. There is also a nice push/raise puzzle sequence and a fun jump room to get through until you finally can put your hands on the second scion.
Umbrella Corp (6/8/8/7, 45 min, 2 secrets): As I had played the demo level release of this part more than two years ago, I really had very little recollection of it, but after Egypt the Base setting is a nice change of locale. Unfortunately, the gameplay relies very heavily on a lot of running back and forth, finding many discs, circuits and presing many buttons to open the next door somewehere along the way. Also the inevitable duct crawling slows the pace down a bit. Still cool to actually be able to kill those mummies that are walking around. The Resident Evil atmosphere really does not quite work as the level is just NOT spooky or scary, but it plays nicely enough and I think the two secrets I found are also new since the demo version."
The Hive (7/8/8/8, 65 min, 3 secrets): The final part of the adventure is set up with Atlantis textures and enemies, plus those cool red devil demigods and a TR1 monster that I think cannot be killed (but also does not need to be killed). It would have been nice to see the good looking lava animated as the 'forzen version' really spoiled the effect. You make progress through a series of copied hallways which is a bit lazy on the builder's side, but as you progress the battles get more fierce, so it is a nice build up to the final boss fight - which then is a big spoiler. As mentioned by my fellow reviewers, there is simply no challenge in killing a flying Natla that has been put into a harpy slot with its health bar set ridiculously high. Just lure her into a corner, put something heavy on the action key, go grab a coffee and come back 10 minutes later to find her lying dead on the floor. So that 'boss ending' rather spoiled the overall impression of the level than help it.
You end this long series with a quick scene in a Temple and almost a bit too abrupt after going through seven levels to get here, but in general this adventure turned out to be much more fun for me than I had expected after seeing the previous scores and reviews and it is definitely worth a try if you enjoy the longer adventures." - MichaelP (23-Mar-2011) |
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| "Starting this huge level set I already was somewhat irritated as there were no binoculars. Oh well, a house level, maybe with the level jump? So the irritation stayed with me as the big NO in my book became reality. Seeing the new animation the irritation even became annoying and I am not talking about jumping from ledges, but the plain shimmying and running with the pistols, and lets not forget the swimming. All right, I had more than 9 hours on my clock so that should count. It did and it didn't. I was wondering if this was tested and if so, if the builder paid any attention as the textures could use quite some adjustment. Also found some very convenient shot cuts. Rope swinging through solid rock? Come on.. Then pushing a block through a pillar, is pretty sloppy. Some nasty camera clues, Lara had a hard time to break through. The built up in enemies is rather nice but the end boss figure, called Natla is plain ridiculous. You are at it more than 10 minutes and in my case even longer as I only used pistols. Great tip though, find a brick, position Lara in a corner, use the brick to push down the CTR key and take a shower, eat lunch or whatever, as this will take a while. There are some good moments in here but as well as not so nice ones. It could have been great, now it is mediocre at best." - Gerty (25-Feb-2011) |
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| "This series of levels has good stuff in it, but one wishes it were better. Has vast territory where Lara has to hunt out movable blocks, or find a switch, when there is nothing else going on. The details are sloppy, whether sound, texturing, or convenient game play. Camera clues lock the screen, until Lara leaps off a switch tile, or players save and reload the game. Lara starts in a manor the size of a super mall, similar to the one in "Abbingdon Estate." The manor looks good, carefully textured and filled with a number of items, but it is exhausting running from one end to the other, and it can take hours finding something to do. Invariably there is lots of backtracking. Lara picks up pistols at once. Players can spend a long time here to find only a few secrets. Since this was familiar territory it was soon off to Peru, and then to the "City of Vilcabamba." The huge area where Lara gets the Inca mask on wooden ledges is indicative. This is a vast expanse but there is nothing here, except for the mask. The route up the rocks has missing textures right in front of