Level reviews

"I've spent a whole week of my alotted TRLE time on this release, but I have no regrets. Well, maybe not having played it sooner. It's beautiful from start to finish, with a lot of breathtaking settings and vistas, starting in a luxurious hotel of sorts before delving deep into jungle temples. I love all the replacement sound effects, but I wasn't particularly keen on the animations (the cartwheel in particular feels more like a nerf as it takes longer for Lara to actually turn around while in combat) and the swingpoles throw her much further than you'd expect, but for that regard the best bet is to keep Selene's very thorough walkthrough at hand. There are quite a few to and fro here and the environments are massive, very easy to get lost in. The jeep ride halfway through was also a bit too cramped and narrow for my tastes, making it harder than it should be, but all in all this is definitely a grandious adventure (plus the MichaelP easter egg had me giggling for a bit). 5h40min, 35 secrets. 11/23" - Treeble

"I was a bit anxious to check out this levelset I had downloaded 15 years ago, when it was still available, yet I'm glad I finally did. It actually did not live up to my expectations, since there are quite a lot of missing cameras and the backtracking that is required does not do well with that particular limitation. Otherwise, if you don't mind keeping the walkthrough at hand for the smallest of things (what opens when you flip a switch is usually anyone's guess), this is an excellent game! Horus should be proud, and I congratulate her for this, even if I'm not really supposed so be hanging on to it. Thank you for, once upon a time, having shared this game :) My subjective score is 8/10. It is very long but usually pretty easy to go through if you are an experienced raider. Not really suitable for beginners, as there are bits where it gets quite challenging. Oh, and I've checked and there are still places where you can download this, if it is a must play for you." - MigMarado

"This gem has been waiting patiently on my hard drive for a few years. I am sad that Horus pulled the level download, because her levels are wonderful. This is a levelset that will challenge any player, no matter how experienced. The level designs are brilliant, spanning intricate mansion levels to bull fighting arenas to ancient Incan ruins. I particularly enjoyed the bull-fighting level! That was probably the highlight for me. Nadine made a few changes to Lara's moves that made me at first want to pull my hair out. #1: the roll is now a somersault and instead of allowing Lara to quickly reverse direction to grab ledges, she falls forwards from them. It also isn't very practical during combat. Prepare to do jumps with midair rolls quite a bit. #2: when doing a forward standing jump, Lara performs a graceful flip. This is beautiful until you realize that you needed her to grab a ledge almost immediately! She will not grab until the flip animation is done after which in my case she bonked her head and died. This is such a one-off that it's hard to remember to hold the action key while jumping, so I died quite a bit! Otherwise, this is a PHENOMENAL 7-level set that will both challenge and entertain. Nadine was really pushing the engine to its limits long before most builders were and this highlights her skills. Hardcore, old-school raiding with some extra-tricky flourishes. I loved every minute of it. Probably the best set of mansion/home invasion levels released into the wild. The post-mansion, Inca ruins levels were an absolute blast and had me working for every successful jump sequence and item pickup. There are jeep and motorcycle sequences worked in that are as infuriating as they are rewarding. (The only vehicle I ever excelled at was the speedboat.) I spent about 6 hours 'official playtime' here altogether and it took me a good month of weekend evenings to finally see the ending. You may not see it, Nadine, but thank you oh so much. The pleasure was entirely mine and I really miss your levels!" - Chel

"Many thanks, Nadine, for an incredible experience! I had amazing fun exploring hot jungles and beautiful temples. The Rainbow Lounge was beautiful, what else to say? One of the best levels I have played in my custom raiding experience. Don't miss it or you will regret it! All tens!" - Ryan

"A seed needs time to sprout. In case of Puya raimondii, it's been 6 years after I planted it in my frosty garden, to wait for thaw. But the seed apparently likes cold - it broke the shell with a deep, pleasant footstep sound, different on every fragment, while discreet outdoor ambience allowed enjoying the variety. Inside, dark background looped but in time it blended and didn't disturb. I guess the manufacturer loves TR2 in bulk - not only its plainly best samples but also weapons and outfits rewired here. It's very hard to make a gang domain feel really toughly guarded yet not make the game a total shooter, but Nadine went all the ways possible to achieve this, not only with baddies but also tripwires, burnlasers and sentries, which, together with numerous ornate arcades, add some TR5 vibe, so a unique cityscape synthetizes of Venetian and Roman matter and grows on Peruvian ground, with its guns, spotlights and techno music. I recklessly took one breath of this cocaine party and WHAAM! Though I never learnt purple means off and blue is on, I didn't have to figure things out anymore - they started to figure themselves: first some snow leopards, then some snakes fed with crystals (om nom nom), then a giant black mutant chicken (here's where a generous dose of secret bullets helped a lot), with the cycle of night and day whirling rapidly over my head, which apparently got a nice long ponytail for some reason... who cares about the reason? After a lunatic run through the caves which sometimes even felt too real (should be more blurred to fit) and could be a bit shorter, I woke up slapped in the face by some mercenary guard, only to be offered some nitrous oxide. It was too early for another shot, so I applied it to the motorbike instead. I thought I managed to escape the vision but NOPE - the bike landed right next to a "mysterious flower"... Oooo kaaay, I already know the mystery, so let me just... carefully put these petals away, on some... altar? Opening some... door? Leading to some... temple? Gosh, I must have anyway inhaled some pollen if I was still brave enough to jump down into whatever was in that black hole - ohohoooh look at these shiny sparks in the sky, and these beams of light, and why do these dinosaurs still surprise me? I guess nothing is real anymore, especially these jumpswitches on the walls - the very danger of addiction, indeed pulling one makes you sniff forever, through every corner, until running out of the product. I somehow managed to take them all, because the rest of the ride was awesome, but I imagine the newbies would suffer - kids, don't go in there, for me it was too late... What's that? Aah, the final pickup, some... seeds? Riiiight, now how do I plant these and is it legal? SUMMARY: Good stuff - I see why the distribution is forbidden. Back to reality and brain wrinkles, I see some in Neon God's crops - but not that many. The immortal essence - make sense, avoid nonsense and introduce new - is all here, all elements in saturating concentrations. Now just excuse me - the thaw has come, the puyas are blooming and I need to do some gardening." - DJ Full

"This is one of the most unforgettable games in TRLE world and definitely one of my top 10. Gameplay is very complex, atmosphere is intense and unique. Textures, lighting and design are very good. The storyline is interesting and bring us to the varied locations. What's more the game is enjoyable and it give you a chance to take a rest. Astounding and great, still love it so much!" - MD

"It is easy to see why Neon God is one of the mostly highly rated custom levels on trle.net. Even considering that it was made with the old level editor and its low texture resolution, Neon God is possibly the best looking custom level I have ever played; Horus obviously spent countless hours perfecting every area visually. From the ornate manor to the beautiful, lush Peruvian jungles, there is nary an aesthetic flaw to find. Even more importantly, the gameplay is always thrilling and varied with some unique and interesting ideas throughout. The levels are extremely well thought out, intricately designed and quite complex, just the way I like them! Do be warned: once you start Neon God, you won't be able to stop!
Of course, no level is perfect, and I have some relatively minor nitpicks and a few complaints. First, let me say that I felt that the first three levels are the best by far; while the entire game is fantastic, the first three levels are the ones that really blew me away and made Neon God feel like an entirely unique and special experience, and the last four levels were a little lackluster in comparison. I think that Tauromaquia is probably my favorite overall and the most compelling in terms of gameplay, with The Rainbow Lounge as a close second due to its excellent platforming sequences and exquisite design (and the disco... WOW is all I can say to express my feelings on it). While it is minor and not worth deducting points for, I do not feel that the story is very well- integrated into the game or that the levels in the second half flow well. After Lara leaves Bolivia, the story is basically dropped until the last level, leaving Heart of Peru, Crystalline Passage, and Nevado Huascaran Plateau to feel like "get from point A to B" levels. I also found the transition from lush jungle to caves to snowy mountains and back to jungle extremely jarring as well as not realistic. Finally, the climax with the Neon God is a little unsatisfying and abrupt in its ending. I have only three major complaints with Neon God. Firstly, Lara's roll and forward jump animations have been replaced with new ones, and I'll be blunt about it: they are horrible. The roll is extremely slow and clunky looking and hinders Lara from doing maneuvers she could otherwise do (such as rolling and grabbing a ledge) and I often ended up not being able to grab in midair due to Lara's front flips. One of my least favorite things ever in custom levels is fixed cameras: I absolutely HATE them. Unfortunately, there are quite a few of them in Neon God and they are at times used to hide secrets or make certain parts more challenging, a cheap and annoying way to add difficulty. My final complaint is that Neon God can be rather lacking in camera hints at times. Annoying though they are, these flaws pale in comparison to the strengths of what is one of the greatest level editing achievements out there, and I encourage anyone to try Neon God; you will not be disappointed. I spent about 5 hours playing and found all 35 secrets (although I ended up with 36 for some strange reason). 10/9/9/10" - okuhtfesq

