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Baptism of Fire 3 - Almourol Place by LadyLara

Bedazzled 8 7 8 9
Blue43 7 7 8 9
Czar 7 5 6 8
DJ Full 7 7 5 7
dmdibl 9 9 9 9
Dutchy 7 6 8 8
eRIC 8 7 8 7
Gerty 7 6 7 8
Jay 8 7 8 8
JesseG 7 6 7 6
Jorge22 7 5 7 8
Jose 6 5 6 7
Leeth 4 5 5 6
manarch2 7 5 6 7
MichaelP 7 7 7 8
Phil 9 8 8 8
Ryan 7 7 7 7
Treeble 6 6 7 7
Zhyttya 5 4 7 7
 
release date: 12-Mar-2009
# of downloads: 51

average rating: 6.97
review count: 19
 
review this level

file size: 29.90 MB
file type: TR4
class: Cave/Cat
 


author profile(s):
email(s):
gillwhite@telkomsa.net

Reviewer's comments
"A rather lenghty level all things considered, and as part of the original concept behind this series it's a debut level godfathered by veterans. Other than the fresh coat of paint (in the form of the TR3 Tinnos textures), this is a fairly standard tut1 level, with a few hiccups in my opinion: the constant black skybox was a bummer (certainly the author meant these to be outdoor areas but perhaps the scripting wasn't done on that regard?) although not a big issue, and the rooms from start to finish tend to be slightly oversized and mostly empty. The gameplay loop is also a bit repetitive, mainly involving long crawlspaces, long ladders, and long monkeyswings, usually having you cross the same path a second time on the way back. I don't recall a single enemy encounter. Definitely not a bad level, but perhaps a bit of trimming would have served it well. 75 minutes, 4 secrets. 03/23" - Treeble (12-Mar-2023)
"Like the other level in this collection, there are quite a few timed runs here, but they are not too challenging. This time they are triggered by certain tiles in the floor, which is not immediately obvious but at least it is done in a consistent manner. The instant death tiles are another manner – it's those gray tiles with the four little holes in them, but exactly one of these tiles in the level is safe, and players may get stuck if they don't stumble upon that exception. Aside from that, as Lara searches for two halves of the Eye of Horus she will encounter a few floor step-tile puzzles, a few very tricky rope swings, and a lot of monkeyswinging, dare I say too much of it. The main issue I have is the large amount of backtracking, and I had to keep checking the walkthrough to remember where to go next. It doesn't help that there are a few missing camera cues, and every room is wallpapered with the same texture, so the areas don't distinguish themselves from each other, save some lighting differences here and there. The architecture is pretty interesting though. With a bit of effort to reduce the repetitive elements, this adventure would be well on its way. 1 hour 21 minutes." - JesseG (30-Jun-2021)
"Almourol Place is an extremely desolate and deserted location so as there are no enemies, ditch your weaponry (and possibly medipacks) and focus on the traps. Plenty of deadly water, flames and spike traps to avoid, plus a few trigger tile sequences and timed runs to spice things up. It may have slightly outstayed its welcome with yet another huge/small room to travel through, but still a solid debut level." - Ryan (03-Aug-2017)
"This right here it's a level all about platforming, not sure if the good one or not, as sometimes there's too much of the same in this level and this is actually something that repeats itself a lot throughout the level. It's nice to experience once in a while a game play all based on platforming, but this one right here didn't really managed to get it right. A lot of mechanics are repeated due to the enormous areas, turning the game play a bit monotonous and boring at a point. It was preferable if the level itself was smaller. Of course that big large areas usually are empty and here, unfortunately, we see no difference. My lowest score does not reflect the fact that there's no enemies, but instead the lack of decoration of the level. Majority of the level consists on huge separated areas, with lot of platforming to do, but little decoration and dedication to that part of the scenery, although i did enjoyed the level design. A little more dedication to the third topic would have even things. Highly prefer the last Baptism of Fire, but if you're into a platforming game play you should try out this one." - Zhyttya (01-Jan-2016)
"A nice and progressive platforming level but that's all it got. A bit to repetitive even if the difficulty grows up as you play it but it's always a bit more of the same. Always the same kind of trigger and same kind of puzzle. There were some lovely details as the shortcuts to go back and you can really notice what hurts you and what doesn't. The areas are a bit to big and empty, the lighting goes dull some time but the textures were given a good use. Still, if you love platforming and hate pressing action to shoot a single bullet, this is the game for you, but it can get a bit tedious! if there was a "fun factor" it would have a 2/10 there" - Leeth (01-Jan-2016)
