Level reviews

"I am sharing the dilemmas of most reviewers here. I think this level is a good example why building a believable map is so important. The surroundings are, at least in most places not pretty to look at, there is little decoration going on, and the design in general is empty and bland and doesn't make sense. While it was interesting, the second level's Disney textures really grated on my nerves after a while however I won't take that into equation in scoring as it seems to, at least as best as I can tell, serve a plot. On the other hand the puzzles and gameplay are quite interesting. I think most of the puzzles were well done, creative, if a little overwhelming. There were vehicle parts and tricky platforming in between for much needed variation. Special mention for that brilliant spike wall sequence. So with a better architecture work we would really have something here. However even gameplay-wise I wasn't a fan of the last level. The map is nearly the same with the first one, but the tasks are different which is just confusing. I scratched my head a lot when the same buttons didn't do the same things they did before which is just a totally natural expectation. Especially when some buttons indeed cause the same things. Overall I felt as if it was practically the biggest, and most confusing backtracking I ever experienced. Hits and misses, I guess." - Nomad

"I am not sure what to think about this level. For the most part, I thought it was brave of the author to try and use all new custom textures, but I fear that for the most part they didn't quite work as well as one would hope for and ultimately the visuals of this place seem random at best. It's also a bit too experimental in nature, requiring you to step on tiles near supposed "objects of interest" to trigger doors and what not. While this may work conceptually, I'm not sure it translates well into the limitations of the TRLE engine. There were also a few consistency issues, such as the huge room with the giant metal structure, which is textured all around with a single texture but for some reason, only one section is actually climbable (and, later on, there was an unmarked climbable wall as well). The sentry guns may pose a problem if you're playing all to legit, but if you switch from the pistols while aiming down the sights (one of the best glitches in the TR4 engine to save crossbow ammo), you can blast them easily. Sandwiched between two variations of the first level is an altogether different beast which takes place in a colorful world where you need to gather a few Gems while solving some math questions and driving the snowmobile around tight tracks. 70 minutes. 05/21" - Treeble

"Your opinion of this three-parter entirely depends on whether you are a fan of complex (but mostly well thought out) puzzles that really tax the mind. This game has a lot going for it: a few fun maths puzzles, a surprisingly challenging zip line sequence, a few traps, block puzzles and a brilliant snowmobile ride that posed a reasonable challenge but isn't frustrating. The textures in the second level are rather a matter of taste and take some getting used to (and they were rather too bright for my liking), but they did fit the somewhat surreal landscape you explore (assuming they weren't put there purely for the sake of doing so). On the other hand, some of the gameplay was rather repetitive in places, particularly when you have to keep climbing up and down that tall room filled with cartoon characters (and the one filled with blocks and Mona Lisa paintings), or have to jump back and forth across safe tiles numerous times over. I quite liked the idea of revisiting a previous level to ultimately complete your quest, but it was somewhat soured by the vicious sentry gun sequences. If you can stand these weaknesses, there's a lot to enjoy here if you're a puzzle aficionado, but it's really a matter of taste." - Ryan

"It happens to us all - you download a level,load it up and begin to play;and,within a matter of minutes,realise that it really isn't going to be the sort of thing that appeals to you.In this particular instance,it was clear from very early on that I was in for an 'obscure puzzle' experience,and that the Walkthrough was going to be a constant companion. So it was that I plodded through the conundrums in the first level(taking place in a museum that appears to be an Alternate Dimension Louvre)without ever really becoming invested in the gameplay (although the timed challenge above a deadly floor was enjoyable).Then it was on to a bright,primary-coloured Disney environment for Level Two;which contained a much more logical gameplay flow,and had some nifty moments;before finding myself back in Level One again (actually,a close copy) and plodding through it's environments once more. I tried hard to enjoy it.The textures were creative (although glaringly colourful at times);enemies became increasingly prolific the further into the adventure I went;the zip-wire challenge was fun;and I found the snowmobile section of the level to be a refreshing change of pace - but too many of the puzzle solutions were understandable only to the builder;and the environments were too visually eclectic to allow me to become immersed in any potential atmosphere. A worthy entry;but really not my sort of thing." - Orbit Dream

