trle.net
Your host for all Tomb Raider Custom Levels ever released!

Levels listed...
TR5 - 31
TR4 - 3137
TR3 - 177
TR2 - 132
TR1 - 60

72240 reviews (20.4/level)
3530 (99.8%) walkthroughs
442 Hall of Fame levels
1217 levels rated >= 8

TR Fan Site

 


Devil's House by Spiddle & Picasso

Bene 8 8 8 7
CC 7 7 8 8
Drakan 7 7 7 7
Gerty 8 7 8 7
Jay 7 7 9 7
John 7 7 8 7
Jorge22 9 9 9 9
Jose 7 7 7 9
Kristina 7 7 8 8
MichaelP 7 5 8 8
Mulf 5 4 1 4
Orbit Dream 7 9 9 9
Phil 8 8 7 8
Ryan 8 7 8 8
Sash 6 7 9 7
Treeble 7 7 8 7
 
release date: 10-Aug-2004
# of downloads: 68

average rating: 7.34
review count: 16
 
review this level

file size: 26.00 MB
file type: TR4
class: Castle
 


author profile(s):
email(s):
spiddle@gmx.net

Reviewer's comments
"Despite a few little bugs here and there this was quite an enjoyable little level in and out of buildings, rooms and outside areas finding keys, objects and switches for progression. your mission is to find von croy and free him from his prison, it has quite a dark and spooky feel to it and this was done very well with music, lighting and atmosphere. Things never get get stale or boring because the exploration around the level is both intriguing and unpredictable. you have some skeletons and dogs as enemies, along with some platforming and torch puzzles and then some blades and fire as traps. i found the more i played the level the more interesting it became, its just a shame there wasnt more variety in the tasks or puzzles" - John (21-Sep-2021)
"A fairly simple and straightforward raid with a few issues here and there, such as the torch holding animation being the stuff of nightmares (well, maybe not that hard, but let's live up to the level title, yes?), one too many foggy rooms, the flare bug towards the end, and the lack of scripting for objects. The custom font and objects were nice, as were the custom sounds for the guns. Not much else to write home though. 40 minutes. 04/21" - Treeble (18-Apr-2021)
"Correct level as far as it is not difficult, the joints of Lara are not well closed which makes at times a chewing gum effect. The sounds are weird when you shoot with the shotgun. Texturing is very average but it's an honest level that I enjoyed doing." - Drakan (28-Nov-2019)
"Moderately entertaining level which evokes not much of an atmosphere due to some missing or messed-up sounds (mostly doors), just about adequate texturing, so-so lighting and sloppily edited objects. Lara in bellbottoms and with cartoonish gun sounds, well, whatever floats your boat. But why not do it right? It works very much against immersion if the stretched-polygon glitch pops into view every so often. On the other hand, the pervasive darkness that some reviewers complain about was not something I encountered, in fact I didn’t notice the presence of the flare bug at all; and even Phil says the level is “well lighted”. So how bad can it be? The game flows along nicely without much backtracking until about halfway through it comes to a sudden stop due to a switch that blends in perfectly with its surroundings. (Would the builders had spent that much care on the other aspects of level design!) I wouldn’t call it unfair, though; unless in the sense that you don’t know what you’re looking for in that situation, since you haven’t encountered that kind of switch before, so some kind of preparation would have been nice. The level design is serviceable; the gameplay not terribly original, though entertaining enough while it lasts; and I applaud the use of an FE2 with the correct OCB to produce an appropriately tiny flame when you light the candles." - Mulf (15-Apr-2017)
"The level commences with an ominous flyby pinpointing Lara's exact location - at the entrance to a castle. This time she's wearing red overalls that only highlights her fuller figure. I wasn't a fan of the weird and buggy texture effect when Lara moved, nor of the fact that it was rather dark in places with the flare bug near the end. Downsides out of the way, this was fun and rather unique, with Lara exploring the Devil's House and avoiding skeletons, using keys, gems and some levers to rescue Von Croy at the end." - Ryan (01-Feb-2017)
"Here's a rather short (less than 45 minutes) and stress-free level from the earlier years. Lara's outfit shows her individualism, but the umbilical cord effect that was manifest at various times throughout the level was not so welcome. Yoav's walkthough was clear and easy to follow, and I'm always impressed with his ability to communicate effectively in a language that's not his first language. The objects are carelessly named if at all, but the scenery is well lighted, colorful and attractive. Gameplay is accessible to players of all skill levels." - Phil (14-Oct-2013)