"Five of a pure raiding experience with a lot of great South American locations. It's obvious the builder has put a lot of devotion into each kind of detail, and the atmosphere of the levels is spot on. There's barely one single room that looks uninspired, and the choice and use of colours, both with textures and lighting, is pretty much perfect. Maybe there were a few misplaced textures here and there, but compared to the huge amount of work put into the levels I couldn't really lower the full score therefore, also because those issues aren't really obvious, only on a closer look. While there are many smaller rooms, the builder also has a grasp on effectively placing some large scale areas that are nothing short of breathtaking such as the disco room or the area with the "immortal" flowers at the end. I also cannot fault anything concerning camera and audio work, they are done with utter precision and work like magic here. The gameplay is perhaps not quite as perfect, although I liked the complex non-linear, yet not too confusing progression and there's a good dose of everything in here - tight traps and timed runs (I most of all liked the laser traps), puzzles and lots of exploration. Still, I think that all the levels have a very similar structure gameplaywise, and there's barely anything inventive concerning the tasks - many pushable puzzles simply involve pushing the statue to an obviously marked tile and even the boulder or laser traps don't show a large variety. Make no mistake this is a level rich of gameplay, the levels have a nice flow and there are few dull moments, but there's not much that hasn't been seen already which makes it somewhat unoriginal. I also think that the storyline could've panned out better in game, in many levels I missed a certain goal. The last level is a nice change in that regard, as the various cutscenes with Neon God are quite remarkably done. In general the enemies and objects are very nicely placed, not only for decorational means but they also nicely spice up the experience, for example the bull arena or the hilarious scenes with the monster in the last level. Most secrets seem to have been placed as an afterthought here, with most pickups not being totally obvious counting as one, and it was not really hard to find all of them - in fact I found 36 of 35 secrets ;). Anyway, this level is highly recommended for the superb atmosphere and looks alone, although the gameplay still delivers nicely." - manarch2

"Beautiful, extensive, great fun... one of the best games I've ever played. The first half was already good, but the second blew me away, the natural settings are even better than the city. 10-10-10-10 without a doubt." - Don007

"BREATHTAKING ADVENTURE!!! This is my top custom level ever created so far!! The very best gameplay here with lots of puzzles to solve, excelent lighting and textures and absolute nice music choise are creating atmosphere as beautiful breathtaking realistic world. Horus is one of my favourite builders, she has many good adventures but this one is the best of all time in trle. I must mention that there is only one bad thing - the roll animation! It is really annoying because it`s too slow! But never mind. With no doubt Neon God is unforgottable adventure. Thank you so much Nadine for this absolute amazing custom Tomb Raider. The very highest recommendation!! Absolute 10/10/10/10" - OverRaider

"Neon God...the love of my life. The one custom game I was willing to forgive every single drawback of its just to allow myself to fully enjoy it, over and over again. And yes, there's quite a few drawbacks to consider here, be it the god awful voice acting, the rather unpolished new animations (the slow, clumsy catwheel, which replaced the traditional roll here, not only looks bad, but is very annoying because it's really, really slow), and the overall feeling of "bugginess" one can't help but notice throughout the entire game. And yet, there's something about the game which just forces you to eternally love it, should you allow it to do so. And why? Because, underneath the surface of the sloppy animations and bugs there's a movingly beautiful and rewarding adventure to have, proudly dressed in fantastic textures applied on a fantastic geometry, all in a fantastic atmosphere supported by fantastic lighting and even more fantastic choice of music. And within it all is a top-notch challenging gameplay literally waiting to be played and gradually satisfy every seasoned raider out there. So yes, Neon God does have its rich share of flaws, but I always will, and always will be, willing to sometimes ignore them, sometimes even embrace them, because ultimately they are a critical part of the whole, just like everything else. Isn't that how love always works with everything and everyone?" - JayHannel

"I downloaded this game a very very long time and I gave up playing almost at the end and started playing other levels. I actually finished The Experiment 3 part 2 a few weeks ago but I forgot to review it. I finished playing this game yesterday and I loved it so much! Horus makes such brilliant levels! The whole adventure is in south america where lara firs goes to Bolivia to Neon God's mansion. After that she goes to peru in the jungle and other places. My favourite levels were in the mansion. There are three levels that are very different and so much fun. The first level is where you're in the main part of the mansion (I think) where you go through a lot of tight security. The rooms and gardens look very very nice because the texturing was flawless and the atmosphere is breathtaking. Enemies were guards and dogs. The second level was my favourite of the whole game. You are still in the mansion but in a different part of the mansion. The other areas look so nice with different textures and objects. I loved everything about this level from the little puddles to the big fight with the bull! Sometimes the level can get very challenging though. I loved the fountains and killing enemies! The main gameplay is to find keys and four emerald gemstones to get the key to the arena. Every room looks brilliant and Horus makes everything look so nice! Enemies were picadors, a matador, yellow birds and a bull. Fighting the bull was very hard but it was fun. The next level was another fun level which is still in the mansion but once again it's in another part of the mansion. This level was mostly in the basement sor of place but after you come to a theatre, a library, a HUGE puzzles room and a disco! I loved this level and I even liked how some keys and objects look like now that horus retextured them. This level was a bit longer than the previous levels because there are more places to go to and more challenges and puzzles to do. The next four levels is in peru where you go outside the mansion and lara goes to some jungles and other places. The fourth level was a fun adventure in the jungle where there are some ruins there. Some of the textures reminded me of the angkor wat levels. I loved the places and the objects like the crystals and other puzzles items. Enemies were tigers, barracudas, vultures and ants. I loved the idea of the ants! They were retextures beatles that appear out of their anthill. The next level was not my favourite level but it was still fun. The first room you are in looks amazing with a lot of crystals and it was very blue. After that the level changes into a room where there are floors and each floor is like a different element. Texturing was good but not my favourite level. The next level was in some cold caves where lara seems to have put on a jacket. The level quickly changes into some icy caves. I loved the icicles on the ceiling. I loved the water effect horus used on the floor to make the floor shimmering. When I went outside the caves and heard the TR legend music from the nepal level I was so impressed! How can anyone make it look and sound so wonderful. The last level was a fun battle between lara and Neon God. You also have to do some tasks and challenges to get to him. I like the bloody ruin. I loved this level so much and I loved the idea that horus made a lot of shiny objects. Very fun and I wish that horus would release her levels here again!" - afzalmiah

"One of Nadine's masterpieces. Visually it's almost flawless and full of great vistas, interesting sights and constant (yet coherent) variety. The time of its release makes the visuals even more stunning, as it still beats many high- profile packs released today. Enemies and objects are also all appropriately remodelled or new. Along with a soundtrack that's almost entirely new.
The gameplay and design is as epic as the visuals; almost every new area is used to its potential and every level is massive with tons to explore. It's definitely towards the brutal side of things; there are sneaky switches, tricky jumps and nasty traps all over the place, but it mostly plays fair and provides at least some sort of hint what to do. The only things I found irksome were the forced damage moments at a few parts and the occasional trap that goes into trial and error territory. One other thing is the modified animations; while it's a nice novelty, outside of the new crawlspace leaving animation (very welcomed) some of the new animations can delay things like grabbing, and the new roll is much slower and more risky to use, which can be awkward at times. Finally a lot of the secrets I found were pretty weak and just stuff like ammo left in a corner, however, I missed a bunch of others so I'll give the benefit of the doubt that they are better. These flaws pale in comparison to the inspired area/level layouts, clever twists on standard gameplay and great use of space. It's a shame it seems we won't be able to see Nadine's next master-work, and that many won't be able to check out this one either." - Mman

