trle.net ::: Level Reviews

Level:	Lara busts on in
Author(s):	Cain

total rating:	1.85	Gameplay & Puzzles	Enemies, Objects & Secrets	Atmosphere, Sound & Cameras	Lighting & Textures
	DJ Full	6	2	3	3
	eRIC	2	4	1	2
	eTux	1	2	1	2
	Gerty	3	3	1	1
	herothing	0	0	1	3
	Jonson	2	3	3	1
	MichaelP	3	3	1	0
	Ruben	0	0	0	0
	Scottie	3	4	2	3
	Selene	2	0	1	2
	category averages (10 reviews)	2.20	2.10	1.40	1.70

Reviewer's comments

"Gameplay - 3 pt. - it's entertaining, but sometimes frustrating, especially if one isn't familiar with Cain's style of bulding mazes (actually, it's quite simple and described in "Castle Cain" walkthrough; here we encounter another path, but the same scheme of planning mazes). A very good thing in comparison to his other levels is that THERE IS NO BACKTRACKING THROUGH MAZES THIS TIME. Those who played "Search for the lost Cain" or "Castle Cain" know what I am talking about and have also noticed this, I think. # Puzzles - 3 pt. - at last Cain has placed keys, holes and switches in fine places. Never seen that before in his levels. What the mazes spoil, puzzles repair. Respect. # Enemies - 1 pt. - fine idea, wrong placement this time! They keep blocking passages and an unnecessary usage of medikits may occur. # Objects - 1 pt. - nice toilets everywhere, but it's not enough. # 0 Secrets - 0 pt. - I generally love secrets, so I have no mercy here. # Atmosphere - 2 pt. - acceptable, it makes you wanna play the whole level, but you still have a feeling of being in an average house, out of any context. # Sound - 1 pt. for these doors :) But I turned off the music and played Jurassic Park soundtrack instead of provided background. BTW, JP soundtrack fitted this level quite good... But as long as it was not Cain's achievement, it doesn't matter at all. So no more points for sound. # Cameras - 0 pt. - and NO MERCY! # Lighting - 1 pt. Doesn't disturb. Doesn't impress me either. # Textures - 2 pt. The house is painted rather good, I felt quite comfy inside. But outside there is total monotony. If Cain haven't used a grass/leaves texture in the maze and house exterior, all of that would be boring. ## SUMMARY: This level is neither as funny as Cain can be, nor as inventive as he is. Play it if you: 1) have too much time, 2) wanna increase your "Eel Kill" count, 3) wanna appreciate SOME gameplay author have included at last." - DJ Full (03-Aug-2010)

"Being in such a generous mood I decided to pick a few levels off the review wishlist and since this one had 8 reviews from before it was an obvious choice. Saying I had a good time would be called exaggerating. Riding a snowmobile through the house was pretty enjoyable and I found the giant mummies to be slightly amusing. There was also something which one could be tempted to call a hint of gameplay, consisting in running around the garden and house while collecting keys and pushing buttons. Cain's maze-mania ruined a lot of the fun though, with a seemingly never-ending run around a garden maze until I completely by chance stumbled upon the exit. Then followed a nasty underwater maze that cost me quite a few medipacks. There were enemies scattered in every single room and the most random selection you could imagine too: gladiators, T-Rexes, giant mummies, Borgs and those huge eels that in Cain's case seem to be the object of some peculiar obsession. At least I got the pleasure of having a really good laugh at eRIC's review and that's always something." - Selene (26-Oct-2009)

"Were it not for the mandatory pointless maze (and an underwater maze as an added bonus) this (along with most other Cain adventures that don't consist exclusively from mazes) would actually be somewhat enjoyable in a way. Blowing your countless enemies to smithereens works well enough to channel some entertainment if the author can't come up with anything else to offer (though you do get a rather tedious key hunt here too) so the only question would be - why add them in the first place? Even the readme was not that enjoyable in this one, but I admit I may have just missed the reference here." - eTux (12-Aug-2009)

"I think it was Marksdad that said to me, a maze is the easiest thing to make and fill a level. Well Cain for sure does take the easy way out. For the rest you know the drill so get to it. And surprise, surprise there is a bit more gameplay in this one, as you do have to find a couple of keys to get to the bike. Strange all those toilets, hmmm wonder what Freud would have to say about that. Then the nastiest thing happened to me, Lara disappeared behind the grassy ledges in the pit and only a reload could get her out of there. Paperthin walls, stretched textures and even no textures, but then again, we’ve seen that before." - Gerty (11-Aug-2009)