"For a large part, I enjoyed myself quite a lot in this level. The gameplay is extremely platforming based, but rather interesting and challenging at that and there are many smaller and longer timed runs to keep you on your toes (actually concurring with The Serpent Temple). The style of this builder is very minimalistic but I quite liked it. But despite having a rather decent length at about 50 minutes, this level should have been cut much, much shorter as there are some painfully streched out tasks in here like monkeyswings, crawlspaces and ladders with the intention to make the game last longer, but in fact it would have been much more enjoyable if it was more compact. I still have to say I was impressed how the builder managed to create a rather large and complex level without major backtracks, and except for the tedious bits it flows pretty well. I for myself had prefered if there were at least a few enemies to kill (the weapons/ammo you find along the way are useless) and the object placement is rather sparse too, while I enjoyed the quest for the four secrets, especially the timed run towards one of them which takes some tries. Lookwise, this game was kind of a mix too. The overall design of the rooms is appealing, with particular atmospheric lighting, but the texturing is often uninspired and the coloured lights don't make any sense at all - the colour scheme is still most interesting and takes the classic Tinnos theme to another dimension. I missed some decent sound work in this level where all you get is some classic audio, and the cameras are never more than just functional (and sometimes the clues given are too vague or even missing), as well as the architecture which has been built too obviously for gameplay purposes only - but there are nice hints where you can see into later areas. Overall, those 50 minutes are very solid for a debut level, and despite the point that several elements are missing to call this a well-rounded level, it is a commendable effort and not a bad way to end the Baptism of Fire series if there isn't more to come; I'm in doubt though." - manarch2 (26-Mar-2014)
"Even if the rooms are bare you can see that quite some work went into this debut level. If you are looking for a lot of action, don't, as there is not much. Exploring is high on the list. A bit overuse of long monkey climbs and climbing but all in all not a bad first level. A pity that Gill didn't make more levels. I know I played this way back when while testing it and then I couldn't make that timed swim for a secret, but this time, I had no problem." - Gerty (09-Mar-2012)
"I think this was the first custom level I downloaded but I gave up on it quickly because I couldn't figure out how to proceed after having explored the initial area. Now I played it again and have to say that game play was actually fairly easy and especially with a walkthrough at hand it saved me lots of time of running around aimlessly. The two main components of game play here were trigger tiles and ladders/monkey swings. Of course there are timed runs, sliding and jumping, a triple rope swing and plenty of burners that had to be avoided, but without any real highlights, the game play seemed a little too long and too tedious. There were no enemies at all and the atmosphere was not bad at all, though a variety of different background loops might have helped a lot, since the same loop over and over got a little old after while. The texturing was cleanly applied and noticed that the builder did an exceptional job in the lighting department. Even in darker and small areas there was always a small light source so that it would never look flat at all. On the downside there were only few different textures used and the decoration was kept to a minimum, which gave the level a bit of a cold, lonely and sterile feel. In conclusion I would say it is definitely a well-built game from a technical point of view, especially considering that it is a debut level, but I found that if game play had been limited to an hour or less, it would have profited a lot. Nevertheless, I did enjoy playing through this one and so I do recommend that you give it a try." - Blue43 (22-Dec-2010)
"WARNING: Level may cause the symptoms of Monotombia. It is caused by Boringalis bacterium from family Actionlessia. Players who want to experience the Almoroul place should make sure they have nothing else to do, as the level is totally average. Hugeness of the area builds up the feeling of isolation and this is very good point - but the only one. The whole level is covered with textures of similar kind. There are some technical bugs, like an invisible part of a door, partially blocking the way, or water surface separated from rest of water :). Don't know how the author have managed to achieve this :). Gameplay is linear and easy. There are elements that aren't necessary, e.g. a fire that can be omitted, and a ladder you don't have to grab. Secrets are way too easy. Traps aren't dangerous at all. As a result a player forgets to be careful, performs stupid mistakes and dies many times. The soundtrack is very poor and not customized at all. I DON'T RATE the lack of enemies, because it's the author's main assumption. SUMMARY: Don't enter Almoroul Place unless you want total simplicity. A level for minimalists." - DJ Full (18-Jul-2010)
"I've noted the various criticisms lodged by the other reviewers to date, and I beg to differ. I found this to be a delightful level that, although devoid of enemies, was quite "busy" and sufficiently challenging for players of average skill. I followed Dutchy's walkthrough, and even so it took me a bit more than two hours to hit the finish trigger. By the way, Dutchy tells you in one sentence how to conquer that timed swim for the crossbow, but even when you know how to do it you'll likely spend ten or so tries before you make it through the timed gate. But stick with it; the sense of accomplishment when you finally get there is worth it. There's another timed run near the end that's nearly as difficult (but also well documented by Dutchy), but other than that there's not much here that will impede your progress for long. I found the lighting more than adequate, and the surroundings, while not outstanding, were pleasing enough to the eye. A worthy raid, especially for a debut level. Recommended." - Phil (24-Mar-2009)
