trle.net ::: Level Reviews

Level:	Escaping with the Artifact
Author(s):	Cagatay Caliskan

total rating:	7.36	Gameplay & Puzzles	Enemies, Objects & Secrets	Atmosphere, Sound & Cameras	Lighting & Textures
	CC	7	7	7	7
	Engelchen Lara	7	8	8	8
	Gerty	7	8	8	7
	Glow	7	5	6	5
	Kristina	8	7	7	7
	MichaelP	7	8	7	7
	Obig	9	8	8	8
	RaiderGirl	8	8	9	9
	Sash	6	7	8	7
	category averages (9 reviews)	7.33	7.33	7.56	7.22

Reviewer's comments

“I’ve been trying to get this level to work on and off for the past year. I don’t even know what I did to get ‘Afternoon’ going. But I still had problems. The two horses outside the library stayed as statues with no horsemen. I did battle one inside the library but he left nothing behind. I found two bikes and got a lot of stuff like the shovel handle the nitrous oxide for the bike and the gym key. The hathor head and stand were butts. Just to try and see what to do I dozyied around but I still came across invisible walls and some doors never opened. I could see the lasersight through a window but couldn’t get there. I’m playing on a Mac so unless another Mac player can get this going or a tr4 supplied then I’d say stay clear. I can say that it looks good in places. It’s kind of a university complex with library school building a waiting room and sleeping accommodation. I particularly liked the palm tree area. But there are serious texture and object problems throughout. Cagatay was thinking on a monumental scale because it’s a vast level so much so that the buildings disappear into the background at a distance. The second level I had to choose separately. The whole buildings complex has now be screened off by the Seth and his demigods loads of them. The first three give you a vraeus which makes the first screen disappear so you can run into the area where the fountain used to be in front of the library. I can’t remember how many demigods appeared here could be 10+. Eventually I ran into the small room to face three more and get another vraeus which opened up the area where the palm trees were. Here and in the area near where you place the gem I counted 25 demigods before I finished and got the gem. Everywhere else in the level has been blocked up so I presume there’s was nothing else to do but tackle all the demigods. It would be a good idea to try and stay in the one area with each lot of demigods. Fool that I am I triggered lots of them by running too far around. Take notice of Sash’s hint about the secret area in level 2 it was quite empty in level 1. At least now I can say I’ve finally finished this level. Well finished in the sense I’ve no intention of trying it again. But unless .tr4 files are supplied for Macs it’s a bit of a guessing game. A level for stubborn Mac players with a lot of patience.” – CC (26-Dec-2003)

“In a vast area Lara has to enter buildings and finding a crowbar the Portal Guardian Gym keys a Hand Star Blue Gem. Then there is the Valve Pipe and nitro a wooden handle and the metal blade. And if that is not enough by exchanging some artifacts she will leave with a small treasure hidden in her backpack after slaying a multitude if demigods (and you need to get at least 2 Vraeus and one Crystal of Anger form those bad boys) and even in between she will be pestered in a major way by Seth (there are two) but one you can lock up and one you have to tease into the water so he will get stuck. But that is in the second level. In the first you meet ninjas and some dogs do a bike ride to get hold of the nitro and then a bike jump from building to building. There are also some levers to push so watch out for those. The horsemen you encounter were a bitch to slay and the fire wraith had me even more reloading as the fountain was quite far away and I wanted to persevere on my medipacks for the big battle and boy did I needed those. Didn't find the secret Sash mentioned but I might play this again on a later date. 21-02-2003” – Gerty (24-Feb-2003)

“Afternoon (8/7/6/7 90 min. no secret): This has the charm of a Lara’s Home level (which I hate) as you have lots of ground to cover and search through many rooms in several multistoried buildings to collect a multitude of pickups. This simply becomes very very tedious if you are either careless of just plain unlucky and miss one or the other item. But I have to admit if you let that aside this is rather smartly constructed and the things you need to do are quite diverse (using two bikes digging with a shovel bringing a book back to its place shooting with revolver and lasersight a very long push of a globe finding levels behind boxes and bookshelves and also movable shelves mostly pestered by ninjas and the occasional dog fire wraith and horseman along the way. Sadly it becomes a little repetitive as well as you open door after door often to find an empty room sometimes with a few (and always the same) objects and often with a ninja waiting right behind the door. Once you have managed to find the hand gem portal guardian and star you can collect your five artifacts and get out of here. Escaping with the artifacts (6/8/8/7 30 min. 1 secret): Only getting out of here turns out to be the fiercest battle in TRLE history. Countless demigods are popping into existence right in front of your eyes and Seth is around as well. The atmosphere is quite spooky with its reddish touch. Take your time to pick up every health pack and arrow you can get and move about slowly in order to not trigger too many demigods at the same time. Seth is actually easy to handle as you can look him in the first time in the room where you get two of the four vraeus and if you manage to lure him into the shallow water the second time around he will be as peaceful as your favourite pet. Eventually one of the demigods will drop the crucial ‘Crystal of Anger’ which allows for your exit from this cursed place. If you are into a decent battle this second part is a must play for you.” – Michael (17-Feb-2003)

“I for one loved this set of levels. There are lots of huge buildings to explore room by room which is one thing I love to do. There aren't a lot of enemies in the first level just a few horsemen and ninjas scattered about so your time can be spent exploring for the necessary objects - the golden star a hand the Portal Guardian and a gem. To get the gem you have to find both halves of the shovel and do a little digging outside the golden star is behind a metal gate in a building the hand is on a pedestal in a building and the pieces of the portal guardian are both outside I believe. There's a little fancy jumping to do with the motorcycles and a pushable planet puzzle to get a door open. Once you use all four objects you get the desired artifacts and then the next level begins - It's time to escape with the artifacts. Where the first level is kinda lazy with mainly exploring the second level will have your adrenaline pumping as you escape from Seth and his horde of demigods - there are probably a hundred of them to destroy. Here you have to find first a couple of Vreaus and then a gem that one of the demigods drops. This gem will allow you to open the exit gate and go home with your artifacts. Make sure to pick up all the ammo and health packs you can and save often. My time at the end said 1:33 and I enjoyed every minute of it!” – RaiderGirl (17-Feb-2003)

