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Young Lara's Home by Jeffrey van Oort

alan 3 3 3 4
CC 3 1 3 5
Ceamonks890 1 1 2 2
Chris 0 1 0 0
Dimpfelmoser 3 4 4 4
Gerty 3 4 4 4
John 3 3 5 4
Kristina 4 4 4 4
Leeth 3 2 2 2
Mehrbod 6 2 3 2
MichaelP 5 5 4 4
Orbit Dream 2 4 3 3
RaiderGirl 7 6 7 8
Ryan 3 4 3 3
Sash 6 5 5 6
Scottie 3 2 4 3
Torry 6 6 6 8
Treeble 6 5 7 8
Yoav 5 3 7 7
Zhyttya 3 3 2 1
 
release date: 20-Jan-2001
# of downloads: 156

average rating: 3.79
review count: 20
 
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file size: 18.64 MB
file type: TR4
class: Home
 


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Reviewer's comments
"This home level unfortunately doesn't offer much in terms of gameplay or visuals actually because its basically about finding switches or climbing, swimming etc to find secret gold skulls in very large, empty and out of scale and proportion rooms with a couple of boulder or spike traps to make you jump. Textures are very basic, repetitive and stretched and there are a few dark areas that you just cant see or explore because there is no flares. There is hardly any objects, no enemies or puzzles and camera hints are few and far between leaving you to spend a lot of time running around trying to find that "newly opened gate" What annoyed me with one of the secrets was once you collected it from its hiding place there was no way out safely to carry on with the level so that was badly constructed there! but hey its not all bad and doom and gloom because at least we have some platforming tasks both in the gym and outside on the assault course, its only a shame there is nothing else original or fun to do in this level" - John (22-Jul-2022)
"To be honest, this level is one of the hardest one on the list to judge, as there are so many elements in contrary. Gameplay was fun, I enjoyed seeing Young Lara in her manor on the bright side, but for the other elements, they must be given with a lower score. No enemies were involved, atmosphere and rooms were immensely big and boxy, definitely dissatisfying, and the lighting job was done improperly and all of the rooms had their default ambient lighting values. In general, it is worth only playing once. Thanks!" - Mehrbod (10-Feb-2019)
"This is not at all a bad concept: shrinking Lara down to a diminutive size and exploring huge areas that seem to dwarf her by comparison, but unfortunately the actual gameplay and execution is rather sloppy. There's really nothing entertaining (unless you count a couple of boulder and spike booby traps, but that's not saying much) and you mainly dash around this huge mansion, throwing levers, swimming, climbing (at one point, DOZYing) and swimming a lot. The environments are also rather sparse, bland and repetitively textured and the darkness is too much in places, especially as Young Lara has no flares. Only for completists." - Ryan (04-Nov-2018)
"Young Lara is in a big house. There are levers to pull but rarely a flyby shows you where to go. Some places are pitch black and there's no way to light things up. Sometimes a spikey ball will take you by surprise, so save often. The obstacle course is huge as well and kinda tedious, and you only complete it to get a small medipack (another skull would have been fine there). The gate to Werner remained closed for me, so I quit the game after 30 minutes. Found all 6 golden skulls. There's a seventh one in the pink room, but don't try to take it as a spikey ball will fall on top of Lara, smashing her into the floor leaving only her head on it!" - alan (30-Aug-2017)
"I actually really liked the concept of the level! You can freely roam in Lara's Mansion and your objective is to find 6 golden skulls! Too bad it was so bad executed. The whole mansion it's SO BIG!!! It really seems like we are in Alice wonderlands, where she's SUPER small, so the rest just seems to big. So a little more dedication to the level design and the outcome would had been a lot better. Oh and the gate with Von Croy is actually open for me...but it didn't have an end trigger...more like one of a kind bug." - Zhyttya (25-Mar-2016)
"A fun concept that just went out of proportion.. literally. Everything was so dame huge in this level! The idea was great but the bad lightning and the emptiness of each area just spoiled it. The "end trigger" was a bit broken, the camera just did some random stuff and the balls in the maze was something i would gladly remove from this level. The fact that you have to use some flinging cheats to go back to the bridge didn't help either. Still, a nice concept that i would love to see more explored! Fun never the less!" - Leeth (25-Mar-2016)
