| Reviewer's comments |
"I’ll start off with the positives: The second room of the map is actually half-decent,
with some effort put into the lighting and texturing - even though it does seem weirdly
out of place in comparison to everything else going on in the level as if it were taken
from an entirely different project, I’ll acknowledge it all the same. I must also commend
the builders for keeping the overall runtime to a minimum, so that the experience is
merely as painful as the prick of a needle from routine blood tests at the doctors rather
than, say, attempting to hack off one’s fingernails with a rusty chainsaw. Tragically I
cannot say the same for those poor, poor beetles, stretched beyond the limits of biology
by the torture rack in the dungeons of the Level Editor; their torment is endless, their
screams silent yet deafening all at once. I have never once felt pity for a video game
texture in my life until I played this level, and I hope not to repeat the experience… and
you’re forced to endure the image over and over and over, as they’re plastered all over
the walls in a miniature Dreaded Maze near the end, as if the builders were proud of the
horrors they unleashed upon those creatures! Now I can’t blame anyone for wanting to be a
part of the avalanche of levels that came after the release of the TRLE, and if I had the
ability to use a computer with some degree of competence when I was one year old, I
probably would have done the same - but in modern times, there is no reason to play this
level unless you’re either a sicko completionist like me or a reviewer wanting to add
another notch on their belt." - Ejecta (25-Oct-2022) |
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| "I somehow found this level a little pointless. I mean, the
first room had nothing to do with, I was running in circles
for over 30 minutes with no hope, until I had a look at the
walkthrough and found out that there is hopefully a way to
escape this frustrating boxy room somehow. The ratings
completely manifest my opinion about this debut. Thanks!" - Mehrbod (08-Jan-2019) |
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| "In the lake, the hole is difficult to see, but the remaining gameplay is lineal and easy; pull a lever, some gymnastics in the fiery room, a small maze and some ninjas in the final room you can easily avoid running towards the jeep. Very poor gameplay, very poor architecture, very poor texturization with one of the most stretched textures I've ever seen... At least there are some cd tracks and the earthquake to create atmosphere, but not enough to consider to download and play this level." - Jose (07-Nov-2017) |
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| "Horribly textured and huge rooms, flat lighting or quite dark.
Gameplay is some jump and climbing sequences, swimming, find a
cartouche that has no use, and kill some white ninjas. Not
good looking and boring. Not recommended." - alan (31-Jul-2017) |
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| "Yeah, well, that's 10 minutes of my life I will
never get back. What a horribly designed mess.
The outside beginning area isn't terribly
convincing: a blandly textured area with blue
sky textures plastered on. The rest of the
level fares no better. Textures are stretched
to the limit, there was no atmosphere to speak
of and there was no gameplay apart from a maze
(argh), a slope jump sequence and finding a
cartouche. The sickening earthquake was the
pits. Leave it well alone!" - Ryan (22-Jul-2016) |
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| "Yet another unremarkable Egyptian debut level, with a lot of the same issues as always(lifeless environments, generally poor texturing, inconsistent lighting, boring gameplay)... the list goes on. So best to just skip this one." - Ceamonks890 (29-Jun-2015) |
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| "I suspect this level would have come across as a bit less than stellar on its release; by today's standards it's pretty awful. Most of the rooms are full of stretched or missing textures, wafer thin walls and complete lack of 'furnishings'. Having said which, there is one oddly attractive room at the start that feels as though it wandered in from another game entirely and hints at a greater level of expertise with the level editor than is displayed elsewhere. Strange! Anyway, it's a very short and uneventful game that merely asks for a bit of jumping, boulder avoidance and ninja shooting." - Jay (08-Dec-2014) |
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| "Beginning of the level is terrible - vast sandy room with distasteful blue texture as sky, palms in the row and some untextured small parts. But underground looked a little better but still textures were terrible. Gameplay is not bad but I was easily bored with this level." - Casual Raider (19-Jul-2013) |
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| "A level remarkable due to its prologue. It's the largest open space I've ever seen. Reminds me of TR4 prologue, with a lot of sand and a hole that led Lara to the tomb of Seth... (It also reminds me of my first project, never released - maybe one day it will be.) There are one of the best placed enemies I've ever encountered. The element of surprise is epic, the ninjas appear in simply perfect moment, when you already think there is nothing, nothing, nothing around... so I'm not gonna tell you where it is, to keep this surprise alive. 3 points for it. Nice objects here and there. And right sound in right places. Lighting sometimes very good, sometimes awful, so it's average in total. Texturing - the same thing. Gameplay is average. I assume one of the builders might have been experienced in graphics, and the second one - in enemies and gameplay, because the division is very clear. For bad things: one puzzle and one secret is not enough for me to give any points for them. SUMMARY: In general, this is a little, short, average level, but you can optionally play it if you wanna know where the hole is." - DJ Full (28-Oct-2010) |
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| "This was truly no fun to play. Enourmous big area at the
beginning, then a few easy jumps and ladders and some mummies
and bedouin and the level was over. 10 minutes for nothing." - manarch2 (22-Oct-2010) |