"This is a three-part game in which the third part is an abbreviated redo of the first and therefore a bit repetitious. The middle portion has a cartoonish background but the best gameplay of all. You get a surprising amount of playing time for a modest download, nearly two hours' worth. Selene has provided a thorough walkthrough that alerts the player to the potential surprises. Those sentry guns in the last level rubbed me the wrong way. Since I already had the laser sight I manufactured a revolver and blew away three out of four of 'em. Leveled the playing field a bit. The puzzles in the first level are a bit obscure at times, but once you know you're doing they're quite engaging. Not a classic by any means, but still fun to play." - Phil

"This is a mainly puzzle based level. Almost immediately we have to work out a not-so-obvious way to open the doors into what is definitely not the Louvre, Paris, or even European looking, art gallery of sorts. It wouldn't be too difficult to view this as a dream, especially in the second level, with all those cartoon and shocking psychedelic textures and lighting. If we throw aside any notion that this is 'real' we can settle into what will be a very unique raiding experience. I would recommend the walkthrough though, as some of these puzzles, good as they may be, are way out there, and the player will not realise that certain tasks have to be done more than once. For example, that timed swim. Some tasks will kill Lara if not done properly, and one where she actually needs to set herself on fire! Lara is searching for the Codex, whatever that is. And to get it she must solve letter and mathematical puzzles, perform some good block pushing exercises, jump from a zipline, negotiate some intriguing lava rooms, avoid or try to deal with well placed machine guns and a few striking enemies, flood and drain pools, and more. We find a colourful snowmobile and use this in a fascinating way. In fact, we can't open certain doors without it. The paintings themselves can be very useful. Checking all of them is a good idea. Watch the flybys closely as they show more than the scenery. One thing is certain... this is definitely one of those memorable levels. The decor might not be to everyone's taste, but it certainly is in keeping with the idea and grand plan here. It's weird and intriguing. It's frustrating and exciting. You certainly get a great sense of achievement when finished. Just sit a little further back from the screen than you normally do." - CC

"Puzzles dominate these levels, and very challenging they are. Although once you manage to get through the first level, the difficulty lowers, the second is like a children level, with the cartoon textures and math puzzles, except for the enemies. On the third it's very easy to kill the SAS, because they just stand there, and let Lara shoot them from a distance, and the sentry guns could be terminated by switching to pistols using the lasersight. And though I really liked the puzzles, gameplay was somehow distorted and stalling, the second level just made no sense. The first/third level looks nice with all the paintings, still something is missing, almost no little objects for decoration. Some sounds were missing, during the first fly-by, and the snowbike, and there were no added sounds. Despite all this, I enjoyed these levels, they made me think, and gave a feel of acomplishment after the hard to figure out puzzles. Keep on building Mikki, once your brilliant ideas meet with decent setting and design of the levels, you could be one of the greatest builders." - Akcy

