Level reviews

"I loved the enviroment, atmosphere, textures. It was amazing. The gameplay is good, very interesting and different. I enjoyed playing this game. My only complaining is that sometimes is not easy to know what is next, what you have to do. Some of the pickups are too hidden. A lot of levers that you don´t know what they opened. The last part is too much dark, ok, you have enough flares, but anyway is not confortable to play in black. thank you very much for creating this game and I hope to play more games from the same author," - Juan Carlos

"While I definitely appreciate the dark and horror take on this level, it was not quite as entertaining to play. The environments are often dark and cramped with lots of objects, sometimes a real nightmare to navigate (one corridor with lots of doors which are pulled into the same corridor, for instance), and even by following the author's self provided walkthrough there was far too many instances where you are asked to go back to areas you've been to before, and given the general maze-ish layout of the environments, that alone set me off aimlessly more often than I'd like to admit. Still, for the setting alone it's worth checking this out, and I also like how the author has placed nods to Lara's blonde nemeses (such as the room with Sophia's portrait which promptly shifts into two distinct portraits featuring Natla and Amanda instead), and the unknown entity from Legend also took me by surprise; I don't recall seeing it before, but then again I could hardly recall places I had been to over the span of this level alone... 90 minutes, 9 secrets. 08/25" - Treeble

"Good level. Of wrong things, the number of doors is the most important as it requires a lot of long checking where you were and weren't. The time to build these could be invested in fixing numerous wrong textures, but the game is immersive regardless and I often even felt comfy here. The ending is so fast you don't know what happened so I'd slow it down and let the music play without being cut. Other audio is very good, same with objects and creatures. Recommended for a spooky evening but note you'll need some memory to remember far destinations for later." - DJ Full

"I have to say MpGrill has perfectly encapsulated the atmosphere of Silent Hill again in this level set, they absolutely nailed the atmosphere once again! A very enjoyable raid to be found here! Gameplay was great, albeit a little obtuse at times and not being able to have any guns for quite an extended period of time was a little frustrating. It didn't harm the experience all that much though. With regards to enemies I think I killed 1 maybe 2 throughout the whole playthrough as they were all a bit of a bullet sponge and wanted to conserve ammo. Also a recurring problem from the other Silent Hill level from the builder was the overuse of objects some rooms were quite hard to explore with all the clutter. Also was quite a few instances of weird collision throughout the level set. But all in all this TRLE is well worth your time, especially if you like a bit of spookiness and are a fan of Silent Hill." - Feats

"Once again, you do have to admire this builder for creating in the genre what he does best, and doing it really well. The atmosphere created here is absolutely brilliant in this horror setting (these aren't among my favourite types of games, but I have to admit it's pretty impressively executed here) and the combination of objects and textures really work in favour of this setting (although there were a couple of wafer thin wall issues around) and I loved the wheelchair in one of the later levels that followed Lara round but never harmed her. While we're on the subject, you don't have weapons straight away, but the enemies at the beginning don't pose much of a threat and by the time you encounter the demigods you should have enough ammo to get rid of them easier. There is a lot of darkness in places, but plenty of long-lasting flashlights are provided to reduce the problem. However, I found the gameplay a bit obscure in places and somewhat of a faltering affair. There's far too much running around for my liking and the maze sections with the enemy attacks were an irritant. So I'd recommend that you have the walkthrough within arm's length to avoid frustration creeping in, otherwise it may lose some of its appeal. Like Michael, I also had an oddly triggered secret when I reentered that room. When all is said and done though, this is a great mood piece and worth playing if you don't mind the occasional confusing part." - Ryan

