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Beyond Revenge lies Redemption (Beta1) by Larafriend

DJ Full 5 6 8 6
dmdibl 6 6 7 6
eRIC 4 7 6 5
Gerty 3 6 4 6
herothing 7 7 9 10
Jay 5 6 7 6
Jose 6 6 7 6
MichaelP 5 5 6 6
Ryan 4 5 6 6
Spike 3 4 3 4
TombRaiderTim 6 5 7 6
 
release date: 02-May-2009
# of downloads: 58

average rating: 5.77
review count: 11
 
review this level

file size: 249.80 MB
file type: TR4
class: nc
 


author profile(s):
email(s):
tiranivy@hotmail.com

Reviewer's comments
"A bit of a curiosity piece, this one. Lara's sporting an attractive new look and her animations have been modified, but a little too much for my liking and she's changed her name to Marion. She can no longer execute a normal running jump of 3 squares and can instead only jump a 2 square maximum distance. Also, her stationary swimming animation has changed to an almost vertical tilt and she can breathe underwater for a shorter time. These just seemed very show-offish and spoilt it a bit for me. Some of the rooms look nice and the secrets were well placed, but that wasn't enough for me." - Ryan (13-May-2017)
"A clash of good and bad ideas. We can only hold breath for 30 seconds but air recovers much faster. Pistols are limited but we can pick up about 2000 bullets for unneccessarily tough enemies. Jupiter gravity makes jumping more natural but any usual drop takes a lot of life. We can choose the path but never attempt the other one so we will never get close to the full count of quite satisfying secrets. Though the title says "beta" it's in fact another pre-alpha - container rooms are hard to view as anything other than a draft, maybe except from the marine episode locations; the ending feels missing because in the artifact room the screen fades to black and we never get an opportunity to utilize the uzis picked up nearby; I couldn't figure out the intended path nor the last secret in the castle level until Fexinspect indicated the start position in a completely different place than it was to be (where would I be without Turbo Pascal's tool, which already saved me as much time as many solid walkthrus would). Within all of this cameras are surprisingly good, particle touches are applied and local tunes are fitting, themed and not overdone so the atmosphere is solid despite of absolutely basic effort invested. SUMMARY: Somewhat immersive but very discouraging to play. Could be named a full adventure if the author cared more." - DJ Full (12-Jun-2016)
"I was a bit surprised about all the rather low scores for this level set, as it came across as a package that should deserve more praise - huge download, several levels, a certain storyline to it and lots of custom elements around textures, sounds, animations etc. So, where did it all go wrong then? It is some odd choices the builder has made in an attempt to be unique and special - none of which seem to have been made with the players in mind. The modified Lara animations and limited pistol ammo may be more 'real', but they are significantly less fun to play and conversely add no value to gameplay other than showing off the builders skill in modifiying animations ('Look what I can do...'). The choice of path after the first level is an interesting concept idea but simply does not work so well, as people would anyway play both paths eventually and thus need to keep a savegame (why not allow for a return to the path choice place at the end of each path?). Lots of work must have gone into some of the 'effects', like the impressive scenes in the well done tutorial level (which despite what it says in the walkthrough actually does have some modest gameplay elements as well) and the eclectic choice of textures throghout or the weather effects, but sadly it all does not work together very well with the basic progression, boxy room architecture and often very uninspired atmosphere in the levels. So, what does that leave us with on the positive side? If you count the tutorial, you get a total of 6 levels here, all on the short (10-20 minutes) and very easy side. A little side quest for the three roses in each level adds a bit of an angle and I did enjoy some of the classic platforming routes to get your hands on the necessary keys. The atmosphere has its moments in the Hell path with some burners, smoke and fog added. I liked the moving spike walls and waterskin puzzle in Path of the Maya and would have liked to spend more time in the Dark Castle, which felt a bit underutilized. Bottomline, it is a pity that this was released too early and then the feedback probably discouraged the builder from investing the needed time to enhance the experience. With quite a bit more work, this could have turned into a great adventure..." - MichaelP (13-May-2010)