"This levelpack gave me nearly 5 hours of gameplay,and I'm sure the builder has put lots of energy into designing.Simply amazing.It's perfect.The levels are varied enough to not get bored with this pack.We travel through a manor, where we see cool ideas and puzzles(like the bull-fighting or the big puzzle in Rainbow Lounge), after that we go to Peru, where we see luxurious enviroment, and we go deep into the mountains, where we see cool textures(also, the lighting effects are very well used), and after a wonderful "star-falling", we finally find Puya Raymondii's seeds before Neon God.Musics are fantastic, the best musics are in the disco.Also, there are some challenges in the levels too.It's needed, I think.Final words:Don't miss it.It's very artistic." - rtrger

"This game took me almost forever to finish, I had a net time of 10 hours and probably double that in total! Nevertheless, it is brilliant. This level set has been described inside and out by other people so I'll simply focus on my opinions. It is quite challenging, although not as much as I was expecting from some of the other reviews. The challenge mainly comes from some obscure jumps or sequences which are nicely added to the levels. Each level is intricately designed and I found this to be pure genius. One example is the first Peru level where you end up going through each area in so many different ways but it is never repetitive. A confusing level, took me over an hour and a half, but fun. I felt like there was the right balance of puzzles, traps and enemies throughout the whole adventure. Some puzzles had me completely stumped and I had to shamefully refer to the walkthrough on dozens of occasions. The best example of this was the enormous push puzzle in the Crystalline Passage. I had no idea where to begin or what to do. It's difficult to express my opinion on this really. On the one hand they are original, clever and fun to do once you figure it out, but on the other hand I don't like being totally clueless. Perhaps the best word to describe this game is intense, it's never plain sailing or obvious and definitely suits the hardcore amongst us. I'm more fond of the straightforward approach myself so found many parts of this frustrating and tedious, but somehow it's addictive. I looked forward to finishing it and I was glad I made it to the final couple of levels where you find out a bit more about the story. My only gripe apart from certain gameplay aspects was the new animations. The roll has been made slower and more difficult to use. I used to use it all the time when running towards a ledge to turn round and grab it, but now that's not possible. I got over it eventually but it was a bit of a pain to get used to. The music, however, was excellent. As were the added sound effects. Thankfully Nadine added more than just water sounds, there are crickets, other animals and various other things to be heard. It's been one of the gems of the TRLE world for a while now and will continue to be with good reason. One that everyone should play." - TrueRaider

"Nice and wonderful game. Beautiful piêkna, amazing climate. The music is perfectly well-fitting. You can feel there like in Spain, despite that action is in Bolivia and in Peru. Only defects are difficult timed runs and changing clothes in few seconds. For exaple: you riding in elevator to next level and the next level begins in elevator too, but Lara has different clothe. Or when you falls to water to next level, then next level begins in landing in water but again in differetn clothe. So that's is 9 for gameplay." - Andzia9

"This is an incredible game, crafted with impressive inspiration and geniality, a definite must-play; it has a little bit of everything: fascinating gameplay, brilliant action and puzzles, amazing environments, original plot. Nadine's building talents were obvious from her first works already, but with Neon God she proves that she is simply one of the best custom level builders of now. In this game, Lara is after a notorious drug dealer (quite unconventional plot for a Tomb Raider!) who's seeking the artefact of immortality. To locate him, she first starts with exploring his luxurious villa and the surrounding areas (awesome architecture and settings in these levels), then she moves on to the green valleys and snowy mountains of Peru until she finally reaches his den (another brilliant setting). The gameplay is excellently set and organized - only a few of times I felt I was missing something due to lack of cameras after some actions. But this is just a minor detail; the level overall is fantastic, there are several innovative moves, clever and flowing action, brilliant timed runs, plenty of enemies and some of the most beautiful environments you've seen in the custom level world. A great achievement from Nadine. Don't miss it!" - Ravenwen

"A game that should not be missed. Lots of good work has been put into it in all categories, flybys, objects and all. The different settings , designed with a lot of care , are very rich in details and the texturing is quite varied although harmonious in all levels. No game is perfect though I got stuck once at the end of Tauromaquia because of an antitrigger set without"one-shot" for a door, a few of the shiny objects do not really fit with the setting , I would have wished a bit more cameras at times to know where to go next , and there is a couple of places where I was a bit irritated, as the sequences you have to perform require more luck than skills and/or thinking. These little gripes are easily redeemed by all the rest , there are enough long and exhilarating sequences to have really a great time playing. Sometimes very fluent and classic gameplay, sometimes quite challenging but do-able, with plenty of good ideas , this is one of the best games I have enjoyed so far." - eRIC

"This level was extremely good. The storyline and atmosphere fit very well together. There was a great amount of exploration, and the puzzles were very intelligent as well. I really enjoyed the library in particular. I generally don't like timed runs, but I make an exception for this level. The timed runs were close enough to be exciting, but there was enough time that I didn't feel it was unreasonable. Overall, I was very impressed by Neon God and I am very glad I had the joy of playing it." - Ward Dragon

"A level with a lot of work in the contruction of very complex rooms. The gameplay exagerated a lot in very tricky jumps and timing doors, too many jumps where you have to brake the keyboard to do them, and you need a lot uf lucky, I dont like that. In other two parts of the game you can keep traped alive with no way to go back if you didnt do all the things you have to do, so is very important to have many savegames to return to the correct part before you cant go back. There wasnt any thinking puzzle. Close to the end there is a nice and enjoyable traps with ladders and different kind of traps, I liked this part of the game. Toltec atlantes? Aztec calendar? mayas stellas? in Peru??? Maybe for many people all were indians from America, but please, Textures and objects are from very different cultures, belongs to Mexican tribes, never to Peru tribes, and many are from hondred of years of different cultures, Anyone here thinks that would be correct to put viking objects or textures in Venice?? or arabics textures in Germany? well, for greeks all the north europeans were barbarians, but please, we have to study a little bit. I give an 8 in textures because of the quantity of work, but maybe a 5 would be correct. Cameras works good, sometimes very good. Anyway I must say that the game is big and has a lot of work and dedication." - Juan Carlos

"Astounding and great, i love it so much! I've had this game when it first came out (i wasn't a reviewer then) but now i get to express my joy to this awesome and amazing level! Horus has done a great job attracting the downloader into a world of pure amazingness! Great job, kudos!" - Vaughnage

"I'm a man of few words, so all I'll say is that I agree with CC. I loved the nightclub, made me want to go right out and find one, but they don't make them like that around Juno Beach - LOL" - Juno Jim

"Another epic made by Nadine. I was glad that most part I played at the TR meeting in Lage (last year), and I still got lost quite a number of times. As Nadine knows, I love her dearly but I also can happily strangle her, as her timed runs are in a league of her own. Not my league LOL. Thanks to a dear friend (Phil) I was able to continue and thanks also to Titak as we played quite a big part together when she was staying over. Still not in favour of the new moves but I got really fed up with the jump forward and grab as Lara in my game always made a handstand roll before she wanted to do the right thing, but always the second time around. Quite handy when you are dying and have to try again and again till she finally does do the move you want her to make. But please give me back the"old roll move" as that is so handy. Titak and I had a good laugh at the pole jump in the Rainbow level. Lara can jump way too far and it does look quite ridiculous, but the fall in the water was nice. We got the Rainbow Key by standing on the box and just using action. That was way too easy LOL and last but not least, a big NO NO is the NO COMPASS thing, I wish that someone could explain why it is needed to remove the compass. But all in all, this game will keep you busy and entertained for a long time. As always her levels are pure eye candy and there is loads of exploring to do. More than enough puzzles and traps to keep you occupied and you will not get bored if you can master the difficult parts, that is. I loved the voice of Buck (Neon God) and I just could picture him, sitting in his chair, speaking the sentences and laughing all the time." - Gerty

"This is amazing. There is nothing wrong with this game what so ever, everything is to perfection. This is also one of the most inpirational level set I have come across. It took me 5 plus times to get some of the stuff down, and oh my gosh, the timed runs took me at least a couple of tries to get it, and I had to use the walkthrough alot during this adventure, especially on the level The Rainbow Lounge. If you want another challenging set of levels then here it is. Looking foward to seeing more levels from this author." - dantheraider

