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Searching of the Artefact of the Dragon by Gary

CC 7 7 8 8
Duncan 5 5 6 6
Gerty 6 7 8 7
Jay 8 7 9 8
JesseG 3 3 4 5
Jose 7 7 7 8
Kristina 8 9 9 9
MichaelP 7 7 8 7
Orbit Dream 6 6 6 8
Phil 8 8 8 7
Relic Hunter 8 8 9 9
Ryan 7 7 7 8
Sash 4 6 7 7
Treeble 6 7 6 6
 
release date: 22-Aug-2004
# of downloads: 125

average rating: 6.95
review count: 14
 
review this level

file size: 18.80 MB
file type: TR4
class: nc
 


author profile(s):
email(s):
Tarn@aol.com

Reviewer's comments
"Bugs/Functional Issues
  • There are respawning monkeys present, so expect some issues saving and loading.
  • There are several pits that Lara can fall in and never escape.
Disliked
  • The room with the three dragons spitting fireballs can be very frustrating for several reasons. There is a pole to climb up in the center, and it seems like a game of chance whether Lara can ascend without being hit by a fireball or not - I would say I succeeded about 1 out of 5 tries. Unfortunately even after a successful climb, Lara will likely face nothing but a closed door. Turns out there are two floor levers below, and not only that but they must be pulled in a certain order. I would have never guessed this if I didn't look at fexinspect and saw a trigger triggerer was involved. If the levers are pulled in the wrong order the player is softlocked. And of course there are almost no camera cues in this level so it's just a guess as to whether the door above actually opened. This area by itself sealed the difficulty at "very hard" for me, and not for the right reasons.
  • There is a room with two levers, and it is a guessing game which one to pull to pick up a puzzle piece - the other kills Lara on the spot.
Neutral
  • There are moments of interesting architecture and lighting, but overall the visuals are lacking in immersion, especially the textures, which are an eclectic mix from TR1 and suffer from rotation and sizing issues.
  • Plenty of weapons are strewn about for Lara to collect, but there isn't much to use them on besides a few scorpions and a monkey.
Liked
  • I liked the underwater lever sequence which keys off of a pattern that Lara must remember from the previous corridor. There's also a simple pushable block puzzle to solve.
  • There are plenty of boulders to dodge, along with spike balls, although Lara will have to be careful sharing the same space as a skeleton for some of the more devious traps.
Time: 19 minutes | Difficulty: Very Hard | Rating: 3.75/10" - JesseG (28-Mar-2024)
"This is a brief but enjoyable bit of classic style raiding that is a vast improvement on this builder's previous attempt. The lighting is too dark for my tastes, but the overall texturing was very pleasing I thought. There's a nicely clued underwater lever puzzle halfway through, plus a battle with a three headed dragon and a surprise attack by various enemies near the end (although it did look possible to completely skip it and just end the level. I also wish we could have picked up or even saw the artefact but you can't have it all." - Ryan (01-Apr-2018)
"After releasing two levels that received low review scores, the builder did much better with this one and then inexplicably stopped building. I had a good time with this 30-minute gem, although I found it too dark for my tastes. Yoav has provided a marvelously compact walkthrough that gets you through in one piece. There are some tricky spike traps to negotiate, but for the most part this is a raid for players of all skill levels. You get a boss fight at the end with an assortment of imaginatively crated enemies. Nicely done." - Phil (18-May-2015)
"This small level has some strange features, like the swinging blades higher of Lara, but also hard challenges like the room with the spikes or the room with three dragons where is very difficult to climb the pole. There is an interesting puzzle with the underwater levers, and the environment is simple but nice. I missed some more cameras but the level is quite lineal and they're not necessary. Enjoyable." - Jose (10-Oct-2013)
"A small level packed with action. Nice use of TRI textures, with lovely colourful rooms, and I like the new weapons. It's very dark in places, but then again we are in a tomb like environment. I was either lucky with that first object pushing puzzle, or it is indeed very simple. Soon afterwards we pass the clue to a good underwater lever puzzle. Lara has to manoeuvre around boulders that operate in a slightly different fashion to what we're used to. Discovering the three blue dragons was a shocker, but they are easily avoided with a little thought. We have to climb a tall pole in front of them, but I noticed that if Lara faces the dragons she climbed to the top safely; if I climbed sideways their firebolts hit Lara's extremeties. Another interesting room had bubbles that show the safe path to ammo and the exit. And finally Lara meets a fantastic array of exotic creatures that pose no threat if she runs to the exit door and escapes. All the same it's worth running around for a while to just look at them. Now, yes, we meet dragons, but no, we do not find anything that could be called an artifact. So, is there a follow-up? If so, then I for one am looking forward to seeing it." - CC (06-Jun-2006)
"Not really a bad level, but it is somehow frustrating. The first time I was pretty frustrated was with the four underwater levers - I didn't even realize the symbols nearby. After pulling them like crazy I checked the walkthrough - there's a special order to do so. Remade the sequence and got through, only to face three dragons at once. I am glad that, sometimes, they didn't work properly, but whenever they'd throw locusts at you... you know how they say 'resistance is futile'. If they don't throw the locusts, you can then have a go climbing that pole right by their noses. I came to find out that the fire will only get you if you're in movement, so if you climb it slowly, you won't go mad reloading every half minute. Then, through the other passage, you face one ingenious boulder trap - rather easy, though. And when you come back, with the two pieces, as soon as you use them, the final showdown will begin. You can either stand and fight them with the heavy weaponry you surely got, or you can just slide down the slope right behind you to find out you've reached the end of the level. And surprise - there's nothing on that pedestal. 20 minutes. 11/04" - Treeble (06-Feb-2005)