"I spent a little while trying to finish this game, I just could finish it without the walkthrough! It is a three interconnected-levels game, in which one is the level who rules, so it is the one in which you can enter both the two other levels. You need to enter in each of this level, in a order given by the game in order to unlock sections of your apartment ... till here is quite easy. The problem is the two levels, ESPECIALLY the UNDERGROUND ... it is freakingly confusing, I couldn't understand myself where I did have to go! Yet the soundtrack worked as an EARRAPE (Bad combination between SH2 introduction to the horror and SH3 hospital), making me turning off the volume a little, and can we talk about the first jump-scare?! So that was the confusing gameplay, now let's talk about what this game offers and does it pretty well, secrets! Most of them are interconnected through the other levels and it's pretty satisfying when you get one of them, especially if it is freakingly hard to understand the scheme yourself! The atmosphere is very good too, it can get pretty eerie especially in the third level (aka the-level-with-the-longest-name-I-have-ever-seen), in the two mazes, specially the first. The lighting was quite dark, but fortunately MpGrill remembered not anyone can play a game in perfect dark! The texturing is quite good yet it looks overall quite monotone in some zones. In the end, play this game if you love MpGrill's scary level, but do that with the walk through in your hand, otherwise it won't be as enjoyable as you might imagine. Wolfy Regards." - Wolf7

"G&P= I have to say few things, I read in the "pdf file" that Lara will not need to shoot all the enemies, but... When these dogs attacked Lara her health decreased too fast... And it wasn't good... I think the adventure was nice, I liked the climbing sequence and the useless room(decorative use). E,O & S= Enemies were a problem for me at the begining...Because Lara stuck in objects and enemies went through all of it...I suppose the builder didn't used "box" (you know the grey button in the panel of the editor). I'm pretty the builder did'nt knew how to change the collision of the object...Lara stuck in places far from objects or the went through them. It was a big mistake.. Secrets I found some of them like "I jumped over a static object". A,S & C= I like the "silent hill" atmosphere. The level is a bit "copy/paste" of the atmosphère of silent hill 4. The sounds were a bit boring... cameras were not so bad, I'm not the kind of people who doesn't like "fixed cameras". L & T:I liked the lighting, not too dark and nice. The texture, it was a mess for me...And I must say that I just can't believe people who rated it 10/10... Did you paid them? Seriously, stretched bad placed etc etc... You can do a nice architecture with nice textures...You have to be carefull with that... A nice level, with few mistakes. I wish the builder will read it...I'm not a "reviewer" I'm a builder, and I rate as a builder. Keep working !" - Lara_Fox_Croft

"Here we have another what I would call a horror level. And this builder is quite good in capturing the atmosphere. The darkness in this level only adds to the creepiness and I am glad that enough flares (or flashlights) were provided (as you do need them) and there are plenty of them. Like everybody else I got so lost at times even with the walkthrough that Dutchy and I made one for ourselves. OK I wasn't too happy with the collision of many of the objects and more camera work would be a big plus, to guide me even better. The creepy enemies were very well placed and once you know what to do, it isn't so bad. Loved the texture choice though as well as that wheelchair and the chasing car. Some secrets triggers weren't working properly as I ended up with much more chimes than secrets. Nice one to have a go at if you feel like having a go at some horror gameplay." - Gerty

"Stigs are not-keen on survival horror so it's probably fair to say that I'm not the target audience for this particular level (I've never felt compelled to play resident evil or silent hill either). However there are a great many positives in this release not least the effort the author has put into creating a truly dark and creepy world. There's plenty of 'shock' moments which should get your adrenaline going and it's very-very dark (perhaps too dark). All of the sounds just add to the mix, with the rumbling notes building to the suspense. Enemy wise things aren't actually so bad with the vast majority being escapable simply by running away (there's really only 2 main beasties you'll need to actually dispatch to finish the level). All in all I netted 2 hours from The Apartment. It's a little too dark for my taste but if you're a fan of things more macabre and are prepared to play it as the author suggests at the early hours of the morning you'll probably have a very good time. Recommended. Stiggy" - TheStig

"Right at the beginning of this game, just by seeing the title screen, I knew what I could expect from this one. Since I played silent hill by myself many parts seemed familiar. Like in silent hill 4, Lara starts in an old apartment that changes from time to time, the textures change and new holes in the walls appear that take her to new creepy, bloody and dark places. At the end, the apartment is totally changed into something weird and Lara can explore other parts of the building and shot some monsters. There is also a story behind everything that I didn't quite understand what actually happened. There are many cutscenes, and some of them are very long. The music was always well applied and wisely chosen, creepy and sometimes only the music by itself scary. Gameplay was at times confusing and hard, since all levels are connected and Lara can freely go forward and back, but with help from the walkthrough I didn't had any bigger problems getting through the levels. The atmosphere is ultra creepy through the whole game. The dark maze with the big creatures was maybe the scariest part, because Lara still didn't had the pistols and even with them, I don't think she could kill them. It was a great idea to give Lara hundreds of flashlight, so that the darker parts were no problems for exploring. All in all, this is an amazing horror game with many scary parts, a mysterious storyline, creepy music and monsters ! If you like this kind of stuff, this is the right place game." - Alantos

