Level reviews

"Has some nice moments but lighting is a serious moodbreaker in the dominant platforming area, and it's hard to see where to go - fortunately it's linear what helps eventually. Before and after we have nice segments but too small to balance the plot - it's soon over which feels cut short yet relieving (never a good sign to feel both). I don't get the rocket launcher but it seems Winston got it and saved the crocodiles from the orca, which should be the opposite I think - but maybe the sequel explains it, and I remember the sequels were more solid so it's probably the best to try all of those episodes if any." - DJ Full

"I was a bit too stupid to notice the trapdoor near the beginning so I resorted to the walkthrough and found myself following it until the very end. The level features a weird kind of darkness in a sense that you can see, but barely, and you have no flares whatsoever. The retina burn is real. Even though you can see the dampened shapes, you still can't make a lot of sense, so ultimately I felt like a blind man being guided by Harry's walkthrough all the way through. You get a few tricky jumps (the standing long jump mentioned in the readme isn't at all necessary, a standard running jump steering towards the side will net you the same results), an elaborate sequence involving break-away tiles and also a rather odd boulder chase -- I fell through one of the tiles, so, again, I found myself running back to the walkthrough. It's a nice challenge, all said and done, but I am fairly sure if the lighting was even flat and non-existant, it would help the overall feel of this level. Also, the combination of Lara's pants is a bit funny -- are those supposed to resemble leg warmers? 15 minutes, 5 secrets. 01/20" - Treeble

"Sure not the kind of levels I like. Not nice environments with very dark areas and nasty texturization (except the final one with the big rolling ball) full of tricky/difficult tasks where I had to reload a lot of times and got frustrating. I never would have gotten it without the walkthrough instructions. So if you expect a nice riding, forget this one. Only for expert players." - Jose

"This level was just so infuriating to play! Gameplay is brutally unfair(with a number of tough jumps within the almost unplayable pitch black room requiring pin-point accuracy, to even get anywhere). And considering how many times you have to reload after a death in order to even get a good idea of your general progression, it makes the builder come off as very mean-spirited. Other design aspects fare much worse(with uninspired texture placement, dreadful lighting implementation & a flat atmosphere, with the few objects & enemies feeling so arbitrarily placed, that you're ultimately left wondering why they were even used in the first place). To rub even more salt into the wound, the second map(High Noon's Nightmare) is simply unnecessary & should have merely been a part of the first(as it only takes a few seconds to finish and merely leaves a 'To Be Continued' message for your troubles). So in conclusion, don't play this one all the way through unless you're a masochist." - Ceamonks890

"This is a rather challenging little level. The initial timed run isn't too tricky to get the hang of, but you may be in fits by the time you reach the (unfairly) dark cave where pillar jumps need to be negotiated, and the subsequent boulder run. Experts will no doubt lap this one up, but it became a tad too frustrating for me. I had to wonder at the butler inside the underwater cage, though..." - Ryan

"If you like a challenge then perhaps you should try to play this level. I didn't like it so much as I got a bit tired of reloading a tad too much for my liking. The word frustration comes to mind with this one. I was rather surprised to see the butler in a cage and underwater and thought: what the heck... It was also rather dark even if I cranked up the gamma up quite a bit. This is about tricky jumps and knowing where you have to go. The second level although short was rather buggy at my end." - Gerty

"As much as I relish in the weird and unusual, this to me felt just plain random and unfinished in terms of appearance. It seems like the settings just felt like a major annoyance to the author, standing in way in what he actually wants to do - make Lara jump through fiery hoops and perform daredevil maneuvers through darkened rooms. To the author's credit - that's where the level works best. Though taking up all of 10 to 15 minutes of your time, they feel eventful enough with the timed run, jumps, tricks and the occasional secret (I stumbled upon 3), to fill out the time. The oddities like Lara's outfit, Winston in his eternal underwater prison, random, gameplay unrelated camera hints of an orca and two crocodiles released in the initial pool area got nothing more than the good old roll-eye from me who's been places and seen things, but might be more amusing to a player who's never played a level of this particular author's before. May be worth a go for that alone, but as said - gameplay is probably the more exciting part of this short romp." - eTux

"This is quite a difficult level to play, not because of the severity of the gameplay (although it is fairly challenging) but the lighting is so poor and the textures are so bland that it is difficult to view the level in anything other than two dimensions. It's not that you can't see where to go (as in find your way) it's that you can't, literally, see where to go - very irritating. The gameplay is interesting, strange but interesting, with lots of flooding and draining of areas and a pleasant climbing jumping sequence that would have been very good with some decent textures and lighting." - Diz

"Yes, this level is very challenging, but only because of the cruel lightning and textures in one room. The timed run and the boulder run were nice, but the rooms were builded with the simple purpose to make things harder, not to attract. After 15-20 minutes of partly painful raiding you get to the second level, which was very buggy despite of its shortness (30 seconds). There were some unnecesarry things like the button in the starting room, which you never could push because the room is flooded, or Winston running around in the water. I think I should play "Still Running Lara Croft" soon, to see whether this one is more playable, because the ideas in this level were quite good." - manarch2

"It's not too easy level, but a great adventure. The author show his test level's trick, the water flipping. We have to climb on ladders, and run of failing blocks to finish the first level. While we playing, there are 5 secrets, with medipacks. There aren't any enemies, just the friendly dolphins. The second level is very short. Here two crododile harass us, but found the good way and climb out from the cold water you will see the author's note: To be continued. I hope so. :)" - Obig

"It's short at less than 15 minutes, but it is fun too, as it presents a series of interesting little challenges to the player. A timed run that is not too hard at the start, then a series of tricky jumps, climbs, slides (unfortunately in a rather too dark area), a few breaktiles and a nice big boulder chase which you can work around, so to speak. I still ended up missing half the secrets, so these are well hidden." - MichaelP

"This fun little level would later become the first part of the author's "Still Running, Lara Croft." Since it appears here in a simpler and easier form, anyone should be able to enjoy it. In particular, the collapsible tile run through lava banks, with gigantic rolling boulder in pursuit, is child's play in this early release. The initial timed run, helpfully marked with a beginning tile labeled "25 seconds," is easier. I remembered everything, including secrets, so maybe Lara could do the timed run immediately because she'd practiced it before. This level serves as a good introduction to the author's challenging style of game play, without the frustrations of the longer levels. Of course, in the later, longer version of this episode the central cage holding Winston makes more sense, as does the push button on the wall, useless now since the area is flooded. If you enjoy this, you may want to try "Still Running, Lara Croft."" - dmdibl

"This is rather fun in a somewhat masochistic kind of way. It's all about running,sliding,jumping,shimmying and sprinting. What let it down for me was the absurdly dark icy room which needed to be negotiated in pitch-blackness. People can scream about 'gamma correctness', but everything was tweaked up on my Monitor and I still found it impossible to see where to go.It became a frustrating case of trial and error which spoilt would should have been a rather wonderful acrobatic challenge. What ultimately made the adventure fun,however,were the timed challenges;one of which,audaciously,was not timed at all but set up in such a manner as to make you believe it was! This exhibition of sheer cheek on the part of the builder was nicely exhibited earlier on with a scene of Winston underwater,and a charming use of a benevolent Killer Whale. Textures (some of which were custom made)were applied in a workmanlike manner,and lighting was either non-existent or way too dark.The challenge of the Gameplay coupled with a few sneaky secrets make this worth a go,but not for people who object to using bad language while playing." - Orbit Dream