"Loved the TR1 textures loved the atmosphere which was mainly helped along by the moody lighting loved the....well actually that was pretty much all I loved about this level. From my point of view this was one of those sadistic 'let's see how many ways to kill or hurt Lara' levels and I reloaded and used more medi's than I think should have been necessary for a 25 minute level. You meet at least one of a large array of different enemies but when I walked into the dragon room and found I was faced with three of the bastards spitting fireballs and locusts I just about dumped the level I didn't however and then was treated to being molested by a bunch of skeletal harpies a spiked ahmet and a skeleton all in one ambush attack from the back not long after as I finished placing the cartouche to open the end gate. At this point you can just ignore them but I was so feed up with all these annoyances I grabbed my explosive weaponry and gave them what for. I don't mean to come across negative with this level I mean it does have a couple of puzzles one with an underwater lever theme and another with movable compasses (that activated a gate open early before I used all compasses) but I hate to say these puzzles were even a bit too simple to work out add to that no secrets and I was a little nonplussed with the whole thing. However a vast improvement from his earlier works." - Sash (23-Oct-2004)
"Although the gameplay is straight forward there isn't that much straight forwardness in this level if you get my drift. There are nice traps so you have to think a bit how to proceed. Getting keys Cartouche and some puzzles to solve - that is your main goal here. Nice hint for the underwater lever that I like. The jumping around that area was also nicely done. I missed the final battle completely and had to replay this one a couple of days later as I read that there was a final battle this is a bit sloppy. 25-08-2004" - Gerty (02-Sep-2004)
"Ah lovely TR1 textures just what I like - put me in a good mood right from the word go. Even so I decided to shoot the monkeys just out of sheer vindictiveness (and you thought I was such a sweet person didn't you? What do you mean 'no'?). It actually turned out to be the right thing to do and anyway the special weapons are so great I just got gun-happy. In fact I enjoyed this level altogether (well apart from those horrible locusts). There are lots of traps so be wary what you rush to pick up. There's a moving object puzzle a couple of puzzles based on using switches in the right symbol order keys and a cartouche to find. The little green lights that guide Lara through the Spike traps are a nice touch and if you miss your way you will be amused by the strange little squeak she makes as she gets spiked. This is far and away Gary's best level to date - I only wish it had been longer and now I'm really looking forward to seeing what he comes up with next" - Jay (01-Sep-2004)
"A short level that fails to deliver the artefact of the dragon. In fact there are three brilliant dragons and Lara has to endure the locusts and not getting set on fire and such stuff. Included are the annoying bits of switches that are spike traps pick-ups that are spike traps and spike traps in hallways while being pursued by locusts. Interesting bits are the four underwater switches and the dodging the cascades of spike boulders. The end fails to deliver the artefact in the title and I thought that made the whole thing feel like the set-up for a poor existential joke." - Duncan (01-Sep-2004)
"Not a bad level in my opinion. The level starts with Lara dropping into a cave sporting an outfit that was made by Silent Viper not too long ago and she also has a nice assortment of new weaponry with her. The level is fairly linear and can be completed in under half an hour. There were a few good puzzles here such as looking at a wall to find out what switches you have to pull to open a door and a really challenging task that involves you climbing up a pole when a three headed dragon shoots fireballs from all of its three mouths. There was even a rather nasty boulder run and that was hard but a good touch. Compared to the other two levels of Gary this one is so far the best. The environment was textured mostly with the TR1 textures and they did fit in well to the environment. I also liked the way that Gary placed pickups so it would influence the player to get them but then a boulder drops on you from above or you get spiked. One funny thing I noted in the level was when Lara died she made such a high pitched sound that it sounded like an animal dying lol. The enemies here were some scorpions an arab a dog a three headed fire breathing dragon skeleton harpies a skeleton ahmet and a skeleton. Maybe the next level from Gary will be longer and have more puzzles." - Relic Hunter (01-Sep-2004)
"A little under half an hour of TR1 feeling. This is a fun little level with a nice puzzle in the middle of it involving four underwater switches that you need to pull in a certain sequence and a fun jump/climb trip after that. Also remarkable are the variety of new weaponry (supplied by Silent Viper) although there is actually little use for them and of course the really impressive triple-headed dragon. A few more spike and boulder traps spice things up further and it is just too bad that the level is a bit on the too dark side and that you can miss the final battle by simply sliding down to end the level. Nevertheless a great leap forward compared to Gary's previous work so I sure hope is building on his next already." - Michael (29-Aug-2004)
"Another one of those 'What exactly was all that about?' levels. Decent action and puzzling (even though there may have been a possibility of getting stuck in the water/lever room if the wrong combination was attempted) and often quite striking texturing and lighting move the adventure along at a fast pace. The pushable object puzzle was rather enigmatic and the whole playing area was too dark but everything was nonetheless jogging along rather well; until Lara slid down a slope ran toward a rather small Plinth and back to the Main Title I went. If the level had been called 'Searching for the rather small Plinth' I wouldn't have had cause to complain. However it wasn't. So I have." - Orbit Dream (29-Aug-2004)
"I enjoyed this level's atmosphere very much. I liked the colourful surroundings and new weapons-items plus Lara's nice outfit. The gameplay is straight forward and the setting is mostly about getting keys a retextured cartouche and finding the right combination of two puzzles with switches. What I didn't like was the white dragons and the locusts in one room but it was challenging to climb the pole and at the same time avoiding getting burned. The spike ball puzzle with the skeleton was great but one of them must have been a trap because I couldn't get the gun next to the unfortunate man. There is also a puzzle with moving objects easy enough a double trap continuous area with spike balls and spikes. It's a good level but shorter than I thought. I sure hope we'll see more levels from this author." - Kristina (23-Aug-2004)