Reviewer's comments |
"The readme makes it clear – this boat level is very much unfinished. There will be places you have to use DOZY to progress, so if you feel stuck be sure to go back and read it, or read the walkthrough. There isn't a finish trigger either. Lara will explore relatively simple places like a cargo hold, a pool, and a maze-like air duct, but definitely the best moment is the camera shot of Lara standing at the side of the large vessel, overlooking the sea. Textures tend to be wallpapered and warped, and the lighting tends to be flat although some rooms at least have color variety. Aside from the broken areas that you have to cheat through, another issue is that important camera cues are missing. so you will likely need the walkthrough to figure out where to go next. On the plus side is a good number of goons to gun down, and some engaging jumping in a boiler room, along with a fun but brief bike jump, which I assume was going to be the means of escape. A shame this couldn't have been more polished, as the idea of Lara escaping from a hijacked cruise ship is pretty neat, and you can see the premise lending itself to some creative ideas here, even if they didn't fully develop. 22 minutes." - JesseG (30-Nov-2020) |
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"The author states in the !!!!!!R_E_A_D_M_E!!!!!!! file that
there are some problems with his level. Due to these
problems we'll have to use the fly cheat. I played the
level normally till I arrived to the room with the
monkeyswings that don't work. From there I used DOZY and
got infinite items, so killing the guards was a lot easier.
I liked the long jump from the elevator shaft to the little
pool. There are many missing cameras; I guess the
jumpswitch in the pool room opened the gate at the bottom
of the corridor with the sentry gun. I also liked the view
of the huge ship in the middle of nowhere, with static
water which looked like it was frozen. Once you get to the
roof of the ship you can ride the bike over the big ramp
and watch as both the bike and Lara explode in pieces!
Finished (or not) this level in 27 minutes and found 139
secrets?! o_O" - alan (31-Jan-2018) |
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"This isn't a ship as such, it's more of a
floating military base swarming with
guards. You will have to DOZY in a couple
of places, so that rather defeats the
whole challenge a bit, but it does make
the gunfights a hell of a lot easier as
you get unlimited everything as a
consequence. There's only some switches to
pull and some crawling otherwise. Just a
waste of potential (I'll admit it had
some) and it was made a long time ago so
this is what we're left with." - Ryan (26-Oct-2017) |
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"As has been pointed out many times before,this is a
somewhat incomplete level (you need to DOZY on a couple
of occasions);but,by some happy accident,it was
surprisingly enjoyable.Much of this was probably due to
the unlimited supply of health and weaponry that resulted
from the cheat ,which allowed the multiple guard attacks
to become no more than harmless target practice.The lift
shaft sequence was fun the first time it was encountered
(annoying the second);the broken engine room was
interesting to navigate;and the ship-board ambience was
- very occasionally - authentic.It becomes all too
clear,though,that the story which the builder chose to
tell was simply too ambitious an undertaking for his
comparatively limited technical ability to accomplish.The
gloriously suicidal ending was a hilarious admission of
technical defeat;but so too were the preponderance of
ventilation ducts,and the really vicious use of the
machine gun,which just made you want to slap the builder
around the head. Overlook the obvious shortcomings (the
Walkthrough will ease the pain) and you'll have a
reasonably fun 40 minutes." - Orbit Dream (03-Feb-2017) |
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"It really is a bit off putting to find instructions in the readme to DOZY from time to time just to be able to play the level. Imagine that happening nowadays! Anyway, it rather set the tone of the whole thing so I was far from surprised to find it somewhat unsatisfying. For a start, if you're expecting a ship you'll be disappointed to find yourself in a base setting, battling loads of guards. There is some vague effort at the end to indicate a deck area and water, but it's really not well done. Riding the motorbike up a ramp and over the side seems a strange way to end a level too. Can't really find much to recommend with this one." - Jay (04-Oct-2015) |
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"I can't understand how a level can be released with all that bugs in the monkeyswing or climbing walls; also why don't place a finish trigger at the top of the ramp instead of Lara's death? This way the game loses the emotion of finding/save items and trying to get less damage when fighting with the soldiers. Even so I think there are excessive pickups. The architecture is not bad, and the texturization is the best of the game, even when there are some long wall panels with stretched textures (ex: storage room). The gameplay is the worst, shooting soldiers here and there and pull levers and switches with no hints; also there are too many maze-crawlspaces. There are some fixed cameras but not camera shots when pulling levers/jumpswitches to help the players; I missed more musics too. Not recommended." - Jose (03-Jun-2015) |
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"Keeping in mind that it is a 'quite old' level at least I can see that it has potential. It would be nice if Erin would try the LE again with all that one can accomplice with the extra programs that are written for the LE. I think he could make a smashing level. For now it is a dark level with a lot of crawling. Also no camera work so guessing where to go or what to do next is not my way of fun. The best was the dive and that jump sequence. So what about it Erin? 24-08-2003" - Gerty (28-Aug-2003) |
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"The author and me have something in common we both didn't like this level! But I will say it showed great potential but fell flat on its face. It's certainly a ship considering the bunk bedrooms with a lot of dead soldiers on the beds (the bunk bed rooms and corridors are quite good) and the huge rooms which seem to be the inside of the hull but a deep elevator shaft doesn't fit the setting. I admit I had to dozy because I hadn't a clue what to do. The only significant find was the left gauntlet in what can only be described as a crate maze and I didn't find an end trigger. Unless of course I missed a whole lot of stuff!" - CC (06-Jun-2003) |