"This level consists of three parts and to be honest the first one would have been enough. I am usually not very critical when reviewing levels, because I think it to be so admirable that some people manage to build levels at all. I really looked forward to play this level with the story set in the Louvre and Lara looking for a Codex. Sadly, I was quite disappointed. I really enjoyed the gardens and the outside of the gallery a lot, it was very beautiful with the green scenery and the pools. The inside was, however, not very impressive. In the first part the inside of the museum was, although quite well made with all the paintings and everything, too gloomy for my taste. The second part was so colourful it made me dizzy. As for the third part I was really confused, when I had to retrace through the entire first part, only with a few changes. The puzzles were quite difficult throughout the entire level, in fact the whole level was like a puzzle in itself. There were block puzzles, tile puzzles, painting puzzles, door puzzles, math puzzles.....you name it!!!! I was expecting a bit difficulty, but this level just blew me away on that part and I needed a lot more help than I usually do when playing custom levels. The sound was very even throughout the level, with a few musical pieces accompanying the fly-bys and some dramatic sequences. It was average, but nothing really special that caught my ear. This level did not have a lot of enemies at all. There were none in the first part, a spider and a dog in the second and some guards and a centaur in the third part. During the last part there were also sentry guns that, besides shooting at Lara, would turn into a flame thrower that would set her on fire if she got too close. There were also other traps such as spiked walls, electric floors, a few boulders, lava pools and high falls. The only pickups in the level were a crossbow and laser sight, some ammo and lots of medipacks. There were no secrets at all that I found, though at one point the secret chime was heard after opening a door to another room. Here I was really disappointed to see that it wasn't a secret after all. Also a few keys and a lot of Hands Of Orion needed to be found in order to open doors to advance in the level and there were many levers and switches to be pulled. This level will definetely take some time to play and quite a lot of medipacks will be used. It could have been a good level if it wasn`t for all the teeth-gritting, frustratingly difficult obstacles to overcome and the fact that it took so long doing the smallest task....... all that work just to get a small codex in the end. I wouldn't recommend this to beginners(not so sure if I'd recommend it to others either for that matter). I would say try it only if you're up for the challenge. It's hard, but neither particularly fun nor particularly exciting......and it's a tad weird for my taste besides." - Selene

"Yum, yum, yum! A real puzzler. You play this game in three parts, the first level in and around a museum, the second is a psychedelic kaleidoscope of colours and Disney characters in an underground temple, and lastly back to the museum to finally collect the book, Codice Ammer. From the beginning you are given one puzzle after another, and ones that really make you think, they include trigger tiles and movable blocks in nicely original ways. The second level really gave me the feeling I was playing an Astrodelica type level with the puzzles, a lot mathematically based, and the use of a snowmobile to drive along winding walkways suspended in the air and make some really nice jumps. When you finally get back to the museum you find it has been taken over by some SAS and they have strategically placed some nasty automatic guns to really do a lot of damage, at one point there is nothing to do but set yourself on fire to progress, and although you kind of repeat your route in this level there is a slight difference to everything. I really have to say I enjoyed this 90 minute game, with no secrets unfortunately, boo hoo, as I love to be challenged mentally and physically and this gives you both." - Sash

"In part one there could be some flares to better discover the blocks you can move. In part two textures are too much phosphorescent and hurt your eyes, I didn't like this. When the snowmobile is running hasn't motor sound. In part three if you shoot the guards from a long distance, they don't move and stay quiet till they die. In the corridor behind the timed trapdoor, the boulder don't smash Lara, only push her back along the corridor. It wasn't a bad level at last, well applied textures, no bugs, good cameras and sounds, interesting puzzles,... but I didn't like that first and third parts were the same with few modifications." - Jose

"I am of two minds about this three level game. There are some nice things in it and even if I hate vehicles I could mange this one without dying too many times. There are also some big No, No's in this game like the puzzle right in the beginning one which tiles to step as that is not clear at all and the using of the levers for a second time without any indication. That is a shame. The second level was fun (didn't mind the snowmobile that much). That zip line jump was indeed something I haven't seen used before in a level. Novel ideas, like to lure the sentry gun away must be a favorite of mine, but more hints how to solve some of the puzzles. 24-03-2005" - Gerty

"I liked this three-part level. We are adventuring in the Louvre in Paris. The textures are beautiful, at least I liked the paintings very much. There are no enemies on the first level, and on the second one there is only a dog and a giant spider. However on the third level the sentry guns can sour our business. Here we can also meet gunmen, and a demigod too. Completing the level without using medipacks could be a separate challenge. And it can be made, I used not a single piece either; you can see it if you download the savegames. In turn I picked up all the medipacks on the level. We want to possess the Codice Ammer that can be finally achieved on the last level. The second level doesn't befit this adventure. It is too bad. With those textures, simplifying the puzzles of course, the creator could have built a fantastic level for children. The textures are totally cartoon like. Even some math-puzzles would be good for such a level. On the whole, still I liked this level, even though there are no added sounds either. But I can propose this fantastic adventure, also for advanced players, because there are plenty of challenges. Admire the paintings, but sometimes also take a look behind them. In the fiery room, where you can catch sight of the Codice Ammer for the first time, don't save, because after reloading, the room will be fierce again. You can find a Hungarian walkthrough (as we don't have English version), savegames and pictures here: http://www.treditor.hu/15/codice_ammer.htm " - Obig