"It's always great to see a long time community member and reviewer finally become a builder and this debut is a fine example of how well you can do with the 'basic tools' that the level editor has to offer. Alas, sometimes a little less can be more. For the first 45 minutes of the 90+ that you will spend here, this is a fun raid... I have always liked the Tinnos textures, progression is smooth and rooms are spacious without appearing too huge and out of proportion and lighting is rather good throughout. No enemies, but you don't really miss them either and the occasional short timed sequence spices things up a little bit. Then, however, for the second half of the game, this feeling of: 'Have I been here before?' and 'Oh no, another huge room to go up and around and back in - will it ever end?' slowly settles in and I would have scored this slightly higher if I had stopped half way through when it was all still fun and less of a chore with the many shimmy and monkey passages that dragged things out. Don't let this stop you from looking at this very solid debut though, as you may just like it the way it is all the way to the very end. I certainly do hope we will be seeing more from Gill in the future as the building talent is all there!" - MichaelP (24-Mar-2009)
"A splendid level for a debut release. A large Temple complex you have to explore, finding several puzzle items to get you further through. Some very nice architecture here and lighting was also done well. I loved the rooms with the see through walls, the gaps where you could see what lies beyond. Not many puzzles to solve here, but there were a couple of nice timed runs here, one for a Secret, so not too important (although you only knew that after making it into that timed gate). The level should be filled more with things to look at as it struck me as quite empty, maybe also another puzzle or two. At some points you could see the basic rules of texturing weren't applied, as textures on"one click" walls were mostly compressed. No enemies found, so the ammo found wasn't used, maybe in the sequel?" - Dutchy (22-Mar-2009)
"Nice entertainment but, on the other hand, it's all about blocks and blocks and finding objects and placing objects and jumping and monkeyswinging and trigerring tiles or pulling levers to open more doors. I'm not being ironic, it's interesting how, with such a plot, one can still be entertained after all. Quite classic in the use of well known objects and sounds. No enemies at all. The textures seemed all pretty fine as far as I can say, but then again the settings probably weren't too hard to build, anyway. When the game comes to the end, you go: "already?" It's not a very strong feeling, but still..." - Jorge22 (19-Mar-2009)
"Not bad this debut, but for me was tedious and bored. There are not puzzles, and all is based in Lara's movements. This tut1 level is very long; big rooms, a lot of switches to pull, a lot of ladders to climb, a lot of monkeyswings, a lot of doors to open, a lot of traps and many places with deadly pools. Not difficult tasks, but there was a very tight timed swim in a pool I couldn't do, but I finished the level so, I think it was only a secret. Very few pickups, I found ammo for the shotgun and for the crossow, but I couldn't find those weapons; but don't worry: I couldn't see any enemie in all the level! I think a level without enemies is like a day without bread. Very few musics, correct cameras, the best for me were the textures." - Jose (18-Mar-2009)
"A very impressive debut level which took me 3 hrs to complete and I found 3 secrets. At times this level had me leaving it and returning to it later,due to the authors (in my opion) over use of curved jumps.The level does not contain any enemies which makes a nice change, therefore the gameplay consists of exploring sometimes large areas to locate puzzle items, in order to open doors and move forwards, some backtracking is involved along with many sometimes quite challenging jumps and a few timed runs.On timed run in particular springs to mind which takes place high above a deadly pool and needsa some very tricky turns to accomplish it. The lighting and texturing are very well done with only the odd compressed or wrongly rotated texture, having said that the texture used with the spike traps looks a little odd as the spikes don't pop out of the holes on the texture. At only one or two places did I need to use a flare and a good amount of these are supplied. The few things which I was not keen on where the curved jumps, timed runs one in particular, a timed swim proved impossible for me to make,and I suspect it led to a secret.Also having the need to break out of camera views, but those things are amongst my pet hates anyway. I also noticed one wall torch which failed to light,overall it's very well made and does not have you stuck wondering what to do next for very long, well worth downloading, well done Gill." - Bedazzled (15-Mar-2009)