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"As the author himself says you will have to fly cheat to get through this level. The level itself is not difficult but its dozens of SAS guards make your life harder. The gameplay could be shortened to find switch open door proceed but there is a tricky jump sequence here and a lot of crawling there. There's also a little maze and it took me a lot of time to figure there was a box which Lara could climb. Once outside the ship you can have some fun though - the bike jump gave me a good laugh!" - Treeble (19-May-2003) |
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"I liked the TV with animated static and some areas looked authentic but on the whole there were just too many things that didn't make sense. What did the jump switch at the pool do? What was the crowbar for? Why do you get the showdown near the beginning? Why do you get the grenade gun when you don't need it anymore? Worst of all were the tedious crawl mazes and the boring climbs so whenever I encountered them I said to myself: 'Didn't the author advise you to use dozy at certain points?! I bet this is one of them.' The dive into the elevator shaft was a thrill and there is one good jumping/shimmying sequence but otherwise the gameplay is rather monotonous. You get a few good camera angles sadly enough the nice long shot from the ship is spoiled by the End of the World and the fact that the water is solid. Furthermore there should have been a finishing trigger somewhere on the other side of the ramp. All things considered I reckon I prefer the other ship based level from the author." - Dimpfelmoser (05-Oct-2002) |
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"What I hate the most is that authors put their own work down. I don't know why this level is released if the author doesn't like it himself. I think the most important thing is that the author likes the level himself. But now to the level - it is quite a bad crafted level and even knowing how hard it is to make a ship level I'll still say it's pretty bad. The elevator shaft was well made but there were some beginner mistakes also I still don't know where the level ends. When I saw the ship from the camera view I accidentally 'fell' into the water what you'll find out is only solid ground textured to look like the water. You could play the level just to see the ship but there are a lot better levels out there than this." - eTux (10-Jul-2002) |
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"Set on a ship this wasn't apparent straight away but became more evident as I moved along the readme tells you that you will need to use the fly cheat in certain places as he was unable to work some climbing surfaces but I found this not a distraction so it didn't come into my scoring the level the large elevator shaft similar to Chronicles looked very well done and an extremely precise dive into a very small one square sized pool of water from probably 4 floors was a fun touch and progressing to end up on the outside of the ship where a motorbike awaits which then leaves you no option but to Thelma and Louise it off the ship is a great dramatic way to end the level there is a great camera angle from outside the ship as Lara runs along a side deck only to find that she will have to shimmy on the outside of the ship any second which was very well placed." - Sash (21-Jun-2002) |
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"Well what is there to expect from a level where the author states in the readme that he does not like it himself and that you will need to use the flycheat in places? Actually given that this is one worth to look at. Yes there are bugs in it but it holds so much promise with good texturing (like the tiger-textured beds) and overall a great atmosphere. The elevator shaft is impressive and the jump into that 1 tile waterhole is fun. Not so much fun is all the time spent crawling through the vents. And the warehouse had me running around for quite a while before I found the piece of armor. Quite a few SAS to kill at one time a whole bunch of them in one go. I loved the rather tricky jump sequence and the creepy room with the dead soldiers in beds. Oh and of course there is the motorbike ride to the end." - Michael (21-Jun-2002) |
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"As the author himself admits this level is pretty rough around the edges. What is good about the level is the dark and foreboding atmosphere and the engaging gameplay. I really enjoyed the way the map led Lara through a winding exploration of the ship. On the downside there's a lot of crawling through air ducts (which becomes tiresome) and the complete lack of cameras left me wondering what the heck some switches did (especially the one by the pool). In the end I guess the best thing that can be said about this one is that it is a vast improvement over the author's other ship-themed level ;-)." - Tombaholic (21-Jun-2002) |
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"I really enjoyed this level despite its bugs. It is set on a ship with a load of enemies up to 6 at once! But luckily I had the shotgun. At first it is not apparent that it is a ship because the rooms are very large and looks more like the tower block from TR:Chronicles. There are some interesting camera angles which add to the excitement and the best part is at the end! Just a little lack of puzzles here but that is not such a big loss." - TrueRaider (21-Jun-2002) |
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"Looks like Lara's wandered into yet another strange situation. While staying aboard a luxurious cruise ship with some friends she learns about an ancient artifact that is also being kept on board. Meanwhile the government has been conducting strange experiments on the rest of the passengers which causes everyone to dress up as soldiers and take control of the ship killing everyone they see. Some of them cannot handle this and decide instead to commit suicide while laying in their bunks. Can Lara find the artifact and escape before she turns into a soldier too? Will she find all the secrets that the ship is hiding? Install this level and find out if you dare!" - RaiderGirl (21-Jun-2002) |
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"It was a nice idea to create a ship level. The first thing someone will notice is that it doesn't look like a ship at first with the elevator and the hallways with many many SAS guards. Too many crawlspaces and switches with some of them totally opposite to the door you need to open. One gauntlet found I am still wondering what its purpose was. Other than that the only thing worth mentioning is the ship seeing it from a far away camera was nice but no sea I am afraid absolutely no water around. After getting hold of the bike there is a slope that goes up and off the ship was it a suicide mission after all we will never know as there is no finishing trigger as the author explains in the readme file and there is also the DOZY issue meaning many areas are unfinished so you have the author's blessing to use it. Give it a try just to see the big ship." - Kristina (21-Jun-2002) |
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