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The Golden Temple by Flake

billie2001 7 10 9 9
DJ Full 9 9 10 9
dmdibl 7 8 10 9
eRIC 7 9 9 10
Gerty 7 8 9 9
High Priestess 8 4 10 9
Jay 7 8 10 10
JesseG 7 8 9 9
Jose 8 8 10 10
manarch2 6 7 9 9
MichaelP 7 8 9 9
Mman 7 10 10 10
Orbit Dream 6 6 9 10
Phil 8 8 7 8
Ruben 7 8 9 9
Ryan 8 8 9 9
Scottie 7 8 10 10
Soul 6 9 10 10
Treeble 8 8 9 9
Wolf7 6 10 10 10
 
release date: 28-Nov-2009
# of downloads: 268

average rating: 8.49
review count: 20
 
review this level

file size: 83.94 MB
file type: TR4
class: Jungle
 


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Reviewer's comments
"A very good game, partially destroyed by the lack of cameras and binoculars (or an extreme amount of flares). It's not dark at all, but it relies a lot on levers that blend in, pushblocks you can't see without a flare and shootable parts you also cannot see without a flare. And all this in vast areas. So, if you feel stuck, light a flare and start running around. Despite its four levels, it would be a short raid if we had binoculars. As it is, it took me 2.30 hours, enjoyable nonetheless." - billie2001 (20-May-2024)
"Underrated. Deserves more recognition. Cool scenery, chill mood, new objects and nice audio. Difficult progress give it time and you'll be fine. +1 flare pack in the second level would help as you need them to proceed. Not sure what the four blocks in the third level were for also. Flybys are too slow - I understand why but still I'd speed them up. High recommendations." - DJ Full (11-May-2024)
"This is the sole offering from this builder but it's a very well rounded one - I'd gladly exchange my 'builder' resume for his. The entire thing feels very cinematic, long flybys with accompanying music, a couple of cutscenes and an ending credits sequence. I also like how the center piece of the level is a massive temple hidden underground which you get to expose and then it gets sealed off again. There are a lot of unique custom objects which help make this more unique, but I wasn't too keen on the many shapes the shatterables come in (extra thanks to Phil for the walkthrough!), but generally speaking the gameplay was nice and entertaining. The use of audio tracks from TR3 helped drive that nostalgic feeling home despite this being a creation very much of its own. 70 minutes, 3 secrets. 03/23" - Treeble (19-Mar-2023)
"Terribly, terribly underrated custom level. I stumbled across this one three times in my TRLE career and this third time, instead of getting stuck as usual, I consulted a walkthrough and I was glad I did, in a bit you will know why.
Gameplay is in absolute the weakest part of the entire four levelled custom, progression does not make a lot of sense and the player is left looking at every single small crevice to find what they need in order to proceed. If this was applied for Secrets I would have accepted it as I would have not minded having to actually look a little bit longer to find them, even in very cryptic placements (Why is this statue breakable and before it was not? Why is this breakable in the first place?). What saves me from giving a lower mark is the fact that once you know what to do the task are not extremely complicated or overly difficult to do, managing to be quite beginner friendly hilariously enough (hilarious as the complexity and moon-logic is not beginner friendly). Overall it is mediocre at worst and okay at best.
Objects and Enemies, here you find me disagreeing a lot with what I have seen from some reviews that have genuinely panned this section due to the lack of enemies, allow me to give my own opinion, combatting is not what makes Tomb Raider such and the context the game is in makes sense it is combat-less. Custom objects are there and match the TR3 feel the game went for, and the baby tiger is adorable, makes me feel awful for having killed who probably was their parent. I have absolutely no problem with this section whatsoever.
Atmosphere and those flybys, oh my fluffed tail ^w^ they were good ... but really, really good. My favourite flybys must have been the first in the second and third level and the ending cutscene, absolutely memorable into showing exactly the beauty crafted by Flake, the author, which has an amazing old styled atmosphere that truly feels authentic in giving that TR3 vibe. Even if I cannot go above 10 this has to be the strongest 10 of the 3 I gave.
