| Reviewer's comments |
"This was the level I least enjoyed out of
this series. Although the graphics,
atmosphere and sound are as up to standard
as they were before and Lara's outfit is
nifty, the gameplay was really not to my
taste at all. There's countless buttons to
press, an unfair and annoying swimming
exercise with sharks following you as you
search for the necessary levers, long
climbs, a mazelike complexity to the whole
thing and an apparent dead end situation I
found myself in where a fire was still
lit, although the walkthrough said it
should have been extinguished. By this
time I was looking forward to the finish
trigger so I just activated the flycheat
and pumped medipacks until I reached
water. Even with the walkthrough I still
found it tedious. I would say skip this
one if you're planning on playing the
whole series." - Ryan (03-Jun-2018) |
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| "Extraordinary architecture and texturization, but the lighting is too dark in many areas (I found enough flares though). Few enemies, I found enough guns and ammo to shoot them. The gameplay is very very confusing; you need to explore carefully all corners and even so it's easy to miss something (button, disk...) and you'll get totally lost when you're further on in the level. In this sense, I think there are too many buttons/switches to pull and no puzzles to solve. Things I didn't like: not a camera to show the timed door when you press the button in the small room with many buttons; later in the underwater area with two sharks I couldn't properly explore this big area 'cause the sharks chasing me all the time. Really a level with a good design and an impressive atmosphere, but not the kind of levels I like. At least we can dispose of a walkthrough." - Jose (22-Sep-2016) |
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| "I enjoyed this one the least of the three in the series, even though the graphics were more sophisticated and the lighting was ample. The gameplay was horribly complex and confusing, even with Dutchy's walkthrough, and I especially disliked having to navigate a vast underwater area with two sharks chomping at you with no way of killing them. Not my cup of tea. You can skip this one, if you were thinking of playing the entires series." - Phil (20-Aug-2011) |
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| "The atmosphere is great - it's a shame that you can't say the same thing about the gameplay. Pressing button after button after button (and pulling the occasional lever) gets very tedious after a while. And the fact that you can get helplessly stuck isn't a plus either. And when you finally get to a new area you have to go back to a previously visited area because you've missed yet another button. The atmosphere is top notch though. And the music is nice. The texturing is quite good although it's very grey and dull in places. The level ended quite suddenly after thirty minutes. Overall it's a nice level but you need a lot of patience to make it through." - Magnus (29-Jan-2004) |
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| "TR3 London levels have never appealed to me except for 'The City' and not surprisingly I didn't like this level. Ok it is good but it really got on my nerves with all those doors (most of them remained closed) and all the back and forth I had to do to find out which doors those levers opened. I am glad that the huge room (which was an Egyptian room in TR3) didn't have the flipmaps nor the puzzles from the original because then it would be annoying! Loads of swimming to do (in TR3 you had that little vehicle to make your life easier not only it would let you swim faster but it'd let you get rid of those underwater menaces) will get you tired and don't expect a bright level. Audio tracks were well selected in my opinion and so was the outfit - nice cap! Well that sums it up. One hour long and VERY confusing." - Treeble (24-Jan-2004) |
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| "Well I played this level before but I did not finish it - only now when I played it again I got to the end ok. I love to play levels of this kind. There is all the gameplay to do this level: good timed door traps switches and long swims in many underwater pools. The textures were nice. Fun to play this level again." - Yoav (02-Jan-2004) |
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| "Tijay presents us with another 'base' style level but designed with his signature skill. The atmosphere is terrific with great lighting texturing and mapping and enhanced by the addition of just a handful of audio files that contribute more to the ambiance than some levels that come with two dozen such files. Gameplay was promising at the beginning and I did enjoy many aspects of playing the level - especially the underwater areas. Unfortunately it all bogs down after a while and you begin to wonder what the purpose of some of the buttons is. One button just traps you in the end of a corridor; push it again and leave (huh?). I've also never understood the concept of getting a camera of an opening door when you haven't even reached it yet - what's the point? At least one VERY long ladder climb and a trial-and-error 'push the button and perhaps be impaled on spikes' room did nothing to improve gameplay. And in the end there's no real payoff - just when you think you're reaching the 'restricted area' the game ends abruptly (Research Centre 4 perhaps?). Finally there are at least two places where the player can be stuck: 1) if you don't get the code card at the very beginning and 2) if you fail to use the code card before reaching a certain room. In spite of all this I did find it fun to play in many regards and it's worthwhile for the moody atmosphere alone." - Tombaholic (01-Jan-2004) |
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| "I love the atmosphere in Tijay's levels with their great music and lighting perfect textures and well built areas and music that adds just the right touch. I especially liked the bright and colorful graffiti found in some of the hallways here. This level seems huge while you're playing it and it's easy to get lost - I had the feeling many times that I was just wandering around looking for something to do next. Usually there's a button to look for a fire to put out a rope to lower a card to use - fairly simple with a little exploring but it's easy to miss something. There are few enemies some dogs and soldiers which are easily gotten rid of and two sharks in an underwater cavern that can do some serious damage till you figure out what to do with them. Overall a great base environment and a nice challenge. Secrets found: 5" - RaiderGirl (23-Jul-2003) |
