trle.net ::: Level Reviews

Level:	Lara Croft Regresa 14-15: Portugal
Author(s):	Raider Croft

total rating:	6.82	Gameplay & Puzzles	Enemies, Objects & Secrets	Atmosphere, Sound & Cameras	Lighting & Textures
	dmdibl	7	7	8	8
	eRIC	5	8	8	6
	eTux	5	6	5	6
	Jay	6	7	7	7
	Jerry	5	6	9	8
	MichaelP	7	6	7	7
	Obig	7	7	8	8
	category averages (7 reviews)	6.00	6.71	7.43	7.14

Reviewer's comments

"And so we get the best levels as the last in this series. It may seem like that's not saying much considering how poor the weakest links have been thus far, but this duo, and the last level in particular do work very well - and it's been interesting to note the author's progress with each passing level.
Salvation Rite (4, 6, 5, 5) 21 min, 0 secrets - Lara's mystery helper very considerately resupplies her, at this point meager gun collection, and fortunately so - because I ended up never finding any of the numerous secrets in here, and thus had to rely on the revolver and harpoon gun exclusively for all the mayhem and murder. The inclusion of the harpoon gun, the UPV and some prominent underwater sections make for the most gameplay innovation you get here - the rest is basically the same strolling through numerous cave sections you've seen before. Mind you, they're decent looking caves comparing to what the author has offered before, though hardly anything to write home about. More unwelcome was the return of the unmarked climbable walls, and quite surprisingly - a scarcity in camera hints, which up to now had not been a problem, and the weird way in which regular pickups will trigger gameplay-relevant events - not a good strategy, considering that the player may have decided he/she doesn't really need an extra throng of flares to the ones he/she (mercifully) doesn't have to use already.
Tomb of the Light (6, 6, 6, 6) 25 min, 1 secret - Putting aside all pondering whether the 14 level foreplay was worth it to get here, this undoubtedly is the best level of the series. The settings are interesting, varied, with a great selection of textures; decent, if not very nuanced lighting, and an overall feeling that you're approaching the resolution of a story, no matter how little you had to go on for one. I still would've liked an additional camera hint on more than one occasion, but the game plays well - throwing in some boulder traps, a timed shimmy, a coloured movable block puzzle and some more or less exciting battles with stone guardians of the tomb, and the Frost guy who's mansion you ravaged (or was ravaged by the helicopter crash? I didn't manage to extract a lot of story context from any of that) in a recent preceding level. The battering ram, as well as the guardians are nice allusions to the film franchise, and the level overall concludes on a high note, even if it was a bumpy road to get here.
The series as a whole definitely gets better as you advance to later levels, but whether you consider holding through worth the ride or not is up to you, since one could just as easily only start up the Portugal levels on their own just to see the best the series has to offer. One certainly can't fault the author for not being ambitious, and if you - on one hand - want something with a narrative carrying you through a longer set of sequential levels, yet on the other hand - don't want it to be too complex at the same time - this might be worthy of your attention. My ratings have mostly reflected the content (or lack of) of the levels and not necessarily how much I enjoyed them. I'd gather - apart from the first two India levels and the last Chile level there weren't really that many times when I was annoyed and actually felt it wasn't worth the trouble, so give them a chance." - eTux (11-Mar-2013)

"These two levels represent the finale of a much larger game and start off with Lara swimming for her life whilst all manner of denizens of the deep try to do her in, then consists of running, climbing and occasionally wading through a series of caverns, pausing only to kill a few thugs and dodge a couple of boulders along the way. The second section takes place in a not unattractive temple area, with a small timed run to achieve, plus a simple coloured block puzzle and a whole host of stone figures which come to life, but are actually quite easily dealt with. Not the best TR3 level, but certainly not the worst either." - Jay (27-Jan-2012)

"The last two levels of this massive series and by far the most mature levels as a whole. The looks are better and the textures more modern. Gameplay still remains the same old, same old a bit, but you get an occasional push block puzzle, a few boulder runs and a bunch of monks and bad guys to kill. Often an odd pickup triggers something, so make sure you do collect everything. A total of 9 secrets is a fun side quest, even though several of them hide behind the author's trademark - unmarked climbable walls. I had a few crashes in the first level, but they were easy to avoid by not stepping on certain squares. And so overall, this very ambitious series ends on a high note and the author has to be commended for sticking with it and providing many hours of solid, if not overly inspired, Tomb Raiding entertainment." - MichaelP (30-Oct-2010)

"1: Salvation Rite - We start the level on a submarine, then after the dive we can use the diving machine. During barracudas, crocodiles, frogmans bother us. After the adventure continue in cave with homeless persons, don't shoot them. But one homeless have a medipack in his pocket :) There are 4 secrets on the level. Nothing too hard challange, but you have to open your eyes if you want to collect the secrets. Textures are nice, I can suggest this great level for everyone. 2: Tomb Of The Light - We are roam underground, in caves and churches. Enemies are baddies, knight, and we will meet with Seth too. You have to push blocks, open the trapdoors by switches. And we need to collect two keys, two Stars, if you have them, we escape the level with a mask, and a huge swandive. Other challange is the secret collecting (5). If you collect them without walkthrough, let me congratulate. Secrets include weapons, but you dont have to use any harder weapon or medipacks." - Obig (25-May-2010)

"Obviously the author had made another step upwards in quality with this world, too bad my game crashed a little after using the underwater vehicle. I played the 2nd level as a standalone , which is atmospheric , and if there is areas which serve only for connecting others (uneventful then) , there is some good things in between with the timed trapdoors along which you have to shimmy , the movable block which blends excellently in the architecture , the spike balls traps, the easy puzzle with 5 coloured blocks. Enemies are not many but are good with the warriors that come to life. Some good fixed camera work in this pleasant level." - eRIC (20-Dec-2009)

"I had opposite reactions to these two levels. The first, "Salvation Rite," seems lightweight. There is an underwater assist vehicle, and frogmen to battle, yet none of that is developed. But then the concluding level, "Tomb of the Light," got me involved. It has better design and architecture, and the contrasting textures (that bothered me in the first level) work here. Lara shows off a new skimpy top by crawling, running, or swimming toward the camera. I missed most of the secrets of the concluding level the first time playing this. With the aid of the walkthrough, I found that the secrets invariably involve invisible crevices stretched across a room, or unmarked climbing surfaces, but it was nice to get them. Lara solved a colored push-block puzzle after moving only three of five blocks, surely a bug. The tomb ending is fun, with stone monks coming to life. Lara gets a rocket launcher, and fights more stone monks in a chamber with a buzzing winged demon overhead. I thought the rocket launcher was intended to kill him, but never brought him down. The finale is a high dive, as in this author's "Ice Heart: Inside the Cave." I wish the author had spent more time on consistent development, instead of completing levels in a few weeks. Despite what I thought were glaring flaws--all those unmarked climbing surfaces--the conclusion to the series is enjoyable." - dmdibl (13-Nov-2009)

"Although there is still not so much to do in this two-parter, I found it best out of the whole set. There is still a lot of running to do here (and it is your main business besides some climbing, diving anf shooting the one or other bad guy), but not that much backtracking as in the previous levels. So this time I found it okay to run around a lot down there, the more so because the caves you are led through are nice to look at. Yes, I really liked the overall atmosphere in those well designed caves. And for the first time lighting too is well worth mentioning. Later on there are some puzzle items to be collected, a timed run and an easy coloured block puzzle to do until you finally get hold of the desired artifact and reach the end." - Jerry (17-Oct-2009)