"Take the other reviewers by word, when you read that this is an addictive game you will not be able to stop thinking about until you reach the end. I had started it a while ago but then abandoned for reasons I no longer recall and decided I finally want to finish this a few days ago. Got as far as the Rainbow Lodge, and had written it down as one of my daily goals to finish at least that level today - and now I am writing this review here after 2 o'clock in the night after I have just finished it - having completely neglected my meals, cleaning up the house among the other daily goals I had! That's how much this approximately 7 hour adventure pulls you in, and I can only be grateful that it's summer break here and that the things I neglected are nothing I won't be able to catch up with tomorrow too! But where shall I start as far as the game goes? Though the 7 levels each have a distinctive feel to them, at this point they've all blurred into one and I can do pretty much nothing else than count all the highlights - and there are plenty! There's the bull fight already very early on. You do sort of unleash a matador unto the bull, but end up fighting both as they seem to be more interested in Lara than in each other! Men - ever so predictable! There's also the wonderful setting and atmosphere of the Crystalline Passage, the final room in the last level that you traverse before leaving the adventure for good, the wonderful job the voice-actors did to contribute to an already intriguing storyline, the excellently chosen soundtrack throughout the adventure, the generally beautiful settings bar the ones I already mentioned as exceptionally excellent. And then of course there's the highlight of highlights from the whole adventure to me - the Rainbow Lodge, especially the nightclub sector - I honestly can't think how that could've been constructed to be more awesome than it already was - one of the most memorable settings through the 660 or so custom levels I've played and reviewed hands down! With all this praise, you might be wondering - 'is there something you didn't like too?' Well, yes there were a few things - but I wouldn't go as far as saying there were things I didn't like, but that there were just some elements of the adventure I believe could've been done more convincingly. For example - as intriguing as the interaction between Lara and Neon God was - I wished we could've seen the 'chess game' between them for more than just the final level. Also - probably more a fault of the aged laptop I was playing this on, but sometimes this game in all its beauty was just too much for it and I had some slowdowns. Some of the new animations took some getting used to - especially when things that worked with the originals they replaced didn't work with the new ones. But those were all minor issues really and probably the only thing that bothered me more through this game was the gameplay. Now I didn't mind difficulty as it provided a nice challenge for most part, and the confusion that you're inevitably confronted with sooner or later, though a major issue in some levels, usually can be forgiven when you notice the careful, at times humorous, touches the author has added to aid the player - like a camera when returning from the bullfight level, so you'd know exactly where you should be heading to in the huge, laser-filled manor, or the sign in the library "Pam would go down first" that made me chuckle and so on. Every now and then, though I felt this just follows an 'avoid some traps, do a timed run, avoid more traps' pattern without really trying to add much novelties to the concepts we've seen before in this and other levels. Now maybe this is just an impression I got because I basically played through most of the game in one day and it felt like everything was repeating over and over again in new environments, but that's the impression I got. In favor of the author though - though the intentional or non-intentional pattern might be there, at least its diverse enough to keep you hooked till the end of what undoubtedly will be one of the best TR custom adventures you'll find out there, so do yourself a favour and download, and start this one up, while I go and drop unconscious somewhere after most probably the longest TR marathon I've ever had (and that's a 'record' I happily can say I don't really want to beat!)" - eTux

"Arco Iris, The Manor (9/9/10/10, 45+5 min., 5 secrets): The adventure starts out in a beautiful setting, although right after you run through the first blue lasers and get killed by the gun turret, you know this will be no walk in the park. This part is actually quite non-linear and you need a good memory of where things are, especially when you get back briefly from the next level. An occasional extra camera might have helped. There are two timed runs and both are not easy to master, many of those laser traps in various forms spice up the challenge and the plenty of guards are not easy to kill either. Generally you explore for jumpswitches and levers and three keys and when you get back for a Keycard (that person did look familiar ;) and the Egg that gives you access to the Rainbow Lounge. The Skateboard Park was a definite highlight.
Tauromaquia (10/9/10/10, 60 min., 5 secrets): A near perfect level. The only thing I found annoying was the fighting with the dozen or so matador-ninjas. The look very cool but are just always so tedious to battle, especially when they come in batches which they do at times in this level. But that little gripe aside, the setting is even more beautiful than in level one (if that's possible): beautiful gardens, flowers, fountains, great audio. And gameplay flows very nicely and keeps you busy with a good mix of exploration and action. The timed runs seemed not quite as tough as in Part 1, the torch has some use and you need to watch your health with those moving blades. The reactor area is so cool that it cannot be described and you have to see it for yourself and then you get a good fight with a bull and a horseman at the end, so nice build up of the challenge as well.
The Rainbow Lounge (10/10/10/10, 70 min., 5 secrets): Despite the occasional moments of tedium in this part, I could not possibly reduce any scores here. This is quite the masterpiece in terms of visuals (the theatre, the huge room with the tricky jumps and push puzzle and the most impressive lounge) and also in terms of gameplay, which is challenging with some of the jumps and timed runs, but also quite original and engaging. Enemies in here are only a few guards but you really don't miss them. The 'Pam Moment' is a nice joke, if you know her and I really liked the idea of cracking windows through playing loud music. The timed run to get out is quite a killer, but with a bit of practice actually not too hard to accomplish. Awesome level!
Heart of Peru (9/8/10/10, 60 min., 5 Secrets): Change of place as we reach the rain, waterfalls and luscious green of Peruvian mountains and jungle. In this part, I actually got a bit tired with playing on. It is quite complex and not easy to find your way around the huge areas and there are many traps, mainly spikes, that can easily lead to Lara's death and thus many, many reloads. Still, the search for the various gems and keys and the challenging jeep rides provide great fun, it just seemed a bit over the top here maybe. Enemies consist of the usual wildlife with a dozen leopards and some annoying ants, fish and vultures.
Crystalline Passage (10/9/10/10, 50 min., 5 secrets): After the Heart of Peru, which felt a bit overwhelming, this was pure enjoyment again. The progression is fast paced and you rarely wonder where to go next but it is quite the exercise course through the caves, collecting a series of gems. Those cobwebs looks very authentic, the huge rooms make for intense atmosphere and in the middle of it all you get quite a complex push/raise objects puzzle room, which could have benefit from a few more cameras, but works ok even without. Beautiful final area with all the woodwork, the blue crystals and the water wheel at the top.
Nevado Huascaran Plateau (9/9/10/10, 50 min., 5 secrets): Lara sure was quick changing into something warmer as this part play up high in ice and snow. Suprisingly, this is actually a quite linear and easy level. The icycles, spikes and snowballs are not such a big threat, the bike is fun to ride and the few guards, snow leopards and the big bird not so tough to deal with. Even the two timed sequences are quite manageable.
Puya Raymondii (9/10/10/10, 40 min., 5 secrets): Ah, back in the humid greenery. Initially beautiful gardens with water and flowers to marvel at, this soon turns into a more sinister finale of the series with some spooky scenes of the monster before Lara actually encounters it herself, although it turns out not to be too tough to avoid. The Puya Raimondii room is truly a spectacular sight and a highlight of the entire game. The ending is...well, I thought a bit abrupt and even a bit funny when you know who the voice actor was, but nonetheless this is one of those few great adventures out there that you will remember for a long time." - MichaelP

"From the opening flyby of this adventure, I knew that it was going to be something special, and I was certainly not disappointed. The opening few levels looked beautiful, and simply exploring the manor and it's surrounding areas was a pleasure in itself. The textures were original and well chosen, and the background audio fits in perfectly. The gameplay was also excellent, with a few challenging timed runs and some laser traps to dodge, as well as the odd enemy to deal with. The 'skatepark' and 'bullring' areas were both very realistic-looking, and they added greatly to that sense of place. The Rainbow Lounge was also extremely memorable, and the 'disco room' couldn't have been done better. Once we finish this part of the game, we move onto Peru, which is just as impressive as the previous location, if not more so. Each location is immersive, beautifully presented and with fun, yet still relatively challenging gameplay. The last level makes it even harder at times, as you are constantly chased by what seems to be a particularly hungry monster. This gives a brilliant sense of emergency to proceedings, yet still manages to keep the overall quality of the game high. There is pretty much nothing I can fault within Neon God. Nadine has done an excellent job with this, and I am sure that I will replay it in the future (as I have done twice already)." - Spike