players. A long side route has corridors that only bring Lara back to the initial area. (In many places corridors are strewn with fallen columns, or with timbers that get in the way, hampering play.) The T-rex gets stuck in rocks. Soon after this there is a puzzle with rising water levels; at each of the five or so stages Lara repeats herself, but this is about as challenging as puzzles get. The next two levels are in colorful Egypt. Lighting is either bright or much too dark. A lot of play features Lara's new moves, the ability to twist jump from a crack in a pillar to another pillar, or to leap up to a higher ledge. After Egypt there is a base level "Umbrella Corp." Movable blocks can be pushed through half-closed doors or through objects. When Lara searches a cabinet, she has the wrong animation. A camera clue faces the wrong way down a corridor, so it doesn't show a risen block. The last real level is Atlantean "The Hive" with many similar corridors. Most of the enemies here are good. Torso Monster feels like a real threat, and since he is too hard to kill, run from him. But the final endless encounter with Natla turns silly, when it seems that she is never going to die. After twenty minutes of blasting her with every weapon and listening to her inane giggles, players are mostly irritated, which is an odd way to conclude a game. It might lead to bad reviews." - dmdibl (12-Mar-2010) |
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| "A game with different worlds , and some good ideas at times that does not counterbalance things enough to make a good game. The gameplay rather fun in the beginning becomes repetitive after a while, the graphics are below average , the atmosphere is coherent with the respective worlds but somehow predictable with ominous audio tracks when enemies show up. There is many beginner mistakes as well with some doors not placed in portals , illegal slopes , and some annoying cameras where you have to reload a savegame after pulling a switch to get back to Lara. Either the author has built these levels in haste, or he does not really care for correct technical achievement. I will not mention some unmarked fire traps, pushable boxes that you push through palmtrees or a few uncorrect sounds.
Croft Manor [ 2 6 6 6 ]
Ah a manor, all good games should begin by them. If you have a mansion or a house , would you offer a visit to everyone you don't know ? No of course, only to your family or friends. So what is the point to visit a manor , even if it has a good decor ? If only a manor could offer fun gameplay ! This said, I was glad to see that you don't have to go everywhere as a lot of things are unnecessary except maybe for some more secrets, before hitting the end trigger.
Peru Caverns [7 7 6 5]
This was the level of the set i enjoyed the most. Even with average looks, I found the gameplay quite fluent and fun.
City of Vilcabamba [4 6 4 4]
The beginning of this level was also rather entertaining , but it all went downhill in the room with pushable statues , followed by the wide outside areas where you can encounter a T-Rex. The looks here are the worst of the whole set, you even have untextured"blocks" and illegal slopes placed right on Lara's path. Also all that area does not make sense to me as it was quite useless to try to visit everything. I like the amusing way Lara uses to reach the ledges in that high room that must be flooded step by step, and where she retrieves the first Scion of her quest.
Tal Rasha's Tomb : [4 7 6 5]
It was somewhat a relief to go a more colourful Egypt after this bland greyish Peruvian world, and to have a better background audio loop. There seems to be more enemies here.
Too bad this level has some shortcuts by which you can avoid parts of the normal progression, there is firstly a gem that I never used, then there is no real need to raise blocks in the first area with a winged mutant
Inside the Great Pyramid : [4 6 3 4] I had to exit the game in order to boost the gamma 300 % instead of 200 % so far. That's the way it goes folks, when the author chooses low quality flares for you , or does not create an environment with good lighting. What is it that shadow bulbs are easier to place than the other sorts of bulbs ? Okay there are only a few very dark areas. Textures here are surprisingly not high-defined, but it is not that that made me rating low again in this category. A level that goes on my nerves mainly due to the annoying background audio track.
Umbrella Corp [5 6 6 6 ]
The demo level with an added area at the end. The awkward way to get out from a crawlspace while hindered by the open ceiling trapdoor is still there, and so are the buggy switches that do not function immediately. All in all one of the two best levels of the set.