"I actually played this one last year. The level centres around an apartment which looks like it's seen better days. The entire level has a very sinister feel about it, could almost be part of a 'film noir' movie. The objects are used very well, we have all the furnishings expected such as beds, clocks, washing machines etc. The clock actually has a ticking sound which is nice. The other levels visited are a mental hospital, which has some sort of creature in it - i remember it getting stuck in the wall at one point, and a wheelchair which moves on it's own. This level is mainly about opening doors, and is a maze of corridors although there's a small number of jumps in there, as well as finding puzzle pieces and shooting objects to trigger things. A subway, which has a homeless person who requires money, a monster, zombies, dogs, a car with a mind of it's own. You have to find ID cards, money, throw switches, do a bit of jumping, changing rooms so they fill with water. You'll notice the level changes shape at some points, especially the apartment which seems to have water outside the windows second time you visit. This means you enter levels and the apartment at different points. This level has quite a bit of exploration but not too much. Cameras are used very well and where required." - sonnyd83

"Finally, after nearly a year between playing the first and the second half of this level, I finished this level. The reasons for this are rather obvious - the game is highly confusing as it's basically laid out in huge maze-like areas, especially in the asylum where most of the second visit is about running around a pitch-black labyrinth with a crazy wheelchair and/or several other enemies chasing you. The atmopsherical devices in this level are undoubtedly superb, with creepy sound usage, lighting well used if not for the completely dark areas, great triggers and flipmaps letting the apartment (a sort of hub level) steadily change into a horror place and some other nice features like persons appearing behind Lara after she has entered a room, washed-out textures and so on, but unfortunately the builder didn't really care for a more substantial or at least player-friendly gameplay. Most of the time you are confusedly running around, at the start with a lot of enemies chasing you which you cannot kill due to no weapons at first, and eventually notice what has actually happened. There are not many gameplay elements in the classical sense (e.g. the high room in the subway level with a few climbing exercises has a bit decent gameplay) - the builder would be successful as a movie maker, but as an game designer he somehow failed in my opinion. The only reason why I do not completely downrate the first category is that the storyline makes at least sense and it gets nicely carried on through the game, with even a discurse with philophical touches at the very end. Spent 90 minutes here and found seven of the nine secrets." - manarch2

"This is a truly intriguing adventure, no doubt - and I did really enjoy wandering about it and appreciating the author's achievement of creating this series of desolate places - an Aprtment, a Subway area and an Asylum - and how they are connected and keep changing when you return. The atmosphere is gripping - supported by gloomy ambience music and the whole setting really draws you in. Yes, the darkness is excessive in places, but I did not mind that much as the flare flashlights are plenty and run for 4 minutes. What I did mind a lot though is the gameplay, which really is not working well in this set as it is completely obscure and guesswork on behalf of the player. Most of the time you are simply forced to run around the place (a lot) and any hints or clues are few and far between. Often times a crawlspace or a hole magically appears in one place when you do something in another place and there is no hint whatsoever that this happened. So - you are forced to search high and low, just hoping you spot it eventually - or, which I am guessing is what most people will do: resort to the walkthrough to not spend weeks in this level trying to find a way out. I did chuckle at some of the enemy choices (the car, the wheelchair) and curse some others (the Seth monster at one of the secrets). I really liked the use of some of the objects and cursed others that had collision problems or just got in the way of Lara moving normally through the level. And I did actually end up with 10 out of 9 secrets, because upon return to the subway level one did trigger a second time. In summary - a unique experience, not to be missed if you either have the patience or use the walkthrough to guide you along to the respective next step." - MichaelP

