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Level: Lost City of Luma back home search
Author(s): Isis
total rating:8.54 Gameplay &
Puzzles		 Enemies,
Objects &
Secrets		 Atmosphere,
Sound &
Cameras		 Lighting &
Textures
Akcy 8 8 8 9
Blue43 8 7 9 9
CC 7 7 9 8
Dimpfelmoser 8 8 9 9
Doug E 8 8 8 10
Dougsan 7 7 8 8
Engelchen Lara 10 8 10 9
eRIC 8 7 9 10
eTux 8 9 10 9
Freeman Porter 9 8 9 8
Gerty 8 8 9 9
Jay 8 8 9 9
Jorge22 7 7 8 8
Jose 8 8 9 9
Kristina 8 7 8 8
Light a Flare 8 8 9 10
Magnus 7 7 7 7
MichaelP 8 8 9 10
Momster 9 8 9 8
Monika 9 8 9 9
Moonpooka 9 9 10 9
Navi 8 9 9 9
Patson 9 9 10 10
Phil 8 8 9 9
QRS 9 8 10 10
RaiderGirl 9 8 10 9
Sash 8 8 9 9
Sheevah 9 8 10 9
Sherry 8 8 10 10
StormChaser 9 8 8 9
Treeble 8 8 8 9
Xxenofex 8 9 10 10
category averages
(32 reviews)		 8.22 7.94 9.00 9.00

Reviewer's comments

"This beautifully built level that can be finished easily under 2 hours playtime. Solid well placed textures and very good lighting. I totally enjoyed the atmosphere this level has. Logical and fairly fluent game play. No really hard puzzles or any extremely difficult jumps and hard timed runs. I never got stuck anywhere. The enemies are also easy. There are indoor and outdoor areas. I thought the indoor areas had a lot of dark spots, but thankfully there is a great supply of flares. For whatever reason the second secret didn't register and replayed that sequence multiple times from previous save games. All in all I would highly recommend this level. This will be a pleasant experience to play for anyone from expert to novice. Great job!" - Blue43 (12-Apr-2010)

"I have been looking for a nice single cold/snowy level for some time now and just stumbled across this fantastic piece by Isis. It wasn't too hard but did send me off on the wrong tracks quite a few times. The gameplay was fairly easy and linear to begin with, but then it got a bit more toxic, with traps, flame emitters and timed runs kicking in. I thought the structure of the level was fantastic and from a builder's point of view, very well made too. The texturing for most of the game was of a very high standard with nice use of the TR2 Tibet textures and also some TR1 ones too, I believe. The lighting was also very nice, giving us some beautiful cavern-like greens, purples and blues to look at. The ambient sounds fitted the environments well and also the audio was put at just the right places. A highly recommended level, well done Isis!" - Light a Flare (28-Feb-2009)

"This is a really good level. It's very compact and well designed, with excellent texturing and lighting. Lara explores icy caves and the 'lost city' inside a mountain, to find four tridents that, when placed, will roll back four huge stone wheel gates, and eventually allow us to grab the hidden (in plain sight) gem, before escaping out of the mountain. Simple enough. But good fun, as not everything is immediately obvious, and it's definitely not a linear level. Some very logical, and impressive sights are melting an icy pond by rerouting lava through two giant heads. Once down there, swimming in what appears to be a dead end, and being chased by a shark (how did that get in there?) until we find the underwater lever. But that's not all we will be doing. It's all over too soon. A highly recommended 'smaller' level for inbetween or just to take a break from the longer huge levels." - CC (12-May-2008)

"A good looking level, convincing icy caves and passages, nice indoor areas, it reminded me to the atmosphere of TR2. Gameplay is easy, but since it's non linear the high exploration factor makes it interesting. There were a few missing sounds and one secret didn't show up in the statistics. But all in all a very good level, recommended." - Akcy (18-Dec-2007)

"It's terribly hard to rate and review a level that dates back to 2002, but since it's been included in the Adcents Calendar 2007, here goes a word... The graphics seem faultless and the gameplay is nice and fluent. A pretty good job for those days. The adventure takes place in an icy atmosphere (not Christamassy) and the enemies and obstacles are dogs and a few rolling barrels, while Lara searchs for four tridents so she can get out of the temple. Enjoyable." - Jorge22 (18-Dec-2007)