"Entertaining this level with no much difficulties to finish, but also with no interesting puzzles to solve. The fog here is very intense, and in that rooms you can't see anything. The environment is nice, and textures and lights are well worked. Secrets are hard to find, and I missed an explosive weapon to deal with the skeletons. No much more to say except that near the end when I saw to Von Croy I expected to play a bit more." - Jose (04-Oct-2013)
"If it weren't for the slightly faulty Lara model and a rather unfairly placed wall Lever,I would recommend this unreservedly. The atmosphere is absorbing and convincing,the gameplay fluent and the environment exceptonally well realised.What I enjoyed most of all was the way in which the 'Old Castle' features (recognisable from films and literature) were so cleverly replicated within a smooth-flowing gameplay scenario: library shelves rotating to reveal hidden cobwebby rooms beyond; pictures of old ancestors cunningly concealing dark passagways;sinister dangeons;sconces needing to be lit;an old church replete with workable bell-pull.It even develops into a cohesive storyline with a well-measured Finale. It's unusual to see a 'joint effort' custom level;I only hope that the two builders haven't had a falling out,as I very much want to experience more from their collective imagination." - Orbit Dream (11-Nov-2007)
"This is a mansion level from hell. No seriously it is an old castle type mansion at nighttime (love that dark blue sky) spooky. Lara has altered her face looks harder. She has short hair flared trousers and long jacket. Very interesting to look at but I didn't like it. I also didn't like the streaks that fly out of her body at certain actions. I found the gameplay very straight forward but I'll give the author(s) full marks for the impossible to see switch and gem. They were right in front of my eyes but I couldn't see them for ages. So that tells you the level is very dark and unfortunately we have the flare bug. There is a church in the grounds of this mansion and it was great to see how the 'demons' were outside but you are safe inside. This church looks great. There's an underground area where skellies attack but in my game they didn't go in after me to the floor switch which was great for a breather. Nice torch actions of lighting candles chains to pull a couple of dogs knight and always loved shooting out windows. Lara has gotten fed up rescuing that eejit Von Croy so this time she sends a cousin (well she doesn't really look that much like Lara to me) to rescue him. On the other hand considering this place it might be best to have left him there. Well done guys." - CC (18-Nov-2004)
"An intriguing level... What else did you expect from the devil's house? Mostly on the easy side but you still have to do a lot of searching and some thinking sometimes chased after by annoying skeletons. I liked the transformation of demigods into red devils. Unfortunately there's the flare bug near the end and as I was trying to use the binoculars the game crashed to the desktop. I guess you'll just have to search all the dark areas for yourself. All in all very nice mini-game." - Jorge22 (29-Aug-2004)
"A rather enjoyable debut level which is easy and entertaining to play through except maybe that one hard to spot jump switch and a few smaller challenges near the end. 45 minutes spent in a fairly linear progression but the setting is nicely done with solid texturing and lighting and a few good flybys. You meet a few dogs and skeletons a tin man and towards the end the devil (demigod) - actually twice. Pulling chains shooting windows lighting candles helps you progress and the cathedral is rather impressive. The lower rating in the second category stems from a number of avoidable annoyances: While Lara's outfit is quite cool it does not fully work in the level and some animations/positions lead to ugly spikes out of her body. The script has not been reworked ie you get an ugly load screen and the items have the wrong names in the inventory and towards the end the flare bug kicks in because too many flame emitters are active. Still it is good clean fun and yet again Lara rescues Von Croy at the end." - Michael (26-Aug-2004)