"I need to tell I didn't like this game. I loved it. During the game you have to explore many beautiful locations like a huge mansion in Bolivia, jungles, temples and snowy mountains as well. The environment looks as good as it is possible to build and textures are well applied. Atmosphere is great and there are many new objects in this game. Lara has also some new moves and most of them are very good. Cutscenes spice up the game very well and I like especially the ending cutscene. A little minus side is that you can miss the second level. Second level includes a lazer sight which you will have to combine with a machine gun and shoot an underwater crate in first level. The problem is that you don't need lazer sight because you can shoot the crate by using look button when you have machinegun in your hands. This means it is possible to miss the second level but it doesn't affect reviewing as you can see by looking at my points. This is professional level which includes many unforgettable moments and I could even pay for playing game like this. Make sure you don't miss playing this masterpiece." - Samu

"Nadine's levels are really something special - since playing and writing the walkthrough for her first epic, Fragments of the Core, I eagerly awaited following releases from this magnificent builder. As such, Neon God sure doesn't fail to be an amazing level series with much to do! With a completely new look, with crisp textures, new font, and audio that gives the set it's own distinctive feel, I was sure to expect a wonderful raid. Our adventure begins in Bolivia, where we drop by Neon God's mansion to find out where he went off to for treasure hunting for his own greedy purposes. The mansion is really big, and filled with tight security - guards, dogs, and many lasers are here to contend with in challenging but fun gameplay that doesn't get boring. There's jumping, monkey-swinging, climbing, some good timed runs, as you turn the mansion upside down in and out looking for clues of Neon God's whereabouts. Along the way, we visit the neighboring town of Tauromaquia, which is quite festive and exciting. Be prepared to face more challenges - more tough jumping, blades to avoid, some opposition from ninjas, and the final showdown with the bull and the horse-mounted matador was great fun too. Back with the lasersight in the mansion, we find passage to the Rainbow Lounge - a nightclub run by Mr. Neon God himself. It's also quite heavily guarded with his crooks around and more lasers to evade, but the gameplay manages to remain quite fun and you won't get stuck much if you have a good pair of eagle eyes. When you get to the nightclub, it's simply an amazing sight with all the disco lights and other attractions there are in that place. It also serves as a place with lots to do to get to Neon God's office. After ransacking the nightclub and playing a scratched disc of heavy rock music to shatter some glass, and passing a quite difficult timed run, you manage to find his office, and the next stop of your destination - Peru. Nadine did a great version of Peru - It's an amazing jungle playground with classic Tomb Raider gameplay in beautiful environments to explore, and clever traps to outwit. There's a nice jeep ride too along the way. Later, we discover the Crystalline Passage, which is my favorite level of the series - The mysterious, blue atmosphere is great with the background music of dungeons in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Of course, there is really great gameplay too - a memorable sequence of parallel bar swinging, some collapsible tiles to evade, and there is also a great pushables puzzle to do in this part. There's more stunning visuals too of course, though my favorite in the entire level was the cavern at the very beginning. Then we ride up into Nevado Huascaran Plateau, which changes the environment into a mountainous arctic adventure - I loved the atmosphere and feel of this level with the snow and more fun puzzles and action sequences to do. If you managed to stockpile Uzi ammo from the previous levels, it pays off in here as the baddies are considerably tough. I also really liked the moment with the bird monster in the cave, which gave me the creeps when I heard his thundering steps. The bike rides were fun too. The last level, Puya Raimondii is also quite beautiful and has its share of wow moments - I liked the parts where you see the monster lizard killing the mercenaries around the temple, and Neon God's appearances are really nice too. My favorite part here would have to be the shower of blue sparkles in the garden of the plants, truly a sight to behold. I was really sad when it all ended and wanted more, but all good things must come to an end. I haven't managed to find anything particularly bad about this series, hence it gets all 10's from me. Give me your next adventure soon Nadine, I definitely look forward to more of your superb work!" - Relic Hunter

"When I thought that nothing more could amaze me like"UB4" and"Experiment part 3" did, I was wrong! This huge adventure easily matches every category as the earlier mentioned adventures (although more of a "classic" game). Objects and enemies are done to perfection. The textures and lighting is fantastic! I have no idea how this young lady comes up with all the fantastic stuff to her levels. I can imagine how much work she has put into this...gesh..Fantastic stuff! What was even better was the gameplay. The best so far of Nadine's adventures I think. It is not as hard as her previous levels but more rewarding! Oh btw, I finished with 36/35 secrets LOL! Must have been some glitch or a misplaced secret trigger somewhere? Highlights: The disco...just plain stunning! The bull/horsefight...and almost everything else! You just have to see it as it is hardly describable! Even the story is great! I happened to be familiar with the Puya Raimondii before and I have always found those long living"plants" to be interesting. I was really happy to see one of them in the game and the intriguing story about it etc. As a fan of Nadine's levels I hope she will continue to make these long and challenging adventures. Will there be a sequel maybe? Way to go! All tens from me!" - QRS

"This is unbelievable! Every time I think Horus has reached the heights she soars above it again and again. In my humble opinion this is absolute perfection. Some players will find parts of this game extremely difficult and frustrating, especially the timed runs. The die-hard raiders will not be able to leave it alone until it's finished, it is so addictive. Throughout, we see stunning architecture and gorgeous texturing, lighting, colours and objects. Lara has brilliant new moves that I got so used to I miss them already. Enemies are harder to kill, they don't drop after just a few shots. Equal to what we see, are amazing routes through indoor and outdoor environments. And gameplay itself. What can I say? Challenging at least, and you need to really think about what you have to do. You also need to search every nook and cranny. It would be impossible to write about everything the player will see and experience here. A very brief description would be... 'Arco Iris, The Manor', is a large enclosed manor/courtyard protected by lasers and gunmen. The lasers trigger sentry guns, so they are to be avoided. The visually stunning environments, new inventory items, and Lara's new moves are worth the download on their own. Our goal is an Easter egg type artifact which allows us to go underground to.... 'Tauromaquia', a Bolivian town inhabited by none too friendly thugs. We are aware that this is a bull fighting town (lots of bull textures), so apart from the beautiful architecture, dreamy open air concert cafe, gorgeous looking conservatory type gardens, we will eventually meet up with a matador and angry bull. Here too are excellent torch actions, timed platforms, monkeyswinging and shimmys in the greenery, target shooting, swimming, hopping over more lasers and shin splitting blades, excellent climbing and making our way around a huge turbine type structure, and brilliant looking scateboard park. All this will lead us to a beautiful theatre with more lively action via climbs and jumps. And further on into an enormous foyer/library room with the best jumping, swinging, timed runs and object pushing puzzle I've seen for a long time. Onto....'Rainbow Lounge'. If the sight of this place doesn't do it for you, I don't know what will. A HUGE nightclub that includes a cinema, pool, and many seating areas. Terrific route, high above and around the walls of this building. Too much to mention. But it finished up with the mother of all timed runs. This somehow or other leads us to.....'Heart of Peru', and more gorgeous plant life and mountain jungle terrain to explore. Immediately we are attacked by a jaguar, the first of many. There are many parts to this section, and many new scenarios, i.e. stumbling into termite mounds and being attacked by them. A great challenge here is another enormous temple type interior with a huge tree growing up the centre, it's roots in the water below. Unless the player knows exactly where they are going they could climb up and dive down many times before they collect everything they need. We commandeer a jeep at one point for a long route which will eventually bring us to a lovely little temple with magnificent mountain views. Some more tricky traps allow us to get into the...'Crystalline Passage'. A really beautiful half submerged temple in a huge cave with amazing looking waterfalls. More brilliant tightrope walking, jumps, shimmys, monkeyswings, breakable tiles, and terrific multi-pole vaulting session from one side of this huge cave to the other. We come to a great multi tiered room, that is in effect a huge colourful element puzzle. Plenty of traps, especially towards the end where we run a gauntlet into...'Nevado Huascaran Plateau', which starts with Lara in a snowy mountain temple. We soon find a good-looking motorbike, but we need to find a canister to get it across a chasm. More good torch exercises here, finding and using a waterskin, meeting a large ice bird monster and female guardian. Some tough swimming in tunnels, snowballs to dodge, ropeswing and climbs. We're looking for more gems, and transparent flowers to open the dark slope down into....'Puya Raimondii'. A beautiful jungle area. We swim down to an underwater temple and climb up and around another huge tree. We are working our way into one temple shrouded in a sparkling mysterious misty haze. Love the 'floating lights' that show the way. We catch glimpses of a monster running past, chasing a fellow through the temple. We are safe for a while but eventually must face him. This guy cannot be killed and proves a major pest as we try to negotiate spike traps and fire tiles. More deadly boulders, moving spike walls, and other traps, to find golden sculptures. And finally, our ultimate goal, the chest that contains Puya Raimondii Seeds. There is a curious ending flyby showing what we've left behind in the temple as Lara strolls across the mountains homeward. This whole series is a magnificent achievement. Excellent work Horus." - CC