"What a really lovely idea from the Levelbase, to resurrect an older winter/ snowy level in the Advent Calendar each year as a tribute to some of the pioneer builders. It was a real treat for me as, for some inexplicable reason, I had never played this particular level. How I managed to miss it I can’t imagine, since Sue is one of my favourite builders. It is perhaps timely to be reminded just how good some of the ‘old’ levels are. We may be in danger of becoming so spoilt by the new generation of building tools/graphics etc., that we ignore the older levels and, as this one so ably demonstrates, that would be a great shame." - Jay (18-Dec-2007)

"I really need to stop sending in reviews years after I wrote them. Here's a quote from my review of this level: "augh! The darkness! The darkness!" Presumably the level is rather dark. Of course, I was playing this level on my old computer, so if you don't normally find darkish levels dark, you probably shouldn't have a problem with this level. People with dark monitors need not apply, though. Anyway, this is apparently "a linear run through some caves, with a few wolves thrown in for good measure." The texturing is "nice" and the only thing I didn't like was that "it was sometimes hard to figure out where to go next". There's also a rant about the outfit in the review, but that's of lesser importance. Oh, and the level ended after twenty-five minutes." - Magnus (02-Jul-2006)

"This level proves that it doesn't matter what settings this author uses..she will always do something great with the textures and the lighting! I think that's a rare gift and when she also seems to be extremly skilled in producing enjoyable gameplay and superb atmosphere..can you fail making a custom level then? Nahh :):) What I'm trying to say is that this is a gem. A sinle level that takes about 1 hour to finish. It is not hard but you enjoy every minute of it. I also love the map layout of this level. Very complex and with tons of things to do all the time. Highlights: The slide in the huge ice room, the huge doors with flybys near the end. And did I mention all the beautiful textures? ;) Keep up the good work, Sue." - QRS (18-Mar-2006)

“A beautiful level which I really enjoyed throughout. Set in the snowy mountains you make your way into the fabulous caved temples area where you will get a few surprise attacks from dogs wraiths and a shark but enemies are minimal although well placed then you arrive back out in the snowy mountains to end the level. There is a wonderful atmosphere to this level; I had no problems with lighting as I played it by night. Some tricks and traps along the way and also a timed run. I loved the secrets too and hung around until I found them all. You collect four tridents a star and a gem plus there is the inevitable search high and low for the crow bar but the areas to explore were beautiful even though you are going to get lost quite a lot. Just wonderful I must say it’s one of those levels I never wanted to end.” – Moonpooka (15-Jul-2004)

“This was a fun level to play. Nothing spectacular but solid and consistent. There was the right balance between dark caverns icy tunnels and a little bit of fresh air thrown in for good measure. The enemies were few and far between mainly wolves and wraiths (and one shark). A nice touch was setting off a lava flow to melt the frozen lake. There were four secrets in all well hidden and quite ingenious. I'm enjoying these older highly-rated levels especially now (5/04) that Dutchy has provided us the service of writing walkthroughs for them. This one is definitely worth a look if you haven't already tried it.” – Phil (09-May-2004)

“Sue is now one of my favourite builders. She consistently builds beautiful levels that are player friendly and fun. The one timed run near the end was not difficult so did not have to pull my hair out. Good puzzles beautiful setting. Well done Sue.” – Sherry (21-Jan-2004)

“Give me an icy snow environment any day throw in a wonderfully textured authentic looking building in that setting and a really fun progression and you’ve got two big thumbs up from me. This of course is what you get here and although the puzzling side of things isn’t too devious except for a timed move that had me reloading and one of the four tridents that I had a hard time finding this is just such a wonderful experience with a sometimes confusing little scenario on the hunt for the gem Luminum. I’ve said it before Sue has a knack of making levels come to life and I could play them all day sadly this took only 70 minutes of my day to play with 2 of the 4 secrets found but they were 70 minutes well spent.” – Sash (10-Aug-2003)

