trle.net ::: Level Reviews

Level:	The Last Fortress
Author(s):	Yoshi

total rating:	7.13	Gameplay & Puzzles	Enemies, Objects & Secrets	Atmosphere, Sound & Cameras	Lighting & Textures
	bERT	5	6	7	8
	Cuqui	8	7	7	7
	Dimpfelmoser	8	7	7	7
	Gerty	5	7	7	6
	Kristina	7	8	8	8
	MichaelP	8	7	7	6
	RaiderGirl	7	7	7	6
	Sash	8	7	7	7
	Tombaholic	8	8	7	7
	Yoav	8	8	7	8
	category averages (10 reviews)	7.20	7.20	7.10	7.00

Reviewer's comments

“This is by all means not the second level I played from Yoshi as I already had a go at his Hidden Castle but had to throw that one in the bin. And to say I had fun with this one is an understatement. This is not a level I would say have a go at it it is fun unless one likes gameplay like what our eastern friends are making. It is not my cup of tea. I had to look up the walkthrough to get the start of this level as I caught on fire all the time. There is a lot of back and fro going on and the lightning is not at its best gloomy I would say so adding flares is a must. Finding lots of levers and although it was very clever done there was a major lack of camera work so frustration and tedious comes to my mind. That is a shame though. One timed door is rather obvious and doable once you get into the rhythm but the other one I had to look up at the walkthrough again and that is a bit of a pain. And that wasn't all as in the second level there is the bike and the nitro you have to find and I do hate vehicles. Also a major lack of cameras so be prepared to do backtracking. Found only one secret and I am not going back to have a look for more. 16-01-2004” – Gerty (24-Jan-2004)

“I must say it is good that there is a walkthru for this level. I started to play until I got lost in all the levers and the doors too many of them. Don't be in panic LOL some places are dark but I like the textures. The gameplay is not easy also to drive long ways with the motorbike. Worth to try.” – Yoav (01-Jan-2004)

“Here's a Japanese level that is actually fun to play and not just an exercise in frustration. That's not to say it's a walk in the park - it's plenty challenging especially a couple timed runs. In the end though I didn't mark it as highly as I would have liked for a couple reasons. Firstly you'll spend a LOT of time running all over and retracing your steps to find out what switches have done. Perhaps the author views this as an element of gameplay but I see it as a major lack of camera clues. Secondly and more of a minor quibble here there is one excruciatingly long ladder climb during which all the fun disappears. With the exception of the hair-raising opening enemies are fairly pointless (look to the walkthrough to save a little sanity during the opening minutes - wish I had!). Secrets though are hard enough to come by. The atmosphere is dismally monotone and minimalistic but I reckon this was the effect the author was looking for. Still it becomes a little tiresome after a while.” – Tombaholic (25-Dec-2003)

“This level is well done but at the same time it is very confusing and too dark in some areas. The main problem is to pull levers and search all around for the new opened door. This can be frustrating. There are two timed doors that I found really hard. The most fun for me was the ride with the motorbike.” - Cuqui (18-Feb-2003)

“Obviously an author who put a lot of work in this one and I don't get a kick out of criticising custom levels but in the end I started to hate this level. Just too much wandering around endlessly to look for that gate/door you may have opened with that last lever you pulled. It started off in a similar way to that Mars level with a view on a wraith heading your way (in the Mars level he came from much further away). Now this was very annoying but very challenging at the same time (good adrenaline stuff). But after that this game is just a question of 'should I stay or should I go' as the Clash used to sing and I nearly left this one. More cameras giving slight hints would have benefited the level...and the player. Worth a try though so don't let my comments put you off completely.” – bERT (11-Feb-2003)

“This has a pretty exciting beginning with a fire elemental already chasing after you from the very first second and it's a long way and some climbing around before you finally get to the water (with a croc swimming in it of course and a boulder right before that!). After that it slows down a bit but the rest of the level is very confusing with gameplay mainly consisting of finding and using levers (and of course searching for what they did). Part two has more of the same (levers timed doors traps few enemies) plus some riding on the motorcycle and a minefield (I hate those). As far as looks go the levels reminded me of the city levels with a few library textures thrown in.” – RaiderGirl (28-Jan-2003)