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| "I've always wanted to play this level because of the reviews. Now it's done I must admit that if I did not know there was a hole somewhere in this gigantic area, I would have given up like some others. I almost missed the pool and the trees ! :) Still when I found the pool , I missed the hole in the pool in my first investigation ! I spent half of the time in this level (15 minutes in all) searching this hole. The beginning area is surely a no no , but the first underground room after that is solidly built , pleasant and atmospheric with all these burners and the shadows. This room in which you have to do some monkey swing looks good despite wall textures a bit stretched, but not too bad really for the authors have segmented the walls. So shame on them, as the rest of the level could have looked much better in this category ! But instead after that, the walls are not segmented any more , there are thin walls and thin ceilings, and there is no work at all for the lighting, and the rooms are bare in general. With a bit of work, (and they have proven they knew how to do a decent looking room), this level could have looked a lot better. As for the rest of the gameplay, it was pleasant with a good idea (Lara can see the artefact she has come for but will grab it only at the end) , a jump/climb room , a spike balls sequence , and a little maze. That's' it , for it ends very quickly after that. You just have to avoid easily 2 mummies , and you don't even have to kill the 2 ninjas at the end when coming back outside to the jeep." - eRIC (23-Dec-2007) |
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| "A short 10 minute level, that involves the need to do quite a bit of jumping over death-tiles, and the odd climb/monkey swing. There are also a few mummies to avoid, but they can be sprinted past without a problem. While the gameplay is basic, the texturing is worse. It is almost constantly stretched or wallpapered, and it looks terrible most of the time. Lighting is either way too bright or far too dark, and that doesn't help the presentation at all...another reason why this level is simply poor." - Spike (29-Jul-2007) |
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| "What most people missed is the hole in the centre on the oasis which takes you to the meat of the level. The hole is hard to see, but it is there. This is what we call a level in which the level builder were trying out their technique at level building. It seems that each room consists of a different aspect of level building and your going through them, one by one. It does make it a nice enough level but it means the level is not fluent enough. The biggest point is that the game is fun enough to play, with out being difficult. The biggest let down however would have to be the texturing. There are missing and stretched tectures that bring the total appeal of the level down. If the level builders could work on that, then they will soon get better. I will also mention that there is ample use of music and lighting. If I had to give this level a grade, I would give it a D, a fail mark." - The Aussie Adventurer (20-Aug-2006) |
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"Stupid reviewers! Sometimes I wonder if reviewers really think they download 5 mb for just one single room... Excuuuuse me! If I had been one of the authors, I really would have been pissed off when the reviewers are too dumb to find a clearly obvious hole in the water.
The desert at the beginning isn't overwhelming, yes (a few missing textures and the "sky" isn't that much fun to look at), but it really gets better. You find your way into a nice egypt setting area (tut1).
This level is a neat debut with a really great slide/jump block room, a small maze, monkey swing and good objects. Enemies like boulders, mummies and ninjas attack you. I could have done without the earthquake but it's only at the end, so it's ok. Quite a lot of the textures are unfortunately stretched and there are also a few wafer thin walls. But remember it's a first level!!!
15 minutes of gameplay and one secret was what I found. What I also loved is that I was able to install the game! I am really having problems installing older games which absolutely pisses me off!!!
I apologize to the builders for the absolutely unfair reviews! You really haven't earned that! (Yes, I know, probably no one is gonna read this, and especially not the builders - pity - but I needed to say my bit.)" - Tinka (26-Oct-2005) |
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| "This level starts off very badly and goes downhill from there. Assuming you find the small hole in the Oasis itself (and the outside area is truly one of the most repugnant places I've ever been to in a custom level) you will experience about 10 minutes of absolutely standard raiding in a quite horribly textured environment. The jump sequences were ok and the course to the Cartouche was actually a fairly good concept but this is still the sort of level which (for the duration) makes you achingly nostalgic for all the far better levels you've ever played. You name it every basic fault is in here; which beggars the question of exactly how it is that two people were involved in this construction farrago? As I only believe the textures are worth one point I have forfeited the score accordingly. In the end I suppose one of the credited builders actually put the thing together and the second one went 'eurgh!'." - Orbit Dream (10-May-2004) |
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| "I liked the way the authors hid the hole that allows the player go to the sanctuary. The spiked boulders and the obstacle course with the jumps are challenging. The cartouche and the invisible hole (hidden by textures made with toggle opacity) make a great illusion. However the textures are stretched the oasis doesn't look like an oasis at all (the texture used for the floor is the same for the walls) and there are a few untextured areas in the first room. I found out that the sky in the first room is not a sky (it is actually a water room. I found out about this when I used DOZY). There is also a flare bug (too many flame_emitters) and a few enemies. Unfortunately this level doesn't really have any atmosphere." - Sakusha (10-Apr-2004) |