“Wow! Another great level from Isis. I was very impressed with the lighting textures colors and atmosphere. The gameplay was pretty good with several different areas to go exploring. Starting out in the icy cold of Alaska Lara goes on a quest for the Luminum diamond. Enemies are few (wolves and a wraith) but pop out at the least expected moments. Lots of searching climbing jumping to find the four tridents that open the way to the jewel. The effect of the lava was fantastic! This was my kind of game!” – Patson (15-Jun-2003)

“An example of a very good work. It's not too hard and not too easy. Very playable. I have played hundreds of levels until the editor came out - but never often one like this. The geometry is good - not only some rooms connected with another and some doors - there are a real ambience like an old city. For my opinion I would have liked a little bit more exterior locations - but this is a personal point of view and doesn’t influence the good work. The textures fit in well for the purpose they have like an old city. The light and shadows are very well placed - dark in zones where they have to be and light in the majority of the game (I don’t like walking around in a level with the flares on all the time). The riddles are well - not so hard to find; like sometimes going all time around to find something what is so well hidden - impossible to find. For the enemies - there could be more action and more weapons to defend - but all things put in (medikits weapons...) are enough to finish the level. What is about the music - this I the weak point of the level - it is not so difficult to put in some audio-tracks to give more atmosphere. I found no bug - this shows a professional level and a good work. I like levels where Lara explores old locations and not future places - Lara is an archeologist isn’t she? This is a very good level - enjoyable for playing - not boring and you could count it to the real TR-level (like TR1) – Congratulations!” – José (26-Apr-2003)

“The Lost City of Luma takes place in the snowy north as Lara searches for the diamond of Luminum. The story is well planned out. The textures are easy on the eyes and always interesting. There are no bugs that I noticed. There are enough enemies to keep Lara on her toes and more than enough firepower to deal with them. The puzzles are not all that challenging but they are fun. I found all the secrets and took just under an hour to complete this entertaining level from Susan Wicks.” – Dougsan (07-Feb-2003)

“Lara starts outside and crossed several caves throughout the game. In order to finish the adventure she needs four tridents and a gem which are well hidden und require you to solve several puzzles. Those were all manageable though. Graphics are very good and enemies were mainly dogs. A good level for in between.” – Navi (31-Jan-2003)

”Lara’s task here is to find four tridents to get to the crystal and that is not easy. You need to overcame many chasms and traps and pull levers. Some thinking is required too ;-) The puzzles are nice and diverse. Enemies are mainly dogs and textures are well applied. I liked the level a lot, especially the overall design. Lara is in snowy mountains here, some caves to explore and some diving to do - brrrrrr*** that was cold ;-). I only found two secrets, I am sure there were more – guess my Lara gets tired after all. ;-) Hope there will be more levels by this author, would love to play them.” – Engelchen Lara (19-Jan-2003)

“One of the good levels. In a dark atmosphere (with not much flares I’m afraid) and four tridents to find. Also you will need the fire star and make sure you get the crowbar. It begins in an icy setting and further looks like you're in some kind of caves. Crawlspaces jumps and climbs are the most used actions here. The only enemies are dogs I believe randomly placed and a shark. The traps are not many and easy to avoid except for one or two spiked objects that might surprise you the spikes are no big threat as well. After placing the tridents and picking up a gem the luminum as the author named it the level ends while Lara is getting out of the caves and goes outside to the light.” – Kristina (05-Jan-2003)

“Even though this is not a top level it is simply great quite enjoyable. It gave me 70 minutes of pure fun and I must admit most of this time was spent into searching the last trident which is hidden so cleverly near to it's own statue... man finding the other three tridents also was quite a challenge. After finding them Lara goes into a nostalgic Angkor Wat room with round doors to find the Luminum a powerful stone according to the storyline. Well no real bugs perfect texturization with one single fault I spotted in the very beginning and as I was somehow a beta-tester of the level I must admit the new fire used to thaw the ice lake was very much better than the 'bloody' one ;) Thumbs up Isis! :)” – Treeble (14-Oct-2002)