Lighting and texturing follow the atmosphere in being excellent, the first level has to be one of the most beautiful jungles I have seen pulled off in a custom level and the majestic roofs in the second level are the most beautiful highlights of this entire level, which is always excellent into creating wonderful looking environments.
Flake really should think about coming back, as this one custom level shows me they have a lot of potential and, working a bit on the gameplay, they can really achieve masterpieces. Very recommended, but played using a video walkthrough or such, if you decide to play without it, the custom can be a bit of an headache, trust me. Wolfy Regards ^w^" - Wolf7 (29-Jun-2021)
"The wondrous, luscious jungle environment takes you in from the starting flyby and sustains that impression to the very end. If you were fond of the India levels in Tomb Raider 3, then you'll be in your element here as those same objects and textures are used alongside the familiar music. In terms of gameplay it is fairly simple, with the exception of deviously hidden movable blocks and wall pieces to shatter. Puzzles are nonexistent aside from the aforementioned movable blocks. Maybe more thinking puzzles and challenge could have spiced the experience up, but it's worth looking at for the atmosphere and setting. Not bad for a debut." - Ryan (15-Nov-2016)
"Jungle type environments, especially those with TR 3 textures, aren't exactly my favourite, but this set of three 20 minute levels and one shorter epilogue was quite convincing as the builder has an incredible sense for detail in texturing, lighting, sound usage and camera work; add to this some lovely objects such as elephants or the wheels in the last level.. Some areas seemed to have taken ages to construct, as the lush forest setting at the start or the large courtyard that had an apperance in three (!) of the four levels - the builder obviously didn't want to use large flipmaps so he divided the levels - otherwise maybe one levelmap would have been enough for the whole game. The highlight of the set was for me the surprising transformation of the courtyard into a lake area with waterfalls. Unfortunately, the builder didn't care so much for gameplay. There is very little to do in each of the levels and most of the things are pretty uninspired (such as running around the courtyard, using levers and items), plus very sneakily hidden pushblocks that were too well camouflaged in the scenery and tons of shatterable items you never would think to shoot at. The third level might be the worst gameplaywise as it not only contained an overly long secret path but also a strange puzzle with pushing four blocks in; most of the time the builder didn't add camera clues here so this level was truly no fun to play through. I really liked the way the credits were set up and also the cutscene with Lara walking towards the helicopter was brilliantly done. So bottomline this 70-minute game would have been really great if only there was a little bit more up to the gameplay..." - manarch2 (19-Jul-2012)
"This is one of those adventures that could,and should,have been so much better!As it is,you have a series of wonderfully crafted,beautifully textured,thoughtfully lit and hugely atmospheric Indian Jungle locations;but so much of the hard work is ruined by the builders determination to make the gameplay progression as unfairly obscure as he possibly can. Viz: most of the several dozen statues are static,but one or two are shatterable - and no hints are given that 1) they actually are;and 2)which ones they happen to be.Hence,when you eventually discover that this is the case,you end up spending a great deal of time shooting at absolutely every object you encounter. There are also pushable (and even shootable) walls that look like any other piece of wall - and there are several miles of wall on offer in this set of levels! Finally,while fly-bys are handsome and beautifully set in scene,actual helpfull camera guidance is at a premium. Oh well,there's always the invaluable Walkthrough to fall back on (although once I start reffering to these,I generally find it very difficult to stop again!) What the builder succeeds magnificently at,however,is (as mentioned earlier)the superb construction of all the various areas to explore,which seem so real and are all immensely evocative;and some of the gameplay ideas really are imaginative (shooting chunks out of a roof in order to create impromptu steps,for example). The 4-level set also has a decidely epic feel,and the storyline is brilliantly developed through the skillful fly-by's,and builds to a fine and entirely appropriate Finale. IF you keep the Walkthrough to hand,you'll have a really good time here;and the builder is undoubtedly a Master-in-the-making.He just needs to tone down the use of gimmicky static objects,and make his good ideas a little clearer to the player." - Orbit Dream (15-Jun-2010)
"This pack pulls off its environment perfectly; it's one of the most convincing Jungle environments I've seen, and the Temple is also quite interesting and detailed. The lighting and texture and object use is also near-perfect. The use of a changing environment for the third level is also a nice idea. The pack does seems a little too based around symmetry though, such that almost all the main Temple areas are built around it, and the gameplay sometimes is as well.
