| Reviewer's comments |
"Quite possibly the weirdest duo of levels I have played yet, well if I exclude those
intentionally surreal levels at least. Have to get this out of my system though, the
author's decision to make the two levels interconnected annoyed me the heck out. There are
no guidelines in this non-linear adventure, you have little idea if the first level is
actually completed and you got what you needed to progress in the second level. So I
arrived at those doors that are guarded with that torch carrying idiot in the 2nd level.
Turns out I didn't find the Revolver and Laser Sight. Alright, make those same tricky rope
jumps again, return to Venice, find the items, redo the jumps and return all the way back.
Progress a little, what is that? I am missing the Grenade Gun this time. Swing over hell
again, return to the confusing city, and try to find out what exactly I have missed in all
the labyrinthine huge Venice area. Pretty good city design granted, but so tedious to swim
around and around to find a possible new path. And some camera clues were missing to top
it all off, although I bet even if they were present I still would not differentiate the
spot they showed as buildings and rooms all look similar. It would be so easy to prevent
these problems by making the 2nd level inaccessible until you have all the needed guns.
Anyway, rest of the adventure was interesting and had several unique touches and even a
building of suspense via the ominous laughs at a few checkpoints, pretty well done. And in
the end we are tossed in the most hectic fight I have seen yet. Didn't ever occur to me
that such a fight would be possible but it was fun and surprisingly doable. But then
another unexpected hectic fight comes, where two rider knights somehow manage to dash
around a small room without trampling themselves and their sluggish buddies and it is as
unnecessary as a bogeyman rising up the third time in horror movies. All in all a unique
and creative adventure, author has definite talent, but I am at a loss how playable a
level this is, at least without a walkthrough." - Nomad (17-Nov-2022) |
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| "This is a slightly odd match of two very distinct levels. The first part takes place outside in Venice, bright outdoors and quite a bit of exploration around to be done in order to get all the secrets. They all happen to be weapons, and there's a lot (a lot) of medipacks laying around as well, but make sure you get them all. The second level is called an Egyptian museum but it's not one where you'd want to go. I mean, the traps and platforming bits were fun, but combat really ruined the whole experience here. The first level also had lots of enemies packed together, usually two of each kind. Then, to even gain entrance to the second level you need the lasersight first and shortly after at least one round of explosive ammo to blow up some mummies carrying gems. I'm not particularly sure how effective any of the non-piercing weapons are against the tin men and sadly there are about ten or so of them here. You fight two or three at a time in cramped spaces with other immortal enemies annoying you (either a hammer demigod or a couple of templar knights). Lara for some reason keeps changing targets whenever she loses her lock on and ultimately it feels like every battle in here drags on forever. The environments are fun though, like I said, and the one connecting chamber with winroomedit textures was a fun and unexpected touch, despite seemingly out of place. 80 minutes, 6 secrets. 04/22" - Treeble (01-May-2022) |
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| "If you're a fan of shooter levels, you may
be able to glean some enjoyment from these
two interconnected levels. The Venice
section and the beginning of the Museum
level was actually not too bad, no real
puzzles or standout sections, but at least
enemies were used fairly sparingly rather
than thrown at Lara en masse. But the fun
went out the window by the time I reached
the ending boss battles, as horsemen, a
gladiator and fire wraiths are just
plastered around with barely any room to
retreat to safety. I made it through
barely with the medipacks and ammunition
provided, but it rather put a downer on
and otherwise fairly enjoyable experience.