“Another exciting adventure from Sue this time Lara's revisiting the icy caves of Tibet in search of the beautiful Fire Star four tridents and finally the Luminum - a shining blue gem. The Lost City of Luma would fit right in with the Tibetan levels from TR II and has a lake of ice to melt using Lava a tricky timed door rolling spiked traps and wonderful icy areas to explore. I only found two of the four secrets but it looked like there were some blocks that needed to be lowered so I have to wonder if they had something behind them - guess I'll have to reload and look around some more. Thanks for a wonderful time Sue - I really hope your working on another level for us!” – RaiderGirl (18-Sep-2002)

“Another good level made by Sue. To be honest I had no idea where I was most of the time and it had to be my lucky day as I never got stuck and hardly did any backtracking. Only time I got lost a bit was looking for the room where Lara had to place the tridents. The lighting in this level was much better than in the Temple of Thor but in both the textures and the lay out is great. For me it was more a level to explore than anything else. Found so many nooks and crannies one could hide items. But the ones I found were more than enough as enemies are few. Shot some wolves and even a shark how I hate them and encountered two wraiths and even got my hands on 3 secrets. Very well done. 13-09-2002” – Gerty (16-Sep-2002)

“Good level but too dark for my taste. But this is the only bad thing about this game the gameplay is non-linear most times there are more than one way to go. Most times you are searching and exploring the areas there are not many enemies just a few angry wolves and some white wraiths also no problem if you know the position of the cross-statues to eliminate them. Nice traps especially the spike rolls are well built into the level. Also a nice timed door not too hard is awaiting the player. All in all a good level fun to play with all the typical Tomb Raider elements. Recommended!” – Freeman Porter (11-Sep-2002)

“I liked everything about this level. The snowy setting with a very believable atmosphere the non linear gameplay that corresponds beautifully with the layout of the rooms the cutscenes that will always tell you what has happened the secrets the textures the lighting; everything really. It starts out in an ice desert but it won't take you long to reach the lost city where you have to observe and explore. You don't meet many enemies and what is the shark doing in this icy regions anyway? The level is not that difficult but like some others I couldn't find the fourth trident. My own fault really cause there is a clue that should nudge you in the right direction. What else can I say? Maybe there is nothing too extraordinary nor inventive about this adventure but I enjoyed it immensely and shall look forward to Sue’s next installment.” – Dimpfelmoser (01-Sep-2002)

“This second level of Sue Wicks was also very enjoyable to play. There are some icy areas and buildings to explore. I just liked the idea of lava flowing out of the stony faces melting the ice lake. Enemies are wolves a shark and white wraith. You have to find 4 Tridents but don’t think they are just lying around. I almost gave up because blind me couldn’t find the switch to open the timed door and a white wraith always at Lara’s heels. The timed door I managed on the second try. I found 3 secrets but only 2 showed. (08/2002)” – Monika (25-Aug-2002)

“This is a good hour+ of raiding. If you like puzzles then this is your game. This is anything BUT linear you start in the snowy mountains and find your way to a frozen lake and somehow you need to find the Lost City and gain entrance. I found this a vastly entertaining level with lots of places to explore and puzzles to solve. There are also some good traps set for Lara in the form of spikes and some nifty rolling spikey barrel type things as she purposefully hunts for 4 tridents not to mention a (you guessed it) crowbar. You will constantly find new areas in this vast city and not be bothered by many enemies there being a shark some dogs and a couple of wraiths (3 if you use the laser site). There is an excellent timed area which I guarantee everyone will fail at the first time. Finally finding and placing the four tridents Lara gains access to the very attractive Luminum jewel and exits into the bright frozen outdoors. I would like to see this author continue this adventure to use this jewel to start a new one.” – Momster (19-Aug-2002)

“I liked this game. I managed to get through it without too many problems. The whole thing is a little dark for my liking but apart from that it’s really very good. You have to find 4 trident tops to enable 4 giant stone doors to open. Strangely enough on of the tops needed a trip outside into the snow whereas the other three were in the same area. I found the snow caverns a little confusing as I wasn’t always sure if I was in the right place. I particularly liked the lava and melting ice pool-great stuff. All in all a nice level to play that should give 1 to 1.1/2 hours gameplay.” – Doug E (18-Aug-2002)