"I suppose the giant objects are vaguely amusing,but much of the level is lacking anything of interest - save a couple of booby traps involving plummeting boulders.What gameplay there is consists of locating five skull secrets,and it's reasonably interesting if you don't mind running around huge corridors.The camera clues are either non-existent,or consist of hurtling fly-bys.Textures have been hurriedly applied,while lighting is far too dark (Lara has no flares),although never in a gamestopping way.The minimal use of music does little to create any mood;so this is really only of use to a Reviewer as a 'mopping up job' - but even then its a little fiddly,as the level can only be downloaded in its non-TR4 form.Probably best to avoid it,really." - Orbit Dream (01-Sep-2015)
"Looking at this in 2015, many of the past reviews given for this release come across as really disingenuous now from a modern perspective, as there's not been a whole lot of improvement made in general since Area 56 in actuality. Oh sure, the builder decided to give a bit more variation to the textures alongside expanding into more non-linear level design this time around(which is great in theory), but the problem is that every room is incredibly bloated for no logical reason. And if you don't end up using DOZY to pick up the pace considerably, you'll find yourself(as Young Lara), darting back and forth across drawn-out empty areas trying to figure out what hasn't been done yet. But by that point, I'd think practically any sane player would just get bored and play something else(which ended up being the case for me). So in conclusion, not recommended. Liked the little hedge easter egg in the courtyard though, even if its a shallow novelty at best." - Ceamonks890 (10-Jun-2015)
"Has Lara shrunk, or has the house grown thus? Or maybe both? I do not know what the level builder has thought himself with this level and, to tell the truth, I would not like to know it also at all, but this level is by far one the worst house level which I have played. It is not necessarily about the Gameplay. No, there would still be other candidates. But most get at least to build a house with the right proportions. However, the house of Jeffrey has completely fallen apart. Everything is gigantic. Even the boxes are so big which they fit rather in a village disco. There comes a Flyby which is so hectic which can become bad to one. At many places it is so dark, that one does not see the hand before the eyes. There are no Flares of course. For what also, the player manages already anyhow himself. And of course there are also wallpaper textures and paper-thin walls. And what is the job of the player? He must find a half dozen golden skulls. Even, besides, there are problems. Though with a high bridge one can jump to a crack and from there one reaches a skull, but it goes only with the DOZY-Cheat back to the bridge. Another problem is the big estate door. Von Croy stands behind her and if one goes to him, the level is finished. She should be open, actually, from the beginning. Actually. In any case she was shut and she stayed also shut. With peruse of the Reviews and the Walkthrough I have ascertained that even more players had this problem. Hence, I had decided after 20 minutes that I have seen now enough and had finished the level. This level is real only for the people who play absolutely everything." - Scottie (01-Jun-2009)
"Basically one of the worst mansion levels i have ever played, and thats saying a lot as ive played lots. Why did you not bother to lower the ceiling? why does it have to be like 50 clicks up in the air, please lower it. You havent even bothered to make the textures look like, i mean, in the changing room, the ceiling texture is bricks, you cant have a roof thats made of bricks, i give this level 0.2/10" - Chris (02-Jan-2006)
"Another version of the famous Lara's home level I was lucky to have the Angkor wads to build the level ok. This time the house is a little different many objects are missing like stairs and balustrade from the source large empty rooms and outside the garden changed too - well nevermind it's still a fun level." - Yoav (10-May-2004)
"I'm very sorry but I got so bored with this level I lost interest when I reached the switch in the maze. I thought at the beginning that because this is called Young Lara everything in the house and grounds is HUGE to look like a child's view of things. I did pick up loads of secrets. I don't mind levers everywhere but where they are placed here is ridiculous and the only way to the swimming pool is over a gym wall! I don't mind Mansion levels I like to see how different authors treat it but I didn't like this at all. It's got all the textures of the mansion but it looks nothing like it architecturally. The clipped hedges spell words - that was the only interesting thing to me." - CC (27-Nov-2003)