“My scores for this double leveled game don’t really show the enjoyment I had with this but as it is fairly uninspired in its texturing enemies aren’t a large part and atmospherically it is a bit gloomy I just couldn’t score it any higher. Starting with one of the more dramatic beginnings I’ve come across as you are chased by a fire sprite while having to make many tricky jumps ladder descents and avoiding a rolling ball to then end in a croc pool this gives you the idea that this may be a fast paced level but from here it just slows down to a lever pulling expedition though a fun one with not many heart pumping thrills besides a timed run over fire tiles that I had to do three times. There are a few unfair moments here with the entrance to the gem being somewhere I never would have thought to look the way to the second secret having a seemingly impossible jump and grab unless you are positioned just so and just a whole lack of camera shots that would have saved countless minutes of unnecessary backtracking. But as I said I did really have fun though I don’t think this is one I’d be replaying.” – Sash (22-Jan-2003)

“From the thrilling start with the fire wraith (which is not that bad when you follow the hint in the walkthrough but of course I was way past that when I read it there) this is a set of levels which impresses with a few rather tricky moves along the way. That’s the piece I liked about it and also the overall architecture which is quite cleverly laid out. But a net gaming time of just under two hours is quite misleading as I spent endless minutes searching and backtracking to all those doors that could have opened when I pulled yet another lever and then reloaded a save to go there directly. Too many rather long climbs and severe lack of camera guidance here and the flyby of the final door kind of seems as if the author would mock you saying: ‘See I know how to do it I just did not want to help you through the levels’. Not funny. Also I simply do not like the textures and objects of the City WAD which are used here and I had a coastal horizon but the green City sky which looked weird. Enemies are rather few (bats crocodiles tinmen and a few SAS and the final demigod). I found one secret in part 1 and two in part 2 around the minefield area (which apparently was there only for that purpose). You objective is to acquire the breastplate and get out and you will need a gem from part one to get started in part 2 which is shorter and focused around riding the bike blowing up the helicopter and eliminating a few sentry guns. The timed runs were fun and challenging but overall it just was not my cup of tea. Nice touch at the end with the flyby (though a little wild) and the credits.” – Michael (20-Jan-2003)

“I think I left my sanity in there somewhere. This level is so confusing and so complex if someone manages to complete it without any help even if it is just to make sure the actions are done in the right way I will say that player is the master of all. It's very dark so I had to add some flares myself it's a city with many levers and I mean many levers and many doors to open. It requires much backtracking and some times you need to go back to the first door you saw while entering an area but most of the time we will get lost as it is very difficult without any flybys. One big jump in level one made me wonder for a while if I am playing this level in the right way but as I was progressing it got more and more weird so I guess the difficult jumps and loosing some health quite a few times are part of the gameplay. It certainly isn't my kind of fun to search around all the time what a lever opened or get burned by the floor tiles in level two to catch a timed door. In fact there are quite a few timed runs one of which I didn't complete but by the looks of it it was only a secret as I did finish the level without pushing the lever behind that timed door. There is also a minefield sentry guns bats SAS guards and a couple of crocodiles. The motorcycle will also help you proceed at one point in level two. I have to thank Matthias for the help and believe me I needed help in more than one occasion. There is no way I would play this again even if you paid me. I warned you now it's your choice to play it or not.” – Kristina (23-Dec-2002)

“Another of those levels that I find really difficult to rate as there are a few things that I really loved in this one but on the other hand you get so many annoying things I'm not quite sure where I stand with this. Let's concentrate on the downsides first. There are countless levers and you hardly ever get a cut scene which makes parts of the gameplay really frustrating especially in part one where the whole area is a bit mazelike. Furthermore the atmosphere is rather bleak there are some textures missing some rooms are way too dark and not that much effort seems to have gone in the design of the fortress. This came as a bit of a surprise as I thought Yoshi's first level was beautifully done. Nevertheless for some reason I was intrigued by the gameplay and was somewhat desperate to make it through this. When the first short flyby ends and a fire elemental is approaching fast while there is no water anywhere near you know that this isn't going to be a walk in the park. I used up ten different savegame slots in the first three minutes as you have to do a great many jumps before you reach the water. After that there is a lot of exploring and backtracking to do before you get the gem and are admitted to part two. I had some severe problems to get the gem as the block wouldn't lower and if it wasn't for Kristina's help I guess I would have resorted to the fly cheat. In part two you do a bit of motorcycling have to deal with more sentry guns jump over a minefield and finally battle a demigod before the credits roll in. The highpoint for me were the two tricky timed runs and I thought the complex construction was rather clever. I also liked the fact that there weren't any unnecessary pick ups (be careful with your health and your revolver ammo). I reckon if there were less levers more cut scenes and a bit more atmosphere this would have been an excellent set of levels cause there are some new ideas along the way and I had a great feeling of accomplishment when I finally made it. As it is there was just too much confusion in the three hours it took me to reach the end.” – Dimpfelmoser (22-Dec-2002)