"There are various aspects to every Tomb Raider level and custom level, and we each have our likes and dislikes of every facet of a game and for varying reasons. Indeed, when coming to reviewing a level one has perhaps to consider such things even more than one ordinarily would. But when a level seems to have an excessive focus on one aspect, or, indeed, the complete elimination of another, does this then mean it is less of a level as compared to other, more rounded levels? It is difficult to say, and I think there will be varying opinions when it comes to reviewing this one. For myself, I can't say that my enjoyment of this level was reduced by the fact that there are no enemies in it whatsoever. I could even go so far as to say that my enjoyment was actually increased, because I didn't have to concern myself with what might be around the next corner and was able to concentrate instead on navigating the environments. That said, the level does indeed seem somewhat empty because of this and I really wouldn't have minded some form of enemy challenge. So if not about enemies, what is this level about? Over all it seems more to be an exercise in lighting practice for an extended gymnasium. This level is room upon room of variously lit and shaded stonework of, at times, quite interesting architecture. Architecture which, for the most part, happily lacks uniformity. It is climbing ladders, back-flipping, and sliding down slopes. It is back-tracking on multiple levels of various sorts of large, open sided towers. It is trigger tiles and timed gates. It is rope swings over fire water and avoiding numerous spike traps ... and all in Tinnos style textures. There is some degree of complexity in the layout of these rooms, some of which are quite large. For some it will be a case of getting lost easily, for others it will seem very simple and straight forward. For the most part challenges are no challenge at all, with but a few jump sequences verging on the mildly demanding. In one or two spots the sequence can be avoided altogether. One or two secrets present themselves as small challenges, in that there is something to do other than simply entering a space and picking something up. The others are simply entering a space and picking something up. In any case, what I am more sure of with this level, despite the lack of enemies and extra focus on other aspects is that I enjoyed it a good deal more than many supposedly more rounded levels. I'll look forward to more from this builder, with the hope that the next levels isn't a solid focus on pure enemy attacks as an over-compensation for what this one lacks." - Czar (15-Mar-2009)
"This is quite a restful level in many respects. From the level information, you will see that the place is deserted and when it says deserted it really does mean deserted. There's not so much as a bat about so you can leave your guns at home and concentrate on avoiding all the deadly water and spike/fire traps. This is virtually stress-free raiding, with straightforward gameplay geared towards all abilities, and there are plenty of camera hints as to where to go next so you shouldn't get lost, despite the size of the areas. There are some timed runs to achieve, but the timing is quite generous, the only tightish one (a swim) being for a secret, which is a crossbow - very nice but, given the aforementioned complete lack of things to shoot, not much practical value. There's a lot of climbing and monkey swinging in search of hands, cartouches and the eye of Horus, plus some enjoyable sliding and bouncing. If I have one niggle it's that perhaps it overstays its welcome just a little as it does all become a touch 'samey' after a while, but for a debut level it's a very fine offering and well worth playing." - Jay (15-Mar-2009)
"I enjoyed this well-designed level, which is done in the classic mode, with nice pure texturing. At first it looks like Lara can jump across a few platforms to a high lever on a ledge. But those platforms are there only to be misleading. The way to reach the ledge and switch was to do a series of three banana jumps. This should clue players that this level is going to have tricky maneuvers, close timed runs, and some playful misdirection. One of things I liked was that the timed swim, with the door slamming in Lara's face, was for the crossbow secret. In the context of the game players will figure out that they are going for a secret, and that this trial is therefore optional. This is a good idea, to make the difficult tests or timed runs optional. The texturing creates a good appearance, with the occasional use of color to highlight areas. The lighting was well done, creating mood, but not requiring Lara to constantly have a flare in her hand. By the end I did begin to feel an overload from the same texturing (and maybe from all those trigger tiles), but the real issue may have been that Lara should have gotten back out into open areas more often. There are no enemies in this level; Lara only draws her guns to shoot a few vases. There are enough camera shots so Lara doesn't waste time looking around for the correct door for a Hand of Orion she has found. The main thing here is the fast and enjoyable game play. Found four secrets, though since one gate didn't open I must have missed at least one. I look forward to the author's next level." - dmdibl (15-Mar-2009)
"Quite a good first level from LadyLara. Made with basic ressources (Tinnos textures, Tut1 Wad), this is a 1_hour_30 level where you explore many rooms , sometimes quite big , and is totally enemy free. I did not mind that there was no ninjas mummies or scorpions therein, as the game is sufficiently entertaining without these 'annoyances'. And I loved the two secrets I found. Maybe more objects by adding them to the Wad could have been used for the decor. The author has really cared for the player , with a solid camera work for guidance , also by closing some areas when needed. There was not one irritating thing thoughout. It is a game based on Lara's moves with many rooms with ladders and sloped blocks, and a few enjoyable timed doors , generally what you have to do is obvious. There is many jumps and traps , spikes or fire burners, but this is by no means a level for 'hardcore' players , even if a few actions require some accuracy and/or thinking. A very user-friendly level in fact and an entertaining one. The setting is solidly made, although texturing and lighting could be improved , but for a first level this is well done. [1 hour 34 / 2 secrets]" - eRIC (14-Mar-2009)