“Sue has done it again - absolutely stunning environment with perfect texturing and lighting and a fantastic inside and outside architecture to explore and explore and explore. Nice custom outfit for Lara too. Your objective is to find and place four tridents and a star to reach the gem (Luminum) and the end and you will have to keep your eyes open to get there although in fact in terms of actual gameplay there is little to do with a few levers a great movable block-lava stream-melt ice effect and a short timed sequence for one of the tridents. But that does not matter as the exploration in this world is so much fun. Very few enemies just half a dozen wolves a shark and a few pesky spirits and I only found two of the four secrets so will have to gladly play this again.” – Michael (17-Aug-2002)

“I liked the second work of Sue Wicks from the looks of it even better than the first. Lara searches for 4 tridents and that took me approximately 2 hours of actual time. Lara investigates a city in the ice designed in a fantastic way! The puzzles are a standard but nevertheless the tridents are hidden very well. I have searched desperately for one although it was so close all the time - set really well in scene! An icy atmosphere with very beautiful textures perfect lighting good sound inserted and informative camera trips makes you shiver in the cold surroundings. Opponents were not a lot a few dogs who were not particularly dangerous. But the aerial spirits Wow very difficult. But for there are enough health packs. I liked the level very much certainly for all 10 ratings it does not suffice because the puzzles were not so hard. Everybody can play it beginners manage well and for advanced there is a atmospherically a great pleasure.” – Xxenofex (17-Aug-2002)

“I was impressed by the feel of the game with very nice textures and the frozen pool room as you moved into the level proper was very good as was the big ice slide. Lara's fetching warm sweater was needed here. Got stuck a couple of times as I found it a bit confusing at times. Some good climbing and rope work. Good camera work wicked traps. The rooms were done very well. Overall very well made and great to look at with just the right mix of things to do. A couple of hours of enjoyable atmospheric raiding.” – StormChaser (13-Aug-2002)

“I was lucky enough to beta-test this great adventure and even though it was a long time ago even before the release of 'Temple of Thor' I still like it very much. Actually this is a must for the Tomb Raider 2 fans cause it has an excellent feeling of the Tibet levels of TR2. The inside parts are like a bit from the Ice Palace (thank goodness without those Yeti's!) and the outside a bit from Tibetan Foothills. The level is a bit confusing and it is quite easy to get lost or don't see an important detail that could help you to get further. The gameplay is pretty entertaining and the view in the big Ice cavern is a highlight but it could've been a bit more challenging in some places so this is a very good level as for beginners as well. The lasersight was useless but I think Sue just forgot to remove it from this version since the previous one had a puzzle that requires the lasersight near the end. There are 4 secrets at all and they are much better hidden than in the Temple of Thor. I missed the revolver secret and also it was either just me but the area above the courtyard with the cart wasn't listed as a secret for me (incase you find that area and it doesn't list as a secret know that you found one). This is an absolute must-play for all snowy level lovers or/and TR2 fans. Get it now you wont regret it.” – eTux (12-Aug-2002)

“I love snow levels especially those with a typical Tibet flair so maybe I am a bit prejudiced with this one. I was actually very impressed by the good use of textures and the whole atmosphere. Your enemies are just a few dogs and two ghosts all of them easy to get rid of the focal point are the puzzles. Lara’s quest is finding 4 tridents and a crystal in the end. I needed 1'15'' to finish but I found only one secret.” – Sheevah (11-Aug-2002)

“If you like the icy levels of TR2 and the Inca/Peru levels of TR1 you will enjoy this new offering. Lara starts in caves with TR2 textures and enter in a lost city nicely designed which recalls somewhat the atmosphere of Vilcabamba. She has to find 4 tridents to pick up an artifact. A lot of exploration is necessary in her quest. A few enemies some dogs a shark and a few wraiths the level is not really difficult but will give you 1 hour 30 of good raiding in a great setting. Sue is becoming one of my favourite levelbuilders now as she creates original levels but reminding me the original spirit of Tombraider. I had a very good moment thank you.” – eRIC (11-Aug-2002)
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