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| "I have to agree with Sash that some players missed the level but I agree with everyone that it's not much of a level anyway. There is a huge desert with the jeep and the flares are there because soon you will be going underground and need them. If you go east and look at one of the corners of the pool with palm trees there is a hole that will lead you to an underground temple. The textures are awfully stretched and there are no enemies except some mummies and a ninja at the end. The burning floor with the blocks and slopes is the only sort of interesting thing in the level. The cartouche which you will get from the other side wasn't of any use. One easy secret found and fifteen minutes to finish it." - Kristina (17-Sep-2003) |
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| "Oh my God! The textures are horrible! This authors love the buttons Texture Walls Ceiling and Floor! No originality in the decors and same for the rest. A desert with walls! No sun! So if you want download a heavy file for this that is your opinion! :-/" - Neso (01-May-2003) |
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| "Once I found my way through miles and miles of badly textured dunes and located the swim hole things started looking a little better. Imagine my surprise as I fell through the floor and ended up back outside. This poorly textured level does show flashes of acceptability especially in the jumping/climbing puzzle over the burning floor. Although this is the highlight of the level. A few mummies to avoid some climbing grab the cartouche climb again and kill 3 ninjas. That's it." - Momster (19-Aug-2002) |
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| "Apparently some of the reviewers haven't found the entrance to the tomb and stayed overground. Well I would have left it at that if Sash's review hadn't nudged me into the right direction. The question is do you really want to leave the pleasant atmosphere of the oasis and venture into the realm of stretched textures fallthrough floors and paperthin walls? There is a jump sequence that is fun a boulder trap with an encore and at the end you even get shot at but otherwise this tutorial level doesn't provide much excitement. Maze mummies monkey swings. Only for the completist." - Dimpfelmoser (16-Aug-2002) |
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| "THAT is a desert with some textures missing but still a lot of sand. The sky is a bit weird looks like you're looking at the surface of water. Anyway I found the oasis and this had to be my lucky day as I spotted a hole in the floor and swam through. Main goal is getting the cartouche you'll see it in plain sight. But then the fun begins there is a block jump a boulder trap and some running to do. After a short maze then you can get your hands on that cartouche. The earthquake that will start could have been a bit shorter but it's almost the end though. Apart from 2 mummies I encountered 3 ninjas and that is all. Also apart from some flares found one secret. 04-08-2002" - Gerty (11-Aug-2002) |
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| "I think from my friends reviews they may not have actually played the level beyond the initial vast room where a hole in the bottom of the pool of water leads the player underground in search of a cartouche. Taking only 15 minutes to play the adventure underground consists of not much more than a couple of traps barely any enemies 1 secret and a block jumping puzzle which would have been okay if this was just the start of a longer level but as it isn't this was just over all too soon." - Sash (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "If you want to download 5+ MB for a huge desert with a small puddle and some palm trees around it..." - Michael. (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "This really wasn't a bad little level once you fell through the fake floor and got to the tricky jumps etc. The textures were a bit stretched here and there but were still acceptable. Once you retrieve the cartouche it's out of there towards the end of the level for around 12 minutes of gameplay." - Torry (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "In a few words: ugly huge and nothing else. It's the worst level I ever played! I can describe it really: you start besides a jeep and some flares look up and instead of the usual nice sky you find a strange blue texture the desert is all closed by sand walls and the "oasis" is a big lake among lots of trees. There are hundreds levels around the net so this should be ignored. It's strange that TWO people were needed to make a thing like this!" - Treeble (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "You'll start this level in a desert 'oasis' lot's of sand and a little water surrounded by palm trees. Nothing to do up here. However as soon as you find the well hidden tunnel in the water you're on your way. Your objective is to collect a cartouche though that won't be as easy as it sounds. Along the way you'll find a few clever traps including a spiked boulder trap that was so good I had to go through it three times (cause I died the first two :). I also enjoyed the slide/jump block room. I found one secret and ran into a few enemies - some I could just outrun. Very few pickups here but then I really didn't need them. I don't really like mazes but at least this one wasn't too big and the textures in some of the rooms needed a little word but fun for such a short level." - RaiderGirl (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "I hated this level. The texturing was bad and there was nearly no lighting. The flare-bug appeared and the gameplay is bad really bad. The level takes about ten minutes to finish if you manage to find where to go from the start (look in the water that is if you for some reason download the level). There are not many enemies (I counted seven). I don't know why I downloaded the level after I had read the other reviews but I advise you to not make the same mistake that I did." - Magnus (21-Jun-2002) |
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| "Well this level (5.5 MB) is NOT worth downloading. It is a giant room with a floor and a ceiling and one car. There is some water. But is this an oasis? No enemies no nothing ...totally nothing.. Waste of MB's. It's a pity that there are no zero's to give." - Henk (21-Jun-2002) |
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