"One more review of Neon God seems superfluous at this time but I did want to lend my voice in praise of what, I think, is Nadine's best and finest work. Everything works together to create a magnificent work of beauty, balanced with solid gameplay. As evidenced by timed runs that are difficult but not frustrating, set in stunning(literal as well as figurative as in lasers) areas that are more than eye candy, truly built well and executed brilliantly. Neon God had a way of taking over my life, leading to my neglecting all else, even with the crashes(ended with turning off background running programs) and Lara's sudden refusal to grab blocks to climb down. A Ctrl key change cured that but took me a while to figure out. This level was just too good to let anything deter me from playing. A must download but be prepared to be utterly caught up and fascinated. Thank you, Nadine. You just keep getting better and better." - Bene

"This is easily the most consistently gorgeous TR level set I've ever played, and that includes the commercial releases. I cannot even imagine the amount of time it must have taken to conceive and build these levels, and to think they were all put together by just one person (admittedly with help from others, who are given due credit) is simply mind-staggering. I took my time enjoying these seven mini-epics, savoring them at home over a period of several weeks while playing other levels in my spare time at the office. Each level takes place in a different setting, giving the gamer a wide variety of "looks," but each one shines with its own radiant beauty. The colors are rich and glorious, the textures are meticulous in their detail, and there are no dark or somber moments in the entire adventure. Selene has also provided a marvelous walkthrough upon which I relied heavily, for these are not levels designed for the beginning player. I got along just fine legally for a while, but then I came across this routine where you have to pull up, backflip with a roll, swerve to the right and grab a ledge, all within the space of a second or two. God gave me two sets of fingers only, so after numerous tries I was unable to make the move successfully. However, God also gave me this marvelous program whereby a simple tweak of the script.dat file allows the enabling of the flycheat despite the builder's best efforts to thwart this tactic. I know that some builders hate it when we do this (while others don't really care), but here's how I see it: If I've invested a good amount of time playing a level which has given me considerable enjoyment up until the point where I come to a move that I simply cannot conquer after repeated attempts, I'm faced with three choices. I can ask for help from someone else in the form of a savegame (which may arrive later and not sooner), or I can simply chuck the investment of time and effort and move on to something else, or I can cheat my way past the problem and get back to enjoying the gaming experience. Unlike some others, I have no philosophical qualms against cheating within the context of a mere computer game (yes, life's major issues do require us to make different choices), so when the opportunity is there I usually take advantage of it. The danger, of course, is that once the flycheat is enabled you're tempted to resort to it in lieu of making reasonable efforts to get past the periodic trouble spots, and I must admit that I succumbed to this temptation more than once in completing the game. Even so, I logged more than a dozen hours of net gaming time here and had a visual feast almost every step of the way. This is a tour de force of the highest order and will surely be remembered as one of the best amateur releases of all time. On an historical note, there was a hit back in the mid-60s by Simon and Garfunkel called "The Sounds of Silence." Its last verse begins like this: "And the people bowed and prayed to the neon god they'd made..." I don't know if this release gets its name from that line, but I do know that, like "The Sounds of Silence," Neon God is destined to become a classic." - Phil

"What a game. I'm so sad I'm finished it and yet I couldn't stop playing. If you haven't played it you need to start now. New moves, new concepts, fantastic scenery, great puzzles, scary enemies and some difficult but interesting timers. My favorite level was the Rainbow Lounge. I really felt as tho' I was flying a couple of times and played the moves over just for fun. The closer you get to the end the more the suspense. I was on the end of my seat in the last level! Well done Nadine, another great level - when's the next one?" - Moonliteshadow

"Well, what can I say that hasn't already been said??? Nadine has released her best set of levels to date and with fabulous offerings such as FOTC and Reign Of Chaos that's saying something!!! When I first started this game I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw that fantastic-looking mansion. It looks not only perfect, but real as well. That's one house I'd love to live in!!! Ironically enough this first level is the one where I got stuck the most throughout the entire game. I had to replay it several times in order to get the feeling of it and add a bit of structure to my walkthrough. The same thing went for all the remaining 6 levels as well: I found that I got a bit frustrated running around in circles not knowing where to go next. I stopped playing, shut off the computer and went out doing other things. Upon my return to the computer and the game I discovered that everything made sense and that it didn't seem at all as difficult to overcome as before. I had come to think of Nadine's trademark as hard levels with frustrating traps, lots of enemies and tons of tricky timed runs. The traps were still frustrating and there were quite a lot of them too, especially in the last level. None of them were impossible to get by though. There were a lot of enemies in the first level, but after that it mellowed out and in the final level I only encountered one single enemy that threatened Lara's existence. What is good about the enemies is that they suit the environments they come in and they also have a tendency of popping out where you least expect them to. There were timed runs as well(although not that many) and some could be a bit difficult, but none were so hard that they couldn't be overcome. Each location had plenty of eye-candy and interesting puzzles to solve(such as the glass cases in the Rainbow Lounge and the long one with the coloured moveable pieces in Crystalline Passage) and I felt that the puzzles were evenly balanced with dodging traps and killing enemies. Another thing I appreciated a lot was the wide variety of locations: we got to see everything: the classic and cool beauty of a Bolivian mansion accompanied by the sleek look of a fabulous disco complete with lighting effects and suitable music plus a scenery that reminded a bit of an old Spanish movie with a real bullfight to add to the thrill. In addition Lara has gone through the darkest heart of the Peruvian jungle, underground caverns and temples, the snowy reaches of a mountain plateau and at last through a final show-down in a hidden Inca temple. You even have a few vehicles, mainly a jeep and a motorbike, to help you get around. The lights were perfect, they really accentuated an already stunning atmosphere. What impressed me was especially the multi-coloured lights in the Rainbow disco: WOW!!!!! About texturing and the use of colours I can only say one thing: flawless. The 35 secrets are generally well-hidden and Nadine was very helpful with providing their locations for my walkthrough. I actually had tears in my eyes when this fabulous adventure came to an end and I'm really glad I got to experience this. Absolutely a candidate for the Hall Of Fame and this is one adventure you just can't afford to miss out on" - Selene

"Everything in this game is well designed and the additions Nadine has implemented are great. The new moves took TR a little further but the roll action is a bit slower than the default one and I didn't really like it. From the start you understand that this is not going to be easy but who wants a boring and straight forward game to play; if you do then don't play this one. You start in an outside area with laser traps with some of them triggering guns and others burning Lara but remember those because they are often used in the entire game. As you progress you will be visiting areas with balconies, underground rooms, the area with the bull and many others including a beautiful jungle like level like Peru. I was really enjoying the game until I encountered a serious problem in the level with the bull. If you go back to that level to get some of the secrets you missed or go get a specific one after getting the laser-sight, then the door to go back to the first level is closed and there is no way to open it again. I tried re-using the switches in the bull area but nothing worked so that creates a very annoying bug. I did inform the builder about my problem but never got an answer. I found twenty four secrets altogether and recommend this game to all raiders." - Kristina

"Wow !!!! Very good game, some of really hard moments , especially a few frustruated jumps , so it is rather a game for experienced and very patient players. New animations of Lara's moves are very interesting but sometimes because of it - she is slower in fight. Good climate , beautiful and interesting textures, places , anemies. I had a problem at the beggining because i closed taurus during the fight with the bullfighter on the horse and after winning i couldn't go on... Finally i discover my mistake and I could come back to the Arco Iris.. This is my first game made by Horus which i completely finished because sometimes her games have moments when I really don't know what to do, this time the situation was similar and in a few moments i wanted to leave it, but I am glad that i didn't give up. However the end of this wonderful story could be a little longer and i would like to know what Lara will do with those preciouse seeds..." - ersatz

"This is a stunning, amazing, fun, captivating level. Lara gets a high energy workout here and thousands of miles to travel on foot and with help from the jeep and motorcycle. The first 3 levels were my favourite but each of the 7 levels were different from the next, such as scenery and game play but they were all connected in story. I liked Lara's change of outfits for each level and the variety of music was perfect. This game was extremely addicting, once you finish the game you still wanted more. I have one fear, that the creators of Tomb raider will steal Nadine from us. Best of the best!" - Elsa