Not my kind of level." - Ryan (15-Jan-2018) |
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| "Again, very surprised with the high ratings in the gameplay section. It seems that an author who knows how to build a solid level with a good architecture and well textured is already worthy of high ratings. Well, it's true that this author knows how to build a convincing world, but for me the gameplay was quite bad. The first level is only to get guns, ammo and medipacks; without puzzles, swimming a lot and running around and around only to picking up medipacks and ammo.I found several crowbar doors but I got the crowbar very very late, when I entered in the museum level so, I never went back to see what I missed. The first part of the museum level was not bad, but when I reached the platform with the hammer god and all those enemies, I quickly exit the game and send it directly to the recycle bin. Of course, not recommended in any way." - Jose (15-Oct-2016) |
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| "Starts off nice and easy with a swim round Venice to get together the armoury needed to enter the Museum. I say easy but you need to keep your wits about you. Two sections with lots of long bouts of swimming which makes the gameplay boring. Once you have collected crossbow pistol and sights along with grenade launcher as you will need them to get things in the Museum section you can go to that section. Enemies range from Bad dues dogs Knights of various ilks and wraths with two mummies thrown in. The museum section to me seems to have been a good idea at the time but just turns out to harder and harder bits to do all rather samey. The graphics is standard for each section without anything really innovative. Sound could have been improved with more surprise sounds although a reasonable use of shading does give some atmosphere. If you wish to have a struggle at the end then try the level." - Whistle (11-Dec-2004) |
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| "I have a thing for Italian levels so this one wouldn't leave me indifferent! There is a teasing feeling in Malte's levels - you get the sense that they're entertainment adventures and nothing is too serious. And how couldn't it be that way when you stroll about sunny alleys and swim in lovely canals with turquoise water enter fancy rooms with stunning decorations and imperial red carpets... But then you jump to a rooftop and an army of baddies attacks at you so you realise there's some serious adventure taking place here! There's action on rooftops plenty of secrets (all of them worth looking for) and an absolutely stunning Venetian feeling. All this changes however as soon as you enter the second part: there is a very well-organized puzzle near the start which involves rope swinging and climbing walls and it's not really tough but requires all your attention and concentration. But this is where the fun ends - after a while you are trapped in a series of endless confrontations with stubborn enemies and the enjoyment of solving the puzzles and living a fascinating adventure is lost in your struggle to survive. Having to do a series of endless jumps just to get to a pool of water and get rid of some fire elementals is fun once but doing the same process twice within a few minutes is too much. It isn't half as fun when you waste nearly all your medipacks in a nightmarish boss fight (which would be tough even with half that boss squad) where Lara tends to always aim at the enemy which is the least likely to die only to find out that it's not over yet. But then your steps lead you back to the blue waters of Venice and somehow you are rewarded for all that you passed through!" - Ravenwen (01-Sep-2004) |
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| "When I first started playing this level I thought something had to be wrong that I was finished with the first level in 30 seconds. That would have made it the shortest level ever! The Venice level pretty much is just an ammo and health pack search so you can stock up from the battles to come in later in the Museum. Just to sidetrack for a minute where exact was the 'museum' part of the Egyptian Museum? It's been awhile since I was last in a museum but last time I was in one I don't remember any dangling ropes boiling lakes dead knights and ticked off gods being part of the tour. But it has been awhile. The Venice level is beautifully and frustratingly designed. The center island in the canals is a nice welcome and a good area to enjoy the water and give Lara a breather. With all this swimming she has to do where's the boat? Lara's a good swimmer but she's not an Olympic swimmer. Give the poor girl a boat! I really liked how the gameplay of Venice wasn't so linear. Yes it was mostly find this switch or this key to open this or that door but you could do it in any order and get just as lost in the process. And it didn't help me any that some of the stairs were reminiscent of each other so it was a little bit of deja vu. There's the secret where you get the laserpoint that the enemies just fall from the ceiling; I still don't understand that. I guess it gives a whole new meaning to the song 'It's Raining Men'. One last enemy enigma to contemplate. There's a sniper on the last of three balconies in one of the side canals. It's good to have an enemy like that but it's a bit disappointing to not be able to reach him after you've finished him off. Although I could never understand the voice the ominous voice coming from who knows where in the museum was a nice touch to setting the tone for the level. It kept you guessing and wondering when you were finally going to run into this mysterious being. However when you finally reach the god it's a bit disappointing; I had built it up to being some massive creature to fear and tremble beneath (can you say the Atlantean Boss from TR1?). I'm not sure if it was a bug or maybe Malte forget to finish it but in the doorway just before you entered the first boiling water and rope room the textures were missing. I had plain green purple and blue squares in place of the Egyptian textures. And I'm still trying to figure out why the random T-rex head outside the doorway into the 'depths of hell'. The 'last blast party bash' at the very end it was too much. You had just come off of fighting a god and three horsemen and then there's a mini reproduction of it? I felt knight worn out by the very end. Overall Knights of the Cross was very enjoyable. Like any level it had its ups and downs but it was great tomb raiding nonetheless." - Celli (22-Jun-2004) |