“The first part of this two-course level is taking place on a huge area in multi-story structures. You must have a look behind every door as you are not able to know if there's something there or not. The enemies are not too heavy if you start the level with getting the bike as Lara can run over all the three horsemen with it. Get the revolver first from the upper floor of the right side structure so you can destroy all the dogs and Bedouins easily. It's rather difficult to find all the pickups. I've been searching for the Metal Blade for long I would not have thought that this will be the last I get. The texture is various the palm trees add good atmosphere to the area. In the first level I didn't find secrets. But the second course is a nightmare. :-) There are countless demigods and you have to use many medpacks. What's more Seth is fighting too and Lara doesn't have a weapon against him. But you can dodge him and you don't need to kill all demigods although I did this. I didn't manage to find one Horus Symbol which is needed to the only secret but jumping into the gym I saved one so I could get into as well. What's more if I start in the gym Seth is not there. Probably this is not a regular way but it works. Unfortunately there's no added sound but there should be some gruesome audio in the level #2.” – Obig (14-Feb-2003)

“A level of excesses. Set in a really interesting and huge area with many buildings you have to go in search of a certain few crucial pick ups that will open cages to the artifacts of the title. Some of the pick ups were extremely hard to find like the shovel handle and the nitro feeder and with such a huge environment to play in you can almost go insane trying to locate them so I marked down a little for this fact. The excesses in this double set of levels which by the way are set in the same place come with the amount of doors you must open and rooms you have to visit in the first level which lasted 90 minutes a lot with nothing in them at all and then the crazy multitude of demigods in the second level of which I battled 42 in 25 minutes. Even though the gameplay revolves around these two facts there was still a certain charm and I enjoyed playing them quite a bit. To end I will give you 3 hints to make your life a little easier. In the first level when a tight fixed camera kicks in you will find a necessary object there that isn’t obvious to the eye in the second level do not use one of the three ‘horus symbols’ in the first areas receptacles use a jump to leave instead as it will come in handy later to give access to the only secret in these levels and finally the most important hint of them all when you meet the health depleting flying Seth make him wet his feet and he will be stuck forever and no longer a threat.” – Sash (12-Feb-2003)

“I really liked this level at the start but I was disappointed. Lara meets only two kind of enemies: the horsemen and the ninjas and always knows where the second are... when you get into a room usually on the right or left side. There are endless rows of doors to open only to discover that there is nothing inside just big empty rooms (if you're lucky some ammo) long corridors big useless space: the furniture is badly placed sometimes you see a bookshelf IN a door and Lara can run through tables they are not solid. There are bugs (even if not everyone found them) Lara gets stuck with her motorbike on the stairs and the globe she must push gets stuck in various parts of the floor. There are good ideas even if not new: the jump from a window with the motorbike the special book you must find...The textures come from different culture and are not very well blended: an ancient castle together with a modern/school/museum a gym next to a classic palace...their style crashes in a not very pleasant way.” – Glow (11-Feb-2003)

“That was a painful experience. Let’s start with the easy part. Everything looks so peaceful and quiet and Lara wanders in big outside areas trying to find items. A gem a hand the portal guardian and a star. So far so good with some ninjas blocking her way from time to time. I really had trouble with the book puzzle the second bike was a nice idea and although I was able to find the oxide feeder and get the book my head was spinning because I couldn't open a gate to get the second piece and complete the level. I wouldn't find where to use the book in a million years (a bit of an exaggeration here) if it wasn't for doc trying to translate German lol and Xxenofex from LB to give the answers at that site. After Lara gets the artifacts and the Amulet the fun begins. As soon as the second level starts be prepared to die a thousand times and watch out for ammo and medipacks. Demigods and that annoying irritating Seth is after you in the entire level and I don't mean like kill a couple and go further to find some more. I mean like four coming together and when you need to keep still and pick up a vraeus or ammo or health you get fried by the guy flying around. I don't know if others are more capable than me but the truth is I added a few medipacks to get through it. I finished the level after placing a few vraeus and a gem but I was missing one more vraeus. I couldn't find it although after Seth finally got stuck near the water and couldn't bother Lara anymore I searched around. Two hours and thirty minutes mostly searching for how to open that damn door and get the second part of the shovel. I can't say though I didn't enjoy it but the areas looked a bit empty. Good luck with finishing the second level.” – Kristina (10-Feb-2003)

“Oh man my Lara needs a break now ;-) In part one you need to find plenty of artifacts. Many doors to open in the building and baddies and dogs to kill. Lara has to run a lot and gets to drive a bike. Actually the puzzles are easy but I got stuck once with the two levers that I used too early and therefore had to start over :-( Apart from that progression was smooth. Textures were solidly applied and I liked the architecture pretty well. Especially the palmtrees were nice. Sound was well chosen especially in part 2. Speaking of which right at the start of part 2 you find a lot of ammo and medis and you will need it. Demigods are all over the place – never seen that many before in a level. I thought it would never end so stay cool and be smart. Especially Seth can be outwitted easily - but I won’t give it away ;-). I would have scored this higher if the second level had not been such a shooter. The enemies could have been placed better and not all at once.” – Engelchen Lara (10-Feb-2003)