The Hive [ 4 5 5 4 ]
An atlantean level , with many keys to find and more enemies, with special mention of a final boss which is highly ridiculously long. A boss fight should be fun and/or thrilling. I quit the game before killing Natla as I had lost enough time so far. Here again , illegal slopes that are put directly ( intentionally ? ) on Lara's path." - eRIC (19-Jul-2009) |
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| "Not usual this kind of long adventures with good and bad features. The Lara's mansion is very well textured and ornated, with a lot of details, but it's too much huge and the gameplay too much no lineal. When I was more than half an hour exploring the mansion I arrived at the pool room and I noticed that I needed a crowbar. Only the idea about looking for a small item through all the entire manor almost maked me abandone the level, but at least you can go to the next level directly without complete all the tasks, so that was what I did. Next levels were not bad, but most of the gameplay is based about pulling switches or find and place objects, with few puzzles. Enemies are good, but some enemies are very hard to kill and I think there's not a good idea spend more than five minutes shooting an enemie. Secrets are easy to find. The cool musics were one of the features I liked, but I don't know how the player can't use the look key to restore the cameras over Lara and has to move her out of the tile (in the last level you must be lucky to not get stucked in an ilegal slope). Lights and textures were the best for me, as some new objects and the ambience in general. At the end of the game I think it's unacceptable fight too much time with a final boss; so when I waste 15 or 20 minutes shooting Natla, I get very bored and I abandoned the game." - Jose (05-Mar-2009) |
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| "It's hard to review this custom. This game is very easy. Graphic is nice, atmosphere is great too. It looks like TR1 Anniversary, but there are less levels, and there is base level here. I wonder how many times takes fighting with Natla." - Andzia9 (22-Feb-2009) |
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| ""It has good reviews, so it must be fun", I thought. "It seems like quite a big download, so I should be in for a long and enjoyable adventure", I thought. Well, everybody is wrong sometimes, and it just so happens that this was one time when my assumptions were definitely way off the mark. Starting off in Lara's mansion with one of the most annoying cats in history, our task appears to be to collect Lara's pistols and head to the next level. At least, that's what I found out to be the case after already traveling to the next level without actually getting the pistols, since it was possible to miss them entirely. Anyway, on with the level, and after quickly using my new found toys to permanently deal with the aforementioned cat, I had a quick look around Lara's home. Of course, providing you can actually call it a home, considering its approximate size being that of an IKEA warehouse, with about as much furniture to boot. After trawling through room after room of hundreds of cluttered and colliding objects (which by this point, felt like I was taking somewhat of a grand tour of the trsearch.org archives), I took a step outside, partook in some fun little assault course exercises, and decided it was time to move on. Next stop, Peru, filled with the usual BtB08 themed textures and objects, as well as several sections that felt quite similar to those from either TR1 or TRA. After trekking through the city of Vilicamba (which I'm assuming was the estranged half-brother of Vilcabamba, yet that apparently also received its fair share of dinosaurs and its very own Scion piece) we reach a Lost Valley sort of environment with yet more ledges to clamber around. Shimmying along ledges seems to be a recurring feature of the levelset, and while fun at first due to the ability to jump either up or backwards off a ledge, it eventually become somewhat tiresome later on. After offing a few more dinosaurs and hopping along some wooden supports above the valley, we eventually emerge in a huge chamber consisting of a very back-and-forth water raising puzzle, where we eventually retrieve the Scion piece and head off to sunny Egypt. Egypt houses more of the same gameplay found in Peru, but now with somewhat tougher enemies to face. Most don't take too long to deal with, however, and afterwards its back to business as usual with the block pushing (which also became more and more frequent and tiresome as the game progressed) and shimmying, with a few rope swings thrown in for good measure. After nabbing yet another piece of the Scion, we're presumably teleported to the Umbrella headquarters, and unluckily for Lara it appears to be right in the middle of the zombie outbreak. Due to the nature of the level, you can pretty much forget all you did in the previous levels, as running and gunning seems to be the main factor here. When you're not shooting down enemies, you're picking up and using puzzle items for pretty much the entire level, bar a few crawls through vents. The following level is apparently a sort of "mutant HQ", and as such, the enemies to deal with pretty much escalate beyond the point of bearable, especially later on in the level. Sure, there's a few nice jumping sections to deal with, and some deadly lava to avoid, but its clear that the main intention of this level is to get you to gun down as many tough-to-kill enemies as you possibly can, right