"I can see only one explanation to the luxuriant profusion of gigantic mazes in the last Cain ‘s levels : Cain may have contracted a GLM (Galloping LabyrinthoMania) , a rare sickness that can infect vulnerable level builders who have not polished their gameplay skills. I have been told Cain is in touch with a good otolabyrinthopractor who can cure that, so there is hope. The main syndrome of this sickness is that you lose completely any sense of measure .... In some rare cases there is possible aggravating side effects , for example you see every thing multiplied. When there is a small animal on your path , you think you are seeing a whole horde of them and their size can be 10 times the normal. But let’s not talk about this : let us only wish to Cain a good recovery and start the review. So in this level , it seems that Lara has been invited to a disguised party by some rich landowners Mr and Mrs Eels, they even have a snowmobile which can be driven on grass, how cool is that ? Lara soon meets the drunk butler disguised in Indian, then she meets Mr and Mrs Eels in person. (Everyone knows that eels are a bit like policemen , they generally appear two by two, but I diverge). Then to her surprise, Lara finds herself embarked in a big labyrinth party (this was kept secret until her arrival). You have firstly the starters in the form of a hedge maze , but this one is the mother of all hedge mazes. She is not alone here, that’s normal it is a starter and all good starters must be spent with good company ; so you have here some of Mr and Mrs Eels ‘s siblings (these were locked in the hedge maze for they have not been nice with the cook). Ah, the starter was copious , but then came another excellent meal : a spiced underwater labyrinth. I know that some of you would have preferred a underwine or un underbeer labyrinth to prolong the party more joyfully but you would have drowned quicker. After all this, it was time to make some training to facilitate the ingestion with a few easy jumps. Lara could greet plenty of Mr and Mrs ‘ other siblings and met the other guests : the C.Borg family from Sweden , the Giganticomummi family from Brooklyn and it was a real pleasure to see that the neighbours , the Trex family was in real good terms with the Eels. Lara’s hosts had really made things great , they had invited professional clowns to the party , the hilarious Glad Yators. The Eels were really nice with Lara for she could visit all rooms including the armoury , admire the numerous toilets , the harps and the piano , play with switches and keys , kill everybody in sight and even drive Mr Eel’s personal snowmobile . What a good afternoon it was ! If you decide to play this level go for it. The slaughter never ceases after the labyrinths. And if at the end you have enjoyed this level, I can give you the address of Cain’s otolabyrinthopractor." - eRIC (03-Aug-2009)

"Yet again there is actually a hint of gameplay buried among the typically useless and boring standard Cain Level elements. This time it is a kind of sequential hunt for keys and doors around and inside a crudely built rendition of Lara's Home. It could actually have been fun (sort of), but the massive amount of eels appearing from thing air, plus some Borg, knights and huge mummies added to the mix spoiled it, despite the great satisfaction of seeing how effectively the super grenade gun gets rid of these creatures. Another spoiler is the totally unnecessary hedge maze, followed by an even more unnecessary underwater maze. But it does end on sort of a high note with a nice snowmobile ride through the house - only to end exactly where you started, wondering what it was all for anyway..." - MichaelP (01-Aug-2009)

"Nevertheless, Cain surprises me over and over again. Negatively and positively. Because I hate mazes, both mazes in this level for me were the purest horror. That Cain now still builds mazes lets assume me bad things for the future. Positively I find that one gets to know almost with every level new figures from the Cain universe. This is sometimes a Borg. No, not the former tennis player. I mean the Borg from Star Trek. Furthermore has struck me, that Cain apparently has developed a feel, when he must help the player. After the first maze I had no more Medipacks, but luckily one could find a small one and a big one. After the next second labyrinth the big one was away, but luckily one could find immediately afterwards several big Medipacks. I find it also noteworthy which there is though once more a lot of opponents, however, it becomes never unfair. One always has enough Medipacks, weapons and ammunition to defeat the opponents. Furthermore the general progress has struck me. For example, the buildings looked good. They were well formed and there were no stretched textures. Of course there are still weak points. Most rooms are bald and empty and there are many paper-thin walls. But also is here the progress clearly recognizable. A little bit strangely are the many toilets look. Whether does the landlord have a collective kink? All together I am the opinion, that Cain slowly indeed upwards works the way up. One must only exact look, then one can also recognise it. Playing time was about 45 minutes" - Scottie (01-Aug-2009)

"Hi Michael, time to make a decision , don`t you think ? The TRLE community giving every honest builder the chance to publish their work should not be converted into a mailbox for people like Cain , who greedily brushes his teeth for any other review , for the better or the worse. It`s just a waste of time ." - Ruben (25-Jul-2009)

"I know i've never said this before but please just give up! Cain's level still ceases to improve as the only thing he's done is changed the scene and called it a level. Lighting is poor, textures are ok, gameplay is just bad, it's the same every game, please play a game that has scored over 8, see how it's made and incorporate that in some of your levels. Grade = E+" - herothing (25-Jul-2009)

"And another level by Cain. This time you have to explore a big mansion full of toilets, doors and, of course, enemies. I'm really expressed by this one. It's amazing how many statics Cain uses in this level, but most of them are toilets placed everywhere in the house. Driving around with the snowmobile through the house is also funny and a typical Cain idea. But i don't like the long underwater maze, in my opinion this is too confusing and exasperating, because Lara has to use a lot of medipacks. To sum up: A house full of toilets and a nerving underwater maze. Impressive, eh?" - Jonson (25-Jul-2009)