"Hmm bit unsure about the outfit and I definitely didn't care for the spike coming out of Lara from time to time. I did however like the re-textured medipacks a lot. This is certainly atmospheric and something a little different in terms of a house level. I was praying for some explosives for ages with two blasted skeletons following me everywhere hacking away with their swords. Grrrrr. It's quite a short level but not without interest. The demigods are nicely re-textured to look like devils so presumably they're the owners of the house. The only thing I fail to understand is why Lara keeps rescuing that bugger Von Croy - just what has he done for her lately? I think Spiddle and Picasso are definitely builders to watch out for in future (and I really was tempted to award extra points for their delicious names)." - Jay (23-Aug-2004)
"The Devil's house is actually a castle and in this castle there are many hidden entrances to find behind pictures and bookcases these though aren't really the problem well for me anyway it was finding one really hard to spot jump switch where I got myself stuck happily though while looking for it I found two secrets and a shotgun that I so desperately needed okay needed at this point wasn't the right word more like wanted as I could now give the two buggery bastard skeletons that had dogged me until that point their comeuppance in the pool funnily the pool that helped me collect the shotgun oh the circle of life (or death in this instance) isn't it grand! Apart from those pesky bone draggers you meet what I assume are a couple of devils not sure if they were Mr. And Mrs. Beelzebub or just a couple of frat buddy demons sharing a bachelor pad in any case they looked quite nice as did the church you found them hanging around. The game itself is not a brain bender but the feel of the environment added to making it all quite an entertaining 45 minutes. By the way did I mention your aim here is to release Von Croy from a cell (yes the doddering old ninny has found himself caged up once again) okay well I have now so there!" - Sash (17-Aug-2004)
"I loved to play this game and although I got stuck at two stupid points and made me realize that I need stronger glasses but I can also blame the flare bug as I couldn't use the binoculars. So having that excuse out of the way this is a level partly indoors and partly outdoors. Lara had at certain times a stick poking outwards that looked rather weird though. The level is rather straight forward apart from the secrets and those I mostly find when I am stuck so also this time. Nice secrets panels and darkish staircases gave it a nice and spooky atmosphere. Of course Lara has to find keys and artifact to proceed. I am a bit puzzled by a ladder in the middle of a staircase as it led to nowhere. Some nice new ideas in here. What I didn't like is getting the shotgun rather late as I was almost hacked to death by the skeletons. Save uncle Werner and the level ends. 11-08-2004" - Gerty (15-Aug-2004)
"Lara looking good with shorter hair and an outfit with a long jacket over jeans. Custom medipacks shotgun and ammo add interest to this very foggy atmospheric level. Some textures need work as Lara sometimes looks like she's carrying an odd angled stick around but this does not distract from gameplay. There are chains that need to be pulled (only once - no guessing how many times) and skeletons to outmaneuver with interesting but not really difficult puzzles. Secret panels add to the mix and I really liked how the fires got turned off - hidden in plain sight. Got two secrets but I don't know how many there are. The flares didn't work towards the end and using the Binoculars (only at the end) crashed me back to the desk top. An hour and a half of game play ends with Von Croy's release without even a backward look or thanks for Lara. LOL Hoping to see more from Spiddle and Picasso." - Bene (12-Aug-2004)
"This is an atmospheric level that has to be played at night to enjoy it fully. It's quite dark and in some places without any particular reason in my opinion. You have to fight skeletons and horsemen and search around to find gems golden serpents and keys. There are outside areas to visit and a house-library building. One thing that got my attention was that Lara searched one of the library's panels and got some flares from it this is the first time I see that animation used like that. Also the outfit is very interesting and unique. Lara will visit basements and use a few chains and levers to proceed. I liked the secret panels and picture-like doors; there is a nice secret that I found in this level. I liked the challenge in the area with the treasure and the knives on the walls. Be sure to use your binoculars as some items and switches are hidden in the dark but there's also the flare bug near the end of the level which makes it crash. It ends with Lara finding the last key needed to free Von Croy." - Kristina (11-Aug-2004)