up until the final boss encounter. Ah, the final boss, certainly a challenge indeed, and in turn the most depressing TR boss encounter I've ever had in my life. Over 10 minutes and around 4000 bullets later (how I wish I was making this up) Natla finally bites the dust and we are free to escape, leading to a short epilogue section where we view our prized Scion pieces ahead, and the Sword that we are looking for on a distant wall. A short textual passage later, we pop back to the main menu. Now that I've taken up a full A4 page in Word blabbering on about the gameplay, I'll quickly talk about the other elements. Texturing and lighting throughout is particularly uninspired, with texturing often appearing squashed, stretched, badly rotated, missing or completely wallpapered all over various rooms. Lighting is also usually quite dull as well, often ranging from bright, to grey, to pitch black, with very little in between or in the way of colour. Admittedly, there are some nice rooms that do appear to have had some care put into them (and the manor in particular has a very cosy feel to many of the rooms), but most of the time it just looked rather drab. Atmosphere is obviously affected by the lighting issues, the audio placements were sometimes suitable, sometimes annoying, and a number of incorrect object sounds were also noticeable. Flyby cameras were well created when used, but the static variety often pointed in completely the opposite direction to the object that its supposed to be looking at. The levels were well populated with objects, yet many were meshing into each other, placed oddly (such as chairs facing a blank wall) and the number and general toughness of enemies in later levels was well overboard (yet their inclusion in earlier levels were more welcome and somewhat quicker to deal with). Overall (yes, I FINALLY managed to reach the end :P ) this levelset is certainly ambitious, and does have its good moments, but for me it was often overshadowed by some extremely poor design in both the gameplay and visual departments." - Spike (01-Jan-2009) |
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| "Hard to quote this level because the quality of the different level goes from the bad(egypt) to the very good (peru). I notice also some good ideas as the new movements, the texture from anniversary and the level of water increasing by some levers. The builder has made some efforts by report to his previous level but must to do attention to avoid the big rooms with the same texture. This aspect doesn't give a good impression (the rooms don't seem finished) and it's regrettable). The gameplay is easy maybe too much." - Glouglouton (27-Dec-2008) |
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| "This opens with a Croft Manor section and in some respects I dislike the new mansion levels even more than the original ones. True the place is far lovelier than the old homestead, but it's also several times the size and takes one hell of a lot of exploring. Cue the rather boring searching of rooms that are mostly just for show. Apart from finding the pistols, I couldn't see anything else especially worth hanging about for, so if you're impatient to get going and don't mind not finding all the secrets, just have a quick play with the cute ginger and white cat and head off on the adventure. Once the action starts, it's quite entertaining as Lara travels to her old haunts, i.e. Peru, Egypt etc., and ultimately the VCI labs to find and destroy a virus and quite a lot of mutants. There's rather a lot of fighting to do along the way, with a variety of enemies (some of whom explode, which is fun) and the longest 'boss' ending I can ever remember with an interesting, but far, far too tough, baddie. Gameplay revolves very firmly around Lara's new moves, so it can feel a bit 'samey' after a while, and possibly it overstays its welcome just a little. Nevertheless, the areas are competently built and look attractive and I found it entertaining enough. Just don't expect anything too cerebral." - Jay (22-Dec-2008) |
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| "Well , a little bit less can make more sometimes , I just couldn`t figure out why Skyler has put so much effort and time in building such vast environments for his game . It starts off in a newly refurbished Crofts Manor which has almost the dimensions of a whole city , I truly believe even Victoria Beckham does not need that many bedrooms in her estate ! However nice and carefully built after a while it becomes a bore to look upon the same accomodation stores over and over again so the player starts wishing to find a way to get out which is easy to do if you find the way , for all you really need from here is your one and only friend , the pistols , which are hidden in a case near the room in the beginning. What follows is a very long trip through memory lane , fighting all sorts of well known enemies (and there are a lot of them) and you even visit the hidden chambers in Tal Rashas tomb , a character well known from Blizzards Diablo Series . Good Idea ! The amount of weapons Lara picks up during her explorations is more than enough to supply an army with the tools of the trade but it does her good , in her final combat. Unfortunately the atmosphere in this adventure is rather poor , only a little bit of music now and then to accompany our heroine on her speechless seeking trail . I liked playing this very interesting and huge game but the "fun" level was rather low so I cannot fully recommend it with a higher score." - Ruben (22-Dec-2008) |