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| "I loved Malte's 'A Night at the Opera' and the Venice part of this feels like the left-overs from that piece. Lots of running around picking up medi-packs but no sense of progression. Then one descends under the Museum and everything changes radically. Some challenging jumps and battles gets you to the point where you have to find a pool of water to extinguish Lara while being chased by horsemen and a hammer god. Boy all those medi-packs are a necessity. This is a tough level that left me feeling more a veteran than entertained. That is not a criticism." - Duncan (02-Dec-2003) |
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| "I don't know which level I liked the best the first or the second. I love levels set in Venice and this one was great with many areas to explore and six secrets to find along the way. I never would have found the crowbar myself as it's actually in level two (which you can get to right away) and for some reason I assumed it would be in the first level. The second level is one long battle with groups of undead knights horsemen fire wraiths and a Hammer God plus lots of pools of lava spikes and rope swings - this one will wake you up! Make sure to save all your health packs from the first level. I noticed you could probably go back and forth between the two levels to restore all your health if you have to there are a few bunches of baddies in the first level that you may take some hits from. I loved both levels though - the first had some nice relaxing exploring and the second a great challenge that was fun to play to the end." - RaiderGirl (12-Oct-2003) |
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| "Another great Venice level by Malte. You swim around Venice getting a lot of medpacks at the start. 'Why all these medipacks?' I was asking myself. Well when you get to the second level for the second time (hint) you'll find out. Venice was great but the Museum didn't last long till you came to this threshold. From there on the level changed from searching to fighting. The texturing also got worse but you won't notice due to all the fighting. I learnt something in this level: Not only do possessed guides use profanity they also have German accents. Very funny." - LePerk (22-Sep-2003) |
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| "Here are two linked levels that are as different as night and day let each is eminently satisfying. As other reviewers have noted you get a little cerebral activity in the Venice level shooting out windows and doing some hopping shimmying and swimming to get from place to place while picking up a number of weapon-secrets. The Egyptian Museum level starts off pretty tamely but at the end it erupts in a fury of knights fire wraiths and one hammergod. Moonpooka has written an excellent walkthrough which covers all the bases. I found the gameplay the ambience and the balance between puzzles and enemies to be well-nigh perfect. But I've gotten to the point in my old age where if I see ropes over lava I usually dust off TRWest to enable the flycheat (if the author hasn't graciously kept it enabled). Sure enough we had here not one but two ropes that connected a couple of platforms so I gave up after about a dozen dives into the bubbly goo. (The flycheat also helped on the way back after that Mother of All Shootouts with hammergod and friends. By that time I really needed a break.) My eyebrows raised a bit near the end when Sahib called Lara an unmistakably nasty name but I guess she's used to it by now. All in all a very satisfying diversion in Tomb Raider land and I hope the author has more creations in mind." - Phil (19-Sep-2003) |
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| "Well I didn't like this whole level. I regret it. The first Venice level is beautiful which belongs to those levels made difficult by finding the Secrets but not walking them through. I hardly found the Uzi - I didn't notice the open door. Still I don't know what could have happened on the 2nd level if I hadn't get the Laser Sight. How could I have shot the head? But the textures are marvellous and walking on the rooftops was a good fun even if there were a lot of enemies. First I didn't understand the reason of the numerous medipacks but I found out later. The first battle and fighting with the 2 Fire Wraith were ready. But later fighting with the 3 Horsemen and the invulnerable man with hammer and the Fire Wraiths and you can't hide away - it was very hard. I don't know why the authors make so hard and unenjoyable annoying parts nowadays. Apart from this it would have been a really nice level but it hasn't become my favourite. By the end only 2 Small and 6 Large Medipacks left. You have to get many Blue and 2 Black Gem from the Knights for opening the doors. In the end you get the Holy Law after a huge battle. The added sounds are gruesome and tremendous. Shooting the wardrobe of books was a great idea as well as the invisible passage in the wall. I recommend it only for pros." - Obig (18-Sep-2003) |