"After an hour running around this horrible place and jumping between levels, I thought about two options: abandone or continue with walkthrough in hand. And I chose this second option. Ambience is excessively dark, sometimes in totally black rooms; fortunately you have enough lanterns to light your way. Gameplay is excessively "obscure" with too much backtracking between levels doing some tasks here and there; returning; doing more tasks there and here; returning... This makes the level very tedious and bored, breaking your brain trying to remember where a shootable thing was, where the crowbar switch was, etc. Too bored for me to do it without walkthrough. Ambience is good with appropriate musics and creepy environment, but no much care with textures applied in triangular surfaces. Except the atmosphere I couldn't see an entertaining set of levels; perhaps for another kind of builders who look for hard challenges and dispose of much time to play, but not for me. Sorry." - Jose

"I missed it initially when it was released but finally caught up with this fine horror level. As recommended, it is one of those levels that are best played in a darker room, preferably late at night when everyone else is sleeping - haha. While the game play was quite confusing and I did get stuck many times, because I had no idea where to go and some things didn't always make sense, it was not a very difficult level as there weren't any tight timed runs or complicated jumping sequences. The hardest part were probably the enemies, as some could not be killed and others took a long time to die. Some"enemies" were rather humorous like the attacking car or the wheel chair. The real highlight of this game was sound and atmosphere and I think when it comes to mystery/horror levels that this was one of the best ones I have played so far. I guess I would have to say that I am glad that computers haven't developed so far to give us the sense of smell yet, as I can only imagine what this one would be like in this world full of blood and who knows what splatter all throughout those nasty hallways in some areas. Play it and you will know what I mean. In general the game was dark and scary, but luckily Lara has lots and lots of long lasting flashlights so there was never a shortage of light sources. The wall decorations, the excellent use of many custom objects and the texturing that was perfectly fitted for the style of level made this a memorable experience. I was checking with the walkthrough a couple of times and was able to avoid any bugs, but still missed quite a few secrets. Unless you have little kids around while playing or don't like this genre, this one is definitely a must play. Highly recommended! (2 hours, 5/9 screts found)" - Blue43

"I really like creepy levels with that "Silent Hill" feel. This level really succeeds in providing that chilling effect. Gameplay could have been better, which is why I gave it an eight and not a nine. I didn't like running around these large areas wondering what to do. I felt panicked because I didn't want to be in one area when I needed to be in another one and this did happen occasionally, especially in the end where I was completely confused how to end the game. Just figuring out what one thing to do in a big area is sometimes a challenge, but not impossible. I never even looked at the enclosed map, and I get lost very easily. There were genuine frights like the pitch black maze with those terrible monsters you can't kill. Thankfully, MpGrill gives you 150 flashlights, which are much brighter and last 4 minutes each! There is no need to worry that you will get stuck in a dark maze. I would have liked a bit creepier music, although the music was fine. An added bonus would have been to add a haunting song with lyrics from Silent Hill, considering the main tortured character is a young lady. I also could not hear the background speaking at the end, but perhaps that was my audio problem. A couple secrets were really obtuse, but that's ok. All in all, the game is very good and decidedly creepy." - Shandroid

"A great level obviously based of silent hill. The builder of this level has kept a scary atmosphere throughout the whole game, always keeping the player on their toes. A couple of real standout moments would be the really high room in the subway, one of those rooms that takes a while to get to the top, and once you're there, you tiptoe around slowly, scared to slip back down to a painful death. Another good moment is the final apartment scene, climbing about in the ruins of the building, you really feel that its an apartment block in ruins. The puzzles and gameplay are good, thought they can seem to get a little repetitive in the fact that you're endlessly running backwards and forwards going over the same areas searching for new holes to climb through. I admit, i had to go over the wlakthrough in the end, as i couldnt figure out where to go (on a few occasions in fact). Stroywise, i guess if you havent played silent hill 4 already, you wont really get as to what is going on. so Maybe that could of been improved upon? The enemies all fit in well, and made me jump quite a few times. The objects did get a little annoying at times, as there were many static objects that got in the way of things. I had to leave behind a few medikits because i couldnt pick them up. The flybys has 1 or 2 moments where im not quite sure what was going on. They just seemed to spaz out in places. But they were very cinematic. All in all a great level, with just a few minor technical bugs. I would definatly recommend this level, you get sucked in from the start, and it doesnt let go." - Bradley