"I don't like levels with young Lara simply because the authors place dark areas in the level and you have no binoculars or flares. This is not just a home level but also a young Lara one so it's twice as bad for me. The textures are much stretched and everything is huge too many doors to open with levers and no puzzles. There are five golden skulls to find and one I guess we are not supposed to get as there is no way to avoid the spike ball. Also the Angkor Wat elements with the house ones is a strange mixture it makes this look bad. Outside there was 'Lara Croft' written with grass I could clearly see the 'Croft' but I am guessing the 'Lara' part because the upper part looked weird and that easy to identify. I couldn't finish this because although I opened all the doors and I am sure I did everything that had to be done the main gate outside with Von Croy behind it never opened. The other reviewers state that it was open for them from the start well in my case it was the opposite it never did. I didn't miss anything anyway the level ends there so I thought I could write my review. If you like home levels and young Lara although this is not the best of that category play it." - Kristina (27-Aug-2003)
"You can end this level pretty quick just run outside and give uncle Werner a big hug. If you don't do that you can explore well to be honest run a lot and crawl a lot as Lara is quite a small girl at that age and every thing in the house is pretty big. Lots of levers to pull some you can't even see as it is that dark. I just bumped into one of them by accident. Found 5 golden skulls even got killed by a boulder. 10-01-2003" - Gerty (11-Jan-2003)
"The author of this must be one Hell of a guy. He has the audacity to combine the two most hated genres of the Custom Level universe. He does so by putting young Lara into the Mansion as the title already suggests. Now if he had included an underwater maze here I would have been really impressed. Instead you run from lever to lever not quite sure what they cause as helpful fly bys are rare. You collect five skulls and mysteriously enough the big gate to the outside world opens at some stage. I don't quite understand why Lara has to be unarmed in this one. Clearly the mansion doesn't hold too many thrills for the bold raider and to restrict yourself in the enemy department seems a bit pointless really. It results in an immensely boring gameplay that is devoid of puzzles or tricky jumps. You get some crawlspaces though. In my case I was really convinced that nothing bad would happen do our teenage heroine thus I forgot to save every now and then so when I finally ran into the spiked boulder trap I had to do a huge part of the level again. Very irritating but my own fault I guess. Let this be a warning to you." - Dimpfelmoser (11-Aug-2002)
"Finally a slight twist on the mansion theme with young Lara making her way through the house in search of 5 secret skulls. There's most things here that you'll normally find in the mansion such as the hedge maze although booby trapped here pool and indoor and outdoor training areas but the one difference is everything seems to be overly large which just dwarfs Lara and gives the whole place a not quite right feel. Ending as you walk up to Von Croy after about 45 minutes of game play this was a pretty ordinary level that could have done with a bit more suspense." - Sash (21-Jun-2002)
"This was the first young Lara level I played and yes I did have a laugh at those funny huge furniture ideas but I did not quite like the many dark corners with no flares or guns to use to lighten things up a bit. There is a lot to explore if you take your time and I found 5 skulls ie secrets and I am guessing there were seven or eight but you can actually end the level without them and much earlier than the 45 minutes of gametime I used up with vonCroy waiting for me at the end. If you like mazes there is of course the one in the garden otherwise I would only recommend this level if you are a real fan of Lara's Home." - Michael (21-Jun-2002)
"Interesting premise with all the furniture being huge in relation to young Lara but totally out of sync with reality. A good idea that never realised its potential." - Torry (21-Jun-2002)
"A very strange beginning huge furniture but nice level. The level looks like the original house with lots of modifications and some things I still didn't figure out :)" - Treeble (21-Jun-2002)
"For some reason I love house levels, so I enjoyed every one of the 45 minutes I spent exploring this house as young Lara. Though in some ways similar to the original mansion we've all seen before, there are enough changes here to make it worth looking at. There are a few gates scattered around the house and grounds and you'll need to look around for both the switches that open them as well as five golden skull secrets (there are actually six but once you get to the last one you're stuck and have to reload). You'll see some strange things in this house - a large pool of water in the attic, a gigantic obstacle course, a hidden poolroom, and some giant furniture. There are no enemies here but make sure to save occasionally, as you never know when a spiked boulder will have you reloading. Also, if you look at the shrubbery outside you'll notice that they spell out a word." - RaiderGirl (21-Jun-2002)