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| "We're back in Venice again and it looks like Carnival is on the gunmen you come across have white carnival masks. Unlike the goons who could have used a mask to cover their ugly faces. Malte creates lovely Venice levels great water in the canals and the whole looks so improved from the original games. The textures are carefully applied and even the stretched ones look good. One great thing in this level is the sound especially the evil voice and the devious so-called guide in the museum who taunts you in the second level. The 6 secrets are weapons and the lasersight and I liked the locations of these - on a garden roof in a church type place a roof maze etc. The second level in the museum has huge rooms some with lava floors. A LOT of horsemen and dead knights to deal with. Jumps spike traps climbing shooting and a nasty little creep who tries to stop you getting in and then tries to stop you getting out. The huge room with gigantic statues was exciting as you have to battle with and avoid a gladiator hammergod three horsemen and two fire wraiths. There is a water room under one of the corners of this platform over lava but to be honest I just kept saving each time I killed a horseman rather than keep feeding Lara medpacks to get to the water. Two levels with two very different gameplays. The lovely Venice and the searching in buildings and swimming in the canals and the second one sinister spooky and a lot of battles. Possibly too much of a contrast and hard to score because like me if you like Venice levels then that part gets the attention. On the other hand the second part is an action level and in my opinion continuous battles with horsemen was overdone. A very good level nonetheless and well worth playing." - CC (17-Sep-2003) |
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| "Venice: I was well disposed towards this before I began since I love Venice levels. The fact that I picked up two large and three small medipacks in the first few minutes did make me rather nervous and it carried on in that vein - medipacks galore. Gulp. Basically Venice is a giant guns ammo and medipack gathering exercise and it can take quite some time to explore all the canals houses awnings etc. I confess I found it a little tedious eventually but I did like the way the secrets were found in charming little gazebos. The Egyptian Museum: If you found Venice just a little quiet and uneventful prepare for more action than you could reasonably expect in this part. You may have thought you'd picked up a ridiculous amount of medipacks but believe me you'll probably end up wishing you had more. There are some really serious enemies lurking around these parts. I could just about cope with all the knights but the fire wraiths really got me down. It just seemed to be one huge battle after another which isn't entirely my cup of tea. A hard level to rate in some ways as the two parts are so wildly different. I preferred the first part but if you like fighting enemies you will probably much prefer the second part. Well worth a look at if only to make up your own mind which bit you like best. 13.09.2003" - Jay (13-Sep-2003) |
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| "Swim swim swim bam bam boom boom kaboom pow pow boom boom swim swim swim fire fire run run ruuuuun medipak medipak medipak medipak medipak medipak medipak pow pow pow boom boom run run run - phew. Well that sums it up pretty well!" - G.Croft (11-Sep-2003) |
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| "This starts very promising as you can read in the readme file Malte provides. Do read it as it does give you some pointers. You start out in Venice a small version of it anyway and your main goal is get all the medipacks you can lay your hands on and in doing so you might stumble upon 6 secrets weapons. They are mighty handy let me tell you that later on. I just loved that city be sure do look in every corner of the canal and on every roof or awning you can jump on. Meeting also some nasty thugs and dogs and try to use only Lara's trusted guns in other words save your ammo for the real battle later. Coming into the museum had me a bit stumped as after placing the star there was no way to go anywhere but in doubt shoot... LOL. The best part I thought was finding the way from platform to platform over the lava. Your main goal is getting your hand on the (Un)Holy Law piece and before getting that finding gems lots of them. And..... battling. Catching fire was also a major pain and while I was trying to survive a battle with a wraith 3 horseman and the Hammer guy I had to add some more medipacks (thanks for having the TRSGEditor). I didn't like that battle at all. And if that wasn't enough after that you are cooped up with 2 knights and 2 horsemen and one of the latter kept climbing on his horse and plainly wouldn't die. Eventually he did and I had to take a brake as my fingers were in a bit of a cramp. Getting the (Un)Holy Law piece I didn't know what to do so I have seen the whole lay out of the museum at least three times before Michael pointed me in the right direction. At least I hope it was as I hit the finishing trigger. I liked the concept of these two levels but what a game. 09-09-2003" - Gerty (10-Sep-2003) |
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| "At first I thought this level was going to be very boring that's how it starts but once into it I really enjoyed it. Your task is to get the (un)Holy Law the codes by which the knights live by. You start in Venice and make your way around some lovely rooms and interesting places to find medi packs ammo and the all important secrets because they are your weapons. Now I'm not too sure I like the idea of secrets being your much needed weapons and if I'd not found the one to end the last enemy with I'd have given up on this. There's a big fight at every secret pick up area where you'll get mullered by thugs gunmen and dogs if you're not careful. Venice had all the great features like the window shoots and balcony jumps roof top exploring and awnings to jump across levers and a fuse to use it was all well done. I found all six secrets and moved on to the museum level where the action really begins. In the museum you meet many enemies such as knights horseman mummies fire wraiths and a big hammer guy some of them hold gems to get through the next door and so you're able to kill them but some others not so and I hate that but here the living dead weren't too much hassle and once the gems are collected they get left behind. There's a great many things to do in this level and the amount of battles to fight are quite tiring but all in all it was great fun the only problem with so many enemies some of which you can't kill in the same room is that Lara shoots away forever at the wrong enemy and so the fight seems never ending. Textures were good although I had a few textures missing in one room but the lovely Venice surroundings with the big gazebo at the center and the museum with its evil atmosphere in Egyptian style textures were two completely different experiences and from the serene waterways to the spooky dens of the museum both areas have their manic shoot outs but both were different types of gameplay and that was a bonus because it doesn't become tedious. Sounds were brilliant with the roar of the beast (you never get to see unfortunately) bellowing through an unopened door in the flybys. Hmmmmm now I have two moans here and that's the bad language at the end from the guide guy (sorry if that sounds stuffy but it's just not TR) and the lack of an ending simply swimming away to an abrupt ending spoilt the moment a bit but I really liked it overall and so recommend it as a great challenge with the enemies some taxing tasks and some good seek and find moments." - Moonpooka (10-Sep-2003) |
