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Ice Desert by Dirk Wouters

alan 4 4 5 5
CC 4 5 7 7
Dimpfelmoser 4 5 6 5
Gerty 4 5 6 5
Gonxii 4 5 6 6
Jay 4 5 5 5
Jose 4 5 5 5
Kristina 3 3 5 5
MichaelP 4 5 6 4
Mulf 3 4 3 3
Orbit Dream 3 5 3 5
QRS 5 5 6 7
RaiderGirl 5 7 6 7
Ruediger 4 6 3 1
Ryan 4 5 5 5
Sash 4 7 5 7
Scottie 5 4 6 5
Staticon 4 4 3 5
Treeble 4 4 3 4
TrueRaider 7 6 6 6
Whistle 5 7 6 7
Yonatan 4 3 4 7
 
release date: 01-Mar-2001
# of downloads: 76

average rating: 4.85
review count: 22
 
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file size: 13.89 MB
file type: TR4
class: Cold/Snowy
 


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Reviewer's comments
"The audio cue that plays immediately before you press the last button may be more of the ‘be amazed at the sublimity you’re about to witness’ type than a congratulatory ‘you made it!’, but unlike Staticon I wasn’t surprised that the level ended as arbitrarily as it does; it clearly hadn’t been leading up to anything. All you do here is run through a linear sequence of big, boxy and bare rooms with wafer-thin walls, wallpapered textures, and lighting that is either absent or pointlessly colourful, while shooting a large number of crocodiles, ninjas and scorpions (or running away from them). This is not particularly interesting, and apart from a couple of mild jumping challenges it’s all very samey throughout.
There is one occasion on which you’ll probably fail to make a somewhat tricky jump from a slope to an alcove and land on an opposite slope instead, in which case you’d need to shimmy around a corner from the edge of the latter, but it turns out that you can’t—either due to some error construction or because the level file wasn’t compiled with the ‘new wads’ (against Gerty’s warning). Either way, few variations on the ‘Mummies in the Arctic’ theme have aged well, and this surely isn’t one of them. It might, however, offer a decent ‘no kills’ challenge." - Mulf (12-Apr-2021)
"In all honesty, I can see what the builder was trying to achieve with the schizophrenic mix of textures (create an Ice Desert) but it doesn't really work. They're applied in a rather careless manner making the rooms look plain and repetitive. Gameplay is minimal with nothing to really excite you, apart from a couple of massed ninja and crocodile attacks and a rather boring pillar jumping room. The funniest part was the crocodiles leaving ammo, but otherwise there's nothing worthy of note going on here." - Ryan (08-Nov-2018)
"A level that combines some icy textures with a few of egypt. There are many red ninjas and crocodiles, and I only got the pistols to kill them. There is some platforming, jumps, looking for easy puzzle items and placing them. Not recommended." - alan (29-Nov-2017)
"A rather easy level ith lots crocodiles and black ninjas as enemies. Lighting and textures were OK, but it isn't as icey. Took me 20 minutes to finish this level." - Gonxii (08-Nov-2015)
"What a strange and rather incoherent mish mash of textures this is. Part Siberian base, with a few Egyptian objects and textures scattered around and ninjas, crocodiles and scorpions as enemies. Very linear gameplay with nothing remotely difficult to achieve, there's really nothing to make it stand out, unless you count the generosity of the crocodiles in leaving pickups!" - Jay (13-Jul-2015)
"Short level easy to play with a lineal gameplay and classic tasks. Many enemies to shoot (ninjas, crocs, scorpions), the extra guns appeared too late for my taste. It's strange the crocs carrying uzis or uzi clips (lol!). The rooms are empty and textured monotonically. The artifacts are very easy to find and I only got problems looking for the receptacle for the guardian key, 'cause it was masked by the color of the wall. No puzzles to solve, poor sounds and no pain or glory for a very simple level." - Jose (19-May-2015)
"It looks like, that the level builder could not decide, where his level should be settled then. First one is obvious on a base somewhere in cold Russia. A little bit strangely are merely many crocodiles. After Lara slides down a short slant, she is suddenly in Egypt. At least the horizon looks thus. And after a few other crocodiles she is already at the level end. Opponents were Baddies and crocodiles. There was nothing to do a lot. One had to use only the pyramid plug and a Canopic Jar and they were found very easy. The level is well built and textured, but quite bald and empty. A few rooms were quite nicely. Playing time was less than 20 minutes Result: For the small level hunger occasionally completely OK" - Scottie (03-May-2009)
"Another short but very enjoyable level by Dirk Wouters. The textures are not good (except the last rooms) but the gameplay and atmosphere is very good. It is a very easy level but I died once and did notice that the author learned from his mistakes from his first level and prevented the die/load crash this time :) 2005-05-28" - QRS (31-May-2005)
"Boy! Dirk sure likes crocodiles they're everywhere. I liked this level though the lighting was very good and I liked the textures even though it looked like they were just applied for the sake of texturing rather than fitting them into a particular 'type' of level. Gameplay was very easy. I spent a lot of time looking for the receptacle for the pyramid key it was very very well hidden and that was the only challenge. It's impossible to say where the level is supposed to be snow crocodiles scorpions crates. I haven't a clue." - CC (24-May-2003)
"A very short level with buttons to push a canopic jar and a guardian key for puzzles. Other than that nothing to see really except some ninjas and crocodiles. Not very icy if you ask me as the title says but the desert is definitely there no objects only crates here and there. Fifteen minutes to finish it." - Kristina (02-Dec-2002)
