| Reviewer's comments |
"All signs point to an early debut level, with wafer thin walls, wallpapered textures, missing animations, general lack of scripting, and poor variety in the lighting department. Gameplay is all about running from one room to the next in search of the next lever or puzzle piece, sometimes hindered by an unmarked climbable wall or something to that effect but always predictable enough. I only stumbled upon the laser sight by accident while I was rushing towards the exit. You can get to a number of illegal slopes by trying to reach the end of the world. 20 minutes. 04/21" - Treeble (25-Apr-2021) |
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"This is a typical Christmas level, so there are no enemies or traps; there are also no jumping challenges or puzzles to solve. As ever so often, gameplay consists in going from lever to door to lever and so on, with the lever sometimes replaced by a key or puzzle item for variety. There is a bit of back-and-forth at the beginning, but not nearly as much as you might expect; and at the end, the level opens a door that leads right back to area where you need to be. The outside areas look fairly ramshackle, and the assemblage of objects and textures is a haphazard jumble, yet there are some attempts at visual flourishes. The lighting can hardly be called ‘inspired’ (MichaelP), since it’s merely a combination of default ambience and shadowbulbs, but on the whole the level doesn’t look any worse than many another budding builder’s debut.
Since this particular budding builder was ten years of age at the time, it should come as no surprise that all the customary beginner’s mistakes are present and correct. The level has its fair share of glitches, but no gameplay killers; and while I’m the last person to defend unmarked climbable walls, I must adduce the mitigating circumstance that in this instance, the wall in question is located in a confined area in which you quickly run out of options, and which you can’t leave without finding it first. The same applies to the crowbar. In fact, this ‘tadpole’ (Sash) doesn’t fail where adult amphibians haven’t failed harder before or since. In particular, she shows sound judgement in her choice of a Lara model. For the usual suspects, this should have been (and still may serve as) a wake-up call: you can do better than (or at least as well as) a ten-year-old, can’t you?" - Mulf (02-Feb-2021) |
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| "There wasn't anything too christmassy in
this level apart from some dark rooms
with a few Christmas decorations thrown
in for good measure. It's more about
exploring a few caves and places for
items, more like a normal snowy level.
The only interesting-looking room was the
one with crystal walls and pushables.
It's good but it doesn't provide that
much fun." - alan (26-Jan-2020) |
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| "This isn't bad for a debut effort. There
are a couple of irritations (a couple of
texturing glitches, an unmarked ladder, no
real puzzles or stimulating gameplay and a
couple of harmless animation problems) but
for a young builder (at the time it was
made) it's not badly constructed and there
had been some effort put in." - Ryan (01-Dec-2017) |
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| "Aha now the remake for the 2009 Advent level makes sense. Teach me to play them in the right order LOL. Not a carbon copy but you can see how much progress Piper made. This level is rather short in comparison, finding a couple of items and pulling some levers (some of them don't make sense) but it was her first level. The end shows you that is was indeed a Xmas level." - Gerty (16-Dec-2015) |
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| "This 10 minute level might not be very polished and there are many texture mistakes, weird or random architecture, strange usage of lighting and animation errors, but I liked it for the quite nice feeling of isolation (the end of the world is a problem, but not so bad really) and somehow the atmosphere worked okay for me. There are a few nice additional objects and the snow was also fairly nice. Gameplaywise it's a very simple game, the items you find are mostly very close to their receptacles, but I liked how you get back to the big area at the end. The remake is of course much more polished but this little level was still quite fancy given its and the builder's age at that time, so not a bad level at all." - manarch2 (20-Dec-2014) |
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| "A pleasant little level with simple but fluent gameplay. The retextured inventory items were very fitting. I liked the design of the indoor areas, especially the texturing. On the downside, there were some beginner errors, like wrong anims, thin walls, empty rooms. And the outdoor areas was rather disappointing with static snowflakes and the snow piles all around which weren't convincing. But as a first attempt from a young author it's not bad at all, I think she showed potential, and will improve with practice." - Akcy (05-Dec-2007) |
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| "This is only an attempt of a level. Most of the snowflakes aren't animated and stay immobile in midair. The level is quite simple, bad geometry and bad apply textures, only pull switches or put items to open doors. New revolver is a good detail. Near the Santa Claus, Lara trespass the stone floor. There are many illegal slopes and wafer thin walls too. The Lara movements to take the golden star and to put the star in the Santa Claus are not correct. Much to learn in order to build a good level yet." - Jose (07-Feb-2005) |