""The Apartment" is one of the most amazing games I've played. It is full of creativity at all levels. At that game I saw difficulties created with intelligence and that requires skill of the player, what became very interesting. The atmosphere inspires and evokes feelings of terror and also arouses fear and anxiety. There are a few crashes in the construction of the slopes, because in some moments, in the fight with the creatures in the rooms, Lara was trapped on these slopes. Surely I think this was intentional to increase the difficulty of the action. The music was well chosen for each level. It arouses a certain fear of what we will find ahead. No bugs, that level reflects an exquisite work and very well planned. For the players, a hint: good luck and God protect them! Congratulations, MpGrill!" - Miss Croft

"This level is dark, dismal, dank and disturbing. I know the author recommends playing it at night but really, what's next? A recommendation that the level should be played left handed wearing boxing gloves and one foot in a bucket of custard? All levels should be playable whenever! And it's a pity because it could have been a really good level, it's just that it's full of things that irritate - no guns to begin with so you get past the zombie mutt as fast as possible without exploring properly, the ground being littered with tiny objects that seem to have a force field round them making getting past difficult and cumbersome, baddies you can't kill even with firepower so they just become an annoyance, fixed camera angles (pause to spit), I won't go on. The level, however, is wonderfully made, I've been in decaying buildings just like that and the author has got it spot on. I mean, would you like to use those toilets? It's like something from 'Trainspotting'. Marvellous! The gameplay is complex and won't suit everyone but that's what the walkthrough's for. A little over 3 hours of gameplay but many more hours of reloading saves. I managed to find 6 of the 9 secrets with which I was pleased as the author is fiendish at hiding them (nice one!) I can't help feeling that we missed out on what could have been a crackingly good level." - Diz

"I appreciate why the readme instructs one to play this at night, due to its dark and somewhat spooky nature. Now, I don't know what it's like at your neck of the woods, but in England round about the summer solstice it's still not fully dark at 10.30 p.m. and since I like my sleep I really had no alternative than to play during the day. Luckily, the builder has provided a goodly supply of top quality flares (torches) that last for four minutes each so it wasn't really a problem. However, if you can play in a dark room it would be beneficial. You might also want to wait for the walkthrough if you are: a. easily confused and b. easily irritated by finding yourself in situation a. I think a large part of the occasional irritation factor also arose, for me, from the difficulty of manoeuvring round a lot of the objects in narrow corridors and cramped rooms with fixed camera angles. Having got the niggles out of the way, I must praise this level for its ingenuity and fantastic atmosphere. If you like eerie levels with lots of surreal imagery then you really can't fail to appreciate this. I think my favourite quirky bit was the wheelchair that followed Lara round some corridors like a playful dog - getting in the way, but not doing any actual harm. There are pistols (limited ammo), a shotgun and revolver to be found along the way, but most enemies can be avoided altogether if you prefer and indeed some would be impossible to treat otherwise, i.e. zombies, unless there was some explosive firepower somewhere that I managed to miss. Overall, despite the occasional bout of bad language when I got stuck, I found myself enjoying this adventure quite a lot, but I'm left wondering about the significance of all the teddy bears!" - Jay

"This was a truly interesting and creative mystery level, coupled with a few nice sequences in between. Great atmosphere, many different tasks to accomplish, an apartment that mysteriously changes with each visit, an amazing supply of very lasting flashlights to help one play during the daytime, fitting music and sounds and a paraphernalia of varied and well distributed monsters, hope I'm not fogetting anything. That's the upside. On the downside, not to mention a couple of very thin walls (but let's just think of them as a very rare detail), the many doors in corridors that serve as a stopper when you're running away from zombies and how very confusing it can get so often, even though I managed to play most of it without help. Let's say it's really great and well done in its genre and highly recommended since, despite it being so terribly cryptic at times, it never ever gets boring." - Jorge22