"Don't forget the revised Wads as well or Lara won't be able to go any further but for the rest this is a very fast paced level. I never look at how much time it takes me but Ian and I were playing this together and shall compare notes when we are on line later on so Ian this one took me almost 13 minutes. There are many crocs and some ninjas and scorpions in this level and I liked outrunning some of the crocs. The crocs may leave you some presents as I found the Uzi and later also the shotgun. There are buttons to push some shimmying to do and some jumping. Finding the slot for the guardian key took me a bit as it blended in so well with the textures. 19-11-2002" - Gerty (25-Nov-2002)
"This is a strange and slightly silly level. The gameplay is fast-moving; but that's only because there are no puzzles involved. The enemies are interesting; but only because there are so many of them (the ninja attack, in particular, was quite fun. Never before had I encountered so many black ninjas at any one time, so I leapt around insanely while shooting all the while. Which did the trick.). The atmosphere was strange; a Siberian-type cold-war scenario, which seemed entirely inappropriate given that all the enemies hailed from tropical climes. Textures were interesting but poorly applied; whereas the lighting was quite imaginative and rather funky. All in all, 20 minutes (did you beat that, Gerty?) and you can move on to something else." - Orbit Dream (19-Nov-2002)
"20 minutes of fast paced linear and easy action in an unusual Karnak setting. The (many) crocodiles seem a bit out of place but give me snow instead of sand any time of the year. There is one room that you have to jump through which I found mildly entertaining and at the end you have to battle four assassins at once which provided a bit of a thrill. Otherwise it is fairly unspectacular with buttons that open nearby doors and crawlspaces that are hard to miss. I reckon the most remarkable thing here is the odd mix of textures that works rather well if you ask me. You get elements of Antarctica a tomb and a warehouse all mingled together to create a unique atmosphere. Well some places look as if they were rather carelessly textured but you don't have to spend much time there." - Dimpfelmoser (11-Aug-2002)
"The look of this place gives you hope that there will be much to do but it falls short quite a lot there are 2 great action packed ninja battles one with 3 ninjas and one with 4 but once the battles are over the large rooms hold nothing else but for you to move on which is a shame because they look well put together especially the room with the beautiful neon blue ceiling the only other real thing to do in this level is to kill alligators and if you are into that then you won't be disappointed as they are abundant and endless." - Sash (21-Jun-2002)
"With 33 rooms and many of them quite huge and uniformly textured this is a small and uneventful level that took me about 20 minutes to complete. The ice textures are nice but the effect wears off after a while. There are a number of crocodiles to kill and two thrilling battles with several ninjas and I enjoyed one jumping sequence and the one jump that was at least a little trickier to do. " - Michael (21-Jun-2002)
"Well I have to say that I just got interest in this level due to the name. But the level was completely different what I was thinking. The level has many Egyptian style textures and few areas are completely 'cold' with ice textures. Why it's called desert should be asked too - there are lots of enemies here (mainly crocodiles). I know the level is a bit old but I don't think I would have fun playing it earlier." - Treeble (21-Jun-2002)
"Several wafer thin walls and unlike the name suggests there is a lot of fire in the level. Generally it is a sound level with playability but some unrealistic elements such as ice you can fall straight through like water." - TrueRaider (21-Jun-2002)
"An almost empty level with texturing from all TR games; Cold War texturing from TR2 Gold and from TR4 library. I liked that. Unfortunately the many rooms were empty and if they were not they were jammed with ninjas or crocodiles. Plus some enemies come out of nowhere. The level is easy since there are almost no puzzles and expect for many enemies at a time. If you just like shooting challenges try it and if not skip it." - Yonatan (21-Jun-2002)
"Like the name implies this level is a mixture of icy areas and sandy areas which with a little work could look great but here never seems to quite work out. The 20 minutes level is filled with large empty rooms a few crawlspaces some exciting ninjas battles and croc hunts and some good jump puzzles. I enjoyed the textures from Tomb Raider II Gold because I don't see them very often and it's always nice to see something different. Nothing tough here but I was in the mood for a short easy level so I sort of enjoyed it." - RaiderGirl (21-Jun-2002)
"Good level for starters as many of the standard ploys are used and are easily over come. No secrets found?" - Whistle (21-Jun-2002)
"One wonders why the author called this level 'Ice Desert'. Maybe because there is some ice and like a desert there is nothing much in it. Most of the rooms are large boxes of fairly uniform texture; several have paper thin walls two reasonably easy puzzles and a couple of half-decent battles with ninjas. After about fifteen minutes of running around corridors the ninja battle puzzles and shooting many crocodiles and a few scorpions I found a door with a button by the side of it. Expecting more to come I pressed the button and the level ended. On the brighter side though some of the rooms have nice textures and the level will not tax the brain or trigger finger too much. A reasonable level for beginners but not much to attract the seasoned player." - Staticon (21-Jun-2002)
"The creator's idea of suspense is: shootout with two ninjas in the first room, then shootout with three ninjas in the next...and maybe four ninjas in the room after that? Only bit challenging your brains was the room you have to cross with a series of precise jumps. The rooms were too large and made the textures look like wallpaper." - Rüdiger (21-Jun-2002)