"Codice Ammer (7/6/8/7, 25 min): If not for the readme and the repeated occurence of Mona Lisa, I would not have thought this to be the Louvre, but it still is an interesting setting with many nice artwork textures. In the first part you explore the museum and Mikki is a sneaky builder with his puzzles, but sometimes they are just a bit too enigmatic to be understood which kind of spoils the fun. Progression is fairly linear from one task/puzzle to the next and then back to the filled pools and the timed trapdoor sequence was nicely done. A big no-no is of course the use of walkthrough walls though. Virtual Trap (9/6/6/7, 30 min): Great fun in this one. Eclectic and very colourful textures that hurt the eye but fast paced action with moving spike walls, nice puzzle with numbering hints, rotating blades, a ZIP line jump and great action with a snowmobile on narrow paths. Five gems and two keys to collect and the first enemies of the game appear here (two spiders and a dog). Return to the Museum (8/7/8/7, 20 min): I really found this to be a neat idea to be back at the museum and re-doing some of the tasks in the now familiar setting but doing other tasks in an entirely different way as there are now guards and sentry guns around. The unmarked climb was a bit of a spoiler and there are a few too many levers, but it still rounds up the story nicely as you finally get your hands on the Codice and escape. All in all, a fun little series that is definitely worth a try. " - Michael

"This starts in the Louvre and opening the first door involves a nice little puzzle. Once inside, there are of course some lovely paintings to look at and I suggest you look at them really closely as there's an even nicer puzzle connected to them. After some extensive block pushing and a small but fun collapsing platform run, you end up falling through the floor into a sort of psychedelic cartoon world (and who would have thought that was under the Louvre). Avoid the spike walls and find yourself in a room full of cartoon characters. You may want to put your sunglasses on at this point before your eyeballs start to bleed (and to think I'm usually moaning about levels being too dark). There's a clever little puzzle based on arithmetic and quite a lot of enjoyable bike riding. It seems very strange to get back to normal life on returning to the museum but things have certainly changed as the place is now full of guards and sentry guns so you'll need to shoot the former and outwit the latter. An odd level in some respects but certainly not boring." - Jay

"Although the first level of the game seems normal and Lara explores some parts of a museum with nice paintings, the next level could be classified as junior. The player can see Disney characters everywhere, the rooms are colourful and some calculation plus snowmobile jumps are in order. The one thing that annoyed me was that you have to replay a part of level one and if you don't know that it can be confusing. Also there's no hint to give an idea which of the buttons you need to push again. The timed grate/tiles and the sentry guns at the end provided a challenge but at the same time the guns were annoying since Lara has to lure them away in order to access two buttons and get burned from them to reach the fountains again. The codice item comes last as a prize after you complete all tasks so don't waste any time trying to get it the first time you see it. An interesting but confusing and weird game I'd say." - Kristina

"I feel a bit torn about this level. On one hand I found it original and clever, and on the other hand I found it disjointed and sloppy. Sometimes original can be hard to distinguish from awful, and this one has both in abundance. It requires careful attention to subtle clues. Such as, at the first there are two sconces that do not light, and then there are blocks in the gallery that are black on top. Or when it seems the snowmobile has to make an impossible jump, but the path is in the opposite direction. I consider the clever gameplay a sign of a large talent. There is also very poorly done texturing - where old master paintings are badly distorted for one - and the pointless use of cartoon characters in an area that is neither cheery nor innocent. I would suggest the author give sensible thought to the objectives of a level. What do cartoon characters have to do with Leonardo? I feel if the author would put as much clever thought into the setting as the gameplay - and try to be a bit more logical - then we could see some fabulous work." - Duncan