"Wonderful game as expected! Very mind boggling at times, truly hard stuff needing the occasional helping hand from the forums, thus unlike the official games for the whole family and new players but guaranteeing many quality hours of raiding. The graphics are irreproacheable in spite of just a few places with animation errors such as Lara pulling up to a ledge and appearing on the ledge right below, a wonder to look at and I liked the soundtrack too. Very varied, Lara goes from the tropics in Bolivia to snowy mountains in Peru and then to temples and ruins where even the occasional monster isn't forgotten, I love it! You can count on some tough timed runs with lasers in the middle but as long as they are doable (and they are) I like them. My favorite levels were the first up to Peru (included), but that's because I'm not the traditional kind of raider who prefers ancient ruins to more modern environments. I found the disco part quite confusing at times, even though it's amongst my favorites... The reason why I was thinking of rating gameplay 8 was because of a few "impossible" moments: a jump over a fence that I, despite my many hours of raiding, simply couldn't manage and where I had to use someone else's savegame - thanks, bene!; the wonderfully well thought fight with the horseman and the bull, but I always find it very long and boring to get horsemen off their horses; a jump to the left from a tightrope I didn't manage: fortunately, I was told one could make it from a bridge above. But taking into account those moments aren't that many in such a long game, I'll rate it 9. Oh, and I'm truly going to miss Lara's new moves in other games, safe for the roll move which is a little too ballet-like for my taste. Well, I believe this should head directly to the Hall of Fame... Give it a try." - Jorge22

"Wow...! Not easy to review, so I'll be brief. Fantastic, fantastic, fantastic set of levels! Beautiful and colourful locations, great difficulty, but not too difficult. Hours of exploration in a beautiful setting. Play and enjoy this wonderful adventure." - Thorir

"Arco Iris, The Manor: Wow, this looks absolutely wonderful. Also, you'll get a bit of a shock the first time you try a tumble or a standing jump. Pretty clever. There are sentry guns, laser traps and tough baddies round every corner. Conserve your health as best you can (for a start, don't stumble into the beams that activate the sentry guns the way I initially did). There are a couple of really tight timed runs to achieve and you come back to this area after going to Tauromaquia for a laser sight. I liked the skateboard park location - something a bit different and it's just a shame Lara doesn't have any skateboarding skills (at least not yet). Tauromaquia: More beautiful garden areas to explore and four emerald gems to find, with some amazing agility tests to achieve. I think my favourite was a backflip and turn off a ladder to shoot out a grating; that took me a good half a dozen attempts to get right. Also, fighting a horseman with a bull trying to gore you at the same time is not easy. I'm just glad Nadine provided a few medipacks for the event. Rainbow Lounge: This is library/theatre/disco type settings and very intriguing too. The library section is brilliant, with some heavy duty leaping about and an excellent puzzle and the rainbow lounge itself is something to behold. Heart of Peru: The scenery is absolutely spectacular even if it is raining. Anyway, Lara should be used to rain, she is English after all. Must say, I really didn't enjoy shooting the poor jaguars, but I did as usual relish a bit of tree climbing. There's an interesting flooded area to explore and some hair raising jeep rides, accompanied initially by killer ants and boulders. Gulp. Crystalline Passage: Ooh, collapsing tile run - lovely, plus some fun climbing and jumping. There a nicely devised colour coded and complex puzzle too, involving pushable objects, gems and various tricky agility sequences. I thought the lighting effects in this section were particularly well done. Nevado Huascaran Plateau: Lara's changed into her arctic gear, which always tickles me - nice big warm flying jacket and tiny shorts. Her legs must be blue with the cold. There's a smart looking motorbike to ride through the snowy wastes and four mysterious flower artefacts to obtain. Puya Raimondii: Lara's finally found the plants she's been seeking and the setting is delightfully exotic, as are the plants themselves. You get to meet Mr Neon God himself and there's an excellent ending cut scene. This is just a marvellous level that will keep you entertained for a long time." - Jay

"In the hall of fame this level deserves the golden crown. Nadine has managed to create a revolution in this fiels, better said a evolution. It got me glued to my computer for hours and aI failed an exam because I didn't study for it and I prefered to explore this wonderfull world that Nadine has created for us, Tomb Raider fans.When I downloaded it it imediatlly caught my eye the straight 10 marks that it has obtained from the reviewers.And then I noticed that my Level Editor was decoding about 100 sound files. Then I knew that I was in for a treat.This level is so complex that I don't know what to talk about,and I can't decide wich sequence is my favorite.In the first 3 parts (Manor, Tauromaquia,Rainbow Lounge) Lara moves in a lively enviroment with lots of enemies, but in the next part she is almost alone and I can almost fell the icy silence in the Crystalline Passage, a temple of water and ice.Nevado Huascaran Plateau brings Lara in the quest for 4 misterious flowers, wich grantes her acces to Puya Ramondii. Here she must collect some flower seeds and confront the Neon God. Only, he is beeing taking care of by a monster. I will express my personal opinion in what follows: The hardest level- Manor (difficult timed runs and many lasers jumps) The easiest- Nevado Huascaran Plateau (action was geometricaly build- collect 2 flowers using the torch and 2 more, using water)- also shorter than the other ones The best atmosphere- Tauromaquia (spanish music and the bull arena) The best logic for the puzzles - Rainbow lounge (high level of the decibels in the speakers break the glass - and I had to put so much work in getting the music starting) The best scenary - all, but most Heart of Peru.Mmmm I can almost smell all the beautifull and colourfull flowers. I think the author has put an imense effort in creating this masterpiece, as I noticed that everyting is new: - You save/ reload your game in read/write diary - The main menu is redone, with soundeffects - The title fly-by comes with a very nice music that you will hear later in the rainbow Lounge - There is a differrent sound for every texture that Lara walks on (glass, grass, metal, water, sand, land,stone and so on) - New enemies appear (military men and saylors) - Custom design vehicles, with the Neon God logo. - New levers design, textures, flowers, trapdoors,animals,monster,torch etc. - The most dramatical improvement is in the way that Lara moves, wich I had to accostum myself with. She jumps differenty to the front (when she jumps to a rock, when she grabs a ledge, when she jumps over an obstacle- lasers for example) , new crawling and grabing the legde tehnique, wich is much faster ... Minor flows: - some bugs - some players reported on the forum that the game crashes when entering Heart of Peru - Lara speaks in german and someone who doesn't speak it doesn't get the full story - Some problems in changing the camera angle(wich I had in the Manor level) In conclusion, this level really impressed me and I would like to congratulate the author. Excellent job, Nadine! 10++" - dya1403

"Another most beautiful and breathtaking set of levels by Nadine ! In her new masterpiece she combines all arts of level building previously known together with her subtle skills in inventing new scenarios , moves and beautifully created landscapes to take TRLE into a new world of raiding ! Two bugs in the gameplay preventing a total 10 here , all else is perfectly balanced . No matter which TRLE game you might be playing at the moment , you will definitely put it back on the shelf for this one . Seven Levels , a great adventure that you should not miss and a must-play for all ! Thanks Nadine ! GAME OF THE YEAR ! Ruben" - Ruben

"I will start by saying this level is all tens. It is beautiful, challenging and fun. The atmoshhere was great i felt like I was there as all good levels should do. So it was all around wonderful. The only sticky problems I had where with some of the incredible timed runs that had me chewing my lips off in fustration but after several tries can be done. The new animation was great it took a little while to get used to but once you do you will miss it when you go back to regular. I think that this level is worth the time ( it is a long one) for everyone even beginers could get through it with a little help on the timed runs from the forum." - Bunzi

"Not too hard and not too easy. One of most beautiful levels ever made with some new moves, which are at some momments not welcome and on some moment ok. Beggining of all saga little is similiar like Piega master piece levels. Town with nice houses, water pools, new textures with amazing reflecting mirrors and objects. Glass style win with reflecting areas and nice blue and red rays dangerous for your health. Roofs with transparent and nice-looking-glass doors and levers. Light reflections is cute and very inspiration for look. Maybe i will finish all levels for less than 8 hours, but at last that was about 10 and half with 25 secrets and 876 save slots. Every new level after old one was new material for surviving in trouble and more and more beautiful. Very nice snow parts and boulders which wait for Lara in black darkened holes on roof. I realy enjoyed when played Neon God saga, and steal from me a lot of my free time :) Horus made crystal, brilliant diamonds job. Recomend 10+, for every player you must play Horus levels." - Ivan