The gameplay is a bit flawed; the massive environments look very impressive, but a lot of the gameplay is based around near-invisible blocks and shootables, which are like finding a needle in a haystack at times. The gameplay also lacks build-up as the last two levels are actually much easier than the first two (although the ending fly-by's are impressive). As I mentioned earlier some of the gameplay is also quite symmetrical, so you are just copying what you did the first time on the other side of an area. Highly recommended for the Jungle atmosphere, but you may find the gameplay a little disruptive at times." - Mman (24-Apr-2010)
"Back in India (7/8/9/9, 20 min, 1 secret): After almost 5 minutes (!) of introductory flybys, you get to endulge yourself in a rather well crafted and extensive TR3 India/Jungle environment. A lot of exploring to do, only a few enemies to deal with and the always enjoyable hopping around the tree ledges and some block pushing quickly gets you to your key and into the next level.
The Golden Roofs (7/9/9/9, 20 min, 1 secret): Yet again a nice intro flyby and very nice animal statue objects around this temple area. The to and fro gets a bit lengthy and some of these push blocks and shootable wall elements are simply too well hidden and obscure to be fun, but with the walkthrough nearby that should not lead to big frustrations.
Something has Changed (6/8/9/9, 20 min, 1 secret): The change of place is nicely pulled off here, and of course again introduce with a great flyby. This level gets longer if you managed the trip for the secret which will take you a few minutes. The main puzzle is a little obscure, but once you get the idea, it is quickly resolved.
The Golden Om (6/7/10/9, 5 min): A quick finale in the final temple room, topped of by another series of flybys/cutscenes at the end, which I enjoyed watching, including the credits rolling.
Overall, an ambitious debut, clearly focused on setting a coherent mood in a nice looking classic setting. With a little more diversity in the tasks and less reliance on pure searching and running and guessing where the next hidden push block or shootable wall is, the entertainment factor when playing would be even higher, but it is certainly worth checking out!" - MichaelP (13-Feb-2010)
"A very good debut from Flake that captures the TR3 jungle levels very well. I have to warn you that this is a level that has exploring high on the list, so that is what you have to do. That is also in my opinion the drawback. Not that I wanted more action, no that is not it, but the rooms are so huge that if you don't know what you have to do, you still will be exploring. Although you can find the shotguns, revolver and sight, you don't need them. However what I liked to have were the binoculars. Don't decide for us players that they are not necessary, we can make up our own mind to use them (or not) and in this case it was needed. With these huge rooms and although not very dark, it is quite handy to have them at hand and not run around like a headless chicken. There are quite a few things you have to shoot, whether they are objects or even walls. That was a bit hard to figure out in the beginning. Also that some pushable blocks were just that and some you can stand on. The flybys are great but there could be more camera work as I ran around a tad too much, for my taste." - Gerty (12-Feb-2010)
"I am once again impressed how many good first works are lately thrown on the market. Above all because of the different subjects the inclined player has damn a lot of fun. Flake is there no exception. This jungle level in the TR3-Style has really felt well. As the first I must mention of course the excellent Flyby's. In those can also professional builders cut a slice. Except a few tigers and a few bats there were no opponents. This was also better in such a way, because the riddles were quite difficult enough. And exactly this I must criticise. The levers were difficult to recognise, because they had almost the same colour like the wall. There were many pushblocks and walls to shoot which one could seldom recognise, because they had as a rule the same colour like the surroundings. One can recognise such a thing only if one searches the rooms with a Flare. However, one could find only one Flarepackage. There it would have been substantially better if the level bulder had placed more Flares. So it strongly stucks with the flow of play. Quite differently it looked to the level atmosphere. The level is built completely first-class and the temple looks really good. All together this was a very good level which has, however, weaknesses with the Gameplay." - Scottie (07-Feb-2010)
