trle.net ::: Level Reviews

Level:	Lara Croft Regresa 12-13: USA
Author(s):	Raider Croft

total rating:	4.59	Gameplay & Puzzles	Enemies, Objects & Secrets	Atmosphere, Sound & Cameras	Lighting & Textures
	dmdibl	3	4	3	4
	eRIC	3	5	6	5
	eTux	2	4	4	4
	Jay	4	5	6	5
	Jerry	3	5	5	6
	MichaelP	4	6	4	4
	Obig	4	5	6	5
	Orbit Dream	5	6	6	6
	category averages (8 reviews)	3.50	5.00	5.00	4.88

Reviewer's comments

"While never much more than average in every category,these two house levels (they're supposed to take place in the USA;but you can't fool me - this is Lara's Mansion all over again)are just about creative enough to prevent boredom from setting in until the latter half of part two,when the builder see's fit to resume his trademark gameplay style of sending the player back and forth over wide expanses in order to tiresomely pad out the gameplay. Nonetheless,there are imaginative touches here and an attempt to develop some sort of (somewhat half-baked) storyline.The amusing indifference of the guards in level one is nicely contrasted with their chamnge of heart and determination to shoot her to bits in part two (make sure you find the Revolver as soon as you can on the ground floor of the Mansion);but nothing can prevent the whole story from becoming tedious;and the technical abilities of the author are not high enough to entertain the player with particularly good-looking environments.Despite the occasional fun moment,this is really for die-hard Mansion fans only." - Orbit Dream (17-Jun-2013)

"And it's one step forward, two steps back with the author. You lose all of Lara's guns (ammo, flares and medipacks remain safely in your possession, though), and due to the rather peculiar way the playable character looks - I ventured a guess that she was not meant to be Lara - but perusing the readme-s revealed that it's her alright, only working undercover to infiltrate the mansions:
The Frost Mansion (2, 3, 4, 4) 22 min, 2 secrets - Mr. Frost's mansion it may be, but it deceptively bears the likeness of Lara's own haunts, so you will get your bearings around here soon enough. But if it wasn't apparent earlier on, by now it should be pretty clear how formulaic the author's level building style is - at least for the "Regresa" series. You spend most of your time running around over vast expanses of the ordinary landscapes, stumbling upon a key or a button, and then you get the token maze - which isn't as big or bad as it could be, but still an annoyance and lazy gameplay on the author's part. A 'formulaic' style isn't even bad in itself, but it does become a distraction when as transparent as in the author's work here. By taking away a good part of Lara's inventory, the author stumbles on the age-old question - how to keep Lara occupied if she's unable to go around killing things? I did rather enjoy the undercover pseudo-stealth solution offered here, but all that said - there's just no making up for the fact, that you spend most of the time just running from point A to B.
Rescue (2, 4, 5, 4) 24 min, 0 secrets - Just because it was so fun the first time, here's an encore of the same house setting all over again. I must say I don't get in terms of the story - why we must have both of the levels back to back? What or whom exactly is she rescuing? Why did everyone and their grandma's dog suddenly turn hostile? - but, alas, here we have it - and I must say, as nice a change of pace the faux-stealth level before was, I enjoyed the house while it's in ruin and chaos much more. It's quite interesting to compare the differences, and as much as I hate the mindless killing - it has to be said that it gives an illusion of busyness compared to the rather tame first part. This could have warranted a higher gameplay rating in itself - but then the author comes back around to that dreadful yo-yo backtracking shtick of his, where you're deliberately sent between 2 locations a couple of times just to elongate the time spent here. After amassing over 200 flares so far, the end of this particular level is the first time I ever had to use one, so the "Regresa" series hereby gets the seal of approval for players concerned about darkness in custom levels.
The author risked doing something different in terms of story and gameplay here, but - it's not so much that the risk didn't pay off, and more so that the all too familiar house settings and every other deficiency that has plagued the series so far worked against it. The series so far has been ambitious, but without specific gameplay goals and work to back those ambitions up." - eTux (11-Mar-2013)

"This TR3 mansion level is admittedly no masterpiece, but it does have the odd moment of pleasure, not least the lovely TR3 music themes. The mansion is not the classic layout, but is still huge and largely empty, apart from loads of guards who are apparently doing no harm at all, despite which Lara decides to shoot one of them and steal his crowbar. Hmmm. The mansion and garden textures aren't especially appealing, but the low lying mist covering the outdoor areas does add a real touch of atmosphere." - Jay (26-Jan-2013)

"Shorter than the other parts of the series, but still too long at about 45 minutes for the two levels. Why? Because it is a huge and rather empty Mansion and you get to play through it twice - once peacefully and a second time with guards shooting at you (and a few mosquitoes and dogs thrown in for good measure). There are five secrets to collect and unfortunately you need to work through the unavoidable hedge maze in both parts. The hint for the five switches in part 1 was a nice idea, the far too many times of having to go up and down and back in part 2 was not. This may have worked a little better at the beginning of the series, but right where it is, it really serves as a painful anticlimax. Can't wait to get to Portugal now..." - MichaelP (24-Oct-2010)

"1: The Frost Mansion - We play the level in Lara's Home. There are many enemies at her home, but if we won't atteck them, they will let us. If we want, we can't kill them at the beginning, 'cause the revolver what we need. Unfortunately we have to kill one, because of crowbar. We must collect 2 keys, and push the reel. Pick up the map at the grasslabyrinth because you can see the 5 buttons. There are 3 secrets, with medipacks. I liked textures too. 2: Rescue (The Frost Mansion Remix) - The continue of the Frost Mansion level. Baddies, dogs, waspes in the home. We have to find the falled helicopter. At the beginning of the level we havent pistols, so let the work to the policemans, with patient. In the house we get the Revolver later, then we can kill everyone. We have to find two keys, pell-mell in the house from the basement to the bathroom. There are 2 secrets on the level. Great textures, I can suggest this great adventure for everyone." - Obig (25-May-2010)

"This is unconscionable. This late in the game the author decides to sneak in his earliest efforts, which are not even as good as the first India level of this series. The Lara construct is bad; watching her animations is painful, such as when she climbs a ladder. These two house levels are chunky and sloppily textured. As in the first India level of this series, game play consists of either aggravating mazes, or running between two points, yo-yoing back and forth to press a button. Interminable. The player only wants this to end." - dmdibl (20-Dec-2009)

"Two levels in and around a mansion , I like the idea of the hint for the 5 switches combination , but the maze was confusing. The distances of the mansion are large , but the map is not complicated. I notice a few objects showing up intermittently but that did not hinder the gameplay. Not a lot to do , the second level is the first revisited after the invasion of enemies and damages done to the mansion." - eRIC (20-Dec-2009)

"Compared to the previous levels there is nothing new in this two-parter gameplay-wise. You find yourself in an unbelievably huge house with randomly spread switches and tediously long runs from one end to the other. And worst is you have to do this house and the gardens in both level parts. But at least you get a welcome change in part 2, since you can deal with some guards then. I did not manage to get hold of the secret in the spikes room, as Lara was killed every time I tried to lower her on the spiked block, and trying the other side of the block she got stuck in an illegal slope. Technically there are recurring graphical bugs meaning some objects (enemies and items) are vanishing from time to time making them almost impossible to spot (e.g. the key in the chapel)." - Jerry (17-Oct-2009)