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| "Going by some of the other reviewers it seems this author is but a mere tadpole of a being at the age of ten now I've said it before at that same age I could barely butter my toast in the morning let alone master something that seems quite as daunting as the Level Editor (I still dare not look at the LE manual in case I have total mental meltdown) but this little goddess in the making has. Bravo to her. So it isn't too big a stretch to guess that the gaming is going to be on the easy side and it won't be as sophisticated as some of our well loved great authors but you know what this 25 minute level is pretty good. Miss Croft as is her want is spending a lovely afternoon strolling through the wilds of a wintry clime with snow falling gently from high above so why not look for a way to open that large set of doors guarded by a couple of Santa statues and be greeted with a lovely big Christmassy sign. Maybe you best download this cute little level and help her!" - Sash (26-Jan-2005) |
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| "I didn't like this level and I hope the next one will be better. There were blank textures that fooled you and you could just get stuck too easily. I am younger than the level builder so I just go along with how the level was built and that's why I am not being generous." - Cory (18-Dec-2004) |
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| "A very pleasant short level for Christmas time playing. Love Lara's outfit. No enemies to deal with so it could easily fit into the Advent Calendar style for children. It is mostly straight forward - if you can't go one way then go the other and there are some cleverly hidden places to find. Mind you other things are right in front of your nose. Nice colours and lighting throughout and this time we need to find a trident for a Santa statue. I was amazed to find the author is so young. A great job for a first attempt." - CC (17-Dec-2004) |
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| "This begins in a gloomy wooden hut but you soon get outside into a bright snow filled landscape. In fact the action switches between indoors and outdoors quite nicely as you search for gems keys portal guardian etc. As befits a Christmas level there are no enemies and all is peaceful. Admittedly there are a few hallmarks of the first time build but I believe the builder is only ten years old so this really does represent a very good first level - I only wish I could build something half as good. Well done Piper keep building." - Jay (16-Dec-2004) |
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| "A short level and apart from having to find the first gem all the other keys/switches were reasonably obvious and tending to be in the same room/area giving very linear gameplay. No enemies and pickups you didn't need like the revolver and ammo and why you needed more health I don't know. The snowy effects were Ok and obviously the author has played LATM using JuttaE's ring in the moveable case. Sound for what it was seemed Ok with good use of dark areas. I suppose a level for beginners or one to play after being stuffed with turkey. If this is a first attempt then it shows promise for the future." - Whistle (13-Dec-2004) |
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| "It's the season again and this short level fits the bill rather well. In the quest for two gems three keys a portal guardian and that Christmas Star for the Santa figure I was actually stumped a few times due to a few well hidden nooks and crannies. Yes there are many places where you can reach the 'end of the world' illegal slopes and thin walls and rather unmarked climbs but there are also nice objects (like the pushables) beautiful snow and nicely modified load/save icons in the inventory. And I really thought lighting was actually quite inspired throughout. Considering that this is from one of our youngest builders (she is only 10 years old) this sets high hopes for future work from her." - Michael (11-Dec-2004) |
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| "When Advent levels are intended to be nothing more than enjoyable treats it seems churlish to be critical of them; but when one of the offerings proves substantially more irritating than amusing criticism would seem to be valid. In this instance what we are presented with is clearly a 'beginners' offering and it's not bad for all that; but whereas I can overlook stretched textures and wafer-thin walls in a festive offering a climbable wall that isn't textured as such does nothing other than spoil the potential yuletide enjoyment. Overall though this level tries hard to be sweet and charming; unfortunately it doesn't really succeed." - Orbit Dream (09-Dec-2004) |
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| "It's this time of the year again near Christmas and we get jolly levels like this one. I like playing in a nice snowy setting with not many enemies. In fact this level had no enemies but I am not complaining. It is rather short though about twenty minutes and you're searching for guardian keys and keys in general. There is one start to find as well the Christmas maybe but you won't place it at the top of a tree. Finally when you find the last item you're searching there will be a nice message on the floor inside the next room and the level ends there. There are a few problems in the level like the illegal slopes one wrong animation and the blackness but don't let that stop you from playing it it's worth a try." - Kristina (09-Dec-2004) |
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| "This is a beautiful Christmas-level also. There are no enemies you won't need medipacks either though you'll get some and the revolver too but there's no need to use it. Rather the dazzlingly white snow and ice can make things difficult. You can hardly notice where to climb up to find the Gem or the alcove where you have to use the key. The textures are beautiful wintery and the Santa Clause statues the added piano-music and of course the last scene: Merry Christmas! All give a festive feeling. Thank you too Piper! :) You can find a Hungarian walkthrough (as we don't have English version) savegames and pictures here: http://www.treditor.hu/15/christmas_level.htm " - Obig (08-Dec-2004) |
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| "A pleasant level that should be fun for the little ones to play. Lara is sensibly dressed for the icy environment and has no enemies to mess things up. A nice first level from a new author and I hope they give us more." - Duncan (08-Dec-2004) |
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