"I must admit that I was in a foul mood when I finished this four-part release, largely because of the difficulty I experienced locating a crucial corridor necessary for progession in the third level. An underwater lever opens the door leading to the corridor, but there's no cut scene or other evidence indicating what the player is to do next. A couple of screen shots provided by other helpful players narrowed the scope of my search somewhat, but it was largely a hit or miss proposition. That's too bad, because everything else about this game is good to excellent. The first level involves a bit of jungle exploration, followed by a second level featuring a large roofed quadrangle with a central building. The third level is in the same geographical location as the second, but basic changes in the topography require a whole new way of approaching the necessary tasks. The final level is little more than a mop-up operation built around a fairly simple puzzle. I suspect that most players would enjoy this game more with a detailed walkthrough close at hand to keep everything on task. Without one, you're likely to spend a considerable amount of unproductive time wandering aimlessly about, but the scenery is so luscious that this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Recommended, with reservations." - Phil (21-Dec-2009)
"Phew, these are some very large levels to explore, especially the first one. The series took me about an hour and a half to complete. Obviously based on the jungle levels from TR3, you will explore a large jungle and some temple areas with a few traps to avoid and keys and artifacts to collect. The strong point here is definitely the elaborate environment. Places that could use improvement would be the gameplay and action - I can't even remember fighting off any enemies, and the traps are simple to deal with. There are a few pushblock puzzles, but that is the extent of thinking required. But go ahead and try it anyway, there's a whole world out there to explore for some time. There is definitely a lot of potential shown and I wish the author the best for future projects." - SSJ6Wolf (09-Dec-2009)
"Excelent debut. The gameplay was a bit tedious 'cause the areas to explore were very huge and sometimes it's easy to get stucked (new objects) but generally was good. I don't know why builders don't put the binoculars or more flares; and the enemies were very poor too. As you can see in my rates, the best was the good ambience, nice flybies, perfect environments, good animations, excelent musics and more. Recommended." - Jose (07-Dec-2009)
"A terrific tribute to the jungle levels of TRIII. As a rule I don't tend to favour jungle levels due to excessive greenery and dull, weathered buildings but there was enough in this to keep me entertained over the weekend and it was adventurous as opposed to tedious. There were no enemies, unless you accidentally shoot one of the friendly monkies and the two inital, longer levels are quite vast and there is a bit of back-tracking but nothing too arduous. Another favoured level for me with no timed runs and no tricky jump sequences - neither of which I enjoy and both elements are what invariably lead me to abandoning a game before completion. We need more acheivable levels like this!" - High Priestess (06-Dec-2009)
"Congratulations to this new builder for a very entertaing debut level ! First of all I would like to mention he`s taken his good own time to have it properly tested by people who know what their talking about so it is bare of any dead ends or points of no return and secondly it has become a fine little adventure which takes place in a huge environment beautifully designed in old TR3 style. You will definetely have to take a close look around , there are gaps to shoot as well as blocks to push where you would least expect them ! Enemies are few and only come up in the form of ugly spiders and bats , those pets that we don`t like anyway , no massive massacres on human beings in this game , thank you so much ! The gameplay itself seems a little bit too extended by running to and fro and back and forth in the same location and feels somehow static but once you have completed the task the builder has wished for you don`t want to stop and carry on. Revolver and sight are fine but not needed to finish the game. The athmosphere is cool supported by music , flybies and hints are well executed. Lighting is OK , textures mostly taken from TR3. As a conclusion I found this little big adventure well worth playing . Wandering around the area you may find it a challenge to even the seasoned raider. It`s a game for all the seekers amongst us , nothing for the shooters or even the sports guys and dolls out there as there are no challenges for them to complete here. Download it right now and give it a try." - Ruben (01-Dec-2009)