"This is a very strange experience so the scores don't really tell the story. For these five levels you play as Marion, who aspires to be like a well-known English adventurer. However Marion can't manage the same light jumps and maneuvers, or her backpack is weighted down with lead. A small fall will kill her. She runs out of air during minor swims, turning them into life-threatening events. As she is exhausted, it takes her ages to pull out of the water. Her pistols require ammo, which means she spends an inordinate amount of time here hunting out and picking up pistol ammo. This can get dull, and other weapons aren't used. Her small medipacks restore only a little portion of her life bar. Suffice it to say that nothing feels right from the moment Marion starts to move, as her steps and leaps are constrained. The world looks strange, because texturing reminds one of early historical games. Texturing is wallpapered, and has a deliberately artificial appearance. It isn't garish or distracting, but does create a peculiar environment that is distinct. Heavy shadows have been applied as if they were painted on. The secret sound is now a modem dialing. The author has gone to a lot of work to create all this, but unfortunately game play is fairly routine. Many sequences involve the fact that Marion can't make a routine jump without killing herself, so she has to go through painstaking, circuitous routes to reach a key on a pillar. Is it surprising that players might find this frustrating? At the end of Level One play splits, with one corridor marked "Heaven," and a second corridor marked "Hell." (Wall textures over pools have four squiggles and two squiggles, suggesting four liters and two liters. But Marion fills up large and small waterskins and simply pours their contents to open the corridors.) Either choice gives two more levels of play, then the game ends. To play everything, make a savegame at this point, and set it aside. In the current Beta state, this is baffling. Marion gets many pickups while playing two "Heaven" levels, then the screen goes black (exit with Alt-F4). All her work is thrown away when we return to the savegame to play "Hell." Here there has been a forest fire, with denuded trees, and a few patches of burning ground. Marion drives the motorcycle, but only to change levels. Hell is a little more interesting (Milton had the same problem), but still this entire adventure seems to have been created as a curiosity, with deliberately different textures and heroine. Review scores don't convey this. In my humble opinion, I prefer Lara and her inexhaustible energy." - dmdibl (07-May-2010)
"5 levels about 20 minutes each , with different locations. At the end of the first level, you have the choice of 2 routes , therefor you play only 3 levels (1 hour) , so making a savegame at the end of 1st level is highly recommended to play the other route too. A different game than the usual , mainly due to a different Lara, also because of the settings. Lara's abilities of moves have been reduced to resemble more to the normal , in this game she can not jump longer anymore or ran faster than the Olympics champions , meaning that the longest jump you will be able to do is 2 squares instead of 3. I was quickly used to that and I did not mind either that Lara can swim a bit like a sea horse or is very slow to get out of water. There is still usual actions like climbing , swimming , a few easy breakable tiles , a few movable blocks puzzles and mainly exploration to find levers, pickups to collect , and not a lot of puzzles. As for the setting, the main impression I had is that the different places visited do not resemble to real locations, it seems like different worlds , the places are not very organic and the texturing although the segmentation of the walls is good and textures well applied in general does not help either to create convincing atmospheric places : there is too many mirrored textures and wall paper effects. I had not any background audio loop in the first level , but they were quite good in the others. Some other audios (not loops) were less convincing. Good objects used in some places , but others blocked Lara in her progression (mainly the first level). A different game , with little punch , yet not unpleasant , and not challenging, except in one of the routes I had hardly enough health to deal with the mutant croc : by the way more pickups should be placed in the first level and less in the lasts." - eRIC (07-Aug-2009)
"Good attemp, but definitively I don't like this kind of engine for TR custom levels. Lara, eeerr... Marion has limited her movements in many cases; only can jump two tiles of distance in a running jump, she can't jump the same clicks high as before, he goes out of the water very slowly, she dies when dropping from not high ledges... I don't know the purpose of a tutorial level, 'cause those movementes are well known by all players. The collision with the objects is strange too, like she hits with a solid wall. I didn't like the small health bar with a colour difficult to see to know how much health remains. I don't know why the limits for the ammo of the pistols; there is enough, but in the first level I had to flee because a miser rat! Not difficult gameplay based most of the times about pulling switches and finding keys to open doors. Secrets (roses) are not hidden and there is a strange sound of a phone when you pick it up. Enemies are good, and I liked the information in the screen to know how many bullets I need and remain to kill them. Musics and cameras are not bad, but the climbable walls are not well marked. At the end of the game the screen turned black and I could only hear a music, returning to the desk with Alt+Tab keys and closing the game with the Tasks Administrator. I don't know why a beta version too; aren't there beta testers for this?" - Jose (25-May-2009)