"One of the most disturbed and disturbing level sets that I have played, and I don't mean that in a good way. This is a highly professional group of three levels, but it can be hard to take. This seems designed to make Lara feel helpless and confused. The creepy asylum has blood or brimstone walls, a bed on fire, and teddy bears sitting about, some of which have had their heads ripped off. Lara starts without weapons, yet a hellhound attacks her at various points and robs her of health. The apartment lighting isn't too bad, but the subway and "place for mental scars" levels can be very dark, it is hard to see or navigate, yet players have been deprived of binoculars and their light function. This seriously hampers play. At first Lara wanders aimlessly, seeing crowbar switches (she has no crowbar), and things that look like they should be shot (she doesn't even have pistols). The environment can change, so that if Lara thoroughly explores an apartment and finds nothing, then a pit can appear beside a bed when she returns to the bedroom, or a crawlspace can suddenly appear in a wall. There are moments such as Lara looking at a bird statue in the dark while a wheelchair creeps up on her, and begins to follow her about. This is a clever touch by the author (exceptional use of objects noted in scores). A car also gets aggressive and follows her. But then there are moments like Lara finding a secret in a dark twisted room, and an indestructible demon lobs deadly bolts at her. Lara has to crawl to get out, the demon is firing, she must squeeze by him in a narrow space, but he can grab her and shake the life out of her. At such times Lara is right to feel put upon. Lara does shoot a harpy and a demigod, but most of the time she either has no weapons, or weapons are ineffective. In the asylum level, Lara throws a switch and the author provides two helpful screenshots (I think), judging by a curious time lag. On an LCD monitor set to 100% brightness all I could see was complete black, so the "hint" about where to go next wasn't remotely useful. The end sort of sums things up. Lara finds a cross, then something gets triggered (this part isn't any clearer than other places), and we see the apartment, that had been disintegrating into a hellish dimension, is now properly restored. Good, the end, right? But then Lara is back in the asylum, and if she walks forward a giant slug, a demigod, and a demon attack her, she is forced to flee, and the level abruptly ends. Huh? As I said, the author is highly accomplished and professional to produce something as graphically powerful as this. Some people will love it, precisely for the reasons that I was disenchanted: the borderline psychotic environment and confused game play. Took days to finish." - dmdibl

"What do I see there?? MPGrill, our specialist for the creepy moments, has struck once more. Then, nevertheless, I will darken immediately my room and lock out the light.
The Apartment: Now, the few rooms before the first level change look very good. Indeed, MPGrill was a little bit carelessly concerning the equipment. He would have had to place the bathtub differently, the washing machine stands partly in the wall and the kitchen table stands a little bit unfavorable also. But also the other rooms are well built.
Subway: I have already noted in the first part of The Apartment that some objects have no collision. This problem also exists in this level. There the question positions itself to me, why nobody seemed to have noticed this. The level builder can overlook this absolutely, but the level testers would have had to address such problems. Or were there no level testers? In this case this would be of course the visible example to let test his level before absolutely, because testers find many things which do not strike the level builder at all. For example, the wrong animation if Lara opens a cupboard. Though MPGrill writes that one must kill no opponent, but it would have been good if Lara have had from the beginning her guns, because then she could have shot the dogs. They were the reason why I wondered briefly whether I should play the level on at all.
A Place for mentally Scars: This level was irritating first a little bit, because one had to open in a small area about one dozen doors and watch in the rooms whether there is something useful to be found. This annoying phase was over quickly and the level grew better and better.
After the first level change I have wondered whether I should stop to play because of the dogs. Though in the second level only 3 or 4 dogs walk around and they hit merely in few situations on Lara, but the problem is that one must play from the scratch without Medipacks and without weapons. One gets the weapons only very late, there the dogs have disappeared long time ago. Though I have found before the first meeting with a dog a big and 1 or 2 small Medipacks, but it is no good feeling if one cannot defend himself and has at disposal only so little Medipacks. Later one gets in similar situations, because most of the opponents are invincible. However, it is worthwhile, nevertheless to play this level, because the creepy atmosphere is a big plus. It is the mix of lighting, sound and textures which provide for the suitable mood. Ordinarily I play with a brighter adjusted monitor, but for this level I have chosen the normal settings. A big advantage is that one has from the scratch 150 flashlights (Flares) in the luggage. These flashlights donate 4 minutes of light, hence, there might be in this direction no problems. The Flybys are good, but for the levers and counters there are for my taste not enough camera hints. Furthermore one can recognise several texture mistakes. Such mistakes should not occur a level builder like MPGrill. And they are the best proof that one should allow to test the level before the publication from a few people.
Summary: On the whole this is a good level with a great atmosphere. Though the few irritating moments cloud a little bit the play mood, but one has still a lot of fun here." - Scottie