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| "Base levels are not my favorite but all in all not a bad one. Maybe because I had a good look at it as some people played it at the TR meeting this wasn't that hard either. Don't get me wrong I still got lost a couple of times as it wasn't clear what you opened most of the times. There are many buttons to push and levers to pull and apart from a camera view here and there I had no idea what I did. That timed run underwater I already knew it existed as I had seen that and there are quite a few places you can jump to or in to gather either ammo weapons cards and secrets roses in this case. Found 5 of them. 19-06-2003" - Gerty (26-Jun-2003) |
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| "Another base like level from Tijay. I am sorry to say that this one wasn't what I expected after all the objects and enemies we have seen in previous levels not to mention the very good puzzles the gameplay is a disappointment. The sharks and guards are used many times so that wasn't anything new. The cards as well I found myself trapped in some rooms and had to reload the golden roses were easy to find and all in all a not long level with not much to do. I do hope the author isn't getting tired of level building because if that's the case I am afraid the overall picture of his next levels will damage the one we have up to this point. Hoping for something better in the future." - Kristina (26-Jun-2003) |
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| "Lara has a baseball cap and shorter ponytail. This level looks intriguing from the start and the mood is set by the sinister music. Now I really like the music in this level it's eerily in the background throughout but it doesn't interfere with other sounds and never becomes annoying. Almost immediately we have a room with buttons to push but which order? Well let's see we got a lasersight at the start so perhaps there's something to shoot! Soon we land in a strange corridor a perfect reflection of Lara it's not a mirror so . . . This is not the easiest level to get around there are a lot of corridors climbs different ways to go and it's a big area to cover so if you've missed something it's nigh on impossible to remember let alone get back. At one time there's a vast underwater system with HUGE vertical shafts to swim up and down and alcoves to find switches all the while being harassed by two sharks. I was eventually able to lure the two devils up one of the shafts to kill them. But I got very confused with what the switches did. And the ending was very odd. I found all six golden roses. All the same this was a very good level and I recommend it highly." - CC (25-Jun-2003) |
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| "Right let me get the moan out of the way first. I did NOT appreciate being 'trapped' in this level because I missed a vital object at the beginning and thus having to start all over again. In fact I was so cross I very nearly didn't bother to play it at all. Now for the positive bit - I'm glad I did bother to play it again because I actually rather enjoyed it. The base setting is extremely well done (I just loved the graffiti) and the eerie background music in the various areas really adds to the atmosphere. The gameplay is mainly of the running jumping and climbing variety avoid spikes try not to burn to death - you know the score. Don't expect much in the way of puzzles with this one. You also get to swim with the sharks quite a lot (such fun) and the final underwater area is very reminiscent of the Lud's Gate level from TR3. I spent an hour and 20 minutes in the base and found five secrets. 22.06.2003." - Jay (22-Jun-2003) |
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| "My ratings for Tijay's recent levels seem to be very similar but I guess that's because he stays true to his style. This is a must play level if only to see the fabulous outfit and enjoy the excellent music and sound effects (11 out of 10 for this) and it overall feels like such a real place to be and is quite a bit of fun to roam around in for the little over an hour it will last finding two cards and a disc and killing a few soldiers and dogs along the way - BUT - I was tempted to downrate gameplay even further because I got stuck with no way back no less then three times (so make sure you do have a few savegames and when a camera shows you a door opening that you have already seen then do go back there first) and the finding of a myriad of buttons and underwater levers all over the place became quite tedious and uninspired after a while. Also I did not care much for the 'try-a-switch-and-die-by-spikes'-room and a few unnecessarily long climbs and swims. But the eerie atmosphere makes up for a lot of these downsides and finding the six rose secrets also spices it up a bit so go give it a try." - Michael (21-Jun-2003) |
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| "Like a lot of other levels I seem to have played recently this is again for me a really lovely and interesting level to look at and play in but the gameplay seems to just revolve around button pushing. There is also a timed swim thrown in a few fire and spike traps and a shootable roof tile that helps you get to a jump switch easier and some goodies but is not necessary as you can catch the switch with a curved running jump. There are a few things that weren't to my liking though like a couple of really long ladder climbs and one is looong a secret placed right next to a card receptacle and disc that you have to use and collect so it is impossible to overlook the secret and the main dislike is that the last 15 minutes of the 50 minutes it took to play was a replica of something I have played before from I think an original game but am not sure it is the swim/underwater propulsion vehicle where you meet scuba divers in here though sharks and only a swim and you are in a main underwater area with on all sides two storeys of alcoves with switches and then a long upward swim to safety. This was a bit of a disappointment as the look was original and set out well till then but I must admit this replicated section held the most thrill coincidentally with the sharks on your tail. I found 5 of the 6 gold rose secrets and had fun but would have liked it to have been a bit more of a puzzler." - Sash (16-Jun-2003) |
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