"I'm firmly of the opinion that Lara shouldn't have gone blonde - it seems to have made her legs very weak and wobbly. Yes, she has some great new moves these days, but regrettably, these aren't the ones and the problem with 'depowering' Lara is that she can't perform all those wonderful manoeuvres that we all know and love. You get to visit heaven and hell, although there doesn't actually seem to be a great deal of difference between the two. Oh no, wait, hell has spiders. OK, that's a concept I can get behind. This is an interesting idea for a level certainly, but it doesn't entirely work and overall the gameplay is a bit dull, mostly involving swimming (clumsily) and climbing (reluctantly). Also, pistol ammo is limited at the beginning so I found myself muttering 'sod it' and running past some of the enemies rather than battling it out with them. I did however think the use of sound files was rather good, especially the secret 'sound'. Basically, it's a brave attempt and I applaud the builder's desire to do something a little different, but I really prefer my Lara a bit less arthritic and hopefully the finished version will have a bit more oomph." - Jay (08-May-2009)
"I really, really tried to like this especially, as this was made by a country fellow of mine. I still don't understand why one must tinker with Lara's movements. Please note I said tinker, as that is something completely different in what I see some other builders do. At least they take their time to get it right and looking ever so good. But in here the movements of Lara are ruined. They way she walks and also jumps, getting out of water, swimming, ruined I said. And no binoculars?? tsk. I also get my nose full of beta versions that is why there are beta testers, so a double tks is in place. All in all this is a level where you have to go from point A to point B to fetch a key to go back to point A to open a door. Be aware that levers do blend in very well. At a certain point, near the scales, you can choose the Heaven or Hell area; I took the Heaven one (and forgot to keep a save there) so I never played that other part. I was put off by the limited amount of ammo in the beginning and the overload of flares I hardly needed. I could do with more medipacks, as they are far and between. Not sure what all the FMV were all about apart from the house level I hadn't spot any. Talking about house level, nicely done but I have no clue why it was incorporated, as there was nothing new in it. Apparently when you want to get the object on a pedestal in the Village area, my screen went all black and the only way I could leave is by hitting Alt F4, sloppy." - Gerty (07-May-2009)
"I think the story was a great idea, i think the tutorial level was well planned out maybe for novices, i think that shouldnt have been included since i think everyone knows how to jump a gap. Unfortunately i think the animations were horrible, they dont seem to work out a great deal, e.g. if you run and stop, laras legs twitch a lot; also if you stop swimming underwater she just magically tilts vertically. On the other hand,however , i did like the battle system a lot especially with the first battle with the crocodile/snake thing; i like the way the sound was triggered and the way that you had the hp for the crocodile up. Nice Work for a BETA Overall - 8.25/10" - herothing (03-May-2009)
"This game had quite a good story involved with the gameplay, the lighting was ok but it needed some work, the enemies were good but there were few, some more puzzles could be included the make the raider more interesting. I also found that the animations were indeed very bad and i could suggest working on them for future games. Other than that, a good game." - TombRaiderTim (03-May-2009)
"Upon finishing this levelset, I was struck with a familiar feeling, one that I have felt many a time before...the well-known feeling of "oh dear". The title is the first large giveaway with "Beta" standing out like a sore thumb, likely meaning that it hasn't even passed the testing stage yet - and how it shows. The biggest difference between this and other levels is the abilities of the main character. No longer can she leap huge distances like a certain female adventurer would, but instead the most she can muster up is a small hop - you better make sure you land that hop as well, since any fall higher than a couple of metres is going to crumple the poor lady into a heap of broken bones. As you may have guessed already, this makes the gameplay nothing short of infuriating at the best of times (the lack of interesting gameplay also does little in its favour), especially when coupled with the many buggy and annoying animations littered throughout the game. Still, at least it gives you a chance to grab a snack after any swimming section, while she veeeery sloooowly pulls herself out of the water. The visuals fare little better, with wallpapered texturing (not to mention the odd texture selection in the first place) and average lighting for the most part. Oh, and don't forget unmarked climbable walls, they're ALWAYS fun. Onto the audio, and it appears that the author has managed to use some of the most inappropriate pieces she could have possibly chosen, with the majority of audio tracks seeming to be of the heavy-metal-rock-electric-guitar-something-or-other genre (yep, I pretty much fail at determining music genres). Latter levels do improve somewhat in the audio department (and in turn, the atmosphere) though it does annoyingly creep in again towards the end. Enemies and objects were mostly decent enough (though the latter of which were at times badly lighted and/or positioned oddly, not to mention the pointless collision on some particularly small objects), several of the secrets were pretty easy to locate, and as a whole the levelset left me with a feeling that it was far from finished. Also, on a final note...surely there must be some way to teach new players the basics of TR without subjecting everyone to 100MB+ of FMVs, right?" - Spike (03-May-2009)