"On first impression, a gorgeous level, with carefully applied TR3 India textures to create an immersive environment. That is, if you're playing with a flat panel (LCD) monitor. Playing with a top quality CRT monitor, the opening flyby sequence will be black, and the initial area under the trees, instead of being evocative shadow, will be dismal. (I turned the brightness up to nearly one hundred percent on my CRT monitor--normal setting is sixty-two percent--in an attempt to duplicate what can be seen on a flat panel monitor, but with a CRT monitor the colors will wash out.) The opening play area is huge. Lara had no trouble finding things to do: swing in rope vines to trees, get a key, find a block to push, even swing up to the highest tree branches and attempt to jump on top the temple. But after two hours of wandering it turns out that what was missed was the initial push block that hid the keyhole for that key. Then Lara enters the huge courtyard of the temple, where again there are many things to do, and again about a two hour delay before Lara started shooting things on the roof. (When Lara runs through the shallow water of that huge courtyard there is one spot where she looks intently up to the roof, and that finally clued me in that something had to be shot there.) Then Lara reaches the central little building and I was stymied. Finally I had to read the forum. Another reviewer mentions that one might, hypothetically, become stuck by missing a push block or shootable, but I found this to be a reality. And why do authors insist on making some push blocks standable, while others aren't? If this is supposed to be a TR3 level, then all the blocks should be standable, and consistent. At the first chance, Lara tried to jump on a push block, only to find it wasn't standable. The ending picks up, after that snag with the central structure, but by then I just wanted the levels to end (there are five tr4 data files). While this adventure is superbly constructed, the play seems leisurely compared to the intense play of many TR3 levels. Anyone who has been playing TR3 expects those Shiva statues to come to life, but of course they never do. Very commendable as a debut effort." - dmdibl (01-Dec-2009)
"If you're a fan of the original India levels you should download this right away. From the readme, you'll see that the builder's idea was to stick mainly to the original textures, blended in with a few custom textures and objects (I just loved the elephants) and I think he has succeeded splendidly. The gameplay is quite gentle, with nothing difficult to accomplish and, apart from two tigers at the start of the game and the occasional bat, no enemies. The key element really is exploration and if you miss some of the very well hidden moveable blocks you could be running around for quite a long time, wondering what to do next. Possibly, more enemies and agility tests would have made for more rounded gameplay, but every once in a while it's nice to have something a bit more relaxing, especially when it looks as good as this and there are some most impressive flybys. Certainly a fine debut offering." - Jay (30-Nov-2009)
"Quite a good first adventure from the builder , who manages to make it very TR3 like atmospheric wise , while adding new things , textures and objects that fit very well in the scenery. These golden roofs are really nice, and well made are the new objects , some of which are inherent part of the gameplay such as the golden domes objects that have a slit in the middle that you have to shoot. Shooting things and spotting movable blocks are the main things to keep in mind here to progress ; globally the intuitiveness is there so the progression is fluent despite the two main areas being big. I was a bit troubled by the fact Lara was looking at something in that big courtyard of the second level and by the fact that the laser-sight was not necessary. It was a bit strange too in the third level to walk on thin air , I thought it was a bug but it is likely the legal way to reenter in the little central temple. I really like the puzzle where we have to shoot a couple of panels , place two movable blocks there to reconstitute the wall , and that opens a wall somewhere else. Also the concept of the whole scenery after the first level , ressembling to a trilogy. There is almost no enemies except a couple of tigers at the beginning , I have also shot a monkey by mistake who was standed where he should not. The looks are very lovely , the texturing and flybys perfect. An impressive work , pleasant to play [with no difficult actions to perform], well presented and concluded with lots of care put in it. [ 1 hour 40 / 3 secrets ]" - eRIC (29-Nov-2009)
"The golden temple is a very good debutlevel by Flake, who tried to bring back the atmosphere of the wonderful junglelevels in TR3. And what should I say...He did an awesome job and I think I'll replay TR3 soon. ;-) What I really liked is that Flake apparently took all the time he needed to create this level until he was 100% satisfied with it. There wasn't a single badly rotated or stretched texture, no illegal slope and every new area was introduced by a breathtaking flyby. However, there was a thing I didn't like that much. The gameplay was a bit monotonous. There were some nice puzzles involving moveable objects and levers but most of the time you spend searching well hidden movable objects or shatters (they don't differ from the wall around them) which can be quite frustrating; most of the objects are new and so you never know which one of them can be destroyed and which one is just decoration. There are hardly any enemies in this level and everyone should be able to play it." - Soul (29-Nov-2009)