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| "Such a surprise to find this full level set released so soon after the demo was. Still, I wasn't disappointed to find it available to download. Beginning this game then, we start in Croft Manor. The immediate downside to this is that Lara has no pistols. The upside is they're only in the next room. What a delight the cat is too, busy miaowing away as it is. Anyway, this manor is palatial, consisting as it does of a lot of rooms, large galleries, doors and ... furniture. Boy does Lara have a lot of sofas and chairs. A place to sit in, well, every place. Her taste in paintings is a bit repetitive, however, as is her taste in furniture. I think she bought a job lot from MFI. That said, everything looks good enough. Anyway, so large it all is that players could easily become bored with this manor and the surrounding gardens/maze/gym as the prospect of finding everything to be found, getting through every room, is a rather daunting experience. To top it off there's a serious save bug if you shoot a target which prevents you playing when you reload. I rather think this level hasn't been beta tested, or adequately tested at the least, and not just because of the existence of this bug. So, don't save and you'll be fine. Otherwise, just exit the main gate to start the game proper, without bothering with Croft Manor. Such a shame though as so much has evidently gone into the creation of the manor. Anyway, into the game proper then, and we are in Peru. So dark this was in places that I couldn't see some jump switches. Aside from that, and a generally nice texturing (though in places it can be a bit 'wallpaper-ish'), it quickly becomes clear that the environments, like the manor, are very extensive. This is great from one point of view because there is a great deal of gameplay to be had, and on the whole I did find it very enjoyable and well constructed. Onto City of Vilcabamba and by now it is becoming very apparent that this level set is a thinly veiled copy of various parts of a number of Tomb Raider games, a pick 'n' mix Tomb Raider, if you will. Some of the texturing in this part really doesn't work (fence textures around internal walls), to the point that they flash in a way that could easily induce epileptic seizures. It was a bit peculiar to have the TR3 India audio piece 'Spooky Jungle' playing in this Peru level too. There are large sections of this that can be completely skipped, demonstrating further a lack of adequate beta testing, and if anything it is yet again a shame that the builder has clearly gone to so much effort for nothing. I quite liked the raising water level 'puzzle' at the end of this section, though the water is invisible at any level beyond the starting level. After this section we find ourselves in Egypt with Tal Rasha's Tomb. Being assailed by a directionless demigod wasn't a good start, and indeed so interested in the wall it was that it buried itself into an object which prevents Lara from shooting it. The cure for this is to run around in the opposite direction so that it follows Lara and comes out of the object enough to be killed. I found the texturing here a bit uniform and the cutscenes annoying because they only served to show the obvious and as such were simply an unwanted delay to gameplay. The black panthers (of the cat family, obviously) strangely yelp like dogs when shot here and the puzzles I found to be badly thought out. On then to Inside the Great Pyramid, and like the demo we have some ridiculously difficult to kill enemies in the form of two armour covered type guards of TR4. The music here is bland to the point of being laughable, cheap and nasty 80's platform game midi type as it sounded. That said, I did find some areas here quite enjoyable with an interesting look about them. Next we are taken to the very same Umbrella Corp level that is featured in the demo. There's not much I can add to my comments on that, here, other than to say that it is a little bit extended with a few extra guards to kill and a couple of secrets (which in themselves were reasonably enough set up). It is odd that Lara opens drawers with the sarcophagus animation, and there is still no pickups to be found on any of the many shelving units in this level. Sadly, it still features the almost impossible to kill demon-woman so many complained about. And the work to get the crow-bar is rendered pointless now as one already has it from a previous level. After this then, we move on to the final level of this set, The Hive, and I have to say I completely enjoyed this part. Though it may not be so expert, the texturing I liked quite a lot. It all seemed to strike a good balance between the original TR1 and later Anniversary incarnations. The background audio in this part went a long way to making the atmosphere of the level for me. There is a rope ride in this level which is a bit of a joke. I thought it quite pointless for the very short distance covered by it ... 2 or 3 squares. Just silly. To the end then, and if you think the demon-woman in the previous level (and demo) was a pain, you ain't seen nothing yet. The final boss in this level is beyond being ridiculously difficult to kill. You'll spend a good fifteen minutes, or more, with constant shooting of every bit of ammo from every weapon you've got before she finally explodes. This really does spoil things and makes for a disappointing ending to what is over all a perfectly enjoyable set of levels." - Czar (21-Dec-2008) |
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