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| "Level one of these two levels is set in Venice where your whole aim is to collect 6 secrets mostly weaponry to take to the second level. I absolutely loved this level with the great adventuring involved searching for those secrets all the moves are there shooting windows red awning jumps tons of swimming and even some really cool action moments involving dogs masked shooters and bat wielding thugs then we move to level two. Level two is set in a museum but not one you would hope any school excursions will be visiting any time soon and right off the bat I am going to tell you I disliked this level immensely and I don't think I'll be the only one. After a sedate beginning you are just thrown into some hideous fight sequences two templar knights and two horseman two separate double fire sprite attacks three horsemen and a hammergod and finally two templar knights and two horsemen again. These attacks were monotonous and I was sick of jumping around endlessly trying for the love of god to knock those bastard horsemen off their saddles trying not to aim at templar knights or the hammergod depending on what sequence I was thrown into. In the end I spent 55 minutes in each level and loved the first but hated with a passion the second so I am torn in my scores but gave high in enemies/secrets almost purely for the secrets and action in level one." - Sash (09-Sep-2003) |
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| "Venice (6/8/7/8 60 min. 6 secrets): Nice little intro and then dive into a familiar Venice setting. You need to explore and collect as many items (especially medipacks) as you can here as you will require those for the second part. Masked baddies bat wielding hulks and dogs get into your way and heavily so when you find the 6 secrets: shotgun grenade gun lasersight revolver crossbow and Uzi. All of the secrets have their own area and are not at all easy to get to so that was kind of fun but I spent about an hour roaming the canals and jumping around the balconies and roofs which was certainly 30 minutes too long and for me had the fun level of a boring house level but I guess that is very much a matter of taste. Make sure you do get the grenade gun and lasersight and either crossbow or revolver as you need those in part 2. The Egyptian Museum (8/8/9/7 55 min.): What a great build up of tension through the intermittent cameras and sounds. Find and use a star then master a fun jump climb rope swing sequence in a lava room for a gem and open the next doors. Sword dragging knights to avoid and others (based on tinmen) to kill. Then a final warning by an undead brother of Aziz another lava room more spikes to avoid mummies to blast away for two gems then a major battle with two knights on horses while a few more try to chase you with their swords for two more gems. After that you need to deal with four skull fire wraiths and that requires some precise jumping over a lava pool to get rid of them. Unfortunately the author decided to throw in a walkthru wall (always a minus in my book) just before you finally 'arrive' and I won't spoil what the last battle is about other than that you will get three more gems and eventually the 'unholy law' which you need to return to the very start of part 1 and Aziz is not being helpful either. All in all this is a level with two very distinct parts both of which require a very different type of player. As I fit neither the 'Patient Explorer' profile of part 1 nor the 'Skillfull Fighter' profile of Part 2 the adventure was overall a bit too tedious for my own taste but it is very well put together and may just be what you are looking for if you fit any of the aforementioned player profiles more than I do." - Michael (09-Sep-2003) |
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| "This was certainly an interesting level. Venice with the canals and the houses is well done so finding a few necessary items such as the laser-sight revolver and grenade gun to finish the levels isn't an easy task. I say that because they are secrets and I found four out of the six. You have to explore everything and swim even in places you thought you have been because as everything looks the same you might miss a whole area as I did the first time around. I liked walking on roofs and jumping from balcony to balcony smashing window and shooting guys with white masks dogs and others with bats at hand. The switches are many but most of the time there is a camera pointing at the right direction. The second level although as good as the first wasn't to my liking because of the evil marks and the idea of the beast in it which you will never see fortunately. The enemies here are knights some you can kill some you can't fire wraiths knights on horses and an evil guide which will cause you trouble near the end. Just a piece of advice SAVE every single medi pack you have and if you are wondering why you get so many wait until the end to solve the mystery. You have gems to find here and there is even an unusual object to shoot plus a walkthrough wall. Ares with the hammer looked out of place in an Egyptian museum. It's a nice adventure that will take you from the nice Venice canals to the gloomy and atmospheric museum. Once you have the 'Holy Law' you need to visit Venice again and swim towards the current to finish the level. It took me two hours to finish this with no medi packs left in the end." - Kristina (09-Sep-2003) |
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