"Raiding a drug lord's abode, talk about a new dimension! I'd played Cordoba and Natla's Hideout and I thought I knew what to expect, but Nadine managed (again) to turn me into a novice. In Neon God, nothing is ever as it seems. Take this gate, one of a few such gates, that I went looking for a way to open and go in, and then found out, flabbergasted, that I was using it to come out. Some of the action kept me stuck for hours, not because it was obscure, confusing or lengthy but because it was easier drawn than done. I could figure it out, set it up, screen-shoot it, arrow-mark it, even get it approved on the forum by none less than Nadine herself and ... boggle it 77 times before I made it. At other times, rudimentary raiding principia just seemed to dissolve, and there I was wondering how in the expanse to lower this so that I could move that on top of it when all it would take was the push of a button close by, if only I looked. And the hints were there, with such a sense of humor. (By the way, who's Pam?) Daunting? By no means. I was going ahead, making progress, hardly ever backtracking or running back and forth (except by my own shortsightedness). The action unfolds like so many pages in an intoxicating thriller. Admirable settings, stunning views, the over-ornamented lodgings of a delinquent upper-crust wannabe totally immersed me in the adventure. The thugs, the mercenaries and the ninja-style henchmen-gardeners more than often shot me into a startled 'Load savegame'. The hours I spent in those charming locations just seemed like minutes. Thank you Nadine for a wonderful game, but I gotta go. Got some drawing to do and haven't found all the secrets. (A+)" - Asselman

"Absolutely stunning!!!! Couldn't put this game down for love nor money, and it had me up until the early hours simply wanting to know what came next. 1/ Arco Iris - The Manor: Lara begins in Neon God's manor, which is beautiful but also protected by guards, dogs and laser traps. Expect a few mean timed runs here, the final one will take you to level two; but also beware and don't use the M-16 without the laser sight, or you will end up in the 3rd level way too soon and have to re-load a save game because you must go to level 2 first for the laser sight. Until then, search for keys, levers and a few goodies, kill baddies and dogs, lower some glass cases, negotiate the many laser traps, and make your speedy exit from this level via a rather tricky timed run. 2/ Tauromaquia: Level two brings us into a gorgeous Spanish setting; and I particularly liked the background audios here. There are more keys to find, and more enemies lurk by way of Ninja type guys and guards, but you will also be searching for four crystals and eventually fighting the bull and matador to gain the laser sight. Lots of fun, and the scenery is fabulous with the little buildings and gardens scattered about. Once you have the laser sight, you can head back to level one, and grab an access card and egg to gain access to level 3. 3/ Rainbow Lounge: This was one of my favourite levels. It starts off quite empty, there's a guy or two to kill, and a tricky swan dive through a broken window which kept me busy for hours, but later on things heat up and there's a whole menagerie of things to do. Lara will visit the theatre, and it's quite beautiful, but entering the disco area was totally thrilling. The music and atmosphere was great, and game play was enthralling as Lara searches for a CD and card, making her way over high horizontal poles, ceiling ladders and girders. There's an object puzzle in the library to do, and even though you can take the key from the top of the glass case illegally, I hope not too many folk cheated and missed the fun of this room. Once the CD is in place, Lara can escape the Rainbow Lounge via a nasty timed run through lasers and blade traps, then visit Neon God's office before heading on to Peru. 4/ Heart of Peru: This is an outdoor level packed with wonderful things to do. You'll be clambering over rocks and swimming in pools to find gems, keys, jeep keys and the shell and pearl items. Enemies are tigers, deadly fish, and sneaky little ants who really pick at your health if you're not quick. But with jeep in hand, Lara can make her way to the next area, but just when you think it's all over, there's a lot more to do, so don't pack your bags for home just yet. There's another key to grab, and then you will be in possession of the shell and pearl and can leave this area. In the final parts of this level, you will be clambering your way up and through a huge cave, vultures will attack and the going is tough, but eventually Lara will reach her destination and can swim into the next level. 5/ Crystalline Passage: Breathtakingly beautiful as Lara arrives in a watery temple area and has to make her way to the top, tackling tight rope walks and collapse tiles. There's a nifty trek around a huge cave, which is all quite lovely, and then comes a fabulous room with sandstone and lilac flowered walls; quite beautiful to say the least. Here there is an object puzzle to do, and not only will you have to tackle that puzzle, you will also be visiting various rooms and taking on rolling balls and various traps. Gems are your objective here and when all gems are placed, Lara can move on. The next phase takes Lara into another large cave, packs of bats attack stealing precious health, and traps lay in wait as Lara attempts to find the Crystal Mask. Its tough going but our Gal survives, and entering the final room you get a wonderful cut scene of what lies ahead. A deep room with bridges, and a huge water wheel at the top. Objective; make your way up and around the room using levers to turn off spike traps and get two gems, sounds simple but it isn't!! After placing the last gem, Lara can leave via a lift and be elevated into the next level. 6/ Nevado Huascaran Plateau: Lara will now be entering a huge icy temple area where tigers and guards are hungry for blood. There are a whole variety of things to do in search of gems, and you will even meet a huge bird which will give you quite a fright. Traps are abundant and health may be dwindling by now, but the entrance to the temple is nearby and all Lara needs is four objects to open the doors. In the final areas, Lara needs the bike, and the booster will have to be found, but she gets her prizes and opens the temple doors to leave. 7/ Puya Ramondii: The final level. How gorgeous this setting was as Lara arrives in a small lake area with trees and flowers, it was almost impossible to imagine that hazards would lay ahead, but it wouldn't be TR without putting Lara through the grindstone. Lara has to take Neon God to task and seek him out. Initially, Lara discovers the strange plant life that holds the key to the ray of immortality; something which Neon God is also after, and is seemingly going to get to get his hands on. Lara must stop him and sets about finding her way through the underground temple area. Arriving in a large damp room, Lara has to venture off in various directions to activate light beams, and on her way she will meet"The Monster", a deadly beast who can't be killed, and she has to tackle an entire area with him on her tail. Finally she can grab the Mystic Gemstone and bring the damp dark room to life with a most spectacular array of plant pollen. But what happened to Neon God? Well you will have to see for yourselves! I think most people will agree that these levels are some of the best. Nadine must have worked so hard to create this masterpiece, and it really shows in all aspects. Game play is fun, tricky and testing at times, the scenery and textures are fabulous, and the atmosphere brings you totally into the game. The audios fit perfectly into each world, and add the final touches to this humongous game. I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I did. Thank you Nadine!" - Moonpooka

"Candidate for The Hall Of Fame This one gets my vote also asselman's too. See here. Can not fault this level in anyway whatsoever. I keep thinking of reasons to lower the score but nothing working..... a perfect 10 !!! Well done Nadine / Horus nothing else to be said ................................." - Boom Raider

"Nadine has really outdone herself this time. Her levels are always incredible, but Neon God is superb, and that is an understatement. Nadine has created a masterpiece that is not only stunningly beautiful, but challenging as well. Lara looks very refined and has several new moves which are fun to have her perform. The only two drawbacks to these two moves are that Lara will not grab a ladder or ledge with the standing jump unless you hold in action at the same time, which is not easy. The other drawback is the new roll move which is like a cartwheel. Lara cannot roll and grab a ledge with this modification. These, however, are minor quibbles and if every new level had these new moves, I certainly would not complain. Gameplay is topnotch in every level. Tight timed runs, difficult jumps and challenging puzzles are everywhere. The first two levels are just gorgeous with lasers to trip you up and plenty of bad guys. Almost every level in Neon God requires a lot of thought and plenty of skill. One of my favorite levels was The Rainbow Lounge, in particular, the discotheque. This area puts the discotheque in TR: Angel of Darkness to absolute shame. My only wish in this area would have been a little more darkness so it would have felt more like a club at night. Minor quibble again, though, as this level was totally outstanding. The next level, The Heart of Peru, was really challenging, as I found myself attempting jumps over and over again. The remaining levels are great too, but shorter and not as challenging, but complete the story. It is apparent that Nadine has worked tirelessly on these levels and created something rivaling professionally done games. There is something here for everyone to enjoy, but it is also quite challenging in places and may be too difficult for younger or less experienced players. Quite worth the effort, though. Wonderful job, Nadine, thank you for an incredible set of levels!" - Shandroid